BoBoswell.com Piccal Updates

Aug 1, 08: Wii Phit

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 12:00:00 CST

Today, my manager requested that I bring in my Wii because another co-worker had bought the Wii Fit game and she wanted to play it. So, I agreed to bring my Wii, the other co-worker agreed to bring the Wii Fit, and my manager agreed to buy pizza for everyone for lunch.

After lunch, we got our game on with the Wii. Aaron walked through the character setup to test his "Wii Fit Age", which turned out to be lower than his actual age.

Oh, wait. No, I'm wrong. That "32" is the Wii's answer to the question, "How many wives will Player 1 go through in his lifetime?"

Jul 31, 08: Ty Parker

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 12:00:00 CST

Ty contacted me a few weeks ago when I did a casting call for some sports/athletic sessions. My initial idea for Ty was a shadowboxer theme, but that soon evolved into streetfighter/thug.

We met up at a cool placed called Marathon Village, which is an old motor factory/museum of some sort that's now being used as just a building of office spaces for rent.

It's still pretty old and rustic, so we setup our little "studio" in one of the hallways and got the job done.

This is my 3rd of 3 photo sessions this week, so I haven't had any time to even go through all of the photos from this session yet. I just grabbed a photo that I thought turned out decent so I wouldn't get too far behind. Do I even need to say "keep checking blue-wire.com for more photos from this session.

Jul 30, 08: Massager

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 12:00:00 CST

As part of our childbirth classes, our instructor recommended that we get a massage tool for our "comfort bag" that we will be taking with us to the hospital.

We actually don't have a massage tool at home, so Traci went out and bought one that just didn't seem to get the job done. So, I sent her back out to get another one.

She came home with this $20 thing and I must admit it's one of the best massagers I've had rubbed on my back. I'd highly recommend these things, preggo or not.

Jul 29, 08: Roadmark

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 12:00:00 CST

This is the 2nd of 3 photo sessions I have lined up for this week. This session was with the Country band Roadmark. These guys are newly reformed and needed some updated shots. We met up downtown and just wandered through the city looking for interesting locations.

We ended up here, which soon became referred to as "Hepatitis Alley" because of the smell, the random shards of shattered glass, and a big pile of trash just out of frame to camera left.

I ended up taking a ton of photos, but, I haven't had much time to go through them yet, so this is all you're getting for now. As always, keep checking Blue-wire.com for more photos from this session.

Jul 28, 08: Clip to the ear, my dear

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 12:00:00 CST

As Traci mentioned in her post on the baby blog, the lady who is teaching our childbirth classes had the mothers-to-be clip a clothespin on their ear tonight for a minute as part of a little birth-prep experiment. They did this little deal twice, and the first time I was instructed to not assist Traci at all. I figured this would be a great time to take a photo instead of trying to distract my wife from the throbbing pain in her ear.

I love you, dear!

Jul 27, 08: Stacey Randol

Sun, 27 Jul 2008 12:00:00 CST

Today, I had my photo session with the lovely Stacey Randol. Stacey is interning at the company I work for. After talking with her for awhile, I learned that she was interested in taking some photos.

I actually got the idea to use a sequin background from some photos I saw online. Most of the photos I've seen that used this fabric as a background has it in focus, but if you shift it slightly out of focus you get some nice and sparkly and lovely bokeh.

This is actually the only photo I have ready at the time I'm writing this (10:45pm on Friday, August 1), but I'm afraid I'm gonna get too far behind if I don't go ahead and get this stuff posted. Just be sure to check Blue-wire.com in a week or so for the rest of the photos.

Jul 26, 08: Seddup

Sat, 26 Jul 2008 12:00:00 CST

Tomorrow, I've got a model session with the lovely Stacey Randol. She's interning at my workplace right now and I was talking to her about photography and she expressed interest in doing a photoshoot. I was lucky to schedule a make-up artist from ModelMayhem who will be working with us.

I came up today to get things setup for the shoot. I played around with some different lighting to get some new ideas. While I won't be trying this look for tomorrow's session, I thought it was cool regardless.

