Hey guys, long time no see? First blog since Christmas so I'll kick things off with some pictures from that. Quill came down to spend Christmas with me and my family. We had a great time, here she is Christmas morning with a kitty!
I'll give her the pleasure of posting about what she got, I will say after she opened it she gave me the tightest hug I've ever had from her.
And here's my haul this year! Turned out pretty good!
1. My awesome gift from Quill, an IPA beer brewing kit from Brooklyn Brew Shop. I just got around to starting the brewing today, more on that later!
2. Clothes from the family, great, dark pair of jeans, some cozy mittens and socks!
3. Can't believe my family got me this! Acer laptop that I'm posting from right now and a back pack to go with it. I love this thing! So used to having just a desktop, being able to sit on the internet in my living room is great!
4. T-shirts from family, I shoot people and a minecraft Crafters Union shirt!
*Not pictured, two awesome cookbooks and a pipe stand from Quill, an awesome Meershaum pipe from my roommate, and a new wallet and matches from my parents.
Anyway, back to that beer brewing kit. I broke that thing out today and spent the better part of the afternoon getting it going. Never brewed before but I think I'll be doing it quite a bit from now on. Here's some pics!
Boiling the mash, smelled like the best oatmeal you've ever had!
The hops and the yeast. Love the packaging, I'm a sucker for good design.
Circulating the wort through the mash for the second time, notice my ghetto method of holding the mesh strainer in place.
In the end, I think it went pretty well. The house smells like great beer and I've got a gallon of IPA fermenting under my sink now. Can't wait to try it in a month or so, hope it turns out well! I'll definitely be ordering some more of their mixes to try.
All in all, Christmas was fantastic. Hope everyone else's went just as well.
I'll give her the pleasure of posting about what she got, I will say after she opened it she gave me the tightest hug I've ever had from her.
And here's my haul this year! Turned out pretty good!
1. My awesome gift from Quill, an IPA beer brewing kit from Brooklyn Brew Shop. I just got around to starting the brewing today, more on that later!
2. Clothes from the family, great, dark pair of jeans, some cozy mittens and socks!
3. Can't believe my family got me this! Acer laptop that I'm posting from right now and a back pack to go with it. I love this thing! So used to having just a desktop, being able to sit on the internet in my living room is great!
4. T-shirts from family, I shoot people and a minecraft Crafters Union shirt!
*Not pictured, two awesome cookbooks and a pipe stand from Quill, an awesome Meershaum pipe from my roommate, and a new wallet and matches from my parents.
Anyway, back to that beer brewing kit. I broke that thing out today and spent the better part of the afternoon getting it going. Never brewed before but I think I'll be doing it quite a bit from now on. Here's some pics!
Boiling the mash, smelled like the best oatmeal you've ever had!
The hops and the yeast. Love the packaging, I'm a sucker for good design.
Circulating the wort through the mash for the second time, notice my ghetto method of holding the mesh strainer in place.
In the end, I think it went pretty well. The house smells like great beer and I've got a gallon of IPA fermenting under my sink now. Can't wait to try it in a month or so, hope it turns out well! I'll definitely be ordering some more of their mixes to try.
All in all, Christmas was fantastic. Hope everyone else's went just as well.
Alone in the apartment, my two roommates went home for the holidays last week. Last time I was alone in a house for any length of time it was a pretty dire situation. Don't have a whole lot to do, I've just been replaying old games with occasional expeditions into Skyrim. Beat Mass Effect 2 for the second time and I'm starting on another run of Alpha Protocol with Just Cause 2 and L.A. Noire on the backburner. Pushing the job hunt past New Years because I'd like to enjoy the holidays, but I've got some money coming in from a photo project so it shouldn't stretch me too far. Of course, I'd much rather pay my bills with weddings but I'm a pretty recent entry into the business and gathering clients is slow going.
