Fill My Cup

Here’s another image I captured while visiting my parents in Pennsylvania. I was wondering around trying to create something interesting one evening and saw this water faucet in my parents garden. Since the sun was beginning to lower in the sky, I thought it would be cool to capture a silhouette of the lone object. I had to shoot from a low angle and through the fence to showcase the faucet without including any distracting elements.

When I look at this image I think of a song that I’ve been listening to recently. “Fill My Cup” by Paul Colman. Paul is an Australian who was formerly of the “Paul Colman Trio” later went “solo” and is now playing guitar for one of my favorite bands “Newsboys” who are made up of a few “Aussies” as well.

The song just talks about Christ filling our empty hearts up with His “running water” of life. Some of the lyrics go “Fill my cup to the top, with running water, call me out and show me how”. There‘s so many times I need God to do that in me, that's why I relate so much to this song.

Paul Colman originally performed this song when he was with his “trio” of musicians. Follow this link to see a cool video of him doing a solo “acoustic” version of “Fill My Cup”. www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Zgyky56A4c

Youtube.com is so cool by the way, if you've never explored it by searching for whatever, give it a try!

My Own Little World

One of my favorite things to do is take a walk in the subdivision that my grandparents live in while listening to some of my favorite music. I get into my own little world as I walk among the beautiful houses with the occasional palm tree in view or the aroma of food on a grill that someone is about to enjoy for dinner. Surprisingly, the neighborhood is usually quiet in the evenings with few people outside. I’ll see a sign of life once in a while, but for the most part, I have the place to myself.

It’s an environment that I can go and get lost in the music and the beautiful Florida scenery that surrounds me. As I listen and let the lyrics and music envelope my consciousness I daydream about my life. Sometimes ways to pray about something will come to me because of a lyric in a song, or just because I’m a little more introspective during that time. I just feel good to be alive as I walk on the winding sidewalks that I’ve come to know so well over the years. Something within me is stirred with hope as I look at the glowing orange sky of a sunset behind the silhouette of a palm tree. While observing such scenes, I’ve thought at times of how God is the original artist, designer, and painter. He had created all colors before any man figured out what combinations would produce them. These amazing colors were in the sky and in nature from the beginning.

One of the musical artists that have been a good walking companion to me is Watermark, especially their “All Things New” disc. I have all five of their albums, but this one, their second album, is my favorite. So many of the tracks on that disc speak to my heart and Christy Nockels’ voice is that of an angel‘s. Their music with it’s great percussion and acoustic sound woven with lyrics that are beautifully intertwined with God’s word, make a great sound track for my walks.

You can visit Watermark’s website at www.watermark-online.com

Pondering

This is another one of my favorite images from a shoot that I did with my friends David and Michele in 2002. Listing their names together like that reminds me of a thought I’ve been having recently of how married couples are usually referred to together. You know, like “Bob and Mary are such cool people” or “wouldn’t Joe and Kendra like that movie too?” It’s just something that I’ve thought about recently, how united a married couple really is that each person is forever referred to with the other. I guess it’s yet another way that the two really do become one.

The image above was taken with a 35mm Yashica camera from the early 1980’s. The camera belongs to my grandfather, but has served as a learning tool for me in the past before I went digital. Around the time of this shoot the old camera was beginning to show signs of needing repair. One of those signs was a black streak that would show up on random prints. I had it repaired and found that the steaks were coming from rubber seals inside the camera that were deteriorating from age and turning to goop.

One of the those annoying streaks originally showed up on this picture. I was able to remove it though in Photoshop and restore the image! Among other edits, I added color to Michele’s sweater.

The idea behind the shot was to show two different moods. David is blurred in the background with a crazy expression on his face, while Michele is in deep thought in the foreground with her cup of coffee.

Movie Classics

I rent a lot of DVD’s. I have the “Blockbuster Movie Pass” and am usually down there renting two at a time whenever I can. I like movies that have Adventure, Romance, Suspense, Drama, Comedy and especially ones that have everything I just mentioned.

