The Traveler

I wonder how many places she’s seen? How many times she’s been rained on? How many sunsets on the open road she’s taken in?

How many car shows has she been on display at? How long does she now have to sit in the garage each week?

I wonder.

Bel Air

Another image from my “Old Town” archives. A 1957 Chevy Bel Air this time, taken at the beginning of my “Auto Art” craze in 2004.

Growing up, I remember my Grandfather mentioning “’57 Chevys” on numerous occasions, I think he owned one “back in the day”, before this car was a “legend”. I think it’s safe to say that it’s one of his favorite cars of all time. I’ll have to ask him if that’s a true statement.

I remember a time a couple years back, probably seven years or more, before I began photographing these cars. Me and my Grandfather were checking out all these classics one Saturday night at Old Town. Pap knew a lot about these automobiles and was sharing all sorts of tidbits about them with me. It’s amazing how he could tell what year many of them were built in.

I love the tail fins. Just thought I’d “pop” the red tail light on this one.

Alien World

Here’s an image from my archives, it was taken at least two years ago. I had noticed these flowers while walking around "Lake Mirror" in downtown Lakeland. As I was shooting some macro images of them, this bee happened upon the scene, being busy about his business. It was a chance encounter with this life form from a tiny world that ended up giving me a great image.

His world is alien to mine and mine to his.

Warning To Humans

About a year ago, not long before I started sharing my photography on this blog, I captured this image in downtown Lakeland. I was wondering around trying to find something “photo worthy” when I looked up and saw this sign warning pet owners to clean up after their furry companions. I couldn’t resist. So, I captured it in the way that I saw it.

I finally felt like posting this one. Though it’s quite in contrast to the feelings that the flower in the previous post evokes.

Flower 2.0

I was messing around with an image I took the other day of a beautiful flower, trying to do something selective color. I wasn’t crazy about the rest of the elements in the photo except for the flower itself, though. So, I just created a black background and composed the flower where I wanted it. Nothing fancy, just something quick and easy.

There’s a quote that I wanted to share with all of you. I think everyone will relate to it, especially all you photographers and artists out there. It was at the bottom of an email I received from a business associate the other week.

"When you do the common things in life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world."

- George Washington Carver (1864-1943)

When I read that quote, I first thought of photography and how a creatively composed image grabs the attention of others. I also thought of my favorite athletes, like Michael Jordan. He’s someone who revolutionized the game of Basketball with the way he played it.

Of course, this quote can be applied to any area of life. I just thought you would enjoy reading it and thinking of it in terms of photography as I did.

Orange Camaro

The color and lines on this Chevy Camaro attracted me to it.

An Interview

One of my PhotoBlog friends, “Anna”, an American in London, has offered an “interview challenge”. She recently accepted it from someone and then offered it to anyone else who wanted to be interviewed by her. I immediately obliged. She said I could answer five or as many of the ones she asked that I wanted. I liked all the questions, so, I chose to answer all eight!

What are you most passionate about in your life?
Being creative. I can be “passionately creative” and “creatively passionate”. As I’ve said before, I just find that I’m most happy when I’m being creative. Creativity can show up in every area of life. Equal to this passion would be my faith in Christ.

Pick a song that best describes you.
This is difficult because I love music very much and have “many” songs that are like “theme songs” for me. I’ll just have to pick one. I would say, “I Owe It All” by Paul Colman. It’s really a song that describes my relationship with God and how I “owe it all”, everything in my life, to Him because He has given me every good thing in my life. As the bridge of the song says, “You always lift me when I fall, You always hear me when I call, and you forgive me, Lord, and in your grace I am found”.

In a quiet moment you get to yourself, what do you do?
In this season of my life, I have a lot of opportunities for “quiet moments”. Really, I always have. Once I step out of the work environment, I have the opportunity to go create a “quiet moment” if I like. I guess it’s a matter of when I choose to have a quiet moment. I would say a true moment like this would be when I read or pray.

What surprises you most about other people?
The amount of hate that some people can have.