Jul 25, 08: Fam Damly

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 12:00:00 CST

My folks came up to celebrate my birthday and we dined at Genghis Grill in Cool Springs. It's a pretty cool place where you are given an empty bowl and ushered to a bar where you can pile on as much raw meat, veggies, and fixin's as you can fit in your bowl. You then hand said bowl off to the cook, pick your sauces and a starch (your choice from three kinds of rice or two kinds of pasta) and they cook it over this circular stove unit.

The downfall to this place is that, if you don't know what you're doing, you can end up with poor tasting food. It happened to Traci the first time we went and she has been hesitant to go back since (even though I told her it was her own d@mn fault!). She liked her food better this time, so maybe we'll be going more often.

My family came back to our house for a little bit after dinner to see the nursery we have setup for Turner.

Jul 24, 08: PetSlaughter

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 12:00:00 CST

Today, I took Zeppelin to PetSmart to get groomed. The closest PetSmart is located in 100 Oaks Mall, which is undergoing a massive remodeling right now. Once I located the store, marked only by a small sign over the entrance into a long hallway made out of plywood and sheet metal, I pulled Zeppeling out of the car, trembling at the noise coming from the tools and trucks all around us.

The PetSmart people were not nice. One of the groomers was yelling at the dog she was grooming at the time because the dog was biting at her. The lone male there didn't say anything, though I addressed him directly twice.

Worse than that, when I went to pick Zepp up at lunchtime, there was more yelling at fiesty dogs and then the dude that went to get Zepp from the back room brought him around the corner and yelled, "Is this Zeppelin?"

I paid and got the living f*ck out of there. We won't be going to PetSh*t again.

Jul 23, 08: Barely hangin' on to my 20s

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 12:00:00 CST

I'll be honest, I was totally wanting to do a repeat of the image from last year. Yet again, Traci and I visited Rosepepper for my birthday dinner. And yet again, I "schoonered" myself.

Below are a few other pictures that I took throughout the day. One of the cake that my work place bought for me, the other for Mark Lonsway. Now that he's touring with Teri Clark, a lot of companies are trying to get him to promote their stuff. Gibson being one, who sent him this guitar and will eventually give it to him if he sends them enough photos of him using the guitar in various industry settings (studio, on stage, etc.).

Jul 22, 08: The Shot That Almost Wasn't

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 12:00:00 CST

I actually accidentally deleted everything off of my camera's memory card before dumping this shot down to my computer. I had to use a free data recovery program to retrieve this photo.

I spent a good deal of time tonight recording the content for tomorrow's post on GeekInspired, Comparing Skin Softening Techniques. I've actually had this article in mind for the past few weeks and finally made myself put in the time to cover the material that I felt needed to be covered.

This was, of course, shot with my new lens. I didn't think I'd be able to use the 70-200mm focal range much indoors, but it's actually making me compose the shots a little differently. For example, shooting with my normal wider-angle lens, I wouldn't have put the corner of the couch (in the bottom left corner) in the frame. However, using this new lens is forcing me to have to take a few steps back and that is opening up some new ideas and opportunities.

Jul 21, 08: HAI MY NAME IS

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 12:00:00 CST

Today was our first of six childbirth classes at Baptist hospital. At the end of August, I will have sat through 6 2-hour classes related to pregnancy, the birth process, and what the hell we're supposed to do with the thing when he pops out.

The class actually wasn't that bad. Ask me how I feel about 4 weeks from now, though.

Jul 20, 08: Light Me!

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 12:00:00 CST

Just playing around with a lighting setup that I saw today. Doesn't really do much for me, honestly. Which probably means everyone else will really like it.

So, overall, nothing to see here.

Jul 19, 08: Katie's First Birthday

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 12:00:00 CST

I'm actually not going to say much right here because I think the photos are really good and I want you to look at them. I will say that we had a great time (despite the mid-90 degree weather...and the fact that Ken and Chris dressed alike to mess with everyone).

Click here for more pictures: Katie's First Birthday

Jul 18, 08: T n' Z

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 12:00:00 CST

I was just itching to take a photo of someone/something today before we headed off to see the Dark Knight. Traci obliged me by posing with Zepp out on our porch.