Quill's first set came out two days ago and the criticisms I've heard aren't anything that hasn't crossed my mind in the month or so I've had to look at the pictures between submitting and going live. Its always different to hear them from other people rather than just bouncing around your own head though.
That aside, I'm grateful for all the love you guys have given her, she's a beautiful girl and I'm lucky to have her. I don't have any doubt she'll go pink sometime in the coming year, we have a lot of plans for sets. It was the first time for both of us so we both know what kind of improvements can be made. Look forward to more of her in the future, I know I do. If this set turns out to be our worst attempt then I'll be ecstatic.
But forget all that business shit, Christmas is here! Get to see my girl in two days and I can't wait! I've got a wonderful gift for her and get to spend some time with my family who I can't appreciate enough for all the shit they've helped me through. This week's been slow but the end of it should be amazing.
Quill's first set came out two days ago and the criticisms I've heard aren't anything that hasn't crossed my mind in the month or so I've had to look at the pictures between submitting and going live. Its always different to hear them from other people rather than just bouncing around your own head though.
That aside, I'm grateful for all the love you guys have given her, she's a beautiful girl and I'm lucky to have her. I don't have any doubt she'll go pink sometime in the coming year, we have a lot of plans for sets. It was the first time for both of us so we both know what kind of improvements can be made. Look forward to more of her in the future, I know I do. If this set turns out to be our worst attempt then I'll be ecstatic.
But forget all that business shit, Christmas is here! Get to see my girl in two days and I can't wait! I've got a wonderful gift for her and get to spend some time with my family who I can't appreciate enough for all the shit they've helped me through. This week's been slow but the end of it should be amazing.
Had a fun weekend running around the Lost River Cave area in between shooting a state championship high school football game and scrambling to put together this US 31 project.
Day started with leftover quiche, which Quill made the night before and therefore was awesome. Then we joined some friend for breakfast at brynyrlyrns before heading out to the cave. Did a portrait with my friend for my project:
Then we went for a short hike, visited a vacated butterfly habitat, poked our heads into various suspicious buildings, and played with iPhones, like any good outdoor adventure.
_quill wandered around in her homemade Tank Girl shirt, which she's quite proud of.
The evening proceeded pretty normally with thrifting and coffee (we're such hipsters...). _quill got me an early christmas present, a swank pipe stand! Split up to make a sweet dinner of chicken vindaloo, pakora, chili, rice, and cornbread. We ended up over at a friend's house smoking hookah and drinking vodka after dinner. Devolved into a chatroulette group party talking to various people over the internet and seeing various dicks. Some Austrians said they were from the land Hitler was born in and then told us not to drink too much.
Things spiraled downward from there.
Here's some wigwams.
Day started with leftover quiche, which Quill made the night before and therefore was awesome. Then we joined some friend for breakfast at brynyrlyrns before heading out to the cave. Did a portrait with my friend for my project:
Then we went for a short hike, visited a vacated butterfly habitat, poked our heads into various suspicious buildings, and played with iPhones, like any good outdoor adventure.
_quill wandered around in her homemade Tank Girl shirt, which she's quite proud of.
The evening proceeded pretty normally with thrifting and coffee (we're such hipsters...). _quill got me an early christmas present, a swank pipe stand! Split up to make a sweet dinner of chicken vindaloo, pakora, chili, rice, and cornbread. We ended up over at a friend's house smoking hookah and drinking vodka after dinner. Devolved into a chatroulette group party talking to various people over the internet and seeing various dicks. Some Austrians said they were from the land Hitler was born in and then told us not to drink too much.
Things spiraled downward from there.
Here's some wigwams.
Had a portfolio review today with a speaker we had down. She liked my stuff, loved some of it even, but she wanted more. I haven't shot a photo story I've been happy with in a long time, my technical skills have grown but I still have a lot of trouble with the story hunt. I'll be having to retake Picture Stories this spring so I'm hoping to come out of that with at least one portfolio worthy piece.
So, all in all, bit of a confidence boost, bit of a reality check.
