Stand by your work

I submitted this image as a printed 13x19 print for my digital photo class. The assignment was for stitching images together and make them look like one. But as usual, printed images from the school turn out way different from abused printers. So my final project does not really look like this.
Color is all relative, right?



When you have a photo critique, especially with a printed image as a final product, you must stand by your work. In the critique, I heard a lot of other students say "I wasn't sure about this...It didn't work the way I wanted...I could have composed the image better..."
No No No! It must be perfect AND you must like it. Taste is a variation, and you should at least like your work.

One critique against my image was the signs ruined the landscape. The teacher look over and said, "No way, that's what the image is about." This would be a real boring picture without the signs.

Thanksgiving

The observance of Thanksgiving Day--as a function--has become general of late years. The Thankfulness is not so general. This is natural. Two-thirds of the nation have always had hard luck and a hard time during the year, and this has a calming effect upon their enthusiasm.

-Mark Twain

The thought of Thanksgiving has got me down this year. When I read this quote by Mark Twain, it cheered me up a bit. It has been a tough year, and I just want to eat and skip the thankful part.
And I am serious about eating pie first.

Nick's Last 6 months Slideshow

The Road Less Traveled with Michael Jr.

Michael Jr. lends a hand to homeless people on the streets...er...unpaved roads...



After checking out his website, it is pretty cool to see my work on his home page.

Mind Over Matter

I went camping with Erica this last weekend at Angeles National Forest. We hiked up to the top of one of the mountains, but I was too lazy to bring my camera. So I have no proof. Oh well. So much for a photo blog...

We met this guy at a campsite next to us, and he was wearing shorts, a sleaveless T-shirt, and sandals. I kept asking if he was cold, and he would say, "Mind over matter." Your mind is a powerful tool, and it can change how your body reacts to everything that is relative, such as the cold.

He also had an empty bottle of wine in his hand that he kept offering me, and I would tell him I didn't want his empty wine bottle.

Mind over matter.

And in regards to my Camp Shack tips, I forgot my pillow (again), and Erica refused to eat cliff bars and bananas. So I was responsible to make sure we had music, and a comfortable tent/sleeping arrangements, and she was on food duty. I set up in the dark and accidentally put the tent on a small slope. Turns out sleeping on a hill means she gets squished.

Eat at Joe's Camp Shack

This is a post about my camping tips. I have learned a lot by being on the road, and I am still learning. Travel efficiency is one of my top goals with dealing with my wanderlust. One of my pet peeves is over packing (and my other is finger prints). I might go camping and hiking this weekend, so I have been thinking about camping and travel efficiency.

FOOD TIPS:
1. Think like a vegetarian/vegan. Stay away from meats and dairy because of lack of proper storing and refridgeration. Also, cooking meats and dairies is really different than how you would normally cook them. Stock up on fruit & vegetables, Cliff Bars, canned beans and soups. Basically, if it can survive out of a cooler. I like beans and soup because you can heat it over the fire and have a warm meal for $3. If you are spending over $12 per day, you are either eating too much, or living large.

2. Fire. No,
Fire logs. More efficient than regular fire wood in the cost department, enviroment department, and time department. Three firelogs piled on each other can get you one big fire for a garunteed three hours. And you don't have to keep adding wood to the fire to keep it going.

3. Bring a pillow. I always forget.

4. Tenting. Always put the rain cover on. Lately, I haven't put it on, and I got a surprise rain shower at 2AM. Weather can change it's mind whenever it wants, weather you like it or not.

Afterhours in Zion

I had some night time to kill because the sun went down around 6:30ish, so after I would eat at Joe's Camp Shack, I would drive around in Zion...at night. I don't know about you, but when I am stuck in the wilderness for a couple of nights all by myself, my mind starts to spook itself out. At first, I thought it was cool that the park was completely empty (except for the old VW bus in the back of the park, which I thought was odd and out of place, especially when they started to stare at me). Then I would drive around some more, looking for some cool nightscapes. When you are standing around in the still dark setting up the equipment and exposures for a few minutes, you start to notice all of the noises, your mind and imagination start to work against you. After while, I realized that the rustling in the bushes was not a giant animal stalking me. I got a little brave and I would purposely place myself in awkward terrains for the dark night time to see how far my imagination would go.