This photo was taken with my new lens, and I wanted to do this to start getting a feel for how far back I needed to stand from my subject.

The minimum focusing distance with this lens is 3.9 feet, and you can feel the frame pretty quickly with this focal range, so it's quite an adjustment.

Another adjustment is the maximum aperture of f/4, whereas the aperture I've worked most with is f/2.8. It may not sound like a huge difference, but you'd be surprised at how much of a difference it really is.

To have a shutter speed that I could hold steady by hand, I had to crank up my ISO to 800. I could've used a tripod to enable me to shoot at a lower ISO, but I was too lazy to go get it and I was afraid my subjects' patience wouldn't persist.

Jul 17, 08: L is for Llllaweseome!

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 12:00:00 CST

Today, my first Canon L lens came in. With Canon, the L-series lenses are their best ones. These lenses will have a thin red line around them proclaiming their superiority. The one I ordered is the 70-200mm f/4L USM. For those who aren't sure what all that means, the 70-200mm means that the lens gives me a focal range between 70mm and 200mm. The f/4 is the maximum aperture, followed by the "L" which denotes this as an L-series lense. USM stands for Ultrasonic Motor, which is a vibration-based focusing system which makes the operation quieter and more precise.

The benefit to the L-series lenses is high-grade construction and premium optical performance, typically resulting in sharper images with higher contrast. The larger lenses are an off-white color to help reduce heat absorption when used in the sun. These lenses also have a constant working aperture throughout the full focal range.

I had a meeting tonight in Murfreesboro, so I didn't have much time to play with the lens. I just snapped a few quick photos inside in low-light, which explains why this photo isn't tack sharp.

Jul 16, 08: Cake in a Cup

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 12:00:00 CST

With my birthday coming up next week, Traci surprised me tonight with some cupcakes from Gigi's. Mine was the vanilla one, and it was awesome. They're pretty dang big, though, so I couldn't even finish all of it. But, I would highly recommend these to anyone who enjoys life.

Jul 15, 08: Zepp Bed

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 12:00:00 CST

Let me start off by saying that I really love my dog. However, that doesn't keep me from feeling a little silly for creating a Dogbook profile for him on Facebook.

A few months ago, we threw away the little blue bed that we've had since he was a puppy. It was just old and stinky, and we just assumed we'd be able to go out and buy him a new one with relative ease. Unfortunately, this bed type is surprisingly difficult to locate.

We found a similar bed at Target, but once we got it home we realized it was a little small for our dog. He couldn't fit in the bed comfortably. So, for the past few weeks, we've just left a large pillow out for him but he's gotten to where he doesn't spend much time in it at all.

We finally felt sorry enough for him to try out another bed. He seems to like it pretty good, even though when we first set it down, he just sat there and looked at it for awhile. He's grown to like it and spends much more time it in.

Jul 14, 08: Flowbo

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 12:00:00 CST

I've had a haircut coming for awhile, which requires me bringing out the old Flowbee. Everyone who knows that I 'bee (I'll be honest, I already regret typing that...I'll just make sure to come back and delete it before posting) have asked that I videotape myself doing this so they can see it in action. For better or worse, I have done just that. Click the link below to view the Flowbee Tutorial video.

Farewell sweet dignity.

Jul 13, 08: Good Times

Sun, 13 Jul 2008 12:00:00 CST

Back in my MTSU days, Jeremy and I used to go park at this old, rundown church off of Old Nashville Hwy, hop a few ditches and walk through some tall weeds to get to a beautiful rock quarry hidden away in the middle of Murfreesboro. I was always amazed that the quarry wasn't more popular, because it truly was beautiful.

When I was taking my photography class, I had gone out to the quarry a couple of times to take some photos. Well, today we had big plans. I had done a Google Maps search and found what appeared to be a few key locations to gain access to the quarry. We headed down with the intention of doing some more maternity shots of Traci at the quarry. Unfortunately, when we got there, all my newfound routes were rejected with the addition of fences and no trespassing signs.

