Couple of Days Left Until...

The big opening at Shane's on Main in Stillwater. Like I've probably said before, I've got a dozen images up on the walls in Shane's restaurant. From 3-7pm on Saturday, come down to downtown Stillwater and hang out with some great people, great food and great photography!

Need to get out and shoot more. The weather hasn't been co-operating at all; in fact, it snowed this morning, and is pretty dreary out right now. Plus, two times I did not have my camera, I've seen Bald Eagles flying around. One was right by the US Bank in Stillwater near Cub. The other was on 244 by Mahtomedi, on one of the ponds. It was eating some sort of creature; I couldn't tell if it was a fish or an animal. Either way, I could have filled up the viewfinder with the bird if I had the camera along with me. I'll just have to remember to bring it with me everywhere, for the shots that just happen along for me.

I'm actually just hoping that the weather finally co-operates, and things can get warm again. Otherwise, I'll have to break down and take pictures of the psycho robin that keeps on trying to get into my neighbor's front door. It's been there for about 3 days now - flying at the door, not hitting it, but then back to the tree, or the sidewalk. And up again, and back again. It does take a break for a drink now and then, but it goes right back at it.

Preparing

I'm still in prep mode for the opening at Shane's on Main on April 4th. Working on getting some new business cards, printing out order forms, and I created and dropped off a pile of fliers for the event with Shane on Tuesday. Still nervous, but excited, about the whole thing. Hope all goes well; I'm hoping for the best!

Haven't got out too much to shoot lately. I've been planning and preparing for the opening, and between work and home life, I haven't had much of a chance to get out. Maybe I'll get out this weekend; I've got a list again of places I want to shoot more of, or visit for the first time. With the snow almost gone, all sorts of places open up now.

Friday Already?

Jeesh. What happened to this week? It's already Friday.

Good news. Along with the 12 images I have on display at Shane's on Main in downtown Stillwater, Shane wants to have a showing/opening for me. Right now, it looks like it will be April 4th, which is a Saturday. Nervous as all get out, but we'll see how it goes. Can't find out unless I try, so I'm going to see what happens. Hopefully, we'll have a full house, and it will draw attention to my photography, and bring business to Shane's place. I'm looking for a win-win on this, and with the date coming up fast, I need to start planning on getting an invite out and figuring out what times to be there.

Been trying to get out and shoot more. Really, I have. Spring seems to be just around the corner, then gets pushed away with more snow. I'm hoping to get out and shoot more when it warms up, as it isn't fun to lug around 20+ pounds of camera gear and a thick winter jacket, with gloves, a scarf, and a hat. And if it is cold enough, hand and foot warmers too. I need to hit up the old bridge again, and see how the thaw is going after this weekend. I'd ideally have a layer of snow still around it, with the water running down the creek, but we'll see what happens. The owner has always been really cool about allowing me access to the bridge, so it's been fun to get out there and shoot it in all sorts of weather.

I keep on looking at new lenses. I'm eyeing a 200-500mm Tamron right now. It isn't the fastest lens (I think it is F4.0/5.6, but I'm not 100% sure), but it is less than most of the "primes" that are out there, which are around a F2.8, and $5k for a price tag. I keep on hoping for that Nikon/Tamron/Sigma sponsorship, but I don't even know where to start with that, if such a thing even exists.

Been listening to a lot of the old 80's music I used to listen to. The Cure, Depeche Mode, The Replacements, Porcelain Boys. The old 80's new wave/punk stuff. Lots of Clash lately too. As for reading, I just finished re-reading the last Harry Potter book - book 7, the Deadly Hallows. I'm a geek, yes. But they're well written, and I like the storyline. I've moved onto 1984 now, buy George Orwell. I don't recall reading it ever for any high-school course, so I'm going to check it out.

I also got my first DVD about strobist shots, and doing portrait work. It's supposed to be a fairly educational disk set, once it is finished. I haven't had a chance to watch much of the first disk yet, but we'll see what happens this weekend.

March Already?

I went out and shot some around St. Paul. Finally made it to the Seventh Street Improvement Arches. Construction on them started in 1883, and finished in 1884. They have this cool helicoidal design, which makes the bricks that it is made out of spiral around. I wanted to go exploring around the trails a bit more, but would rather do it in a group. Maybe that's a good Flickrwalk idea -the arches and then the following trails around them.

Putting up my work at Shane's on Main has been delayed. I called Shane last night, to confirm that I was to come out, and he forgot he had to pick up his sister and her husband from the airport. So we re-scheduled for tonight. I'm going to try to remember to take some pictures again.

That's about all I've got so far for this week. We'll have to see how the week goes and maybe blog more later.