TOP SECRET: Bracketing

Hi everyone! I have been taking some pictures over the past few days and some of the views that I have gotten the chance to see have been beautiful. The weather has been pleasant and mostly sunny. I have been out shooting with very limited equipment, for the most part just a camera and one lens. While the photos have turned out good I have had to pretend that I'm shooting a film camera because I also do not have my loop which is a fancy name for a eye piece that blocks out the sun so you can get a very good look at the camera's LCD. Without it getting a reliable idea of how the picture looks is difficult if not impossible. So I thought we could do a Pro Pix Tips covering this very issue.

Pro Pix Tips: One of the many great benefits of the digital cameras vs. the film cameras is the opportunity to view the picture instantly instead of sending the film off for development with the hope you got the shot. The pros had to have the shot every time, that's why they got the big bucks. In order to accomplish this the pros developed a technique called "bracketing". They would take a picture at the setting indicated by the light meter. Then they would take several additional pictures above and below the indicated exposure readings. The number of pictures above and below that the photographer would take was a personal preference. In doing this the photographer would be able to get some measure of insurance of make sure they had the shot. The exposures that were taken added to the cost due to the film used and the development cost.

Today, pros still use this technique even though they can view the picture instantly. Why? Well that is a very good question. Sometimes it's because the photographer doesn't have a view screen loop in order to see the screen in the sun light. Now let me quickly throw in this at no extra charge. Be careful to have your meter setting, spot, center weighted, or matrix/dynamic, cause that can effect the exposure of the subject of the photo (go ahead and ask how I know). Other reasons include that sometimes photos look better a little under or over exposed and you won't get that picture if you hadn't taken it. Sometimes the effects that are caused by the change in settings are quite interesting and give a special contrast to the photo. And one additional issue is that the photo doesn't always give an exact look due to the settings of the LCD.

So what do you do to use this bracketing technique? In the film days it was the shutter speed that was generally used by increasing or decreasing shutter setting. With the digital cameras there are several ways to do this and I would suggest in refer to your manual but in many cameras there is a exposure compensation setting that can be used to increase/decrease the aperture in small increments. There is even in many camera a bracketing setting were you can set the camera to automatically change the settings in a systematic way so you don't have to manually change the setting taking up time.

But bracketing doesn't end there. Many of todays digital cameras will also bracket the white balance settings and flash units. With the white balance settings (we will have to have a PPTs on this subject at a later time) the warmth and coolness of the picture can change the whole feeling of the photo adding to it's softness or dramatics. For flash units the power setting is changed to control the brightness of the flash with similar effects produced by changing the aperture settings.

Bracketing is an old technique that hasn't been out dated due to the digital revolution. With the technological advancements bracketing has been improved and become an even more important secret weapon for the pro photographer. Without the bracketing technique you are losing a lot of great photos. Try this out for yourself. Go take a photo of something and then try changing the shutter speed, aperture, and yes even the ISO setting and check out the result. Take bracketing and put it into your photographers tool box and use it to help improve the quality of your pictures. I've said before that taking lots of picture is one of the chief pro top secrets and now you'll need to take even more due to bracketing.

Well that's it today but before I close I would like to do something that I've done before but is worthy of repeating. No one is an island. Behind every good company is several crazy but great employees and I have a few of those. I would like to give a big thank you to two of them for handling a situation they are not hired to do. Jackie and Chris are both outstanding workers (even though I could shut them from time to time) and have stepped up to the plate in order to handle some unexpected problems and handled them like champs. Thanks Guys!

Have a great day everyone!

Richard

I GET to Ride Shoot Gun

Hello, everybody!

One of the many projects that I have been working for over the past year is just a few weeks away, but I can tell you that it can't get here quick enough. This project seams to have taken an audience with the Pope (my name is not Bob of the old Bob joke days) and a bribe slipped to Abe Lincoln (honest Abe, the 16th President, get it?) to get this project on the road quite literally. We are getting ready to go after a gadget that we will turn into a mobile photo production vehicle. We are going to use it for senior photos, weddings, and other "on location" projects, right down to our souvenir part of our business. I have my two trusted managers that will keep the bis up and running as I will be gone for several days fetching it. I'm having to fly to where it is (I'm not really fond of flying but haven't figured out the two vehicle thing without turning the whole mess into a train) and then spend about a month getting back. Not really but a few days.