In conclusion to the nightscapes, I saw thousands of photographers during the day, but I was the only one at night. I have crossed a few fine lines of insanity, dumb, irresponsibility, and more awesome than the rest of the photographers.

"Yea, kids are afraid of the dark..

You are afraid of the dark too, Marv!"

-Home Alone

My Iron Lung... Filled With Ashes

Crazy weekend. Erica and I were planning on hiking in the hills north of Brea Saturday around noon. Nature smoked us out.


Sun, around 2pm.




Moon.

The Boston article about the fires.

The fall of Zion

Sometimes I forget there is a season called "Autumn." The weather in Southern California might drop to a brisk 70 degrees in the fall, and my tree in my front yard is still green with all of the leaves.

When I arrived in Zion, I was blown away by all the yellows and reds.

Solitude in Zion

After Nick passed away, I needed a serious unplug and recharge from life. Good old fashion 'Joe time.' I like to go to special places to unplug from computers, work, school, home, cell phones, traffic...everyday things that we get so caught up in. I knew I needed to leave very soon after the funeral for a few days, and I didn't know where I was going to go, just go. The day before, I was thinking of going to Yosemite before it got cold and I have never been there yet (it is so crowded...). But it was supposed to rain all weekend, no fun sitting in the rain. So I decided to go to Zion, which was supposed to not have rain.

I drove my car. Man, my Mini gets some awesome gas mileage. 900 miles round trip and $80 in gas. 35-45 MPG. The motorcycle needed too many repairs, and I wasn't in the mental zone to focus for hours and hours on the bike.

The first night, it wasn't supposed to rain, so I didn't put the rain cover on my tent. And it rained around 2AM. I didn't even care to get up. It was pretty cool to hike around in the muddy trails, and get on their tram with my muddy boots. The next night was super windy, my tent was flying everywhere because I didn't steak it down. I rolled over and was glad it wasn't raining.

In total, I spent four days and three night in this awesome canyon. I roamed the earth and didn't really talk to anyone.

There are some awesome National Parks out there, but I have to say that Zion easily makes the top 5. The Grand Canyon has the most intense hike (12 mile trail to the bottom), the roads in Rocky Mountain tundra are at 13,000 feet, but Zion has trails on the egde of the cliffs with warning signs about falling off.
Zion is on the edge of two deserts and the Colorado Plateau, and has the tallest sandstone cliffs in the world. The sand dunes used to be 3000 feet tall before the canyon was formed a few billion years go. The Sahara Desert is only 300 feet.

Michael Fatali

I saw Michael Fatali's gallery outside Zion National Park, and I was really impressed with his photography. He uses large format film and does not edit his images.

"Early in my life I turned to the motherhood of nature for my personal and spiritual growth. This relationship with the natural world has been my lifeblood. I am drawn to places of mystery where I feel at peace with the power of the Earth's spirit.

Over the years, I have learned to use my photography as a voice for the gospel of nature. It is my goal and mission to communicate the mysterious connections we all share with this land having chosen to be a portrait photographer of God's creations. I will continue to practice ways that bring us a little closer to the spirit of nature."

Once in a while I will run into a photographer that is extremely talented, and I was blown away by his work.
He had some odd "spiritual" quotes in his gallery...but what else would you expect from someone that grew up in Sedona.

"Light is the language of the soul..."

Nicholas' Funeral

It might be odd and morbid to blog Nicholas's funeral, but I really believe that it helps with the family's healing process.

I'm Free

Don't grieve for me, for now I am free.
I'm following the path God has given me.
I took his hand when I heard Him call.
He said, "Child of mine fear nothing at all."
I could not stay another day,
To laugh, to learn, to love, or to play.
I know that we are now apart,
But with my hands, I have touched your heart.
Perhaps my time seemed all too brief.
Don't lengthen it now with undue grief.
Lift your hearts and peace to thee.
God wanted me now, He set me free!

We don't know how, but Brett got pizza AND the ladies! Quite a task for a pizza lover...


And Vince eating pizza one hour after swearing he wouldn't eat pizza for a month.