I don’t really “buy” a lot of DVD’s though. I usually only want to “own” a movie if it really moves me or if it’s a “Classic” or “Modern Day Classic”. If I just have to share a film with people I know or people I’m going to know in the future, I usually buy it. It has to be "Widescreen" too, especially if it's an old movie. I like being able to see everything the director intended me to when he framed up the shot and not just what was "formatted to fit my TV". It's kind of special having a widescreen of a classic that was usually only viewed "square" on TV. Not to mention, TV's are all becoming widescreen more and more.

I remember my Mom and Grandma watching old movies when I was a kid. I also used to watch “Nick at Night” which reran old shows. One of my favorites was “Hitchcock Presents”, the black and white half hour show that would feature short tales by the master of suspense. I think I like old films because they’re usually “clean” yet still really cool. All the stuff you love without the stuff you don’t!

There are still great movies today though! Just view my “Favorite Movies” list in my profile and your see some of mine. “The Count of Monte Cristo”, Superb film with everything I love. “Napoleon Dynamite”, it’s weird I know, but I just love it! Anyone else who agrees with me knows what I’m talking about, “Gosh!” And yes, that is two copies you see up there. Once the special two disc set with never before seen features came out, I had to buy that one too! "It's Incredible!" I can pretty much quote any line from that movie.

I enjoy good cinematography because it’s similar to photography. A nice frame on screen usually makes a good “still”. Creative camera angles in films give me ideas for photos. I remember reading advice from a photographer in a magazine, who said to pay attention to how film makers make use of the horizontal “landscape” frame to compose each shot.

"Now imagine yourself floating weightless in the middle of the ocean surrounded by sea horses."

Woodland Creatures

When I was visiting my parents in Pennsylvania this past April I spent an evening with my Uncle Willard. Willard is into wildlife photography and film making. He’s a Game Law Enforcer, also known as a “Game Warden” who used to hunt, but now only hunts with a video or digital camera. I’m not talking small stuff either, he’s invested in a lot of equipment to get the best wildlife documentation possible.

Anyway, Willard has a herd of wild deer that he feeds every evening. He’s befriended many herds over the last 10 years or more. One evening he took me to see his latest herd, mainly made up of does (female deer). He picked me up at my parents house and we drove over a ridge and down past the farm that he and my step Dad grew up on. We then had to cross a creek that was barely crossable with his sport utility vehicle. There’s a more dry entrance to the destination, but this was a short cut. It wasn’t long until we were entering the sacred place in which Willard communes with the creatures of the wild.

I could tell these deer knew him because of how calmly they remained as we drove into the field, normally they would have been running for their lives. As Willard got out of the vehicle and prepared the buckets of feed, I gingerly got out knowing that the deer were not going to be sure of me. They kept their distance from me as I watched one trot right up to Willard and his bucket of feed. He was also throwing feed into the field and the deer dined on their friend’s hand outs of kindness.

Willard then set up his “rig”, a Canon Professional Digital SLR with a Gigantic lens. There was a shutter release cable attached that was taped to the handle of the tripod. You could keep your hand on the tripod handle and shoot with with the same hand. As me and Willard talked about photography and what inspired each of us to pursue it, I was taking a few shots with his Canon. The above image is one of my favorites that I captured that evening. One of Willard’s woodland friends wondering who in the world I am.

Hot Stuff

I really like spicy food. A good tasting hot pepper is like a thrill ride for your mouth! It’s taste is something that demands your attention! Your going to react in one way or another, you might even cry, but not tears of sadness or pain, (well, if hot enough, maybe pain) but just because hot peppers some how cause your tear ducts to fill up and thus your nose to run.

Some of my favorite hot peppers are Jalapenos and Greek peppers because they're Hot yet still have an enjoyable taste to them! They just keep me going back for more, one more BANG to my taste buds! One more ride down the roller coaster track! Please keep your hands inside the car...

Hot peppers also aid in helping out a food that might otherwise be bland or boring. If I’m not particularly excited about a certain dish that is laid before me, I’ll add some hot peppers or seeds of hot peppers, and presto, it’s now a more enjoyable dish! "Especially Delicious".

