Waiting All Day

So I have a dog named Memphis. She's an Australian Cattle Dog and Doberman mix and is adorable as all hell. I call her a cow because she used to make this mooing noise when she was a puppy, and still does sometimes. It's gotten to the point that she thinks her name is cow, and gets all sad like she's in trouble when we call her Memphis. She is extremely intelligent, and picks up human mannerisms quite often, which is always entertaining. And, her favorite person in the world happens to be my dad.

When it's warmer outside, we usually leave our front door open so we can get some fresh air through the screen door. Memphis loves it. She's very nosy and likes to watch all the neighbors outside going about their business, as well as barking at the mailman. However, her favorite activity seems to be waiting for my dad to come home from work. She is always very excited to see him and annoy him by following him around the house. That's what she was doing here when I managed to get this photo of her. Waiting around for my dad to come home.

Dandruff-lions

Okay, I know they're weeds and all, but I like dandelions. I think they're pretty in their own little yellow way. My dad, of course, hates them. Especially when they're growing all over our front yard for everyone to see. He calls them "dandruff-lions" because of when they turn white and shed all over the place. He says it's like the yard has a bad case of dandruff.

All of them are gone now, thanks to his weeding and whatnot, but before he murdered them all, I took this pretty sweet close up of one. I love the way it came out. To me it kind of shows that even a simple, and rather annoying weed, can be quite beautiful when looked at through an artists' eye. Enjoy!

Home Sweet Home

This one doesn't need much explination, really. Although I was born in Southern California and lived there for the longest period of time in my life thus far, it is not the only place I call home. Not by a long shot. I only lived there until I was ten, and don't have a very large amount of memories left from there. Sad, but it happens.

I moved to Hawaii, more specifically the island of Oahu, the first time when I was thirteen years old and was instantly in love with the islands. I even loved school there, and if you know me, you'll know what a big statement that is. I learned to love and then teach sailing there, among numerous other amazing things. I moved back two years ago, but then wound up back on the mainland after a not nearly long enough stay. Oahu will always be my home, even if I never make it back there, or only make it back to visit.

So this photo is simply a close-up of the Hawaiian island chain on a globe we've had since I can remember. Hope you like it!

Oh Sweet Vanity

I admit it, I'm a very vain person. But it is my belief that one of the vainest creatures in existence is the male peacock. Everything about them from their colors to their huge, beautiful tails screams look at me.

When I lived in California, a friend of mine lived on a farm and had a wide array of animals. From horses to goats to pigs, and even a little flock of peacocks. One of the last times I was there before I moved, I grabbed some of the male peacock feathers from off the ground and kept them. I still have them to this day and they're just as beautiful as they ever were. So, in case you couldn't tell, that's what this photo is of. A close up of a feather from a male peacock. My little symbol of vanity.

A Geek At Heart

Okay, I'll admit it. I love Transformers. I love the original show, the original movie, the new movie, the classic and newer toys...all of it. And if you step foot in my room, or happen to notice the tattoos on my thumbs [Autobots symbol on the right and the Decepticons symbol on the left] it'll definitely show.

In a corner of my room, covering the top of my computer desk, stands my massive army of Transformers toys. I don't even know how many of them I have anymore because there are far too many to count. So, on to the story. It's an incredibly nice day out today, so I was wandering about with my camera...like I do...and thought to myself, self, why don't you grab your Megatron and take a few photos of him outside on the grass? So I did. I took a bunch of them, but I think this one came out the best. So I admit it. I'm a super geek. You love it. Don't lie.

Get Wet!

Again, my apologies for the gap in my posts. Tomorrow is supposed to be a nice day out, so I might go a-wandering to get some more photos for this.

Alright. So, when I was taking photography in high school, I took this really sweet photo of our garden hose with a little ant crawling on it that my teacher loved. She made me develop this massive print of it, that, to the best of my knowledge, is still hanging in her classroom. I couldn't find my print of that photo to scan and post on here, so I took another that is similar to it. This would be that photo.

Sad to say, I may never find the original of this. There is no cute little ant in this one and it is in color while the original was in black and white. That is what makes the two photos very different. It was so sunny out the day I took this that it brought out the lights and darks in the hose, while the original's black and white hue subdued the tones of the hose and made the blackness of the ant that much more noticeable. I like both for the purpose of showing how different two photos of one subject can really be.

Obsession

My apologies for slacking with my posts the past few days. I think I might have had a photo taking block. Or maybe the captain of my brain ship went on vacation without telling anyone. Or maybe it was just that every time I actually saw something that would make a good photo I didn't have my camera on me. Whichever it was, it was definitely starting to get pretty irritating. But anyway, I'm back! Well, for today at least. Here you go..

I'm not really sure how much detail I want to go into with this one. I like how the photo came out, a lot, and it definitely has meaning to me. Albeit, not the happiest meaning, but meaning nonetheless. Just know that if you're one of the many that struggle every day like I do to fight this, then I understand and you have my deepest sympathies.