Traci confirmed that she was not up for trouncing through weeds and ditches in her current condition, so we gave up on the quarry. That's a shame, though, because it is truly a beautiful and peaceful place; however, it is dangerous, which I'm sure is a big reason for the trespass warnings.

So, on to plan B. We were going to head down to the Manchester area and take some shots at Rutledge Falls. Of course, as soon as we got on I-24 heading out of Murfreesboro, we saw that the eastbound lanes were at a standstill with traffic. So, we said f*ck it and came back home.

Our intentions were good, but we had absolutely no success. At least we got to run by the bakery and pick up some thumbprint cookies, so it wasn't a total waste.

When we got back home, I started rummaging through some of my old photos to try and find the ones I'd taken at the quarry years ago. I looked for awhile but then started getting tired. I was about to hang it up for the night when I found the photo that is today's pic of the day.

This period of our lives comes up occasionally in our conversations. I was taking a music class that required me to purchase a keyboard. As I sat around ol' H-113 playing the thing, Derek and Jeremy would often come and do duets with me. Derek and I developed a truly awesome progression that we played for hours. I'm pretty sure either Brooke or Traci took this photo, but whoever did was surely treated to a special evening of music. Good times.

Jul 12, 08: Was Dry

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 12:00:00 CST

You know you're getting old when you get excited about purchasing a new washer and dryer.

We've been keeping our eye on the washer and dryer prices the past few months. Last week, we found out there was gonna be a pretty big sale at some of the appliance stores around town. We ended up at Home Depot because they were close, offered free deliver (after rebate), offered 10% off and a rebate for another gift card for some other reason I can't think of.

Below is a pic of our previous washer and dryer. These things are at least 10 years old and have nearly traveled completely around the US.

Jul 11, 08: Car Man

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 12:00:00 CST

I'm not what you would call a car man. Traci counts this a blessing that cars don't thrill me at all. My ideal car is the one that's paid for and doesn't have the Check Engine light on.

As such, I have purposely not included vehicles in many of my pictures. Tonight, I wanted to see what it would look like if I fired a flash through the little window of the garage door. Instead of just standing there looking awesome, I figured I could at least try and look awesome standing next to my car.

I had a orange-gelled flash firing through an umbrella (for a little extra softness) inside the garage (to camera left) firing through the little garage door window. I put another flash to camera right, about 10 feet in the air via a light stand. This served as my rim/background light.

I liked the slight fall-off I was getting from the small garage door window, but there was no depth to the photo. So, I handheld a Vivitar 285HV, slowed the shutter speed to 1/3 sec, and fired the flash manually into the fence in front of the car to give the effect of the headlights being on.

Jul 10, 08: Abstraction

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 12:00:00 CST

Tonight became an OGM (Optimal Gaming Moment). It's been awhile since I've had time to play games, so I wanted to enjoy it to the fullest. As such, I put my buddies on hold for just a few moments while I took this quick shot.

I'll be honest, I didn't have much confidence in the shot. When I got it downloaded to the computer, I was even less enthusiastic.

I'd seen a Lightroom tutorial awhile back that I've tried on several pictures, but the end result didn't turn out right. I figured, at this point, I couldn't do anything to make this photo worse, so I tried it out and was pretty happy with the results. It's still a dull picture, but the post-processing adds a cool, old-timey effect that I've been attempting to achieve for quite awhile.

Jul 9, 08: Glass Master

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 12:00:00 CST

After a brief hiatus, I recently got back to reading Light: Science and Magic. One of the chapters deals with photographing glass and I thought it looked like a neat assignment.

The setup for the shot can be found here. I'll be writing a post on Geek Inspired soon on how to do something like this, because I think the effect is very cool.

Jul 8, 08: Enter Third Semester

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 12:00:00 CST

I know, I know. Traci had her pic of the week on Sunday. But, I wanted to include this picture for today because this is our last week of the second trimester. This Thursday, we'll be entering the third trimester.

We've heard that the third trimester is great, so we're both really looking forward to it. No, really!

Don't worry...those aren't welts on the side of Traci's belly. They're just wrinkles from where she'd been laying on her side for a little bit. I told her I would Photoshop out the wrinkles, but it was going to take too much time and I figured a group like you guys would be understanding and not aggravate her about it. No, really!