Just because I add hot stuff to something doesn't mean that I don’t already like the food though. Take Sonny’s BBQ for example, that’s some great smoked meat on some great garlic toast, but add “Smokin” and “Sizzilin Sweet” BBQ Sauce to it, and you’ve got the perfect lunch! Now that’s “Man food”.

Above is a jar that is residing in my fridge right now.

I think my mouth is starting to water, I'm actually kind of thirsty right now.

Pictures of Pitchers

As the Sun began to go down last Friday night, there was a nice warm glow coming through my dining room window. I took that opportunity to create some images using one of the two blue colored glass pitchers I scored at a yard sale a couple Saturdays ago.

I don’t normally stop at yard sales, but when I was leaving my grandparents house on a Saturday afternoon recently, I spotted from the road, some cool blue colored glass objects that looked to be a part of a yard sale that was about to close. So I circled around and stopped. Upon closer observation, the blue glass was that of two pitchers, one short and stalking the other a little taller with a ribbed texture all over. I was debating which one to buy, both were only $5.00 each. The lady told me she had originally gotten them at an auction and couldn’t believe no one had bought them that day. She said she hated to get rid of them, but she had switched to more of a “red glass” décor.

My first thought was to use the one I would choose to hold ice cold water in my refrigerator. I asked them which one held the most water, so an old tall man, whom I think was her husband filled one up with hose water. I then poured it into the other, finding out that they both held about the same. I decided to buy both. Not wanting to waste perfectly good water, I asked them if they had some plants that needed watering and they said sure. So, I poured the refreshing liquid on a few plants that were parched in the Florida sun.

Once I got my new found treasures home, I seen what I had already thought. The plastic pitcher I’m currently using to refrigerate water holds a fair amount more than the ones I just salvaged from the garage sale. So, I decided to place both of them on top of the fridge as a pair where they could be shown off. I just think they’re cool.

...and I Lift My Voice

Above is another image I captured at my parents house during one of my visits in 2005. It’s the handle on their kitchen sink. I like how the round chrome ball reflects almost a 360 degree reflection of all that’s around it. If you look closely you can see the window, the ceiling, the fridge, the sink and then it all repeats again. You can also see my arms resting on the sink to get the shot.

I can remember one Sunday afternoon when I was about 18 years old. I was doing Sunday lunch dishes at that very sink as my parents laid down for a nap. While I was alone in the quiet looking out through the window at the beautiful country, I began to sing softly the chorus “I Love You Lord”. If you don’t know the lyrics, they go: “I love you Lord and I lift my voice, to worship you, oh my soul, rejoice, take joy my King, in what you hear, let it be a sweet, sweet sound, in your ear.” It’s was just kind of a unique moment I had with God.

In recent times when I’ve sung that song in church, I think about how almost 10 years have passed since that day at the sink and here I am still singing that song to God. A lot of life has passed since my teens, but Jesus is still my Christ, my Lord, my God, my Savior, my Father. I have not always been faithful to Him or have pursued Him like I should, BUT, He has always been faithful to me and has always pursued me and His Grace has always been enough to cover me. That’s what I’ve learned over the course of my life thus far.

The Jumpman

I fell in love with sneakers when I was young boy. Every time my Mom or Gram would take me to a department store I would always want to go to the Sneaker section and check out all the sweet shoes. Back then my Mom would usually only buy me the “store brand”, like JC Penny’s “USA Olympics”, but that made the Nikes and other name brands all the more spectacular for me to drool over! There were a few times my Mom would buy me a name brand if it was on sale. You can imagine how thrilled I was at those times!

