Photos from San Diego

Link to the slideshow of photos from San Diego: CLICK HERE

Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust - Revisited

Well, the farewell party happened today... I didn't have any 8x10 size paper for my photo printer, so I took them to the local store. They did an "okay" job, but nothing special.

That said, my photos were nothing special - exposure was off on a few, some were slightly out-of-focus or had slight motion blur, etc... but - to the family and friends that saw them, they were special... Sometimes photographers get so caught up in the little details that they miss the overall meaning of the image. Now, I am not saying that a blurry, out-of-focus, under/over-exposed image is worth the same as a "well made" image, but they still have a place in the world.

Sadly a trend I am starting to see photographers take is over-processing their photos. Adding glow here, changing some color there, adding a texture overlay, etc, etc... They can take a perfectly good photo and ruin it by doing too many things to it in post-processing. I think too many of us are starting to get lazy in our photography and decide to not worry about getting it right when you click the shutter because it can be fixed with a photo editing program. A joke I make with friends about how to fix a poor photo: make it black and white, add some grain, and vignette it... sad thing is --- it is true!

Amy Seeley - Gravel Lines

I first heard this song on Jesh de Rox's website (http://www.jeshderox.com/) -- if you actually listen to the lyrics, they don't make a lot of sense... but there is something about it that I really like. I bought the MP3 from Amazon (or her website... or? I don't remember - but I did buy it!) and it stays at the end of my MP3 playlist. Why at the end? Why not?

Oh, and Amy is a Portland resident, which is cool...

(Disclaimer: I didn't make this YouTube video - I just embeded it)

A Smile is worth a Latte...

I love coffee... though my taste in coffee has changed over the years. It started out as lattes and blended drinks, then it moved to Carmel Macchiatos, then to Soy Lattes, now I am really boring --- I get Americanos, Brewed Coffee (BLACK!) or Iced Brewed Coffee (Unsweetened). The really sweet stuff just doesn't do it for me anymore.

But what else has changed is my taste in coffee shops. When I first started working for the city I worked across the street from a locally-owned coffee shop. I really liked going there everyday and getting my favorite drink. They knew me by name and knew what drink I wanted. While they were all nice to me, there was one person that worked there, Jessica, who treated me the best. I always gave her a larger tip. I guess some of it was her smile. They all smiled, but I liked her smile the best. I knew she would work MWF from opening until 2pm... so I made sure to get my drink during those times. Sadly Jessica left around December of 2006 and then I left the city around August 2007 to go to school. Now I am back at the city and I don't go over to that coffee shop so much. While some of the original faces are still there it doesn't seem like the same place to me.

Now I go to, *gasp*, Starbucks on my way to work (or on my way home). Again, just like the "local shop" everyone at Starbucks treats me well - but there is one employee, Lisa, who smiles when you walk through the door, engages you in conversation, and is very nice. All of the Starbucks employees smile - but I like her smile more.

Something so simple is enough to make me come in and get my drink there. On my way to work I pass, *pauses to count*, 9 coffee shops (insane for a 4 mile drive)... But it is a smile that draws me to ONE to a certain shop.

Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust.....

Someone I've known through Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, 4-H, and then the City of Sandy is leaving the City next week. He is ill and can't continue to work, so he must retire.

This Thursday the city is throwing him a party -- I've gone through my photo collection and found six photos of him working and will get those printed @ 8x10 size and bring them to the party. Boy I wish my photo skills were better back when I took the photos.

However, it does show how much a photo can mean to someone. Even a blurry image - it brings back memories. We cannot stop time, but we can capture a split second of it. That is why I am a photographer.

Another quote I like...

"To the world you may be just one person, but to one person you may be the world. " ~ Author Unknown

Update

I got back from San Diego on Sunday night. I had an amazing time... next time I will be there longer than a weekend... More details from that trip will come later.

For some reason this song got stuck in my head, so I headed over to YouTube to find a video of it.


Les Miserables is a very depressing play and this song has a really depressing meaning. Basically, .... nah, you will just have to watch the play or read the book....