Now I wasn't going to blow the whistle on this until we get it back and ready to roll (no pun intended.......oh yes it was) but I had a couple of things that reached my attention and I guess I just had to blog about it. Now, this will probably worry my graphics guy cause he did ask me just today how long it to for me to write these because they are so long. I told him it depended if I was on a soap box or not, not long if I was and longer if I wasn't. I'm not on a soap box so I guess I might as well start breakfast now.

Twice in one day I heard some things that just causes me to check for loose rocks in my head. I heard the word integrity thrown out while in the process of doing something that I personally would not consider very integrable. Kind of like being hit over the head with a ball bat while being told I ought to be more peaceful and understanding and that it was that lack of peacefulness and understanding that was forcing the bat to hit me. The other was similar by it's basic nature, claiming an inability to do or not do things. They lacked the substance to drive themselves to go after things they want. They would rather loose forever something that they, I believe, would really want and desire in their life but just couldn't muster the strength. Both situations are quite similar by nature because in both it would appear that something else was in control of their lives. Oh if you where to ask them they would say the old Dirty Harry line that they just know their limitations. But do we really? In many cases they would tell you they are sacrificing their own desires and happiness so that others wont be dragged down with them. What an honorable thing to do, kind of like throwing yourself on a hand grande. The object of throwing yourself on one of those is to SAVE the lives of those around you which at first glance would seem to support this sacrificing thing but let me offer another thought. I think that all to often we jump on the grande to give us a good excuse for not living for the things we truly want cause the pain inside is to great, the pain of failure, losing situations, or just the fear to have to do for others and they don't know how and it's just to hard to do anyway, or would be worth the effort because they will always feel they let others down. Instead of getting up, dusting themselves off and get right back at it over and over again, they would rather hold the pain and unhappiness inside and not let others know the truth about them. You know, they're a failure or an idiot, going with the Lincoln philosophy that it is better to keep your mouth shut and let everyone think your a fool as opposed to opening up your mouth and removing all doubt. Yea, I've been there. In fact that hotel keeps my room ready all the time. But that doesn't get you anywhere. If you keep taking photographs of one specific category and get to be perfect at it but never change and try new things perfection goes away and you just keep going down.

Another word that got dragged out was the word responsibility. This came the closest to traveling down the path of truth but just didn't quite make the full turn. They told the person they were talking to who they weren't responsible for but never said who they were responsible for. Both situations included the blame game on things that just weren't in their control. For one it was their "integrity" while the other blamed their lack of strength. Both may try to say that they where taking responsibility but where they really? How can you be responsible for something you have no control over. And that's where the rub comes into play. I don't like going to the doctor, dentist, or flying on a plane. I just don't do any of those and claim that I can't help it but eventually I do because the pain of not doing so is to great. Then somehow that thing that keeps me from doing gets replaced by me taking control and doing. How does that happen if I can't help it or I'm not in control. That's the rub, I am in control. I've just choose to allow things seemingly out of my control to take over so I am not responsible for the "big failure" if and when it comes.

As kids whenever we went someplace in a car someone would almost always yell "I call the shot gun seat". Why? Cause we thought that was the best seat (other then the drivers seat) since we weren't old enough to drive. We would talk big about how it would be as soon as we got our drivers licenses but we were to young to take that responsibility so we could talk big. When we got old enough to drive the first time most of us did it scared the hell of us cause we were afraid of the responsibility of were that 2 ton piece of steel was going. We had to work our way up to be able to get comfortable to handing the decisions of driving. But for some, they get so scared to try to drive that they choose to call the shot gun seat cause that's the next best seat they think. They're afraid of the responsibility and the possible crash they may have. So they turn their lives over to someone else so if they screw up, they may get hurt, but it wasn't their fault.

