Thursday, February 7, 2013

Sunday, May 20, 2012

Annular Solar Eclipse May 20th, 2012

CURSE YOU CLOUDS! You really scared me tonight... Just as the eclipse was about to begin, the clouds set in. We sat on a blanket on top of a hill at a local park and just waited it out and sure enough! The sun hurried into a small break in the distant cloud cover.





It doesn't happen often!
Hope you got a chance to catch a glimpse of it as well!
It was very cool to see something of such epic proportions do something out of the ordinary. It just makes you realize how it takes an abnormal event as such for most of us to take an extended look at our surroundings. I think more of us need to get out there and take a longer look at things everyday!

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Best find yet...

My most desired lens. The 12-24mm wide angle, from Nikon. This lens was the first of the DX line. Bringing forth a specialized line of lenses for the newer, smaller imagining sensors of the current DSLRs. Great wide angle, and superb quality. I've been dying for a quality wide angle for a while. I didn't expect to end up with the 12-24 last weekend though! A great Craigslist find for sure!

 This lens new is in the $1200 range, and I got it with a Hoya UV filter (attached since day 1) for $520!!!! This thing is in perfect condition! The guy I bought it from seemed like a great trust-worthy guy. This was the best deal I've found yet! Easily one of the best weekends I've ever had!

 Jessica bought her brothers late 08 MacBook Pro for $500, and we sold her early 08 for $600!!! I also sold my car, which is very exciting! I got JUST what I needed from it too. I didn't give in to some crap offer, or settle for a measly "trade in deal".

I'm very happy right now. I've been feeling VERY crafty for the past few days, but I'll fill you in on those details later! (with pictures, of course!)

I went out and played with Floyd while getting a feel for the newest, and most cherished addition to my gear...

I love the attitude in this one.

What a chill pup he is.



That's my Floyd. 



 



Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Friday, March 23, 2012

Crazy clouds around here sometimes... I'm starting to realize just how many pictures I take over that fence. Same signs, same landscape, same piece of road, but they all feel so original.
I guess something special can happen in the same place an infinite amount of times. You've just got to be ready to catch it, or just be there at the right time coincidentally. 

Take full advantage of these special things. Something special will eventually happen again, but it won't be the same as the last.

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

The beginning of my "phonetography"!

I have left the stone age. No more 8 year old flip phone!!!!

I went and got myself an iPhone 4S yesterday, and plan to start a more casual daily entry from my phone.

Woooo! I'm really enjoying this smartphone stuff! Haha.

Monday, March 19, 2012

Angry skies rolling through.

Here it comes. We've been under tornado watch on and off until 10PM. Some areas of DFW have had hail, and severe wind damage.

 I JUST HOPE I DON'T LOSE THE INTERNET!

 -_-
 I think I was being sarcastic......... maybe?


Thursday, February 16, 2012

Snowy drive home

A Texas snow storm! Yeah, it was only about 2 inches max... I was on my way back home from Lubbock, and couldn't resist opening up my camera back and wiggling out my camera for some snowy roadside pictures. This wasn't too easy seeing that way out here in nowheresville, the roads aren't fully cleared of ice and snow.




Saturday, February 11, 2012

Great Tree


Behold, The Great Tree.



Okay, The Great(est) Tree in the front yard of my buddy Marks house. I really just love this one. Lots of lines and shadows and a beautiful color composition.

Friday, January 20, 2012

Memory upgrade!

Got my 8GB of RAM in the mail a few days back. Got it from Crucial They have an awesome system scanner that will pull up the compatible hardware for your machine! I'm feeling the difference for sure. 4GB wasn't limiting me, but now that I've got 8GB I can browse my iPhoto library, play around with Photomatix, jam some iTunes, keep my e-mail active, browse the internet, maybe play some Minecraft every now and again! haha. I may be being a little sarcastic with that one, but I can honestly say that I can do much more than one thing at a time without getting bogged down!

This upgrade really smooths everything out. More frequent posts?

We shall see!!!

Monday, January 16, 2012

Beyond focal infinity!

It's beginning to become more clear every day. I'm soaking up all kinds of skills recently. I've been researching time lapse, night photography, star trails, and astrophotography. I'm still not the best walker, but this post-surgery experience has been super! I can't really get in the "photographers groove" being unable to squat, bend my knee, crouch, and get in all those other crazy, yet necessary positions needed for the best shot. After seeing some amazing work by Ben Canales, who is quickly becoming one of my absolute favorite photographers. I just HAD to get out there and get my hands on some night photography! Busted out the 10.5mm f/2.8 fisheye and I was out the back door!

Here are the top shots from my brief backyard session tonight:


@ f/4 - 20 sec - ISO 2500

@ f/2.8 - 2.6 sec - ISO 2500

@ f/4 - 58 sec - ISO 2500


@ f/5 - 19 sec - ISO 2500


@ f/4 - 4 sec - ISO 2500



Friday, January 13, 2012

A little moisture after the storm...

We had a little rainfall a few days back, and there was a nice deep orange sunset afterwards. My step dad wasn't having the best of days at work. (Bad weather and being a walking mail carrier isn't the same as peanut butter is to jelly.)

He text my mom and said that this sunset might make up for the rest of the day...

Anyone who enjoys taking pictures just KNOWS this is when you rush to the nearest camera and get out the door ASAP!

I unfortunately didn't have my gear on me, but he had his Coolpix P80 out in the living room.
So I popped off a few shots for him, and obviously got carried away playing with the lights of the passing traffic.


Blurry Jeep and lily pad frog statue:
Headlights and the shutter speed of light:


This was the same night we got some super eerie fog as well!!!


Planes, trains, and automobiles:



Train tracks with a dash of light:



The first and last thing we saw of the nuclear train disaster: