Paralyzed

I had just finished a session with my massage therapist last Saturday afternoon when I discovered this sweet little bird standing underneath my car, right under my driver door and very near my front tire.

This little creature was paralyzed it seemed; couldn't move, just stood there looking at me.

I could hear my Mother (who was raised on a farm) say, "don't touch it, they carry disease!" So I called my therapist out - I know she has a bird of her own. As I called her, I saw another bird of the same breed lying belly up just a yard away. Then I knew, the other bird was traumatized.

My massage therapist gently picked up the dead bird and laid it in the upper planter.Then very lovingly and gently touched the other bird from the side... the living bird flew away.

But before all of this, I got my camera out (of course) and took this photo.

I believe in animal medicine. I haven't looked up the meaning yet, but I can tell you I know exactly how this bird felt... because lately I have been paralyzed within myself. I haven't know which way to go in my life. I guess I too could use a gentle nudge to help me along my way...

Do you Accuse or Defend?

I do not search out church signs, but I do collect them. This one particularly struck me because of something I am experiencing in my life presently. I have been accused of many things I do not do by someone very close to me. Then when I passed by the sign again the other day, I realized that I too have accused that same person of something... but they actually did what I accused them of... so now what?

So I looked it up:
Accuse ac·cuse v
1. vti - to confront somebody with a charge of having done something illegal, wrong, or undesirable

I ask again, now what... in accordance with what this sign says?

When things are tough...

WHEN THE GOING IS HARDEST, JUST KEEP ON KEEPING ON, AND YOU’LL GET THERE SOONER THAN SOMEONE WHO FINDS THE GOING EASY.

If you think achieving great heights of success will be easy, you either don’t understand at all how the process works or you have your sights set too low. Reaching the top of any field is difficult, time-consuming, and often tedious. The reason it isn’t crowded at the top is that most people won’t do the things that are necessary to achieve success. They are all too willing to give up when the going gets tough. If you need inspiration to persevere, read the biographies of men and women who have achieved greatness in their lives. You will find that they prevailed because they refused to quit. They continued to toil alone long after the masses had given up and gone home.

This positive message is brought to you by the Napoleon Hill Foundation.

Shakespeare!

So this is the truest likeness of William Shakespeare? Wow, after all these years...

Here's the article about Sir William aka the Bard!

http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1883770,00.html

Mitchellville, TN

Had a shoot yesterday in Michellville, TN a small town that butts up against the Kentucky southern most border. A couple of shots taken on the location set. An actual Ford Model T was used in one of the scenes of the short film, "Cuernos".
This is a WORKING outhouse that sits behind the church we were filming inside.







The films student director from Watkins Film School, taking a quick ride in the Model T.

I believe!!!!!!

... in Angels ...Isn't she gorgeous!? She's over 100 years old...

Ya Think!

I hope he studied magic at Harvard...

Crazy About My Lucy!

The Best Traveling Doggie Girl!!!I am absolutely in love with my little best friend. You know what, someone asked me who my best friend is... I told them I didn't have one... I lied... Lucy IS my bestest friend!

She's sneaking a little air outside the car window, I had to stop the car to get this shot, I couldn't drive and shoot behind me... I think it's the best picture I shot all day.

I LOVE Lucy!!!

The Oscars in Charleston, SC!

But first an 8.25 hour drive and a few moving pictures... the TVA in Oak Ridge, Tennessee - yes, the one that caused all the mud slides recently! See the wall at the bottom of the picture? That's the median strip in the middle of the freeway; I set the ISO at 3200 or was it 1600... I'm really surprise this turned out! Oh yeah, I was driving 75 miles an hour.
Just before the tightest windy road through the Appalachians - a little nerve wracking...
Too slow in the Tunnel...
I fixed the shutter speed this time... while driving... never missed a beat!
I arrive at the hotel... and a package is waiting for me... a reminder of the JOB I'm here to do!

I missed almost all of Barbara Walters... but I got to see ALL of the Red Carpet & the Oscars!!!

No time to stop for dinner, so an actor improvises... String Cheese, Salami, Crackers, Cucumbers, and Grapes! Probably healthier than if I'd ordered room service! Looking forward to tomorrows work!

Police Photos Illegal

Taking photos of police officers could be considered a crime

The relationship between photographers and police could worsen next month when new laws are introduced that allow for the arrest and imprisonment of anyone who takes pictures of officers 'likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism'.