I mainly wear running style shoes now because of how comfortable they are for just chillin, but Basketball shoes are my first love. I remember going “Back to School Shopping” with my Mom before my 6th grade year. We went to a store called “Montgomery Ward” and they had Converse “Magic Johnson’s” on a good enough sale that my Mom was willing to buy them for me! It was the last pair he came out with before he retired in 1991. They were sweet shoes, I remember my 6th grade teacher, Mr. Witter commenting at least twice about how cool they were. Later that year I became a Jordan fan. I remember finding a red “Jumpman” shoelace clip (the Jumpman is the iconic Nike “Air Jordan” logo of Mike doing a stretch style dunk) on a seat at a McDonalds that some kid must have left behind. That was as close to owning a pair of Jordans that I was going to get back then! So, I proudly put it on the front lace of my “Magic Johnsons”. It was kind of the “Classic Confrontation” shoe as one of my friends called it. Jordan vs. Magic, like the 1991 NBA Finals!

Since I only had one clip, I had to choose which foot to place it on. So, I chose the left, because that’s my “lift off” foot when I do “lay-ups” in Basketball. See, there was even a method to my madness.

Now that I’m an adult, I can buy whatever sneaker I want to! I’ve purchased two pairs now of “Air Jordan” shoes over the last couple years and both are kept as near “Mint” as possible. My latest pair came with Jumpman shoelace clips! This time they're blue and I have the the whole pair. As a "throw back" to my youth, I wear them on the front lace of both shoes.

I took the image above last night, this was a shot I've been conceptualizing recently.

Green Vase

Here’s a vase that I photographed while visiting my parents last year. I enjoy bright colored glass and how light shines through it. Bright green is one of my favorite colors, it shows up a lot in my design work. So, when I seen this vase, I had to create an image with it.

The list of my favorite colors would probably go something like this:
1. Shades of Blue
2. Shades of Green
3. Bright Orange
4. Yellow
5. Black

Bradley

Bradley is the oldest of my “younger” cousins, he is now 16! Brad is an artist with a very creative imagination. Right now, one of the biggest passions in his life is video games, he’s quite the “gamer”. But, the cool thing is, it’s not the games about auto theft and prostitutes, but rather “Super Mario” and “Sonic the Hedge Hog” that he loves.

One thing I’ve noticed about Brad lately is how much of a “good heart” he has. A few months ago our family had gathered for a Sunday dinner. I was talking about DVD renting with my Aunt and Uncle when Bradley picked up on the fact that I go to Block Buster. He said that since he and his family went to a different store, I could have the gift card to Block Buster that he was carrying around in his wallet. So, he pulled it out and gave it to me. I was very impressed with his generosity.

I Believe God is going to continue to use Brad and his kindness in the future.

Above is another example of how I like using shadows. Brad usually gives me a goofy smile when I try to photograph him, that time I was able to make him look like a model.

Brianna

This is probably one of my favorite photographs that I've taken. Brianna is the youngest of my three younger cousins. All three of them are almost like younger siblings to me since I never had any. I’ve held them all when they were babies, It’s been amazing seeing them all grow.

I captured this image of my cousin Brianna about 2 years ago. I just asked her to look out the window and there was an image. She was kind of in a solemn calm mood at the time, which is rare, because she is usually full of energy and sound! While her older siblings Bradley and Brittany look similar, Brianna has a slightly different look about her. I’ve seen pictures of my Grandma as a little girl and I definitely see resemblances to Brianna. I’ve told my Gram that Brianna is kind of her “Mini-Me”.

One time me and Brianna were using the computer together when she said, “your like my Dad”. I was a little perplexed at this, seeing that she already has a loving father. So, I asked her why and she said because I love and care for her and help her. Comparing me to her Dad is probably the nicest thing a child has ever said to me thus far in my life.

Decisions

I learned how to play Chess in 7th grade. The private school I was attending at the time was starting up some “clubs” that would be held at a certain time on Wednesdays. The person in charge of the “Chess Club” was one of my classmates fathers. I can remember him showing a group of us who didn’t already know how to play the game, what the movements where for each piece. I was surprised that it wasn’t that difficult to “learn” how to at least “play” the game. Winning of course, is where the challenge came.