Folks, I may have talked a bit about my past life in law enforcement. I have spent a many hours in the real "shot gun seat" and I can tell you there is a lot of draw backs that you might not think of. Just take my word for it that letting others make the decisions about where and how you get somewhere and where they put you when you arrive is not a good thing! But even then, I had the control of my live by choosing to give that control to someone else who just might not handle things with my interest considered. Whether either one of these individuals know it or not, despite their protest both are in complete control of there lives and therefore responsible for where it goes or doesn't go and any disasters that come along. For one of them, I am afraid that they are allowing themselves to turn into a pinball bouncing from bumper to bumper and thereby missing out on what their Creator would like them to have. But because of their "I have no control over this", they are choosing to relinquishing the life they could have by calling the shot gun seat. The view from the shot gun seat is great until a call comes in. Then it gets really dicey. The driver can take you away from the very thing you need to survive the call. I wonder which choice is the right choice.

I won't have the luxury of having anyone riding with me, and that comes with some mixed emotions. On the one hand I will have to drive every mile myself. On the other hand I get to drive every mile myself and make the decisions where and how I go. I got to tell you that I feel better when I have control. I don't always like the responsibility but the consequences are more than not to great to not be in control or at least the best control you can have. If you don't control yourself then you are doomed to always going into the unknown without any say or control and that is what a lot of people fear most. It's the fear that makes you call the shot gun seat but it's you that have to live with the thought of "what if" for the rest of your life. You may still fail but at least you gave it your all. What's that saying, "don't die with your music in you". I would think that the cost of getting old only to find that you allowed something or someone to steel your life from you would be a near intolerable pain. Think about it! Knowing you have missed the very purpose for your life all because you choose to give away the control of your life, wow!

Folks, I'm not the poster boy for being in control all the time or making all the right moves and decisions, just ask my staff. We all make mistakes but giving away your life ain't one I want to do. I do fail at that from time to time but I, like all of us on God's earth, need to strive for what God has for us and it surely isn't riding the shoot gun seat of your life. He gave you a free choice and if that was to allow Him to direct your driving, then that's what He intended. But you still have the choice to allow something or someone else take the wheel. You have that responsibility whether you claim it or not. Don't grow old out of control and unhappy. Get behind the wheel, take control, and drive, drive, drive!

Well that's it for me today. Have a great day everyone!

Richard

Pro Pix Tips: Speaking Meter Language

Hi everybody! As promised, I'm posting a Pro Pix Tips on metering. So let's get right to it!

I few years ago (there's that phrase again) I called my brother about making a purchase of something that I have forgotten what it was so don't ask cause it don't matter now. I do remember telling him that the price was a large percentage off I guess in an attempt to gain some kind of uh aw response. Instead, what I got was this question; "Percentage off of what? Compared to what?" I tell you this because as we go into this Pro Pix Tips we need to remember that when we talk meter language we have to remember that the basics of metering is based on comparisons. Meters are pretty high tech nowadays but I still haven't found one that reads the photographers mind or correctly identifies the object being photographed and what kind of details the photographer is trying to capture. If you went out and tried to do the suggested assignment of taking a picture of the moon, you would have at least a vague idea of what I'm talking about here. For you that just didn't get motivated enough to do the shots of the moon I will at least touch on it a bit. But to do so I will talk to you as though you did the assignment. Where you surprised at the fact the speed, aperture, and ISO settings were at least comparable to settings you would use during a sunny day? In fact, did it surprise you when you took the picture that the moon came out like a all white ball with little if any contrast to it and just all white even though the meter appeared to be set perfectly on the exposure? How long did it take before you realized that the speed and aperture would have to be set so that the meter gave every appearance that the picture would be under exposed only to find the picture finally yielded out a great picture of the moon along with all it's craters and plateaus? I direct your attention back to the words of my bother.