See link for full story: http://www.bjp-online.com/public/showPage.html?page=836646

Here's one I shot in December of 2002 in the Manchester airport:As you can see, one of the officers is looking straight into my lense. I was questioned for thirty minutes by these two officers... I actually showed them [almost] all the photos on my camera from our honeymoon... I was informed that taking pictures in the airport was not legal, it had only been a little over a year since 911.

Had they seen the picture I took of them, I believe I would have had my camera card confiscated at the very least... how did I do it you ask? Remote control - the camera was not up to my face - it was randomly taking photographs of passers by while on a tripod... I was actually just experimenting, and then the bobbies walked into the frame... lucky?

Studio 83 Opens its doors!

The night was incredible. We were told to expect 1000 people to walk through the doors of the gallery... I discussed it with one of my friends... we think there were WAY more than 1000 people... the lines were around the corner, people actually had to wait in line to get into our gallery.

Here are a couple of pictures I snapped at random:

200 Posts! More Mammoth Caves!

So I was thinking... what can I possibly do with my Mammoth Caves photographs??? I'll be surprised if anyone ever asks me... "Do you have any Cave photos?" I hardly doubt that will happen...

I was asked to submit some photos from the shoot by the camera club I went on the photo field trip with for our meeting in February - can you believe next week is FEBRUARY!!!

All the photographs look EXTREMELY better larger... CLICK on any of the photos to see a larger version!

The photo below was created by another photographer "painting" light on the wall with a flashlight, while I held the shutter open for a very long time - kinda cool,huh?This photograph was created with my 14mm fish-eye lens. I pointed the camera up to the ceiling and opened the shutter for about a minute. When I opened the photograph in PhotoShop I brought up the exposure first; this brought in all these colors of red and purple. Then I went into curves and added more purple and red. I also enhanced with hue and saturation. Weird but cool!The next shot I thought was pretty much a piece of crap... but when I brought up the exposure, all these colors started to appear. I believe the colors appeared because of all the flash photography that was happening while my shutter was WIDE open. I did not use ANY flash on any of my photographs - I grabbed the light from what was available inside the cave only. You can see the railing up at the top of the photograph, and the stairway at the bottom.
The last shot is pretty similar to the others previously posted, however, there was so much more detail on the walls of new stalagtites creating themselves...

The deadline is almost here!!!

I've been stressing over a TRADEMARK deadline for Clint the Black Cat™! I've literally missed doing many things over the stress of having this done. Tomorrow is the deadline... then life gets back to being stressful in a "normal" way... being that STRESS is normal?

I'm not right...

DUBLIN anyone?

PhotoTreks is traveling to Dublin, Ireland for excellent photography and a little Luck-of-the-Irish! Travel dates - March 28th to April 4th – no foolin’!

Did you get a new camera for Christmas!? Bring it with you on the next PhotoTreks Photo Mentoring Guided Tour! Travel with two highly creative and technically knowledgeable mentors to Dublin, Ireland – shoot all day – present each evening with the group – compare and learn! Expand your stock photography library! Advance your skills by learning from the pros one-on-one!

Book by January 21, 2009 and save $100 dollars – limited to 20 Trekkers!

For more information and all the details – http://www.phototreks.net

Root Canal or Mammoth Caves?

On a COLD, WET day in southern Kentucky the adventure began...So I'm wondering if a root canal would have been as difficult as the photo field trip was today? The verdict is still in deliberation in my mind... I spent the late afternoon in Kentucky at the Mammoth Caves. My camera club was granted special permission to go in and take our cameras and tripods to create some photos. There were about forty of us... and the space to take "interesting" photos [without railing, or people] was limited. And I carried way too much equipment - how was I to know...? I'm not that terribly crazy about anything I came home with, but I will tell you [my one reader] that it was an education... an education indeed.Imagine a middle aged [voluptuous] woman having a perpetual "hot flash" for ninety minutes... her tripod gets kicked three times during a long exposure - by the same person ;-(, and she only gets five minutes in the prime location for shooting pictures...then she walks out in 33 degrees weather...dripping wet... you guessed it... NOT PRETTY...

No really, I'm glad I went... I'm grateful for the opportunity...

Here's another of the shots - always click to see a bigger version - ENJOY!