Steven’s Notebook

This certainly isn’t anything close to the weather that’s been seen this winter by my friends and family in the Maryland & Washington D.C., but it’s more than we’re used to here in the Atlanta area.

The younger of our two sons is now also off to college, and my wife & I had an opportunity to visit with him on campus of Auburn University this past weekend. We also used TicketCity to get a couple of seats for the football game, and boy are we glad we did! We’ve been [...]

Photography is, when all is said and done, an art in which light is a very important element. Where there is little light, we do what we can to compensate. We use strobes, we use fill lights, we use reflectors — sometimes with good results, but often not.
There are times to just say “the [...]

I participate in two online motorcycling communities, ADVrider.com and Sport-Touring.Net. Many riders on ADV have begun “Tag-O-Rama” or “Photo Tag” games, in which a rider posts a photo of their motorbike in some particular location, along with a few clues, and others try to figure out where it is. The first person to find the [...]

It was a beautiful day and I got out of the office a little early; we’d moved my son into his college apartment this past weekend but he’d forgotten a couple of little things — a perfect excuse for a ride. I took a camera along but of course didn’t take as many pictures as [...]

“The City of Alpharetta and the American Legion Post 201 will hold the 56th Annual Old Soldiers Day Parade. The parade is just one way that our country’s war veterans are recognized for the service. The Old Soldiers Day Parade began years ago as a tribute to veterans of the war between the states, but [...]

“So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself — nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.”Franklin Delano Roosevelt [March 4, 1933]

“Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, [...]

May 10, 2008: Workers are putting the finishing touches on the brand-new Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in Alpharetta Georgia as performers are rehearsing for the opening night concert.
I didn’t think about this early enough, as I was busy getting pictures of the kids; looking back I would have liked to have gotten the images that [...]

from Robert’s concert, Friday night…
here’s the whole photo set.
The show was a great success, from several perspectives. It not only raised the funds needed, it brought together a whole bunch of folks for a night of good music and worship. Good times indeed.

The trees and flowers are opening up. There’s green dust on all the cars, the roads, and…

5:15pm, Indoor Drumline rehearsal

8:00pm, Wind Ensemble concert

There it was on the menu at The Vortex – the Double Bypass Burger. This big hunk of meat is covered with bacon and cheese, surrounded by two fried eggs and then the whole mess is set not on a bun, but between two grilled cheese sandwiches. Oh, and it’s served with tater tots. How [...]

More photos available on the flickr site.

In celebration of the successful launch early this morning of the Endeavour by CDR Dominic Gorie, his crew and the rest of the NASA launch team, here’s a scan of one of my old photos.

In this image, the Space Shuttle Endeavour leaves Kennedy Space Center’s launch pad 39-A on it’s way to the International Space [...]

I just couldn’t come up with anything for this image, so here’s your chance. Come up with a good caption or title and leave it in this post’s comments. I’ve got no prize to offer, but go ahead and give it a shot anyway. Be sure to leave a URL for your site and/or your [...]

Yards became mudslides, roads became rivers during yesterday’s thunderstorms in the Atlanta area.

Unfortunately, the rain that we have been getting is still nowhere near enough to fill the lakes.

Today is brought to you by the letter ‘V’

The city of Atlanta, from a distance.

Snow doesn’t last long in the Atlanta area.

Just one of the many custom bikes on display

Proof that a Harley guy can sit on a Honda without his head exploding

Christmas Goose
Christmas Turkey
Christmas Eagle

This picture and the flickr set behind it were taken today: Christmas morning at Conowingo Dam, Maryland, on the Susquehanna River. There were about a dozen or so Bald Eagles, along with many Blue Herons and countless Gulls.

Merry Christmas to You and Yours

Playing along with Mike, Kevin, and Michael — in video form — here’s an end-of-year slideshow: Favorite Photos from 2007

Ok, now it’s your turn, let’s see your pictures from the past year.

Much of this past week I was in sunny Florida, visiting customers and making sure that projects were moving right along. I’m not a great fan of business travel; we know way too many people who spend 6 of every 7 nights in a hotel and that life’s just not for me. I do [...]

I spent some time at the home of some friends this morning, making their family portraits for them.

I don’t take the opportunity for photo shoots like this as often as I’d like. It was an enjoyable experience, and in about an hour of shooting (and a little over an hour in post) I was [...]

Today’s lunch location…

…and right across the street, a ‘package store’…

One Old

One New

Let’s head back to the lake one more time. When I last posted, I left you on the shore at Mary Alice Park, with a Harley rider gazing across Lake Lanier. I left the park ahead of him, but he passed me a short bit later as I’d stopped by the side of the road [...]

