Monday, November 24, 2008
Friday, November 21, 2008
Busy Busy
I'm off to Connecticut for a wedding in a little bit. I'll be updating soon with sneak previews, etc.
Mostly I'm juggling lots of stuff- making holiday presents and filling client reprint orders and updating Untangling Photography with holiday photo posing tips and marking time until Dec. 1 when pink slips are handed out in the latest rounds of layoffs. Waiting for approval to go to DC for the inauguration, waiting waiting waiting.
Mostly I'm juggling lots of stuff- making holiday presents and filling client reprint orders and updating Untangling Photography with holiday photo posing tips and marking time until Dec. 1 when pink slips are handed out in the latest rounds of layoffs. Waiting for approval to go to DC for the inauguration, waiting waiting waiting.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Wedding Photos!
Heads up: The slideshow will start automatically in a few moments. It has music. Just sayin.
Yay! (Mad crazy shout-out to the remarkable Anne Ruthmann)
P.S. If you can't make it work, please click here.
Yay! (Mad crazy shout-out to the remarkable Anne Ruthmann)
P.S. If you can't make it work, please click here.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Who wants to win $100 gift certificate?
Come on! You know you do! I'm running a little contest over at Untangling Photography. All you have to do is take a photograph of a famous landmark that depicts this visual icon in a way you've never seen it photographed before.
If you live near the Seattle Space Needle, for instance, go take a picture of it that's very different from the way it's typically depicted on postcards. If you don't live near a famous landmark, you can either pull one from your vacation archives or enter your unique photograph of a very familiar object (a light house, a church steeple, a water tower) instead.
You have ten days to email me your image. A winner will be chosen at random to receive a $100 gift certificate to either B&H, the mother of all camera stores in New York, or if you so choose, to Future Shop in Canada. B&H also carries every imaginable computer and printer accessory. Christmas is coming.... You know you want it! And you know you don't me me to be all "crumbly mumble weepies no one entered because no one likes meeeee... wah" either. Right? Riiiiight. ;)
If you live near the Seattle Space Needle, for instance, go take a picture of it that's very different from the way it's typically depicted on postcards. If you don't live near a famous landmark, you can either pull one from your vacation archives or enter your unique photograph of a very familiar object (a light house, a church steeple, a water tower) instead.
You have ten days to email me your image. A winner will be chosen at random to receive a $100 gift certificate to either B&H, the mother of all camera stores in New York, or if you so choose, to Future Shop in Canada. B&H also carries every imaginable computer and printer accessory. Christmas is coming.... You know you want it! And you know you don't me me to be all "crumbly mumble weepies no one entered because no one likes meeeee... wah" either. Right? Riiiiight. ;)
Sunday, November 09, 2008
Hello, you suck
Hey! Want to hear about truly egregious parenting? Picture it. Swim trials. Girls from all over the region competing against the stopwatch to qualify for the highest level of scholastic competition in their sport: States. Lots of cheering, towels, iPods, goggles, swim caps, handmade posters with glitter. Screaming. Lots of screaming and hugging. Parents lining the railing of the upper observation deck, coaches pacing the tiled "sideline" below. Chlorine. Lots of chlorine.
A talented swimmer takes her mark, swims the butterfly, misses the cutoff time for states by a solid second. Bad news. One father has made his way down from the upper deck to the pool, either through the officials-only entrance or the locker room. Terrifying thought, as the boys locker room has been declared "girls only" for this extra-large meet. His daughter is sobbing and begging, "Please Daddy, please let me swim the backstroke."
No. Absolutely not. Since she didn't qualify in her first event- the 200-yard butterfly- he will not allow her to even try in her second trial. She was supposed to go to States for BOTH of her strokes, you see. Since she "blew" the first one, she's not allowed to even try for her second. It was all or nothing. "Only" qualifying for ONE event wasn't good enough. She's done. Her lane will remain empty during her heat for the backstroke.
Two twitchy coaches from other schools stand nearby. You can tell they're DYING to stick the business end of their clipboards where the sun doesn't shine, but this isn't their swimmer, their school, their battle. Her coach is not getting involved in this conversation, which really makes you think... How big of a douchebag parent do you have to be to a coach before they won't deal with you? At all. Ever.
It's remarkable to me, Non-Athlete Extraordinaire, how the bigger picture here, the greater perspective, dissolved in that water that night. You know, qualifying times *are* important. Getting to states is important. Being the best *is* important. It is. I just don't get how wanting the best for your kid becomes wanting them to BE the best. And not just the best at ONE thing, but EVERYTHING. There's a popular t-shirt for sale at most of these things, a la the old "No Fear" shirts from the 90s, with the slogan, "Sports don't build character. They reveal it." That's so true, and not just for the athletes.
A talented swimmer takes her mark, swims the butterfly, misses the cutoff time for states by a solid second. Bad news. One father has made his way down from the upper deck to the pool, either through the officials-only entrance or the locker room. Terrifying thought, as the boys locker room has been declared "girls only" for this extra-large meet. His daughter is sobbing and begging, "Please Daddy, please let me swim the backstroke."
No. Absolutely not. Since she didn't qualify in her first event- the 200-yard butterfly- he will not allow her to even try in her second trial. She was supposed to go to States for BOTH of her strokes, you see. Since she "blew" the first one, she's not allowed to even try for her second. It was all or nothing. "Only" qualifying for ONE event wasn't good enough. She's done. Her lane will remain empty during her heat for the backstroke.
Two twitchy coaches from other schools stand nearby. You can tell they're DYING to stick the business end of their clipboards where the sun doesn't shine, but this isn't their swimmer, their school, their battle. Her coach is not getting involved in this conversation, which really makes you think... How big of a douchebag parent do you have to be to a coach before they won't deal with you? At all. Ever.
It's remarkable to me, Non-Athlete Extraordinaire, how the bigger picture here, the greater perspective, dissolved in that water that night. You know, qualifying times *are* important. Getting to states is important. Being the best *is* important. It is. I just don't get how wanting the best for your kid becomes wanting them to BE the best. And not just the best at ONE thing, but EVERYTHING. There's a popular t-shirt for sale at most of these things, a la the old "No Fear" shirts from the 90s, with the slogan, "Sports don't build character. They reveal it." That's so true, and not just for the athletes.
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
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