Simplifying things a tad, most meters today are calibrated to take there readings on items of the photo that fall in the mid tone areas. Things like green grass and tanned skin would be examples of mid tone items. Ansel Adams, a world renown photographer who best know for his work in black and white photography, came up with a chart that named and showed the steady progression of shades from pure black to pure white. He named these zones and labeled them from pure black as zone 0 to pure white as zone 9. In the middle of this shaded zone areas was zone 5 making up the mid tone range. Now keep in mind that pure black absorbs 100% of the light (theoretically) while pure white reflects 100% of the light (theoretically). In between we see varying amounts of reflected light and at varying frequencies which we call colors. With respect to camera meters, they deal with zones 0 to 9 in judging the exposure of a picture. It just so happens that a perfect grayscale level zone 5 reflects 18% of the light that is shining on it (for you more enlightened photographer, does the 18% thing sound familiar? Think white balance!). If you are pointing your camera at a dark surface, the meter is comparing the shade of that surface with zone 5 or mid tone region and, thinking it is metering a mid tone surface, is giving a reading based on how much more or less light is need to make that mid tone surface to reach zone 5 shading. Now as I said, this is a over simplifying of the subject but does give a base concept understanding of how the meter is giving the readings it does. Now other things do come into play such as the type of metering you are using. There are three basic types of metering; spot, center weighted, and matrix. While meters vary some with each manufacturer, with the Nikon cameras I use, these basic meter settings are at least similar enough with other brands that you should get the basic idea.

Each camera has a certain number of measuring point. The more point the better in most cases. Switching between the types of metering settings directly effects how the measurement readings from each of the points is considered. In spot metering only a small portion of the measuring points (amounting to about 2% to the overall picture being taken) is considered. Whatever light or lack there of is in that small area is measures, averaged, and compared to the mid tone level with a reading given accordingly. The other 98% of the picture area is not considered. In center weighted metering, all the measuring points are considered but with center portion of the picture having a much higher degree of consideration then the rest of the picture area. In many of the cameras, the amount of weighting and the amount of the area that makes up the center weight portion of the picture is adjustable. In the Nikon I use the ratio of weighting is 75:25 with the 75% part of the reading taken from the center of the picture and the remaining 25% from the area of the picture outside the center. With the matrix setting, the entire area of the picture is being equally considered. And remember that the meter is taking the average of the levels of light reflected and comparing it to the mid tone region. Now let me make a correction of sorts. With matrix metering or metering which considers the entire area of the picture, the Nikon at least, uses a thing call scene recognition to compare the picture you're taking and compares it to a data base of thousand of image with different characteristics and matches the two with the meter reading coming from there. But folks this is a Pro Pix Tips not a college course.

The idea here is to show you how easy it is to get a reading from your meter that may not jive with the photo you get. Let's look at the moon picture for a second. The area that the moon is occupying in the view screen effects how the meter reads. Remember, the light is being averaged. That is why your picture of the moon is so over exposed even when the meter says it's perfectly exposed. That also explains why you can get some great photos in low light conditions that the meter says you can't get.

When you're focusing and taking meter reading be sure to note what your meter is taking it's reading off of. Remember mid tones is what the meter is looking for. What type of metering settings are you using? How much of the picture is being considered in the reading and how much dark and light areas are within the metering's area and which if any is more dominant.

One final tip is to take the picture anyway no matter what the meter is saying. Look at the results yourself and make the call. Just remember about the ISO factor as it pertains to "noise" in your picture in low light conditions. The meter is a valuable tool but it should not control you completely. You take control and responsibility for taking and judging the picture. You brought that picture into this world with the shutter and you can take it out with the trash can.

Well as promised, I brought a Pro Pix Tips and I will plan on doing another one really soon. Hope this one was a help in understanding your meter a bit better. Have a great day everyone and happy Labor Day!

Richard

Doing Impressions

Anyone who knows me very well knows that I love a good joke. A number of years ago (this phrase is often used by people who don't want to give away their age) I heard a story that goes something like this. After going through basic training soldiers were split into two group, the red team and the blue team, in order to have a war game training. All the soldiers were told that due to budget cut backs they did not have any weapons to train with so they would have to use imaginary ones. As the training progressed one of the red team soldiers spotted a blue team soldier walking slowly in a straight line across an open field. The red soldier jumped out from behind a tree and shouted "Bang, bang, you're dead!" But the blue soldier just acted like he didn't hear him and kept right on walking straight across the field. Thinking that the blue soldier was hard of hearing, the red soldier decided to get up close and personal. He ran up right behind the blue soldier and while hitting the blue soldier on the back yelled, "Stab, stab, you're dead!" But again the blue soldier just kept right on walking straight across the field. Now angered, the red soldier runs around in front of the blue soldier and throws an imaginary hand grenade at the blue soldier and yells, "Boooooom, you're dead!" But still the blue soldier kept on walking straight across the field. Absolutely livid, the red soldier ran, grab the blue soldier and yelled, "I have shot you with my imaginary gun, I have stabbed you with my imaginary knife, and I blew you up with my imaginary hand grenade and you keep going straight across this field and refusing to die! Just who do you think you are?" Finally coming to a stop, the blue soldier turn to look at the red soldier and answered, "Rumble, rumble, I'm a tank."