Anyway, me and one of my classmates would go each Wednesday and play. I can’t remember if I went in 8th grade or not. A few years down the road though, I taught my younger cousins, Bradley and Brittany how to play when they were both under 10 years old. I was always amazed and proud that they learned so easily at such a young age.

In 2002, I found out that one of my friends, Patricia, knew how to play Chess. So, we would play once in a while and Patricia would usually beat me! I think I got her at least three times but can only really remember two of those victories in which I went “Back to Back”! I was proud of myself that I could actually do that since she won about 80 percent of the time:(

I captured the above image during one of me and Patricia’s battles on a Sunday afternoon near the end of 2002. The Chess board that you see, I had gotten for Christmas at least 12 year ago. I like how every time I look at this image, Patricia is still contemplating her next move. Her pony tail sticking up in the air is what inspired me to take the shot. I just saw a “photograph”.

The Girl on the Golden Gate Bridge

Near the end of 2003, the company I work for had one of their yearly trade shows in beautiful San Francisco. We arrived on a Thursday and wouldn’t fly out until early Monday morning (and I do mean, early).

That Sunday was a “free day” in which we all could roam the city and see the sites. The group I ended up exploring with consisted of two "direct co-workers" with the remaining three being “extended co-workers”. One of my biggest thrills that day was seeing the Golden Gate Bridge up close and in person. Touching that bridge was like meeting a celebrity and shaking their hand, it’s just so “iconic”.

As I was taking photos of the sites and of my friends, I decided to pose for a few myself. When we reached the first support beam structure on Golden Gate, I leaned up against it and directed my friend David on how to photograph me. As I posed like a celebrity would for a magazine shoot, a girl that was jogging by, stopped as to not get in the shot. Before I saw her, I heard her say to me, “Oh, come on, you can pose better than that!” A quick glance revealed that she had dark hair and was dressed in running clothes, I never seen her eyes because of the sunglasses she was wearing. Before I could even think, one of my “extended co-workers”, Tim Pate, said to her “Don’t you know who this is?” She replied “Should I?” But unfortunately the fun stops there, because all I said was “No”. So, she continued on her run over the Golden Gate Bridge.

I guess I just wasn’t ready for the fast thinking of Tim Pate! If that would ever happen again, I would have more fun with it. Anyway, Tim Pate became my friend that day and that story became better each time it was told for a while. I can remember our first day back at work that following Tuesday. Most of us that hung out that past Sunday went to the Mall food court for lunch to reminisce about our trip. We laughed so hard as we told stories of the happenings from our tour of San Francisco. Most of the laughing was because Tim had us rolling!

The image at the top is one I took of the Golden Gate’s support beams. I wanted to capture a uniuqe view of the bridge.

The Window

Aside from “groomsmen” duties at my cousin Holly’s wedding, she had asked me to use my photographic skills as well. The front doors of the old church that the ceremony was held in, had these great stained glass panes with one clear glass piece in the middle. I loved using the clear piece to photograph people through, usually from the inside, I thought it created an interesting image.

At one point, I had stepped outside to see if there were any photographic opportunities when one of the little girls peeked out through the glass. I had actually missed the shot the first time, but since she was wanting to ham it up for the camera, she reenacted her pose for me with great authenticity, and I got it! I love how you can see her nose pressed up against the window and how much energy there is in her eyes.

That day I shot a lot of “photojournalistic” images. Holly later told me in a “Thank You” note, that I captured things no one else thought of. I enjoy taking photos of things that are sometimes overlooked, but have image value in the long run.

Jaci V

This is your pilot speaking, I hope your enjoying your flight with us today… Ok, it seems like I’ve created a theme of commercial airline flying this week. So, I thought I would cap it off with one more shot from my flight in April.

One of the cool things about flying Air Tran is that they offer XM satellite radio! which means you have access to many different kinds of music to pass the time of your flight. I love being able to listen to my favorite modern Christian music as I fly. The LCD display shows the channel (or genre) and artist whose playing at the time. I had been wanting to get a cool shot of the display when I seen Jaci Velasquez’s name appear, Perfect!

