LIghtning!

The other night, there was a spectacular lightning "show" in the skies and I decided to try my luck at catching some strikes on "film" (even though there is no "film" in digital cameras). After about 300 shots on the fastest shutter speed I could muster in a no-light situation - I got a few decent shots which I have either edited in photoshop ... or not. Usually I only crop because I am not good at creatively adjusting or manipulating what is already captured - just good at getting what I "see" into the shot... some people call this ability "a good eye" and I am happy with that particular gift/skill.

So, overall, I am happy with the results. Perhaps if I had a camera with a wider light ap-thingy, I would be able to get clearer shots. These are all pretty grainy but I still am happy with them.

These are all taken from my apartment balcony. I cropped the buildings out of most of the photos.

This was the first one I caught that was worth anything. Dramatic!

I had to lighten this one so the colors would be more noticable. Other than that, I did no adjustments. The colors are awesome!

 

I did edit the colors in this one as it was all orange-y.

This is obviously "solorized" but I like it because the photo looks like there is an eye in the sky - which reminds me of that old Alan Parson's Project song, "Eye in the Sky."

..... And here's a video from Youtube:

Over a Year?

Over a year has passed since I have updated this blog. So much has happened and I have gone so many places. Mostly to Florida. I think I have been to the Sunshine State 5 or 6 times since the last time I posted something. It all started in February 2011 when I went to Orlando for a work conference (AOTMP). That was a fast trip but I still was able to get to Disney World and to Universal/Islands of Adventure. Both parks in 2 days. Both parks for the first time in my life. I have become addicted to Disney World since then and go as ofter as I can. I have been 4 times now but only to Magic Kingdom and once to Epcot. My favorite is Magic Kingdom but next time I am going to Animal Kingdom (next time = a week from this post).

I have been to Islands of Adventure two times and my favorite parts of the park are Seuss Landing and The Hulk roller coaster. I like Hogsmeade but the other two are what brought me back the second time. Those two things/places... and Mythos Restaurant. YUM!

But not only have I been to Orlando, I have been to St. Petersburg and Tampa. Both are places I would like to live one day. I can really see me working and living in Tampa but also in St. Pete. Either would be fine with me. =D Just gotta find a job and not just any job, one that I am able to do what I am doing now. =D

 

What else have I been doing except for traveling back and forth to Florida? I have been going around Ft Worth and Dallas getting some pretty good shots of random things and people.

This is from the Nasher Sculpture Garden in Dallas:

This one is from The Kimbell in Ft Worth. I was having fun with shadows:

 

The next few are from a "Quasi-Victorian Picnic" which was held recently (yesterday in fact) at White Rock Lake in Dallas. It was a friend's birthday and she likes themed parties. It was very fun and lots of colorful people were there.

And my "signature" depth of field shot which I tend to take many like this in all different kinds of places. This one was right next to the picnic area of the Victorian party.

 

This one was taken some time ago at a Disco v. Retro party in Dallas. I love the lighting here of one of my friends in a big blond wig on the dance floor:

 

I think that is about it. Lots of photos on my hard-drive. I have a terabyte external drive now which I need to transfer all of these over to so I don't lose them in case of a system crash and to make more room on my actual PC. I am sure there will be more pictures to come. I will update more often. Promise.

Thing go BOOM!

This morning, when I went out to get some coffee, I found out that the TCU stadium was to be imploded within the hour. I live near the stadium and can see the upper most part of it from my balcony and when games are going on, I can hear the crowd cheering and so forth. Well, I come home and set up my camera and tripod to record the action. Below is what I was able to capture with the camera set to "fast" or action shots.

This is the first time I've made a video out of stills that actually came out decently. I might try this more - with traffic or something.

Lost in Texas Pt II

I know I have not made a post in quite a few months. My only excuse is the lack of motivation. My photography hobby was put on hold due to life stuff.

But now I am back; so you all need not worry.

I "road-tripped" again and brought along my cameras. I packed a picnic lunch as well. I spent the day in my car with no particular destination in mind except to visit Mineral Wells again - on a day that some shops would be open.

Before I got into Mineral Wells "downtown", I noticed some signs for Clark Botanical Gardens. I decided to go eat a plum that I had packed in my lunch bag there. =D

Very nice garden. Lots of birds!

Also, a tunnel that reminded me a little of Salzburg (and you know how I like tunnels):

This is where I ate the plum (yes, that's me):

And I got a great addition to my "butts" photo collection:

And I thought this was humorous:

I left at about 11am and headed into the town.

The only store I went into was a coffee shop called Jitter Beans. You REALLY need to try the iced coffee. They make the ice cubes out of coffee as well so you dont have icky water at the end of the drink - but just more coffee. I hear they do the same with the lemonaide. the owner gave me a short history of the town and is VERY much active in getting the town behind rennovating the Baker Hotel. The hotel has a potential buyer group from Southlake, TX but the town is afraid of the hotel not profitable since HUD is also involved and the town doesnt want to be stuck with a bill if the hotel flops.