A comedian said (I'm not sure who) that everyone does their own impression of Ed Sullivan. Some of those "everyones" do a real good impression while others really suck (yes, mom, I really did use that word.)! Around here in this area, we have a lot of people doing impressions of entertainers and singing group from the past. We probably could claim to be "The King" sighting capital of the world. Now while it's true that nothing is exactly like the original, some of them get really, really close while other, well if they didn't tell you who they where suppose to be.......well, you get what I mean. There's one thing I have noted about most of the really good ones. They have studied thoroughly the person or persons they portray. They can almost tell you how many times they used the bathroom each day. They practice till they're exhausted and then practice some more. The others tend to just put on some kind of costume and grab a musical instrument whether or not they can play anything at all on it and in many cases don't even bother to learn all the words to any of the songs and expect people to give them top billing at the biggest theatre in town.

There are a lot of people doing impressions now a days in every walk of life. We have folks doing impressions of real parents, husbands/wifes, plumbers, mechanics, contractors, doctors, lawyers, preachers, teacher, and, yes, even photographers. Folks, putting a golf club in my hands doesn't make me a golfer or at least a good one. I have, however, used my camera to take numerous photos that are in a movie, brochure, magazine, and website, not to mention individual photos across the area and country. Give my camera to my mom and she might not know where the shutter is. But if my mother does manage to find the shutter release and take a picture, well is she not the photographer of that photo?

I have made mention in earlier post that theres a difference in those who take photos. Ask yourself this question, what is my definition of a professional photographer. My staff has heard me say over and over again that just because you take a clear well focused well lighted photo doesn't make you a professional. We think about the quality of the picture, or the fee asked for. What happens if one of these folks doing their impression of a professional photographer has their camera break or malfunction while their shooting your event. What happens if they fail to make backup copies of the shots they took at your once in a life time event and loses them somehow. What if they sell you pictures they have printed out using low grade ink that fades in a very short period of time or on a disk that loses those filed pictures in just a few years. How good of an impression of a pro photographer do you think this impressionist was if any one of these or a number of other potential problems results in your not have the photos you paid for. And trying to correct the problem with them might resemble the story I gave earlier and you would be the red soldier. If they are a friend, family member, even a friend of a friend, all of these could really cause years of regret. If they're just a bad impressionist, well "rumble, rumble" cause they will have in most cases not way to make it right for you. Sure you can get your money back through the courts but wasn't the point to have those irreplaceable photos?

If you choose to get a person with a "good" camera to take photos of a project for you because of a cheap or for free price just be ready. What a professional makes look easy may turn out to be a real impossible task for the lazy impressionist who just put on the costume. You can't fly just because you have big red S on your chest and a cape on your back! We all wish it was that easy but we are not children any more. We have learned that there is not such thing as fairy dust and while many of us would like to go there, no Never Never Land either.

I take my car to a "shade tree" type of mechanic. Lewis is a great guy and I have been acquainted with him for years. But that's not why I have him work on my car. He doesn't have a fancy place or a great location with a cool sign and catchy slogan. He has the right tools but that doesn't mean he knows how to use them. It's because I know he does good work cause I've checked him out with those who take their vehicle to him for repair work. He's more than reasonable on his price and parts. I am very fortunate to have ran across Lewis years ago but he is not the norm. There are a very few good pro photographers out there who give a great product at a cheap if not free price (we have had our experiences at this). Check them out. Don't run the risk of not getting what you wanted. It might take a few years to find yourself disappointed. You wouldn't have serious surgery done by the lowest bidder before checking them out would you?

Well, I have had a number of things take place that have really got to me lately and I think we will put them in a series of Pro Pix Tips. So next post we will start by looking at the on board metering of your camera and can you really trust it. Until them try to take a picture of the moon or some other low light object. What is your meter telling you compared to what the picture itself looks like.

