Some More Industrial Stuff

I hate living out of a suitcase almost as much as I hate being on the road @ 0'dark-thirty in the morning, but Monday was a long, long day of it.  And the first of three such Mondays in a row, with the promise of more to come.

Little glimpse into my Monday . . .

This weekend promises to have some very non-industrial sort of shots.

Great Lines and a Good Future

I have been waiting for my co-worker to show up in his toy for a few weeks now.  We've talked about doing some real photography on a couple of his past rides, but this time he's serious.

This car so very closely mimics the lines of the '69 after which is is modeled that one could almost, at a glance, mistake it for one.

The real shoot will not have reflections of the truck tire next to it or other distracting elements but it will have some serious attitude.



This is just a parking lot shot from this morning.

2007 GT500

Some Industrial Photography

In my real job (the one that pays the bills and keeps me remembering that life isn't enough of fun & games) I get the opportunity to do some industrial photography for the company.

It's pretty cool since they bought a Canon 5DM2 with a pretty sweet 24-70 f2.8L lens and software and have given me a budget to spend on prints for the offices.

Coming up are shoots with our outlying offices around SC, GA & NC - mostly at customer sites so we can use some industry specific shots for our website, offer them to our customers, and put some up on the walls.

Here's a few hanging around our office currently:

0500

Monday morning.


BEEP!!!! BEEP!!! BEEEEEEEEEPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It really can't be that time already?

And why do my eyes feel like someone took 80 grit sandpaper to them?

I haven't even walked outside.

I haven't even gotten out of bed!!!

Seriously?  I know the atmosphere is full of billions of these little 10-20 micron-sized particles that are intended to do nothing other than vigorously irritate my eyes, sinuses, and airway.

But already?

Could they not wait at least until after coffee?


And who told Toyota they could install the brightest LED tail lights know to mankind on their pickup trucks?

They have to know some poor unsuspecting soul would have to be stuck behind a brake-happy commuter in the thick of sandpaper pollen season.

Three doses of Opcon-A by lunchtime and still my eyes look as though I'm hungover from a 3-day binge. 

It feels worse than welding burn.

Lights off in the office.  Eyes closed for all but the tasks necessary to visually observe - thankfully, typing with my eyes closed is something I mastered during my college years, now if I could only proofread with them closed!!.

Nap over lunch - not so much to sleep as to simply close my eyes in hopes they will find relief in the darkness.  It doesn't work.  They still burn.  Were my capillaries blue my eyes would look like a coastal marshland, populated by rivulets streaming in various and sundry directions.  Were they any more red, they would look like something from a horror movie.

Sunglasses don't help 

Only darkness.

Never do I recall hoping a beautiful Spring day would be over so quickly.

The Coming Weekend

Plans:

Do more tile . . .

or at least watch him do more tile

until the walls look much more complete even than this . . .

Which it already does.  That 4th row is complete and there are 10" travertine shelves on either end (hand cut & polished by yours truly!) as well as the two center tiles around the window.  The 8" shelves will get installed this weekend as well, Lord willing.

Hopes are to get most of that wall done and a significant portion of the other two walls.

Because this is the 2nd to last weekend for a month that we have to work on this shower.



I will likely find myself running away from more of this . . .

which, when I'm not in such a hurry to keep the camera from getting wet (read: not paying close attention to the dangers at hand) looks something more like this . . .

I escaped, albeit barely with only wet patches from the knees down . . .

I would really like to spend more time with a camera capturing the fleeting moments of Spring . . .

And maybe even some of the less-than-successful cleanup efforts in our downtown area . . .

And the rest of the time is gonna be spent watching these grow (or something equally as exciting energetic, I'm certain) . . .

I thought I had a photo shoot this weekend, but we got our wires crossed (OK, somebody got some wires crossed, but I'm not saying exactly who that person might be).


What I really want to find again and photograph more of is this . . .

Alas

It is that infamous day in the eyes of the people where we face a deadline.

I'm not a political person.

I'm not anti-government.