I've been through a lot of rough stuff this past year and I'm slowly rebuilding my confidence in both myself and my photography. Thankfully when I do find that subject I've been looking for or that great feature I still get the rush, and when that happens there's nowhere else I'd rather be. I've got a shit ton to do in the next few days and about half of it actually lined up, wish me luck! Its going to be an early morning and a late night but I'll pull it off.
Anyway, portfolio time (Trying out new website, check it out): My Portfolio
So, all in all, bit of a confidence boost, bit of a reality check.
I've been through a lot of rough stuff this past year and I'm slowly rebuilding my confidence in both myself and my photography. Thankfully when I do find that subject I've been looking for or that great feature I still get the rush, and when that happens there's nowhere else I'd rather be. I've got a shit ton to do in the next few days and about half of it actually lined up, wish me luck! Its going to be an early morning and a late night but I'll pull it off.
Anyway, portfolio time (Trying out new website, check it out): My Portfolio
Plans, plans, plans, I make them to break them.
Gonna be making calls to some places tomorrow to get started on this (hopefully) ongoing photo project on US 31 (Between music and horses). I've got a good number of ideas that should cover things for the actual assignment and get me the grade but I'd like to keep this thing going for a good while. If any of you Kentucky or Tennessee people who know of any cool, interesting businesses, people, or sights along US 31 then let I'd love to know.
Favorite things I've shot this year would be a photo essay on the Kentucky High School Rodeo competition here in Bowling Green and a Doctor Who themed wedding for some friends. Still working on trying to make a living out of this but its a fun ride regardless. While I'm here on SG for my shots with Quill my true love lies with the documentary side of things. Love to take a few years and put together something akin to The Americans by Robert Frank, I can dream.
Gonna be making calls to some places tomorrow to get started on this (hopefully) ongoing photo project on US 31 (Between music and horses). I've got a good number of ideas that should cover things for the actual assignment and get me the grade but I'd like to keep this thing going for a good while. If any of you Kentucky or Tennessee people who know of any cool, interesting businesses, people, or sights along US 31 then let I'd love to know.
Favorite things I've shot this year would be a photo essay on the Kentucky High School Rodeo competition here in Bowling Green and a Doctor Who themed wedding for some friends. Still working on trying to make a living out of this but its a fun ride regardless. While I'm here on SG for my shots with Quill my true love lies with the documentary side of things. Love to take a few years and put together something akin to The Americans by Robert Frank, I can dream.
Back home for thanksgiving. Probably be spending a lot of time doing research for my upcoming photo column assignment on US 31. I hate leaving my computer behind, no skyrim until Saturday, ahhh! Relaxing for a bit will be nice though, hanging out with the family, smoking pipes (tobacco!) with my dad.
Saturday will be spent exploring the countryside with Quill and some friends, can't wait! I can't be thankful enough for her and my close friends. Then its back to the "big" city of Bowling Green for some D&D adventures in a weird mindflayer prison as Thorbane Stromgard, who travels the world arm-wrestling wizards for his title as the World's Strongest Wizard. Monday starts the daily grind again with shooting for my assignments and reading about how Dante fainted again and how everyone in Paradiso is "equal but not equal but it doesn't matter because OMG we are so happy!?"
Can't complain though, life's pretty good, all and all, now I just gotta find a job or shoot more weddings.
Saturday will be spent exploring the countryside with Quill and some friends, can't wait! I can't be thankful enough for her and my close friends. Then its back to the "big" city of Bowling Green for some D&D adventures in a weird mindflayer prison as Thorbane Stromgard, who travels the world arm-wrestling wizards for his title as the World's Strongest Wizard. Monday starts the daily grind again with shooting for my assignments and reading about how Dante fainted again and how everyone in Paradiso is "equal but not equal but it doesn't matter because OMG we are so happy!?"
Can't complain though, life's pretty good, all and all, now I just gotta find a job or shoot more weddings.