Well that all folks (thanks Porky). Have a great day everyone.

Richard

Opening Your Minds Eye

Hi everybody!

Years ago I was a store manager for a well know electronics chain. We had all kinds of items which included TVs. In order to demo our wares, we used a couple of videos, one of which was called "Beyond the Minds Eye". I just checked and you can still get the video along with the many sequels online. These were CGI stuff and was revolutionary for the year (1990). Yes we even had indoor plumbing back then. If you haven't watched it or clips like it (some do appear on PBS from time to time) you ought to google it and watch.

During that same era in my life I also watched and laughed at the comedian Gallagher. He did a skit once about looking a thing with "new eyes". He talked about watching babies looking at things for the first time and seeing their reactions. Now maybe your ahead of me on this one but if not I want to take some time to talk (actually type) about photography and how it is a changin' at least as I see it in my minds eye.

I was watching something on one of the news channels a few days ago and took note of the number of people that were taking pictures with just about every kind of device you can imagine. You can't get a cell phone now a days without a camera on it. They even have some with two cameras, one for the front and one for the back. Almost everyone has a camera and thinks themselves as being a good photographer. But are they really? Sure they can take good pictures but so what. Anymore the technology has progressed so that just about all you have to do is point and shoot. But do they make any money off of them? If I don't watch it I could get on a soap box.

The true is that it's just not good enough to take a clear and properly exposed picture anymore. That is no longer a trick that only the pro's can do. No, I think that a pro photographer has to view things from a new perspective with "new eyes". We must see things that others do not see and go where other don't go and use our "minds eye" to be set apart from the millions of others who take pictures with their point and shoot devices. Remember the acronym WWATT and what I said it stood for, "What Would A Tourist Take"? Well here's another saying that might change how we see photography; "If it was easy, everyone would do it". Well, you say that everyone is doing it and that's just the point. Maybe, it's not that technology has made it possible for everyone to be the professional photographer, maybe we as professional photographers have gotten lazy. We suddenly have found that the we can't take pictures of just anything and expect them to be exchanged for the green stuff as easy as they use to be. Maybe we as professional photographers have forgotten why we take pictures for in the first place. Technology has forgotten about we the pro's. It's we the pro's or at least many of us who have chosen not to keep up with the technology well because it's just not that easy to do. But then again if being a pro was easy.......well you get the picture (no pun intended).

I mentioned in my last post that I had been challenged by numerous questions recently and in part, this post is a result of some of those questions. A challenge to see things with "new eyes" has been given me, to see things not as we see them every day, but with the "minds eye". The Good Book even suggest that we should "see thing that are not as though they were" in the book of Romans. That takes faith and vision, something that, in my opinion, has taken a holiday for most of us, cause it's just so dare easy to fall short and fail. So we just keep pushing to make what we have always done in the past work, continue doing the same old thing time and time again because it has work some in the past and besides it's comfortable in doing what we have always done even when it goes bad. What's the definition of insanity?

Let's face it! Ever since the microwave we've all gotten to the point where we want everything cheap, easy, and fast. We have all these wonder devices to make our world easy, even put man on the moon. Life should be easy. Everything should work right the first time and easy to boot not to mention profitable. Does the words "Pipe Dream" come into play here? As technology increase so does the degree of difficulty in all walks of life. The degree of competition has reached a level in all walks of life where we eat our own to get an inch ahead. Yes, I would like to go out and take a couple of pictures of a bird or two and sell them for a lot of bucks everyday. Flying pigs seem to be flashing in my head.

The "minds eye" can show us things that we have overlooked for years. Looking at things with "new eyes" will reveal what has been hiding if plain view, right in front of our nose, but haven't see because we can't get past our nose. We see things as not reachable or impossible while there are those who reach the unreachable and do the impossible everyday! It's that old bumble bee thing, where the bumble bee can't fly because it's wings are to small for the mass of it body. I guess no one has told the bumble bee yet or better yet when told the bee refused to believe it and flies anyway! It's how you see things with your minds eye that effect your life. That includes how it effects your photography efforts. Put on those new eye and open your minds eye to a whole new world that is hiding right in front of you and then make the world a better place by sharing what your minds eye captures through the lens of your camera!