Here in the southeastern corner of the U.S., we’ve had beautiful weather for the past year or so. Beautiful for people who enjoy doing things outdoors — from sports and camping to picnics and walking the dog. Sunshine and little-to-no precipitation.
The downside to all that sunshine and lack of precipitation is… the lack of [...]

Need a cup or two this morning?

A couple mid-morning walking-about photos, all taken with a friend’s Canon 30D.

As much as I enjoy High School football games, and moreso the Marching Band performances, the real fun is watching the kids getting goofy in the stands.

Bumper Sticker Of the Day

That’s right folks, you read it here: “TV Is Gooder Then Books.”

Here are just a few photos from the Pep Boys 500 race held Sunday October 28, 2007 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

There are more in the slideshow.

Alpharetta’s Scarecrow Harvest was capped off this morning with a festive family celebration, including face painting, rides in a horse-drawn carriage, goods from local farmers & artisans, and live music provided by High Cotton.
There are a few more pictures over on the flickr site.

At noon, the mayor and city council members took over the stage [...]

Donuts purchase this morning: 12
People in the office today: 8
Someone’s not yet done their duty.

It’s football — and Marching Band — season once again, which means my Friday nights are pretty booked… hanging out in the stands with the kids, then roaming the sidelines, all workin’ to capture the moments of youth. It’s a lot of fun for me.
This past Friday’s game at Milton started in the rain, so [...]

Of course I knew what day today was, but the emotion didn’t really hit me until I stopped by the school.

One of the Milton High School’s young ladies, as part of her Girl Scout Gold Award project, ‘planted’ 3000 flags and worked to have kids in the school write letters to soldiers expressing their feelings [...]

Question: When you tag a photo with location information, do you use the location where you were standing when you took the photo, or the location of the object or people in the photo?

Making the rounds this week on various WDW-related blogs and forums, You know you’re a Disney cast member when…
There are a couple that I know apply, and bug the heck out of my sons:

You have the overwhelming urge to offer to take people’s pictures
When you go on vacation, you say hello to Housekeepers in the [...]

I’m not saying that it’s been hot and dry for the past month or anything, just that my backyard looks more like late October than mid-August.

Old Soldiers’ Day Parade, Alpharetta GA Saturday 4-August-2007

Also from last week’s lunchtime visit, here’s an almost 180-degree view of Village Lake.

That’s a really tiny view, you really need to click through then hit the “all sizes” button. Similar to the last posting, I used hugin to assemble this pano, this time from 7 images. The pictures were taken with a little Point&Shoot [...]

A panorama shot of Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa, made of three pictures taken from Downtown Disney. The pictures were taken with a Kodak EasyShare CS4230 and combined with hugin. In the foreground are part of the Lego brick dragon that lurks along the shore.
I’m pretty impressed with hugin. These were taken with [...]

A shopkeeper’s attempt to beautify the pedestrian.

I had a business trip this weekend, working on a project for a customer of mine in the Orlando area. The work was to be done on Sunday, so the plan was for me to fly in late Saturday night, work all day Sunday, then fly home on Monday morning. The airline schedules and prices [...]

The weather was absolutely beautiful last week in Columbus GA, and Monday afternoon I had some free time, so I took a walk downtown. Here’s a water tower and building under re-construction, right alongside the Chattahoochee River.

Here’s a shot of the mid-Georgia skyline, filled with springtime pollen.

Yes, the sky really is that green when the trees are doing their springtime thing.

Today I was in downtown Atlanta — at the courthouse for my turn in the Jury Duty box, actually — and during lunch I was thinking it’d be nice if I had my camera with me… when I realized that I did, in a way.
My new phone (at what point is it a smart [...]

I was in Columbus Georgia during the tornado-inducing storm Thursday night, in fact Mark and I were in an Outback steak house just before the worst of the storm. The power went out just as we were placing our drink orders, and it didn’t look like it was coming back on very quickly, so [...]

I know I’ve made images of this barn before; as I passed it today I figured I’d get a fresh one and try that Orton thing that Geren mentioned. The instructions he points to really lightened up the image, so I backed it off a little and had to play with the transparency to get [...]

1913-2006

Last night’s concert was a lot of fun, especially as the Wind Ensemble ended their portion with a fun rendition of Sleighride, complete with a quick addition to their normal black dresses and tuxes:

There were plenty of other pieces played, very beautiful music. I just really dug the hats.

