Friday, April 27, 2012
Monday, April 23, 2012
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Monday, April 16, 2012
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Friday, April 13, 2012
Getting Back To It
I have recently noticed that I have kept my camera in the bag way too much lately. I've been spending a little too much time working on my post processing skills and learning how to use my software more in depth that I have forgotten to continue to create. I hate that. I have been going back over old images and trying new things to a point that has kept me away from what I love to do, and that is simply taking pictures.
Every so often this happens. I lose myself in perfecting certain images. Being away from Facebook has kept me away from the photography group that I belong to on there. That simple weekly challenge always kept me working on new techniques and kept me creative. I have noticed that my creativity level has dropped recently and that bugs me. It is like I get stuck in a rut every now and then and I need something to help me out. That something is simply taking pictures. I need to get back to shooting so I am going to do just that.
From now till the end of the year I am going to take and post one new picture a day (Except for Sunday's). To challenge myself I am going to try and make sure that each image is more than just any old picture to fulfill my obligation. I am going to concentrate on creating something striking, something that can make you feel connected to the subject, something that can make you feel like you were there.
In doing this I hope to find my creative side again and also hope to find my "Style". My biggest criticism of my work is that I have not created my own "Brand". By that I mean I want to create images that people see and instantly know that it is one of mine. That is one of the hardest things to do in this photography world. With the number of new budding photographers and the level of technology in cameras and software, it is hard to find your own "Brand" these days.
My quest begins today. My first post will be tomorrow at Noon, and a new image will be posted everyday at Noon from then till the end of the year!
All pictures will be posted here on my blog.
I have also created a Flickr account that will be dedicated to just the images for this challenge. You can see all the cataloged images here...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mfp21/
Well wish me luck and pray that I find the creativity to fulfill this quest, and pray that I find my "Brand" on this journey!
Mark
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Family Time
Easter weekend turned out to be a fun and relaxing weekend for us and the boys. (Well if you take away Saturday's migraine that lasted all day then it was relaxing.) Normally we go up to my grandpa's place up North but this year he came down to us. My aunt and uncle drove him down and it was nice to see all of them because we don't get up there enough. Of course they were excited to see the boys and the boys were happy to see great gramps!
We basically turned the weekend into one big event. Friday was used to prep everything for the weekend. I spent much of the evening playing pool while the 2 pork shoulders were sitting in the smoker. Saturday morning we arrived at my parents house early to get cooking. The pork shoulders needed a little more time and there was still tons to get done before the guests started to arrive. For those of you who don't know me all that well.....I love to cook. I don't know how I picked up all of my skills but I'm going to say mom helped me out with some. I don't just mean grilling and BBQ, I can throw down in the kitchen as well, so bring it on Bobby Flay!
We decided to have family and friends over on Saturday and leave Sunday to be spent with just the family. So Saturday was way more hectic! Cooking, running back and forth to the store, trying to play a game or two of pool in between, and trying to fight off a migraine through it all was draining. It was all worth it though. We had a great time with all of our friends and family. My cousin from San Antonio even made it over with her new baby. It was so crazy to think my boys were that small at one time! Crazy how time fly's! Everyone stayed pretty late and mingled into the night. The food turned out great and everyone seemed stuffed by the time the desserts rolled out. By the end of the night I was spent and ready for my bed. Migraine still raging! Yup all day! Home was nice and my bed even nicer.
Sunday morning we headed back to my parents for breakfast. Migraine finally gone, it must have sneaked out in the middle of the night. By the time we got there my mom had breakfast all ready to go and coffee in the pot! After a yummy breakfast and a cup of coffee where do I find myself again? Yup, right back in the kitchen preping the ribs for dinner. We went a different route with dinner this Easter. Since it was nice out for the weekend we decided to keep the cooking outdoors. Everyone was able to relax in the sun and get some fresh air. We enjoyed the afternoon talking and playing with the boys. With the ribs finally on the grill and smelling delicious we snuck in a few games of pool. Once again the food was great and everyone was stuffed. We hung as long as we could taking in the time spent with gramps and finally had to call it a night. It was time to head home and give the boys their bath and get them ready for bed and myself ready for the work week ahead.
Alee, the boys, and I had a great weekend and are very thankful for all in our lives. God has blessed us with an amazing family and a group of friends who are equally amazing. Thank you to everyone who helped us out with the boys this past weekend. It really helps a ton. It gives us a chance to relax a bit and get a much need break even if it is only for an hour or so. I didn't do a whole lot of picture taking over the weekend but here are a few from the weekend.........
The end of the weekend means that food truck night is tomorrow! Monday dinner at the Blossom lightrail station! More on that in my next blog.
Have a great week!
Mark
We basically turned the weekend into one big event. Friday was used to prep everything for the weekend. I spent much of the evening playing pool while the 2 pork shoulders were sitting in the smoker. Saturday morning we arrived at my parents house early to get cooking. The pork shoulders needed a little more time and there was still tons to get done before the guests started to arrive. For those of you who don't know me all that well.....I love to cook. I don't know how I picked up all of my skills but I'm going to say mom helped me out with some. I don't just mean grilling and BBQ, I can throw down in the kitchen as well, so bring it on Bobby Flay!
We decided to have family and friends over on Saturday and leave Sunday to be spent with just the family. So Saturday was way more hectic! Cooking, running back and forth to the store, trying to play a game or two of pool in between, and trying to fight off a migraine through it all was draining. It was all worth it though. We had a great time with all of our friends and family. My cousin from San Antonio even made it over with her new baby. It was so crazy to think my boys were that small at one time! Crazy how time fly's! Everyone stayed pretty late and mingled into the night. The food turned out great and everyone seemed stuffed by the time the desserts rolled out. By the end of the night I was spent and ready for my bed. Migraine still raging! Yup all day! Home was nice and my bed even nicer.
Sunday morning we headed back to my parents for breakfast. Migraine finally gone, it must have sneaked out in the middle of the night. By the time we got there my mom had breakfast all ready to go and coffee in the pot! After a yummy breakfast and a cup of coffee where do I find myself again? Yup, right back in the kitchen preping the ribs for dinner. We went a different route with dinner this Easter. Since it was nice out for the weekend we decided to keep the cooking outdoors. Everyone was able to relax in the sun and get some fresh air. We enjoyed the afternoon talking and playing with the boys. With the ribs finally on the grill and smelling delicious we snuck in a few games of pool. Once again the food was great and everyone was stuffed. We hung as long as we could taking in the time spent with gramps and finally had to call it a night. It was time to head home and give the boys their bath and get them ready for bed and myself ready for the work week ahead.
Alee, the boys, and I had a great weekend and are very thankful for all in our lives. God has blessed us with an amazing family and a group of friends who are equally amazing. Thank you to everyone who helped us out with the boys this past weekend. It really helps a ton. It gives us a chance to relax a bit and get a much need break even if it is only for an hour or so. I didn't do a whole lot of picture taking over the weekend but here are a few from the weekend.........
The end of the weekend means that food truck night is tomorrow! Monday dinner at the Blossom lightrail station! More on that in my next blog.
Have a great week!
Mark
Monday, April 2, 2012
Ratzburg Baby Shower
This weekend I spent a couple of hours shooting at my friends sister-in-law's baby shower. All that was required of me was to get some fun candid shots. Due to the weather Saturday everything was held indoors which made shooting space kind of tight. However the end results were great and I got plenty of good shots for the mother-to-be. She likes to digital scrapbook so she should have lots of fun with the pictures from her shower. Here is a sneak peek form Saturday's shower.....
So there are just a few of the many from the day...
Congratulations to Keith and Toni!
Have a great day,
Mark
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