That's all for today guys and gals. Have a great day everyone!

Richard

Call Me Charlie

Hi everyone! First let me introduce myself. My name is Richard and I am the owner of 2C Photography. I do this because it has been a while since I've made a post and I am afraid some of my employees may have forgotten who I am. With that in mind please excuse me for a moment so I can speak directly to my beloved employees and give them a special message. GET TO WORK!!!!!! Thank you. And now for this spot announcement; BARK, ARF, ARF, BARK! Thanks Spot!

So now that I have you convinced that I have finally took my leave of the same zip code that everyone else has and have taken up residency on another planet I can get to the point of the post today and no one will know if they can take me seriously or not. So let's get to it shall we?

With business around here being at a virtual crawl, I have had the opportunity to visit a few "things" from my "it never happened" past. I have had more than a few questions posed to me and many of them have been some humdingers. Many of those questions I have rolling around in my head even now and expect them to be around for a while longer. "Come on over and lets get together and have some laughs!" Never respond to an invitation like that. You wind up playing the "Do you remember when?" game and more often they're things you would rather not remember or at least not talk about because they tend to reopen some pretty deep wounds that you think had long since healed. They all mean well and maybe it does have some benefits but I'm not sure. All I know is that I have found myself doin' alota thinkin'. I have gotten a lot of exercise out of it all and my driving skills polished.

Don't get me wrong, I have made a few decisions. I'm going to be getting a new phone in a day or two. It's one of the 3G iphones and yes I will let the graphics guy now when I get it switched over. I have also decided to get a new piece of equipment within the next week or two for calibrating our monitors (I'll only let you imagine way). I had my brakes checked and to my surprise they were still ok. So things haven't been all ugly. But still those questions keep rolling around in my head like an old obnoxious blast from the past song (you pick it cause I don't want that added to the mix in my head).

The only thing that I have found some comfort in is that over the past few months and even years for some of us this has been happening to virtually all of us. We have all look to the past trying to get guidance for the future. For some that guidance has been to return to the things of the past. I know that as a Christian I have heard many of my fellow Christians having to go back to events or choices of the past and set the record right in order to get back on the path that God intended for them to be on in the first place. I myself have had to do this on more than one occasion. For others it has been "carpe diem" or "seize the day" while others my also use to mean "seize the moment". For still others (and I have from time to time found myself in this group as well) they take solitude in the phrase "Quando Omni Flunkis Moritati" which is my personal favorite Latin phrase meaning (and yes I am serious) "when all else fails, play dead". This is a phrase that is recognized by probably thousands of members of "Possum Lodge" of Red Green fame. You get it right, Possum Lodge and play dead, get it!?

Well anyway, back to the post at hand. One of the questions kind of deals with one of the many stories or parables I heard while learnin' stuff years ago. It goes like this; when you come to a fork in the road, how many choices do you have? No, I'm not going to share the answer with you. Just THINK about it for awhile. It just seems that blast from the past are crawling out of the wood work.

There are other things that seem to be dug up from the past other than questions and parables. Songs, parties, games and even movies get salvaged from the depths of the memory ocean. One such movie was brought to my attention and unlike many other things that the helpful Santa Elves have drug up, this one kind of hit really close to home. What's the movie you ask? Well surprisingly it's not "The Jerk" but it does star the same guy. Steve Martin plays the part of a fire chief in a small community in a movie named "Roxanne". Some times you can find comfort and strength from the strangest places.

So what's my point? We all hurt and have our challenges. Turning to others is almost always a good thing to do. Trying to find answers to questions in our lives can be as difficult and milking a porcupine (hope that passes the PC test). But don't overlook searching for those answers in one of the least obvious places, in yourself and your past. We all have to move on to the future but for many the strength and courage to do that has to come from things that have molded your life to this point. If they're good things, build on them. If they're bad things, blow them up and start with a clean slate. More often than not the fuel we need to lift us out of the muck and mire of the present to help us build a better tomorrow is the BS and treasure we've accumulated in our past.