Patriotic Perspective?

This, if you couldn't tell, is another one of my random perspective shots that I am oh so fond of. I doubt the subject matter needs to be stated on this one, as it is rather obvious I would think. So, a story, eh?

I was sitting around one day in a fairly open and quiet place on the grass and noticed the flagpole. My brain immediately told me to go grab my camera out of my car and take a photo of the flagpole from below because it would probably come out kind of cool. So I did, and here it is for you to see.

Snaily McSnailerson

I've always thought snails were kind of cute. Don't ask me why, because I'm not really sure. Maybe it's their little eye/feeler things. I doubt I'll ever know for sure.

I don't really see many snails here in Connecticut. I don't know if it's not warm enough for them or what, but this photo was not taken where I currently live. I took it when I was living in Hawaii the last time between 2006 and 2007. It was just after a good rain and all the critters were coming out to play when I saw this little fellow making his way along a rock wall outside the house I was staying at. I immediately grabbed my camera and took some photos of his journey to the other side of the wall, and liked this one the best. I call him Snaily McSnailerson, or "Snailsy" for short.

Remembering

I'm not going to go into too much detail with this one. This isn't really the place for that. Just know this is a photograph I took to remember a friend.

I toned down the color in photoshop to set the right tone with it seeing as how it just didn't look right in full color, and there weren't enough tones to make it look right in black and white either. I hope you enjoy how it came out as much as I do. Till next time...

Flamingos and Shopping Carts

Alright, here's one with a weird story. For starters, this is another quick pen sketch, in case you couldn't tell. I must emphasize that the subject matter on this is not just a flamingo, but a plastic flamingo. And here is the odd, but amusing story behind my slight flamingo obsession.

First off, I have a shopping cart in my room. The story behind this shopping cart is that a friend of mine helped me take it from a CVS near my house and carry it up the stairs to my room so I would have somewhere to put things. Right now all my hats and hoodies are currently residing in it. Now, I told you that story to tell you this story. Someone very dear to me once told me that I'm the kind of person that appreciates the little things, and sometimes the odd things. To the extent that, if he were to steal a plastic flamingo for me out of someone's yard for my shopping cart, I would instantly love it. I, of course, agreed. It's now gotten to the point that I indeed have a little plastic flamingo in my shopping cart, I have a shell for my phone that has plastic flamingos on it, and I have a giant towel with, yes, plastic flamingos all over it. And to add to it, there are a good number of people who are trying their hardest to find plastic flamingos to give me because they also enjoy the weirdness of the sudden flamingo takeover. I'm sure there's something else I'm forgetting. So! That being said, I hope you enjoy my quick little sketch of a plastic flamingo, which has become an odd symbol of affection between me and the person who started this madness!

For Fun, It's A Wonderful Toy

There's these nights every once in a while, when I'm sitting around bored out of my mind, that I start taking very random photos of everything I see. Last night was one of these nights.

So, yes, I have a slinky. And even better, I like to sing the slinky song. Last night I was bored and playing with said slinky and took a photo of it. That's about all the story I can give you on this one. The random slinky photo happened to come out quite cool and rather contrasty, so I figured I would share my slinky with you. And yes, I am trying to see how many times I can use the word slinky in this short but slinky filled post. Slinky.

Wonder Mutts-R-Us

This is Missy. Her full name would be Missy Jetfire Miller, and there's a reason for that. She's a half beagle, half basset hound mix that is about thirteen and a half years old right now. So, if you know anything about Transformers, then the middle name of Jetfire is quite fitting for her. Now, as far as taking photos of this little beasty goes, it's very difficult to get ones where she doesn't have this look on her face like she's just been beaten or kicked. Either that or she turns away right as you're snapping the picture. Kind of a pain in the ass. But, on this particular day, she didn't seem to mind much, other than the fact that I interrupted one of her numerous naps to get this photo. It's a bit grainy, but I really like how it came out. Enjoy!

On Da Kine

Alright, I know the quality of the photo isn't that great, but that's what happens when you're shooting from a moving car at three o'clock in the morning with a very crappy camera. I, however, love how this photo came out, despite the poor quality.

There's a road in Hawaii on the island of Oahu that runs up through the Koolau mountain range called the Pali. There's a pretty sweet lookout up there and it's always super windy to the point that you can lean into the wind at damn near a forty-five degree angle and not fall, which is always fun! But back to the highway! There is a part where there's two tunnels, one right after the other. That is what this photo is of. It's a shot taken from a car going through the first Pali tunnel at about three in the morning. I took this somewhere between September of 2006 and January of 2007. Someday I'll make it back there to get some more photos with a better camera, but this will do for now. Enjoy this little taste of my home. Maybe I'll post some more Hawaii photos soon.

