California Nights

I’m visiting Orange County, California on a business trip and I went to dinner at the Yardhouse in Newport Beach. I thought I was going to the one in Costa Mesa, but silly me, I programmed the map quest wrong.  The food here is just as good as the one in Costa Mesa, but the really cool part was that they had outdoor seating.  I just left Ohio where the temps were in the 20s and we had a snow storm that blanketed the area in snow.  My flight out here came through Minneapolis, where the temp was a balmy 20 degrees Farenheit.  And I was sitting outside in 70 degree temps eating dinner.  I wouldn’t have needed the heater, but they fired it up anyway.  The light it gives off is pretty cool and the flame is impressive.  OK, I’m easily amused.  I find joy in the little things in life: a good burger and a pretty flame.  I also get easily distracted by shiny balls and butterflies.

Self-Portrati #3

I don’t do self-portraits very often. For that matter, I don’t get in front of the camera very often.  I just don’t think that I’m very good looking.  It’s not like I’m going to curdle milk or scare small children, I just don’t think that I have very handsome features.  I have this big melon head with a big nose plopped on top of a large body.  God help me if I shave off my mustache.  It makes it look even worse.  But, it’s me and it the only face I have, so I just have to deal with it.  But does anyone like the way that they look to themselves?

I love to look at self-portraits that famous photographers and painters do of themselves.  Some show the pain that they feel, like Van Gough, or just ordinary everyday faces, like Richard Avedon.

Chihuly Glass on Display at the Franklin Park Conservatory

This was are really tough decision today on which image to use for the photo.  I went to the Franklin Park Conservatory to capture images of the plants and flowers there.  It’s a beautiful place with several large rooms to wander through, to look at the plants and flowers.  In addition, they have a large installation of glass from Dale Chihuly.  Pieces that just blow your mind.  This piece is part of the installation in the cafe are and with the light it just grabs you.

This is also a beautiful place to capture portraits.  The light passes through and around the light and creates amazing shadows.  And it is evenly spread through the glass panes in the ceiling.

If you are ever in Columbus, Ohio and find yourself with a few hours to kill, please give the Franklin Park Conservatory a try.  You won’t be disappointed.

Trivia Night

It was my first time at “Trivia Night” at the Filling Station.  We had a great time and came in second in the competition.

Tonight’s shot was made to explore the color and dimension of the objects on the pool table.  There is something magical about the relationship between the cue ball and the cue.  It’s all about mathematical relationships, angles, vectors, and momentum.  There is also a randomness in that even though you have lined up the shot as precisely as you can, there are tiny variances that may lead you to miss your shot and not sink the ball.  It’s such a fundamental game: strike one ball to knock another ball into a pocket.  It seems somewhat trivial, but mere millimeters can separate a successful shot and an unsuccessful one.

Very much like answering Trivia questions.  You can be very close to the correct answer, but still miss.  We missed wining by 5 points.  Had we answered a couple of questions correctly, we would have won.  But we were millimeters off.  And that’s how life works.  Sometimes you are on the mark, and sometimes you are just a couple of millimeters off.  You pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and go on with life.  Maybe next time, you win.

Thank you, Kyle, for helping me out tonight.

Learning from the Masters

I’ve been waiting to work on this one for a long time. I snapped this one a long time ago, and planned to work on it someday. I loved the image of the young boy emulating the older men learning how to fish in the surf.  The best part is the two men with their hands on their hips. When I saw the image on the beach, I knew I wanted it in black and white so that it had a nostalgic feel to it.  I remember following my dad and doing the things he wanted to do, just so I could be with him.  He worked a day job during the week and at night and on the weekends he farmed my Great-Grandfather’s farm with his uncle, cousin, and his cousin’s roommate.  I tagged along so that I could be with him.  He didn’t have a lot of free time to spend with me, and it was the only way that we got a chance to do things together.

I thought that it was pretty cool to be working on the farm, driving the tractors and the farm trucks.  I got to learn from the masters how to run that farm and how life was tied up in a cycle of life.  I could understand that the meat that ended up on our table came from the animals we raised.  It’s kind of like how this boy will learn that the life he takes from the ocean will feed his family.

Fixing a Hole

I saw this image and the first thing that popped into my mind was The Beatles “Fixing a Hole.”

I’m fixing a hole where the rain gets in and stops my mind from wandering where it will go.

I’m filling the cracks that ran through the door that kept my mind from wandering where it will go.

….

I’m painting the room in a colorful way and when my mind is wandering there I will go.

John Lennon/Paul McCartney

I can’t wait until Spring starts to show up here.  It was 50 degrees on Monday, and back down in the 30′s today with a stiff breeze.  I need me some warm breezes and flowering trees.

Routine

They say that if you do an activity for 20 days, it becomes a part of your life. Routine. I’ve been taking photos and posting photos every day for 23 days now. I’ve explored more and tried more photographically than I’ve done in a long while. Today it was taking longer exposures to explore movement.  I’m trying to make sure that I get out of being routine, doing the same kind of thing.  Thinking more about the image and less about getting it down quickly.  I’m also trying to really explore more in my camera.  Get out of the routine of always using one set of settings and push some of the boundaries.  I want to keep expanding and making better images.  Is this one?  I don’t know, but I like it.  I don’t do a lot of self-portraits, mostly because I’d rather be behind the camera than in front of it.  There’s another routine I need to take a long look at.

Birthday Dinner

Today’s photo is from my Birthday Celebration. That cocktail Kate’s drinking is enormous.

Tonight we celebrated my birthday by going out to dinner at the Cap City Diner. This place has fantastic food and it is such a fun place to eat. It’s a Cameron Mitchell restaurant. Cameron Mitchell set up several high end restaurants in Columbus, Ohio and has expanded into some other markets. His trademark is truly outstanding meals in fantastic restaurants. He’s sold off several of them, but they are all truly great places to eat. One of my favorites is the Fish Market. The menu is great and the fish is very fresh.

Tonight, we had the scallop special and they were delicious. Scallops seared with cornmeal and covered in a tomato based sauce. Along side was mashed potatoes with truffle oil and steamed broccoli and red peppers. For desert, I got the Deep Dish Apple pie with a pecan crust and vanilla ice cream on the side. I think I died and went to heaven. I highly recommend this to anyone going out for a night.

After dinner, we went over to visit with our friends, Kelly and Bob. We spent the night playing songs off of their iTunes and singing along. It was so much fun. Especially since the kids came, too. Only a few months to go until vacation and time at the beach.

It just doesn’t get any better than that.

The Gravy Sucking Pig

We got into a discussion the other night at “The Three-Legged Mare” about what I would call a pub that I might own someday (just dreaming about it). Anyway, I said that the name I’d choose is “The Gravy Sucking Pig.” It comes from a joke that Scott and I have when we are cheering on our favorite football team and one of the players is running down the field. The cheer is: “RUN, YOU GRAVY SUCKING PIG!” I’m not sure where we came up with that one, but we’ve been using it for years. So, in honor of the pub, I put together the sign board for out front.  I’m sure millions of people will be flocking to my pub to have a cold one (or maybe a nice bowl of gravy).  But that, too, is just a dream.