As I came home this afternoon, I was being watched. Sitting on a stone wall under our deck was this fine bird, giving me the eye.He didn’t move at all as I drove in, so I went upstairs and got my camera and was pleasantly surprised that he was still there when I returned. I [...]

Today was beautiful, a bright blue sky and crisp cool air. A perfect day for some fall-ball lacrosse.

Though the final scores weren’t to our liking, the games were great fun to watch.

Every few weeks the local school system has a “Learning Matters” day.
I guess I don’t think that “learning matters” means the same thing that the school systems do, since the way they show that “learning matters” is to send the students home early.
Huh?

Pretty Girls, Handsome Guys…
…Parties…
…and parents taking pictures.

We were in Louisville KY this past weekend for a marching band competition, but that got rained out (to put it mildly). The bands’ performances were to have been in the UofL Statdium, but got moved to a smaller, indoor, venue. During a short break in the weather, my wife and I did a little [...]

High School Football season’s started, and I’m back on the sidelines behind the cameras. Here are two shots that made this week’s paper.
“Junior running back Lance M. (3) runs for some of the 159 yards on 26 carries he racked up for Milton High School. Martin also scored two touchdown in the 19-0 whitewashing of [...]

It’s football season again here in the Atlanta area, which means Marching Bands are busy on Friday evenings.

Here’s the Milton drumline warming up in front of the school before tonight’s game.

This weekend the City of Alpharetta and the American Legion Post 201 held the 54th Annual Old Soldiers Day Parade. The parade is just one way that our country’s war veterans are recognized for the service. It was a beautiful day and I got some really good pictures of people.

More pictures.

Summer break’s over for these guys and gals, who are already working hard preparing for the fall season of halftime shows and competitions. Practice started for the drumline and color guard last week, with sessions from 9am through 9pm. The full band arrived this week, and they all have practice right up until the first [...]

Last night my wife and I went for a walk around Hembree Park. It was a beautiful evening, with twilight fading and just a faint breeze. Here are a couple of pictures of the wildlife along the path

As usual, click for larger images hosted by Flickr.

In many parts of the country, June is “Dads and Grads” time, but here in the Atlanta area High School Graduation is a bit earlier.

This is the final week of school, with finals today through friday. For many of the seniors who already completed all their work, yesterday’s Senior Breakfast was the last time [...]

Six weeks after the storm hit, the damage is still apparent.
Here’s one area backyard, viewed from the parking lot of our church. On the left you can see what’s remaining of a light pole.

Before the damage, you couldn’t see the house through the trees at all from this parking lot. And obviously the home [...]

The annual High School ritual: Pretty gals and handsome guys. Fancy dresses, Tuxes and tails. Dinner and dancing. And pictures. Lots of pictures.

More pictures on my MiltonSports Photo site, of course.

It’s been a few weeks since I posted any sports photos, and my son’s baseball team has been doing well this week, so it’s time once again. These are from Tuesday evening’s game. As usual, you can click on any image to see a larger version.

Here’s my son sliding into third base, right before scoring [...]

This brand-new car was left in the parking lot of a local church while it’s owner’s on a mission trip.

Unfortunately for the owner that was this past weekend, when the storm hit. Ouch.

One week ago today, we sailed into Key West’s City Marina at Garrison Bight and docked. After cleaning the Heritage, we were “sailors in a port town” for the day. Since co-shipmate Brad and I had both been to Key West before and had already seen most of the tourist things – and because of [...]

As promised, today I start posting images from last week’s trip. Here’s a picture of our ship, the Heritage Of Miami II.

This is one of the same locations we stopped at three years ago.

We’re back, and I’ll be posting stories and pictures of our trip over the next few days, but what a sight we returned to. Along with AL and TN, the Atlanta GA area got hit by a powerful set of storms and a few tornados as well. The building — or what’s left of it [...]

I added two more sports to my photography repertoire this weekend at Wills Park

Baseball’s a sport I know, though I’m working on finding the “sweet spots” from which to photograph the action. I’m pretty much clueless about Equestrian sports though – I just know to stay out of the way of the horses

I guess it’s finally time to buy that PowerBook.

(Actually, we took it apart to canabalize parts for another of the same type… no “living” computers were harmed in the making of this image.)

Coach V. looks on as the AHS women’s varsity lacrosse team plays against Chatahoochee in tonight’s game. Though the varsity women lost, his JV women tied ‘Hooch in theirs.