Who has made the most impact on your life? Why?
That’s a very difficult question. So many people that I have known have shaped who I am in some way or another. I’m going to have to say my Grandparents and Parents. No matter what, they’ve always been there for me to fall back on.

Share one sure fire way to get to your heart?
Love, Hope, Beauty, and Adventure speak to my heart.

What is one thing you own that would be hard for you to give away?
My laptop computer.

Share something that you hope to do one day.
Share the beauty of the Grand Canyon or a walk on a sunset lit beach with someone I love. I would be taking in a little bit more of the greatness of God and experiencing “Love, Hope, Beauty, and Adventure” all in that moment.

If you are also interested in being interviewed, leave me a comment saying, "INTERVIEW ME." Then, I will respond by asking you at least five new questions. You will then post on your blog your answers to my questions. The fun continues when you include this explanation and an offer to interview one of your readers in your post. When they comment requesting to be interviewed, you will ask them at least five new questions of your own.

The image above, was captured at “Old Town” last Saturday night.

Lollypop Of Light

Here’s another image from Saturday night. It’s a ride that consists of a giant, spinning beam with a riding apparatus on each end. The beam is covered with lights which created this humongous, multicolored lollypop when it was photographed with an exposure of eight seconds. My aperture was set at F8 and virtual film speed was set to “50” to limit as much “noise” as possible.

I would have liked to have gotten the whole radius in frame, but I was up against a building just to get this perspective. The two multicolored beams behind the circle are a part of a “reverse bungee” riding attraction. I’ll probably be trying more shots with this subject the next time I go to Old Town.

Old Town, Kissimmee, Florida

Yesterday evening, I took the 30 minute drive to Kissimmee Florida. You’ve heard me talk about this place plenty of times in the past, but just incase you've missed those posts; “Old Town” is a tourist attraction with lots of “unique shops, restaurants and rides”. Every Saturday night, it hosts a classic car show called "The Saturday Night Cruise". The "Cruise" averages around 300 vehicles each week and is the largest "weekly show" in America. You’ve seen some of the best images I’ve captured there of those cars from previous visits. Last evening though, I came prepared with my tripod in tow, to do some long exposure shots of the Farris Wheel and swing ride located at the entrance of this attraction.

Above is one of my favorites of the night. I’ll be posting more images from this outing, so stay tuned.

"Bond...James Bond"

Above is an image I created earlier this week for a prize give-away promotion that the company I work for is doing. It’s an “Omega” watch that is themed after the Omega watch worn by the latest “James Bond” in the film “Casino Royale”.

I wanted to emphasize the fact that this was a “Bond” watch, so I placed a pamphlet that came with it, featuring “Bond” himself, in the background.

Sonny's BBQ

Ask any of my friends and they will tell you, that I love Sonny’s BBQ. About four years ago, my friend, Tim and I started going there on our lunch break occasionally. Sonny’s has a lunch special called “The Big Deal”, that has become one of my favorite lunches (or dinners for that matter). It consists of your choice of sliced beef, sliced pork, pulled pork, beef brisket, or sliced turkey (I usually get the sliced beef or pulled pork), on garlic toast (or regular bun, Tim always gets that) with a side of fries or beans. There are a few other sides, but I only choose one or the other of those two. Oh yeah, I almost forgot, your drink, which is a massive refillable cup, is included in this, making it the “Big Deal”. 99 percent of the time I get “Sweet Tea”.

I have frequented this eating establishment so often with Tim, that there are a few waitresses who usually know exactly what we are going to order. There have been times when our “Sweet Teas”, already in “To Go” cups, have been delivered to our table before we ever placed our orders.

I think the big draw for me is that “The Big Deal”, really is a great lunch special, only around seven dollars. That and the fact that I’m a “Meat and Sauce” guy. Give me some good meat and lots of spicy sauce to dip it in and I’m happy. The meat comes out dry which allows you to add your own sauce and choose how much is applied to the meal. Which brings me to the choice of sauces that Sonny’s offers. They are as follows: Mild, Sweet, Sizzilin Sweet, and Smokin. My favorites are the latter.

