Beauty Queen!

There's a song that keeps coming into my head, but I can't remember the words ... something about "beauty queen ... prettiest girl I've ever seen" ... or maybe I'm misremembering ... actually, that's probably it ...

Jeez ...

So I shot my next doc photo after having the first one fall through, and then I got home and set up my computer, thinking to myself that, okay, this'll be a little late, but not *that* late. And now, almost six hours later, after downloading three programs before one of them would process RAW (necessary because my GD-ed computer's Digital Photo Professional for some reason stopped working on RAW files), I'm finally getting around to actually posting it.

... sigh ...

I was considering doing a kind of wrap-around thing, since it goes all the way around his wrist, but his time ran short and I didn't want to keep him too long. Sic Semper Tyrannis --"thus always to tyrants." I think it might be more apt wrapped around one's middle finger, but that's just me ...

Interior Alaska -- minorly boring

I mean, I'm enjoying all of this, but Interior Alaska is kind of boring unless you like to hike and such. Which is fine with me because I love to hike and such.

Anyway, more landscape shots of places I done seen, y'all.


I do love me some hiking.

Black Friday shopping

Needs no explanation, which is good because I'm doped up to the eyeballs on Dayquil and such right now, so I can't feel my fingertips, can't type too precisely, and can't think too straight. So, here's what Black Friday looked like to me, in a nutshell. You know, I hate malls. I hate crowds. And I really hate crowded malls.

But right now, I just don't care. Wheeee for drugs that make you apathetic. It's so much easier than having to not care on your own.

Because I'll be gone

Going against my normal protocol and posting something a little early here, mostly in apologies that I'll be away from my computer (and work) until this Thursday. Yep, I gotta work on Turkey Day -- sucks, huh? Anyway, as it was observed this morning by the Ed and another Editor, I don't whine. Ever. Maybe I should.

Anyway, against protocol, I'm posting this little tidbit from the series of portraits that'll be running on Sunday. When I won't be here. Sigh. I'll get someone else to hold me a copy of the paper, make sure there's one waiting when I get back.

I changed this to B&W before I got on my little kick, by the way.

So there'll be more later, but for now, I'm gonna head on home to see the much-loved family, euthanize some trees, and maybe eat some guilt-tainted turkey. 'Cause I know I'm gonna catch hell for having to work until Christmas Eve.

Oddly enough, I took some portraits of one Mister Scrooge this morning -- we got along quite easily.

Ciao, y'all.

Sigh

If you're gonna post something neither constructive nor grammatically pleasing, at least have the balls to leave your name. That's one of the things that I don't like about the Internet -- the death of civility due to anonymity.

ERaarg.

My car is being a pain. Something about the clutch. Not making my day pleasant. At least I have a few days to work on it, though.

Anyway, finished up the round of portraits today with a Vietnamese family. We met at their church, upended a table, plugged in a light, and started out. The writer talked to the mother and father, but the little girl (dear God, so adorable) wanted so badly to be in the photos that I said we could do a few family portraits, too. Honestly, I'll put one in, but I don't think it'll run.

Here's a close-up of the little one. Her mom said she's seven -- "and a half!" little'un pointed out.

You know, every now and then I see a small family with some adorable little one and ... eh, never mind.

Quick update

Just not feeling up to writing at the moment ... maybe I'll update this with text later ...

So, work first and then some extra stuff from the weekend.

And why can't I stop thinking about that blasted werewolf?

Mixed news

So good news and bad news.

Good news: I won't have to take Sunday and drive to Muscle Shoals to take photos of a corn and cotton farmer up there, thus negating any time with family and the Girl, and thereby making my life a little bit miserable.

Bad news: I'll be driving about 240/250 miles on Friday, and then about 450 miles on Saturday. (To Muscle Shoals and back on Friday, and to Troy and back and then to Birmingham on Saturday).

... if anybody out there has some religion left in 'em, you might want to pray for my car to survive.

Back to Final Cut

I shot the state trooper recruits doing their driver training at Talladega this afternoon, stills and video. The stills, okay, whatever, got some things that'll probably fly. But it was a situation more open to video. Seeing as this was the second video I've shot for the paper, [here's the first] I should have done a better job with it, but I had a couple issues ...

• didn't use a tripod (it's a Flip camera but that shouldn't make a difference, should it?)
• not enough b-roll (no excuses for that)
• I don't like the audio capabilities
• and I used Final Cut Pro to edit, rather than FCP's simpleton cousin Windows Movie Maker. Which, after spending so much time away from it, is like driving a stick-shift after spending a year in an automatic -- it takes some getting used to.

Thusly are the reasons I'm still at the office at 7:bleeding:30. Waiting for the thing to export and all. Anyway.

More kids

More little kids playing tennis. And tomorrow I'll probably shoot challenged kids doing arts and crafts and swimming. And puppies, tomorrow morning for the pet of the week bit. Puppies, kids ... I just need old people and sunsets and I'm golden.

Sigh.

Oh, yeah

By the by ...

A video on the New Echota historic site. I have no idea how to work the audio in Adobe Premiere, so the interview is mainly left speaker, and the ambient is both. So, be warned. Also, it's longer than I would want, but then again, it's not really a story. It's ... sigh ... sort of an advertisement. Just something to put up to point people to, because NEHS is just about the biggest thing around here.

And ...

Cute kids playing tennis (or trying). Shot for the sports editor, and I figured I'd make a gallery of it. SnapHappy still, so, again, you've been warned.

Ciao.