SO! Spread the word - if you ever get to Mineral Wells, stay at the Baker when it's back open. It was a grand hotel back in the 1930s - 1970s. Big names stayed there like James Stewart and Judy Garland.

Now, it's this huge monsterous shell of a building in the middle of this quaint little town.

Here are some more photos:

Here's a photo of the area on one side of the hotel. I like it because it seems to tell me the story of the hotel from grandness to delapidation (well it does to me, anyway):

 

Doorways:

         

After I went to the hotel, I ventured to the town's most famous little shop, The Famous Mineral Water Co... or something like that. The town was named after the mineral water well that was dug some time in the 1800s. The diggers (sorry, I think the name is Dismuke or something) noticed the water had a strange taste and later began to think the water was miracle water as it seems to "heal" people of ailments. Turns out the water contains high levels of natural lithium (an anti-psychotic). Anyway, this "healing" water is what brought about The Baker Hotel; which was built as a sort of sanitarium/spa. People bathed in and drank the water and were healed. =)

(yes, that is my car)

I bought a gallon of Crazy Water #3 (there are 4 different filtered strengths - #4 is my fav but is also the highest lithium content), a bottle of concentrated elderberry juice, some "texas trash" (chex mix), and some linen spray.

Random! I know.

After that, I went driving again. This time, I had NO clue where I was going and no destination in mind.

I ended up traveling further west and wound up in the hill country. I love Texas. The landscape here is so diverse. I come from the Gulf-Coastal area where the land is flat and lush vegetation (the humidity of Houston/Galveston makes things grow like crazy). Up here in North Texas, the trees are really over grown bushes and it's all very sparce and rough and dry.

I actually ended up at Possum Kingdom Lake. I'd heard about this town but had never thought of going. On my way into the lake area, I stopped off at the "welcome center" which is also a Re/Max realty place. i had to use the restroom. I got to talking with this older realtor lady and she was soooo funny and truely "Texan." Big hair and Big accent and Big jewelry that you can tell was bought at boutique-wanna-be place.

I asked her where I should go while in town. She asked me what I did for a living. I said "i'm an auditor" (didnt go into detail of what kind of auditing). She said, "Well! You need to go to Bonita Bay and have a few drinks, I am SURE!" HAHAHAHAAAAA!

Anyway, I didn't. I ended up going to the lake to have my lunch.

Then I remembered passing a sign on the way in saying "Observation Point" so when I was ready, I got into my car (again) and drove to see what could be observed.

The Brazos River:

A house on a cliff:

More cliffs:

Part of the lake (and lots of boats but I edited them out):

Then I had had enough of the 107F heat (although the breeze was nice up in the hills) and decided it was time to come home.

And that was my day.

Tomorrow, I might not be as adventurous but you never know!

Zen and the Art of Decluttering

I am a master at purging items. I have no problem going through my stuff, packing it up, and delivering to a charity or second-hand resale. I tend to go to Goodwill as it is convenient and easy. I have a lot of stuff but then I don't have a lot of stuff.


My rule of thumb is that if it has not been used in a year or doesnt fit or is disliked - toss it in a pile and take it out. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Whichever. If an item is stored and has great sentimenal value - then keep it. Like I have lots of little trinkets from all over the world. I have my memories of these travels but no place to display the actual items - so they are packed up neatly and safely... just in case.

If you paid a lot of money for the item and you are keeping it because of that - why? What good is it if you are not using it? You are paying in space taken up (especially if you live in a small apartment or small crowded house). Donate it or something.

Gifted something you never use or honestly dislike? Don't be afraid to regift or donate (even if it is from me HAHAHA). See the pattern here?

Love to read and have TONS of books laying about. Are you REALLY going to re-read all of them? Have you even finished all of them? What about all those VHS videos of blockbuster "hits" that EVERYONE has a copy of? I love Half-Price Books... I'm keeping the hard to find videos/DVDs I have... but Pirates of the Caribbean and so forth - SOOOO outta here.

I do hoarde my CDs though. I'm entitled. =)

So, anyway - that's what I do.

I'd declutter other people's homes but I just have not gotten around to doing so. Too busy. Maybe this summer since I am taking Summer semester off. The thing with this is that I have to have carte blanche on the decluttering. None of this, "oh no... not THAT! I got it on sale!" stuff.

I will ask if something is special to the owner and why. Tell me the story. If it's "I got that from the office white elephant gift exchange... I simply can't part with it...The dinner was sooo good." Sorry - that isn't special (unless it's made of gold and diamonds). But "that belonged to my grreat great great grandparents when they arrived on the Mayflower...." Then - I think you can keep it. =D

OK, back to it.

I'm keeping the rune stones Ric made me, the Japanese figurines I bought at the Japanese Garden Gift Store, all my anime DVDs, and all of my Umberto Eco books... You get the picture. Or actually Goodwill is getting the "Girl with Grapes" picture. My 11x14 framed photo of The Modern's staircase will be donated to work for the United Way auction that is coming up later in the year (hopefully it will fetch at least $50 to pay for the frame and matting - going to good causes and stuff).