I'm not even anti-taxes.

I don't even agree with anywhere near all the blathering at the site to which I'm about to link.

But I think it's a suitable alternative to help us remember where we would be on April 15th or any other day of the year were it not for the mettle of some of our founding fathers in this country.

With that, consider this a suitable alternative to "Tax Day" . . .

http://www.buyagunday.net/

An evening of relaxation, revelation, and preparation

Ever have those days when you feel mean as a hornet?

Go ahead, admit it.  We all do.

Every now and then a body just needs get a clear head and regain a little perspective.

Everybody's different in how they go about it, and some don't even go about it purposefully or with any sort of routine.  It might take different forms or different activities to clear out all the cobwebs and replace them with something beautiful or productive or happy or enticing.

Yes, it's been one of those days - for about two weeks running, so it seems.

But tonight I ran into one of those cobweb-clearing times head on.  We finished dinner and I headed for the relaxing place.

But I ran into a realization that the relaxing place needs some work.


Serious work.

I'm afraid this is the beginning of the end of one of my treasured relaxing spots.

You see, it ain't gonna be easy to replace this . . .

or this . . .

Because they've been sort of stuck there for many a long year now.

And that first photo . . .

It's supposed to go through here . . .

But, you see, it doesn't any more. 

I have to give the old hammock a little credit though.  It was old when my wife found it at a yard sale.  I wasn't certain it was worth what she paid for it then, and certainly never expected it to last anywhere near as long as it did.



But it has.  And admirably well, I might add.

Lots of Sunday afternoon naps regardless of the season.  Some with a daughter (very few with a son).  Some even with a spouse.  Some without me (usually when the kids claim the spot early on because I have something else to do on a Sunday afternoon).  More than a few Saturday naps and even a few weekday evening ones.

But tonight was just a time to relax and listen to the mellifluous sounds of wrens, Towhees, bluebirds, chickadees, phoebes, flickers and the far-off strains of the mated pair of  Pileated Woodpeckers off in the distance.  Mix those in with a slight breeze to keep away the mosquito noises (and bites) and rustle the newly forming oak and sweet gum leaves.

Of course, noticing the decay of the strands of the hammock (there's another rope about to fray smack in two!!!), I decided to do a little photography to relax the mind and body since the hammock was, obviously, no longer to be trusted to not dump me unceremoniously onto a leaf and gumball-ridden substratum.

But that's OK, because my wife and daughter are going yard-sale-ing tomorrow morning

I told you it was Springtime

I was outside for about 10 minutes today, trying to capture the glory of Wisteria, but the wind wouldn't cooperate.

What I did get is a solid coating of pollen . . .

The Whole World Has Turned Yellow

It's one of my favorite seasons -  Springtime.

Which means lots of green fields.

And lots of fields that will be green, but right now they are just red clay-colored.

Lots of gorgeous flowers . . .

from tulips and a few dwindling daffodils to burgeoning dogwoods and redbuds to Wisteria

Lots of Wisteria!

The stuff is everywhere!  I even have a stop planned this afternoon on the way home (or on the way in tomorrow) to shoot a pine forest infested with it.

But, with all the beauty, comes the overarching blight of springtime . . .



Pollen.

Pollen is one of those paradoxical things around here.  We love to hate it, but we can't do without it.  Without it the flowers wouldn't flower, the blooms wouldn't bloom, the fruits wouldn't fruit, and my allergies would likely not exist.

Even my (black) shoes have a tinge of yellow-green to them compliments of the clouds of pine & oak pollens that have engulfed the atmosphere.

Rain every couple of days would be nice.  Wash the accursed beautiful stuff out of the air.

And then there's the bugs. 

I washed my windshield last night after pulling the truck in the garage for the evening.

Within two miles, my windshield looked like this . . .

Darned suicidal insects.

As if the pollen cloaking my truck isn't bad enough, now I have to deal with bugs divebombing my windows at sunrise.

At least 20 of the biggest dang things splattered themselves all over the windshield.

And my washer fluid was empty.