You see, I’ve a had a celebrity crush on Jaci ever since she came onto the Christian music scene in 1995 when she was 15. I just seem to be drawn to dark haired women like Jaci Velasquez or Catherine Zeta Jones. Of course I like blondes too, a few celebrity examples: Naomi Watts, Kirsten Dunst and Scarlet Johansen.

Anyway, funny story; I’ve been able to see Jaci in concert about 3 times. The first being in 1998, when she was about 19 (I‘m just a few months older than her), she opened for 4HIM. After the concert I bought a black and white photo of Jaci to get autographed. As I stood in line, the guys of 4HIM were actually working their way back the line signing peoples stuff! I didn’t care about that though, I was waiting for Jaci! Anyway, as I got closer to Jaci’s table that she was sitting at, I remember that most of the other people in line were little girls and their moms. When I finally got to Jaci, I gave her the photo to sign. I think she asked me if I had a good time and smiled as she signed the photo. I think I actually spoke and said yes, but for the rest of that small moment in time, I was just like…uh…duh…….

Window Seat

Here's another image that I captured as I was flying up North earlier this year. I was entertaining myself with my camera when I looked up and seen the boy in front of me gazing out the window. I knew it was a photographic opportunity, so I fired away. It took me a couple tries though, because this boy was chewing gum like a cow, I had to get a shot where you couldn't tell that. I like how you can see his reflection in the window and how he's just looking out on the earth below. That's what drew me to this shot.

It really is amazing that we can actually fly in giant machines through the sky. It's mind boggling when you stop and think about that. I'm glad I live in this time. There's always bad things in this world, but I still think it's an exciting time to be alive!

Reese

Earlier this year I flew up North via Air Tran, to visit my parents and to be in my cousin's wedding. Air Tran’s in-flight magazine is “go”, which on this particular cover was Reese Witherspoon (I used to get her confused with Alicia Silverstone). I just thought it was cool how Reese was peeking over the magazine holder in the seat. I also thought the title was cool, “There’s nothing stopping you”.

One of the girls I used to work with at a grocery store actually reminded me of Reese and Alicia, I think more so Reese. Her name was Sam, she was fun to work with;)

A Beginning

I took this self portrait when I was 8. This was from one of the first “photo shoots” I can remember going on. I had just gotten a “micro 110” camera at Burger King. I don't see the Creepy King serving those up on his commercials these days. The camera was only about two and half inches long. The end of the 110 film cartridge actually stuck out the side of the camera! It had a little red shutter button that I thought was cool. The view finder was a pop-up square piece of plastic, well, the whole camera was pretty much plastic.

Anyway, I remember taking this camera outside that evening and wandering around my grandparents Big yard. I was amazed that I “had the power” to capture whatever image I wanted to. I was shooting shrubs, trees, etc. Then I turned the camera on myself and pressed that cool little red shutter button. I love having this picture, because it shows an interest in photography that I had even at 8 years old. This was taken long before I would know anything about shutter speeds, aperture or film speeds, I was just capturing images.

I found the image of this Micro 110 on the internet. It’s almost identical to the one I took this self portrait with. If you look closely at the diagram on the box, you can see the film cartridge sticking out of the end of the camera.

Shadow Play

Another thing that inspires me as a photographer are shadows. I think it’s because they create something unique on their own, something that at times will only be visible for a moment. On numerous occasions I’ve spotted shadows that I just had to photograph.

In 2004 I went to Chicago for a Mac design seminar. While there I explored the city looking for cool photographic opportunities. As I walked through an underpass I saw a 10 speed bicycle that was locked up in a cage. I noticed how it had a great mirrored shadow coming off of it on the ground. At first I kept on walking, but then I knew I’d better turn around and take that shot! So, I did.

I seen this duck on Chicago’s Navy Pier. It was in the evening and the duck was casting an elongated almost bowling pin like shadow. The table photo was taken down in Boca at the same resort I took the shots of the limes. If you look closely you can see a lime in the glass on the table, but the shadow on the ground is the star of this photograph.