P & P Wedding - effects

Here's a little shot that the maid of Honor, Vicki Schmitt took liberties with one of my shots.

Great job.  Someday I'll learn Photoshop and have all kinds of plugins but this is really great, and kudos to the photographer (?) the important parts are in the right spot and pull you in!

Paul and Penny's wedding

A couple of weeks ago some friends of mine got married.  Small wedding, very limited invite list.  Somehow I managed to get the opportunity to take some pictures.  Essentially there was no photographer and they were expecting iphone pictures, so, well, the opportunity presented itself.

It was fun.  There was a theme involved....  Period costumes, from essentially the late 1800's.

I told Penny I wouldn't post anything until I got her some shots and she posted, which has been done, so here are a few shots.

Here Lizard Lizard

Its almost spring here, which means it still winter in Texas.  Finished putting in my garden this weekend, high 70's this weekend, but windy.  I feel sorry for all the allergy sufferers.   Everything is in blossom, pollen everywhere and rain forecast for later this week.  Those with pain will be in pain this week for sure.

I was wrapping up and saw this little fella on the corner of my garage.  I ran in to get my camera hoping he would stay put and he did, so was able to get a couple of shots.  A bit later I saw three more of these guys but they were much more mobile.  These are different shots, not just a crop, but after the second shot I guess he figured he had been spotted as he scampered away.

Peach Blossoms

I've been watching my peach and plum trees.  The peach tree blossoms early and is almost in full bloom and should be by this weekend.  The plum tree has at least another week, maybe two.  Its March 4th today, and incredibly warm our, 85F.  Its going to drop tomorrow, maybe even a frost tomorrow night so may as well take advantage.

Its late in the day, maybe not quite late enough but unfortunately the sun gets obscured as it goes down much lower.  Macro time.  Just playing a bit but got a couple of nice shots.  One of the photo meetup groups has a virtual meetup on Macro this weekend so a bit of inspiration. 

I missed my opportunity with a couple of insects.  If I get another chance this weekend will seek out the bugs and bees....

Just a few more short weeks and it will be wildflower season.....

 

 

Krewe of Barkus Parade 2013

I've attended the annual Krewe of Barkus parade a few times now.  It's fun and I try to get some good photos, but its always mid day, peak sun so can be a bit difficult.  And typically the subjects aren't the most cooperative when it comes to getting their picture taken.  Here is a sample of some of the shots I took today.

Mckinney Scavenger Hunt

Winter, even in Texas, is not always full of photo opportunities.  So, a bit slow this year but activies should start picking up soon.  Two weeks ago we had another photo scavenger hunt.  I like these, they are a lot of fun and subject to interpretation.   Since I had won the last hunt, it was my turn to select the subjects, however previous winners, including myself, were not permitted to submit photos for judging.  We had some new folks turn out so that was good, but the weather was cold, damp and grey so a lot of the folks who had rsvp'd did not show up.

The subjects were:

1) Macro/closeup
2) Street portrait
3) Vibrant
4) Decay
5) Magical
6) Scale
7) Faux animal
8) Strength
9) Curve
10) The letter P

I tried to shoot every subject, and had some success but I'm not going to post them all there as some I wasn't too satisfied with but also branched out a bit.

For Street portrait my intent was to encourage the photogs to talk to a stranger and ask them to be able to take their portrait.  I deviated a but, still strangers but not on the street  but inside their businesses.   Due to the weather the number of folks on the street was down a bit.

 

I had a lot of fun with the Macro/Closeup category, with some overlap into Decay and Vibrant.

 

I liked my curves selection, I almost went back to get a couple more of this, and most likely will in the future.

 

 

Faux Animal.  There's no shortage of faux animals throughout the downtown, with lots of painted frog planters, but this is a store "logo"

 

 Finally a couple of shots of strength.

 Today, off to shoot the Krewe of Barkus parade, stay tuned....

 

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

It't not very often that my work takes me internationally, actually, prior to this past week, never. Not that I mind that, but when this opportunity came up to travel to Kuala Lumpur, I would have been crazy to turn it down. I have never been to this part of the world and really had no idea what to expect. Its a long trip, 12 hours to Tokyo, 6 hours stopover, then another 6 hours to KL. Long day, and it crosses the international dateline. I left DFW at 11:30 AM on Friday and arrived in KL at 4:30 AM on Sunday. The airport is about an hour out of town and it was still dark so I didn't see much, and the driver was virtually speechless. My trip back was much better, still dark as it was the evening, but the driver an I had an hour long conversation. He was a local, born there, and very talkative. Made for a much better drive.

So on very little sleep, I finally got my room, showered and headed back out to explore the city. I found this little "walking tour" map that outlined several tours and decided to map out a route that covered parts of at least 3. About 7 hours and one blister later, I finally crashed back at the hotel. Renaissaince Kuala Lumpur, nice hotel by the way.

Kuala Lumpur is a not a poor city, with lots of corporate presence. I was surprised I guess, at how clean and safe it was. Mind you I did not get an opportunity to walk around much at night, as its rainy season and it rains every day, every day, from about 3 pm to 6 am. The city is also very green, both from the many, many trees that line its streets, and the moss that grows in rainy season!

The worst meal I had was essentially American food, at the Hard Rock Cafe. Not that it was that bad, but I should have just had the beer, and got some more local food.

My tourist day was a Sunday, so I am sure I did not get fully immersed in the local culture, and to be sure, on the workdays, the city was much busier, and noiser, and full of life.

I took quite a few shots on my walkabout. The Petronis Twin Towers, the KL Tower, Chinatown, specifically the Petaling area.