Alive and well...

...ok, I survied diverticulitis...for now...watching what I eat and trying to get back to the gym a.s.a.p.

 So, I'm back to work and ready to start shooting again.

 Will post some current shots when I can come up for air from the drafting department. We stared a new project, a nearly 11,000 square foot new construction home in Big D.

Starting 50 with a bang...or more of a pain!

So on September 28th they tell me I turned 50. A friend said not to worry, "50 is the new 50"...thanks for the encouragement!

 At 1:30 in the morning on Sept. 29th I awoke to a sharp pain in my left side. I got out of bed and couldn't stand straight from the pain. I managed to make through the night, but the severe pain persisted and my wife took me to the doctor the next morning.

 After a brief exam he said it sounded like Diverticulitis, a condition where a weak spot develops in the colon and that spot gets infected...a simple explanation. Being life-long scuba diver, the irony of the conditions name didn't escape me, nor the many diver friends I have.

 He sent me to the hospital to have a CAT scan to confirm his suspicions and after spending the majority of the day in the emergency waiting room, I finally had the scan and yes, the diagnosis was correct...of course, Dr. Williams is the best!

 If things are bad enough, they will have to do surgery to remove the damaged area of the colon, fortunately for me, it appears I may be avoiding that and will be sent home sometime tomorrow.

Sunsets

Here are a few sunsets I've pulled out of the 'ol library, some taken here in Texas, most in my vacation home of Cozumel, Mexico and an odd ball from Missouri...

Sunset over Grand Prairie, Texas from Cedar Hill Park

Blue Angel Resort, (formerly Caribe Blu)

 Cozumel, Mexico

"Leap frog" statue on Ave. Milgar,

Cozumel, Mexico

My favorite Cozumel sunset pic. Shot at Blue Angel Resort

The stingray ecounter pen pilons lead the eye right to the sunset

and I like the dive shower in the forground.

Punta Sur (South Point),

Cozumel, Mexico

not your typical sunset shot, but still one of my fav's from the

main harbor on Cozumel, Mexico

Cozumel Sunset

Golden City, Missouri sunset

Cedar Hill Park sunset

The "divers" statue on the Ave. Milgar,

Cozumel, Mexico

Just for the fun of it...Things I am or have been...

 Christian, son, grandson, husband, brother, student, artist, draftsman, designer, photographer, cowboy, volunteer, educator, usher, bus boy, dishwasher, physical trainer, carpet cleaner, bartender, bouncer, cook, disc jockey (club and radio), sailor, radioman, salesman, mechanic, bill poster, printer, diver, electronics technician; underwater guide, photographer, construction & salvage worker; secretary/treasurer, typewriter cleaner, jack-of-all-trades maintenance man, driver, delivery person, IT semi-specialist…

...and that’s just the first 50 years!

Underwater...

So I've been meaning to post some underwater pics...I rummaged through my libraries and came up with a few fav's to share...all shots were taken on the reefs of Cozumel, Mexico...

Branch coral at Palancar Horseshoe. This is a personal favorite, I don't get a lot of "oo's and ahh's" off of it, but I really like the texture of the coral against the black background.

I shot this small grouper at Palancar Bricks. I love the way I was able to get the fish's head in focus, but still captured the motion of his tail as he zipped past me.

This Yellow Spotted Moray eel just seemed to be posing for me at Palancar Gardens.

Brittle Sea Star on red sponge at Villablanca Shallows.

This pic of an anemone is right out of the camera, no Photoshop involved.

 I like it because the colors are a little unusual for most reef shots of Coz, somewhat muted.

Probably my favorite lobster shot I've taken through the years. This guy was HUGE and seemed to have no fear. I swam up to him and stuck my camera out to focus. Instead of moving back into his cubby hole like they usually do, this one started walking towards me! and "embraced" me with it's antennas.

Bandid Coral Shrimp can be found all over the reefs. I captured these little bugs hanging out in this sponge. The antenna and colors kind of give it a fireworks like feel to the photo.

Super close up of a small Nurse Shark.

Light & Lighting I

Just finishing up my first Light and Lighting class here are a few images.

 For the first assignment we had to show various examples of simple light; i.e. soft, hard & back light. So naturally I headed down to my favorite training ground, State Fair Park in Dallas...

back lit flower with bumble bee...

soft lit dragon fly...

this little guy was less than 2" long. soft lit lizard on leaf...

GEICO Ad, "Looking for a good deal on auto insurance?"

Assignment 2 took us on an pre-dawn (yawn), field trip to downtown Ft. Worth, Texas...

it was actually quite despite the early hour...

Sundance Square at sunrise...a sign outside he 8.0 bar looking to the west...

Christ statue in early morning light...

Naturally, I ended up back at Fair Park and got this shot at the Women's Museum at midday...

A second midday shot. I saw this fire escape while driving down the street near downtown Dallas...it was just begging to be photographed. This pic is actually in color, but between the harsh sun and the building & fire escape being painted gray, the only color that you see is some rust on the stairway...

late a afternoon light at a cemetery on Hall street in Dallas...

 

Then it was time to move inside for some white balance work and indoor photography...

Interior shot of my boss's house, mixed incandescent and sunlight...

another mixed light shot of one of our client's houses in Dallas...

Finally we moved into some studio work.

First up was small studio lighting, "product shots"...

Hey, the teach brought it in!...

These next three were shot at my office in Dallas, using some butcher paper as a backdrop and a fluorescent desk lamp as a light source...

one of my favorite treats...

anyone that knows me, knows I usually have one of these in hand, so taking a product shot of one just came natural...

my favorite shot of the group...

Then last week we went to a professional studio and I got my first taste of full on studio portrait photography...gonna have to keep these shots for future reference...

We all took turns being model and photographer, this is one of my classmates that got volunteered to be my model...short light, subject's nose is pointed towards the light source...

Broad/Rembrandt light, subject is facing away from light source. The small triangle of light under the left eye makes it "Rembrandt" light...

Finally, a fuller shot, again Broad/Rembrandt lighting...

I really enjoyed this class. So far most of the classes I've taken at UTA have been at least 80% review and 20% new knowledge. This class was more the other way around.

 Rhonda Hole, http://rhondaholephotography.com/ , the instructor, is a wonderful photographer and a super teacher. Very enthusiastic and willing to pass on her many years of experience.