I definitely have a “process” to the way I go about eating “The Big Deal”. I usually always eat my fries first, as to avoid having cold fries, which are not good. Of course the fries have ketchup applied to them before they are consumed. I then take the top piece of garlic toast off of the sandwich and apply “Smokin” sauce to the meat. Put the bread back on, flip, and apply “Sizzilin Sweet” sauce to the other side. Then, pour “Smokin” sauce off to the side on the plate. I proceed to cut the sandwich in half and dip it into the sauce on the plate. Once I’ve finished half of the sandwich, I’ll pour some “Sizzilin Sweet” sauce onto the plate and dip the other half of the sandwich into it. So good!

Mix all of this with great conversation and you have a wonderful lunch! Once finished, I’ll leave the friendly waitress a nice tip and go pay for the delicious meal I just enjoyed.
I’ve had to have eaten there around 100 times by now, or at least it feels like I have. I was just talking with some friends the other day (while at Sonny’s), that I’ve probably used up the equivalent of one of the sauce bottles.

One of the tokens you usually receive at the end of a Sonny’s meal, are “Moist Towelettes”, so your hands don’t smell like a BBQ sandwich after lunch. Above are some extra towelettes that I’ve stored in the glove box of my car.

Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name…or at least what you order.

Feel The Love

Saturday night, a “post Valentines” Banquet was held at my church and I was asked to do the photography for the event. Above is an image I captured before the “mood lighting” was set for the evening.

As you know from my previous post, I celebrated my 28th Birthday this past week (Thanks to all my fellow Bloggers for the Birthday wishes, it was much appreciated!). I was so blessed in the fact that I had four different celebrations in favor of my Birthday! Wednesday night at my College and Career Group, Thursday at work, Thursday night with some other good friends and finally, Sunday afternoon with some Family.

I felt very honored and humbled that I’m surrounded by so many great people who care about me. I know God loves me and I felt that He was showing His love for me through all my friends this past week.

One of my favorite songs is by an artist named Paul Colman, it’s called “The One Thing”. It talks about the unconditional love of Christ. “The one thing I don’t question is you, you really love me like you say you do….so hold me….cause I need you”

This past week, I believe God was holding me through my friends.

Amethyst

Amethyst is the February birthstone, my birthstone. On Thursday the 22nd, I’ll celebrate my 28th birthday. As another year has passed, I think of something I was told last year as I talked with an older gentleman who is almost 80 years of age. He said to me, “It’s a blessing to grow old, that’s how I see it”. That statement stuck out to me, it was coming from someone who has seen a lot of life and has found every day of it to be a blessing and is still enjoying his life.

I consider myself to still be a young person and Lord willing, I still have many more years to experience on this earth. As time goes on, I realize more and more that each day is indeed a gift and a blessing.

The above image is of an Amethyst rock that I got when I was a kid. I went through a time of “rock collecting” and this is one that was bought at a “rock show”.

Chairs of O'Hare

This multitude of empty chairs caught my eye at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. Many seats to "wait" in.

Dangerous Task

While at Navy Pier, I looked up and saw this guy performing a dangerous task on a docked sail boat.

The Lone Dandelion

While visiting my parents in the mountains of Pennsylvania last year, I took a few nature walks with my camera. During one of those walks, high up on a ridge, I spotted this lone Dandelion beside the road. It was in the midst of very Big scenery and space. I already had an idea in the back of my mind of the type of shot I wanted to try.

I gave attention to a small living thing that may have otherwise gone unnoticed. It would have passed through it’s short life without ever being seen. But, I saw it, and now you do too.


Over 100 Posts!
This is post number 102, by the way! I just wanted to thank everyone who has visited my Blog over the last 100 posts! I enjoy reading your comments and checking out your sites as well! It’s a really fun community we have going here and I hope to continue to be a part of it. This is such a great creative outlet for me to share my images and my heart through my stories with you. Thank you for always coming back for more, you know you're always welcome here!