I know, no sooner do I post about the photo-a-day project and goal than I take a few days off. Here are some colorful pictures from last week to hold you through

This past week Milton hosted a Valentine’s evening dance featuring the Glenn Miller Orchestra. I’d been asked to make portraits for the couples, which I did. It was my first “real” portrait shoot and I’m pretty happy with the way it went.
Several students were helping get the room set up when I arrived, so I [...]

The snow started at about 9:35. At 9:45 I went out and got a few images.

Before the clock struck 10 it had turned to rain and all the snow was gone.

I’ve passed this horse just about every weekday morning, usually before the sun comes up. I look at where the sun’ll be rising and think “someday I’ve got to come by here a little later when the pasture’s nicely lit.” Today was the day.

It’s hard to get a picture of a friendly horse. There was [...]

Two photos from this weekend’s band fund-raiser, an all night Rock-A-Thon.

click on either for a larger version
Neither are the greatest portrait in the world, but it was somewhere around 2am in a high school cafeteria. More pictures can be seen here.

Yesterday I posted sunrise light.
Here’s the sunset light.

Alpharetta’s “new” Milton High School shines in a brisk January morning’s sunrise.

This certainly isn’t an abandoned building, though the fate of the “old” building has yet to be completely determined.

It’s been a few days since I made the time and effort to make sure I had the camera with me, but today I got a few shots.

These two buildings were both about 20 meters off the road, the sort of thing your eyes might see but that you might not really notice as you [...]

I was cautioned about the Photo-A-Day goal not to set the bar too high; “Picture a day means lots of editing. Great if you have the time EVERY day. Don’t set a goal too high, work your way up to daily.” That’s ok, I’m not going to beat myself up if I don’t [...]

The property fence of one subdivision hides a silt barrier around an ugly vacant lot — but only from the residents of the subdivision, not from passersby on the main street.
This wasn’t really the photo I’d stopped for; there are two water towers in the distance, visible through some trees, and I was intreagued by [...]

I’m joining Tommy W. and others who’ve put forth a resolution to capture at least one image every day.
Today I stopped by to see what’s left of a friend’s house. While we were gone for Christmas vacation, Scott had a fire at his house. This is what’s left of the carport. The wall to the [...]

I’ve tried to get more in the habit of carrying my camera around more, shooting on a more regular basis rather than just taking it to specific events. This Christmas vacation was a good time for that, just keeping my eyes open and taking pictures of whatever I saw. Here’s a view out the passenger [...]

As the nation pauses today to remember the attack on Perl Harbor, let’s also take some time to think of our currently-serving troops. It really doesn’t matter if you agree with President Bush’s policy or not, the fact is that the guys and gals are there – thousands of miles from home – while most [...]

It feels really strange, now that High School football season is over; it’s Friday and I don’t have a game to shoot. I got a fair number of pictures in the local weekly newspaper this season, and last week I got an assignment to cover the Georgia AAAAA Volleyball Championship match.

Milton’s girls fought hard, barely [...]

Another week, another newspaper sale (the 9/8 issue, I’m just late in ‘blogging).
This time, they used this shot of “the Braveheart Boys” on the front cover. These guys paint themselves up to look like they’ve got football jerseys on and augment the cheerleaders.

click for larger image.
A black & white version of this shot, the first [...]

Last Friday I wrote “Today also marks my first day as a ‘real’ freelance photographer.”
Page 24 of today’s Alpharetta Revue and News is the first evidence of that.

click on the image for a larger version
The image they printed is a crop of this shot. There’s no photo credit in the version of the article posted [...]

Last night’s practice was a rainy one; here’s an attempt at getting a little more creative than usual.

click on the image for a larger version
This is a shot of Paul, or more accurately his reflection in a fellow sousaphone player’s instrument. I’d been trying to get this shot during the past few rehearsals, and the [...]

Today’s picture comes from this past weekend’s car wash, financial benefits of which went to the MHS Band’s drumline for equipment, uniforms and such.

click on the image for a larger version
The thermometers said 100f, and with the humidity added in the ‘heat index’ was somewhere just shy of 110, so the kids were doing whatever [...]

This week’s Photo Friday Challenge (thank you, Geren, for the pointer) is “One.”

click on the image for a larger version
This image breaks the “rule of thirds” and probably other conventions as well, but as a first entry I think it’ll do. Standing alone, this picture of a high school football player gives the viewer no [...]

I’ve posted new marching band pictures from last night’s rehearsal, the first in the new stadium. (The Milton High School community’s moving into a brand new building; classes begin this coming Monday.) I’m reasonably happy with most of the images, though I may have done a little too much post on this one [grin]