Jul 7, 08: What Condition Our Air Conditioner Was In

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 12:00:00 CST

Yesterday, we came home from church to find that our thermostat didn't have any numbers on it. Meaning it was broken. I checked the basics...made sure we hadn't tripped a breaker, checked the breaker on the AC unit itself, checked to make sure no one had cracked open our AC unit to steal the copper, etc.

We ended up calling our AC guy, and when asked if they charged extra for having to come out on the weekend, he said, "Yessir. Quite a bit." So, I just scheduled him to come this morning (Monday) instead.

Traci, Zepp, and myself toughed it through the night. We had the ceiling fan on and our separate fan, but it was still uncomfortably warm. And yes, Aaron, I'm aware that fans don't actually make the room cooler...but it's better than nothing when you have no AC and it's 86 degrees in your house.

Our AC guy said he'd be here around 8:30-9am. He showed up at 10:45am; no apologies; no explanations. At this point, I don't care. I just want my air conditioner fixed.

Traci and I were bracing ourselves for a multi-thousand dollar pricetag to get a brand new AC unit, but the guy said we just had a small freon leak that had caused water to pool up in system, which automatically shuts off if the water level gets to a certain point. He got the water cleaned up, the AC unit cleaned and re-freon'd, and signed us up for a bi-yearly maintenance plan, all for $320. That seemed like a much cheaper alternative to what we were expecting.

Thankfully, the air is back on and we're back down to a comfortable 72 degrees.

For today's picture, I had one of my flashes firing into the white exterior of our house to camera right. I had another flash behind the AC unit with a red gel on it firing into the back of the unit.

Jul 6, 08: Traci's Maternity Shoot

Sun, 06 Jul 2008 12:00:00 CST

Today, I had the joy of taking maternity pictures of my lovely wife, Traci. I'm only going to post one picture here as I've been ordered to not post the others until they've been approved. Be sure to keep an eye on Blue-wire.com, as that's where I'll be posting them...if I do.

We did these shots at my job's office since the ceilings in my basement are too low. Traci had picked out several shot ideas that she liked ahead of time, so we had a good idea of what she was wanting going in to this. I've found this to be both helpful and uninspiring, as you can easily lose your creativity by trying to replicate what someone else has already done. However, I learned a few things in the process and had a great time taking pictures of my wife, so I'm happy with the outcome.

Jul 5, 08: Glass Flash

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 12:00:00 CST

What I was attempting here wasn't that effective, but I was tired and didn't feel like working on it more. I'll get it together soon enough, tho.

Jul 4, 08: July Four

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 12:00:00 CST

This was really a last-minute get together for the 4th. After several weeks of half-heartedly mentioning that we need to get together for the 4th, Jared finally spoke up and offered his house for the location of the party.

There was some good charcoal-grilling going on by the time we arrived, then we kicked back watched the area neighbors shoot their own fireworks before heading in to watch Nashville's show on TV.

At some point during the night, I had the bright idea to fire a flash directly into the patio umbrella. After several failed attempts due to old batteries, I finally got a shot close to what I was wanting. Unfortunately, Heather was inside at the time I got this, and Morgan is obstructed from view by daddy Metgre.

Thanks again to the Holts for having us over.

Jul 3, 08: Head in the Box

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 12:00:00 CST

Sometimes I'll come across a photographer's portfolio that just gets me thinking. And there are a few things I think about: firstly, how they took a certain picture, and secondly (and possibly more importantly), why they took a certain picture.

Today I came across a few of Gregory Crewdson's images. Most every image puzzled me both technically and conceptually. Somewhere along the way I got the idea for today's picture (though I by no means intend to compare the quality of my pictures to his).

It's nice to get some fresh inspiration once in awhile. I've been spending a lot of time getting closer to my subjects where this guy has been getting further away. These images tend to setup some kind of plot, almost like a frame out of some odd movie.

There's a post over at Strobist.com that includes a video interview of the photographer. It's amazing how much work goes into some of his images.