I want to continue to grow as a photographer, here’s to growing together through our Photo Blogs!

Pizza Hut

I know I just posted about Pizza, but I was inspired to show this image from my archives. A couple of years ago, I was at “Old Town” in Kissimmee with a friend. While there that Saturday night, we walked next door to Pizza Hut for dinner. Before we dug into our delicious meal, I snapped this image, which I've had hanging on my refrigerator door for quite some time now.

Anyone who spends a lot of time with me, finds out that I love Pizza Hut Pan Pizza! That’s the Pizza that I grew up on, or at least the Pizza that I loved most while growing up. I just love how “conversational” a booth at a Pizza Hut can be. The lighting, the aroma, everything just adds up to a nice time for me.

One time as I was browsing one of the many specialty gift shops at “Old Town”, I came upon some plastic red cups that had the Pepsi logo printed in white on the sides. The cups reminded me of the type that Pizza Hut used to have before they went more to glass. Of course, I bought some of the red cups for my apartment.

The “rising crust” frozen pizzas that I buy at the grocery store are ok, but they only aspire to be what a Pizza Hut Pan Pizza is.

“Pizza Hut, Making it Great!”

Good Stuff

What you are looking at is a delicious, self rising crust pizza. When it comes to “Grocery Store bought” pizza, you can’t beat Freschetta or Digiorno, but the one pictured above is an “Off-Brand” version, which was good enough on that night. For the record though, my favorite store bought pizza is "Frescheta", because they have a "sauce stuffed crust" pizza. Frescheta should give me some free pizza or something for the way I promote them!

I’ve eaten whole pies like this in the past, but now try to keep it at only three quarters in one setting or half if I‘m sharing with a friend.

The Simple Candle

I love the glow of a candle. I was trying to think of something to post and thought I’d capture some of the “ambiance” of my apartment. The blurred, multi-colored lamp you kind of see in the background, was a lamp that I first noticed at a store before I ever had my own place. I said that I would love to have something like that when I got my own apartment. So, once I had my own place, I went and got the lamp. It’s called “the Medusa” because of the many different lamps coming off of it.

Ok, I’m talking more about the blurred background image than I am the actual subject of this photograph. As I said, I love the glow of a candle. I think we humans have something deep within us from long ago when our only light source at night was that of fire. With all the electricity that surrounds us, we seem to still be drawn at times, to the simple candle.

Believe! Wish Big!

As I’m writing this, it is past midnight on Christmas Eve. It is actually Christmas morning, but “Christmas morning” doesn’t really begin until you wake up, I haven’t even went to bed yet!

I can remember the anticipation I had as a child leading up to Christmas morning. My family’s tradition growing up, was to open one small present on Christmas Eve, an “appetizer” if you will, to hold everyone over until the main course in the morning. Once morning came, my eyes would “Pop” open. I would see dim light coming in from the windows, making me to know that “Christmas Morning” could now begin! I remember one year, just sitting out in the quiet of the living room, waiting for everyone else to wake up and join me. I gazed at all the presents, not believing that the moment had finally come!

I think one of the things that made receiving presents at Christmas time so magical as a child, was the fact that you were receiving something you could not obtain yourself. As we become adults and get jobs, most of what we would like to have, we eventually buy ourselves. Once in a while though, we still receive something that maybe we couldn’t have gotten too easily on our own.

Receiving presents of any kind is still fun though. I think as adults, It’s more about the meaning behind presents. The fact that you have people who care about you and they took the time and money to buy you something, means a lot. That’s where some of the magic lies for us adults at Christmas time.

It seems 2007 has snuck up on me before I was even ready, well, actually I think I am ready for a new year. Each year I try to think of something to help encourage me about that year. I’m liking 2007, because “7 is God’s perfect number”.

One of my favorite rolls of wrapping paper that I bought this year has the words “Believe” and “Wish Big” printed on it. These messages encourage me to keep after my dreams.

So, I encourage you as I encourage myself for this coming year of 2007, “Believe” and “Wish Big”! Don’t give up on your dreams in life.