The World Outside

I'm definitely a fan of black and white photography when you have the proper elements to get a wide range of tones in the photo. This is probably because I was taught using black and white film and since discovered all the things you can do with it.

This is yet another photo with a simple explanation. As I was wandering about, I ventured into my garage and noticed that the window toward the back corner was all covered in spiderwebs and just dirty in general. I thought it looked pretty cool so I snapped a photo in black and white just to see how it would come out. And here it is!

House

Here's something a little different this time. Yes, it is still a photo, but the subject matter is rather different as far as the photographs I take go. Portrait work is something I'm wanting to get more into, but I'm pretty darn shy, so it's difficult for me to find people to photograph. I don't really have the balls to just walk up to someone, whether I know them or not, and say, "Hi. Mind if I take your photo?" Maybe someday I'll get to that point.

Anyhow, this would be a photo of one of my good friends, just doing what he does. [We all know him as House.] He writes songs and poetry on an almost constant basis, so it's very rare that he's not seen with a pen and notebook in hand. His talent is downright amazing, and I love his work. So one day I figured I'd snag a photo of him deep in thought with a pen in hand, and here is the result. I hope you enjoy the little change in subject of this post, seeing as how he might want to fight me if he sees that I blogged about this. Haha.

Benched

Alright. Onto another photograph for today. And here's your little story to go with it.

There's a park near my house that provides all types of subject matter for people who just can't resist the urge to take pictures of things all the time, like yours truly. So as I was wandering about the park, trying to stay away from the geese, lest I be attacked and or trampled by one, I saw this park bench. I thought to myself, self, why don't you take one of your random perspective shots of this bench? And myself replied, hey, that's a pretty good idea! So that's that, and here's the result!

Today I Fell

This one is pretty simple. For starters, I thought I'd post one of my random little drawings, seeing as how I haven't done that yet. So here's the little anecdote to go with the drawing!

I was sitting around bored one day, cause, you know, it happens. I decided I was going to make an attempt at drawing something with a pen. I'd never been all that successful at my attempts with this before, so I didn't really expect anything good to come out of it. Just figured it was worth another shot. The next problem was finding something I actually wanted to sketch out. So I sifted through all the album art I had from various bands, and finally settled on a rose from one of The Used's albums. Fitting, because they're one of my favorite bands. But anyway! This was the end result, and I was rather impressed with myself. It is very rare that I like any of my drawings. Photography is definitely my preferred medium, but every now and then my hand sketches out something worthwhile.

Cellar Door

I can't say there's really too much to say about this photo either. Pretty much all it boils down to is that I like the way the doors to our basement look. One still has paint on it and is in rather good condition, while the other is pretty much bare wood and is almost rotting away. It's odd to me, seeing as how they're obviously situated right next to each other. That coupled with the dark shadows running across them from the trees in our backyard made this one look pretty cool to me. So yeah, that's that. Someday soon I'll come up with a photo that has a more interesting story.

Ticking Away

This one doesn't have a very long story behind it. I'm a big fan of shots from odd perspectives, which is something you'll probably notice as I post more and more photos. As far as subject matter on this one, my dad bought my mom this really awesome grandfather clock when we lived in Hawaii for Valentine's Day. The shot was pretty simple. All I did was open the door to the weights and pendulum and snap a photo looking up into the workings of the clock. And eureka! I came up with a pretty good photo.

Chuck's Got Eyes!

Alas, we meet again. So we have this truck that my dad got when we lived in California. If I'm not mistaken, he bought it for something around five hundred dollars. [Or "five hundred dolla" if you prefer it to be said in a Bubble Boy sort of way.] I love this truck, or "Chuck the Truck", as we call him. It's a 1955 Chevy Pickup and I believe it's a second series. A monster of a vehicle, but still amazingly fun to drive, if you have the muscle for it, seeing as how it doesn't have power steering or power brakes. But, I digress. I love the way the headlights are on this truck. They're almost like eyes, and combined with the grill, well, the damn thing might as well be grinning at you. This would be the headlight on the right side of my beasty beast...you know...if you couldn't figure that out on your own.

Charlotte?

So when it's warm and sunny outside, I like to walk around aimlessly and take photos of random things, including myself more often than not. But taking photos of myself obviously has nothing to do with this post! Onto the point..

There's a little corner in my backyard where you can very easily climb on top of the roof of our garage. It's a pretty cool place to snag photos of various things from, so that's where I was headed when I grabbed this one. Now, I'm not really a big fan of spiders. I'm not afraid of them, by far, they're just not really my favorite creatures in the world. I do, however, like the way quite a few of them look. While I was headed over to my garage's roof, I spotted this critter busy making a home in the corner where the side of my house and garage's roof meet. I think it might be a garden spider, but then again, I could be horribly mistaken. But anyway, I really like how it came out, especially seeing as there was no photoshopping done to it aside from resizing it so that the photo wasn't massive. Enjoy! I call her Charlotte [even though I don't know whether it's a female or not].