Let me share a final little story/parable with you to put an ! on this point. I'm told that one of NASA's more difficult problems to overcome in working in the weightlessness of space was how to get their ink pens to work. Since ink needs gravity to make the ink work in the pen, NASA had to spend millions of dollars to develop a ink pen that could work in a no-gravity condition. At the end of the cold war with Russia, NASA was able to interact with the scientist of the Soviet Union where they found that there scientist were able to fix the problem for only 17 cents. How? They went down and bought a pencil. Moral of the story, some solutions are so illusive because there standing right in plain view. It's not that we're stupid or blind, just selective vision!

Well, Spot needs out to conduct some business and I have another letter to write for someone else before I can set on the roof and watch the comet fly by. Have a great day everyone!

Richard

Don't Miss the Shot!

Hi everyone! Lots of things going on, so much so that I think I keep passing myself on the road. I'm really mad at me because when I do pass myself on the streets I always wave but being the kind of guy I am I don't wave back and that just makes me so mad.

Seriously, there are a lot of things a happenin' around here. While I haven't seen the article yet, I am told that there should be an article in the upcoming addition of the Missouri Life magazine that will be discussing the new "Shrine to the Holy Spirit" and the wedding chapel that is located there in. I am told there should be several pictures in the article taken by yours truly. I'm also told that there will soon be fliers placed around town and the surrounding area advertising the new services being offered there. We are very pleased to be associated with this new Mansion venture and look forward to helping to create the perfect wedding day for all those who choose this wonderful location to celebrate the love they have found and their commitment to each other. If you are thinking about getting married and are looking for a place to have your ceremony I would encourage you to check out the services being offered through the Mansion at this wonderful location. Tell Tina that I sent you! Hopefully she would charge you double just for knowing me.

Also, the new "History of Branson" movie is going into its' final production time and I expect that it will be finished and release to the public in the next few months. I do know that Mike at Bear Creek Production has a few one on one interviews to record including me I'm told but that should not take very long at all. I will keep you posted!

Pro Pix Tips: I have had the opportunity to talk to a couple of folks the past few weeks about photography and during each of those conversations it seems that I wound up talking about the same thing. It usually starts out the same way as well. I'm thinking about getting a camera and wonder if I should get a Canon or a Nikon. What model should I get? What lens should I get? Folks, don't get me wrong, next to taking pictures I like talking about photography and taking pictures. But there really isn't a good answer to any of those questions. Now I shoot a Nikon and so my usual answer to what kind of camera to get is "The only people who shoot Canons can't spell Nikon!" That's the partiality talking. In fact, the only true answer is "That depends" on what type of photography you want to do. Camera's for the most part have a lot to do with the degree of comfort you have in using it. I'm not saying that there isn't a difference between the two because there are many, but how comfortable you are with the use of the camera plays a huge role. Both companies put out great products with great accessories to go along with them which also have a role in the consideration of which camera to buy. The thing is that it doesn't matter how good a camera you have if you don't have some good knowledge to go along with it.

With that in mind I would like to touch on something I haven't talked about much if any before this. You have to be continuously look for opportunities to get a great picture. Don't ever let your guard down because you just might miss a great opportunity. Case in point is I was driving though a parking lot the other night around 11:30 pm when I saw several things that looked at first like small branches of a plant or bush. After passing the 5th or 6th one I decided to stop and check it out since it had not been storming or any strong winds. What I found was not a stick or small leafy twig. What I found is below.

I had to give $5 to this Praying Mantis to pose for me (hey, times are tough everywhere) and getting a signed release was another trick in and of itself.

Seriously, I could have just missed this picture if I hadn't been alert or didn't have my camera with me and there have been many times I have done just that. You can't get the shot if you don't see it in the first place. In short, while what kind of camera to buy is important, don't forget to train your mind and your eyes to seeing the things you can capture with that great camera (that would be a Nikon I'm sure) you finally do purchase. Don't forget the WWATT thing (What Wound A Tourist Take) and avoid waisting your time on those shots. And just don't settle on taking just one picture. Take lots of shots from many angles. That's what I did here on this picture and I think the results look great. So keep your head in the game and keep shooting those pictures. Send them to us, we would love to see your work.

Well, that all for me today gang. Have a great day!

Richard