GLSC Art Show

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church is the church I grew up at.  I'm one of these characters who can tell you 'I remember when stories' about the place.  I wouldn't recognize the place if I didn't stick my head in there every so often to say hey and howdy the folks there.

One of the activities that is up and coming in less then a fortnight is the annual art show.  There are many talented people in and through out the church and who like me stay inter-connected with it.  The date of the Art Show is Saturday May 8th.

I will be showing a few of my images.  I am having a tricky time a deciding which ones I want to display.  If you would like to recommend a particular image you'd like to see me display please drop me a line.

Save this date:
May 8th, 2010 between the hours of 12 noon and 8pm.

Later

About An Hour Later

About An Hour Later, originally uploaded by preyingjaws.

My lawn temporarily looked like this for a split moment this morning.

Welcome to spring time in Salt Lake City Utah.

Check out the other two images, the one before and the one after. These images were all taken within 4 hours of each other.

Earth Jam

100_1796.JPG, originally uploaded by preyingjaws.

Earth Jam is more then a bunch of tree huggin' hippies getting together to have fun. It's about meeting people. It's about sharing ideas. It's about a lot of things. One could fill in their own blank here.

For me it's a chance to get outside on a gorgeous spring day to take random photographs of people in an unstructured environment. Along the way also meet new friends, reacquaint myself with old friends, and of course share an image or more of those I meet.

Seldom at the 'Love In's' like Earth Jam do I meet shy people who turn away at the first sight of a photographer. More often then not people want their picture taken. A free spirit doubled back on me after hearing the click. She quickly told me to take more pictures.

This lady I passed and seeing her style while walking her dog, I asked may I take your picture holding your dog? She let me. She is the first in a long string of people I asked throughout the afternoon and evening if I could take their photo.

I am wading through the 500 images this evening and will be on into tomorrow. I did give out a few business cards. I did mark a lot of photos after sharing them. I have not forgotten you I am wanting to make sure these images are mind blowing or at least above my own expectations when I post them for you. I am doing this for you.

If you read the post before this one on MS Utah, I wanted to post out of human interest factor not via the rules I shoot by. I like to shoot by the rules of composition, interest, exposure, and focus. Sometimes I bend them because I said I'd post a specific image and later see it does not meet my own criteria.

Before I close I do want to thank everyone whom my lens fell upon. I take away more then captured photons, I see a reflection of life. I return to you the aurora of yourself.

===
For the photo geeks like myself, I shot aperture priority with an SB-400 flash set to minus 2 out put as a fill in flash. I don't recall the shutter speed or ISO figures at this time. I do try to preserve my exif data, so take a look at the additional info on flickr. Some images are cropped and have minor adjustments.

I do use open source software. This does not mean that my images are free. At events like this I love to share openly so if you are in the image or know those who are then do get a copy. If you use the image please link back to PreyingJaws(dot)com and let me know where the image/link is being show. I enjoy seeing where my images go.

Later with the Best.

I Walk For My Wife

MSWalk-PreyingJaws-39.jpg, originally uploaded by preyingjaws.

Can you tell who has MS by looking at them?
Honestly?
I couldn't. I'm not trained to spot who has or has not anything wrong with the. Quite frankly, I don't care what you have or have not. I enjoy taking pictures. I enjoy talking with others even more so. I like sharing a clip of life.

When I spotted this man's tag on his shirt I walked up to him and asked if I could take a photo of him and his lovely wife. I asked specifically for this pose. I personally think it shows what this event is about, loving on others and raising awareness about MS.

I've posted over 120 images. These images are of the event of random people I met and talked with. These are of random people I just took pictures of. Some folks are with children. Some folks are with dogs, several of these dogs are service companions. I honestly as I look back at the event surprised to see how many folks in motor scooters made the 3 mile journey from the Gateway Center to a park and back.

As for myself on that same journey I did about 1/3 walking backwards with only one mishap. I backed right into a parked pickup.
I did shoot a lot with a flash to fill in the shadows caused by the mid-day sun. I did shoot in aperture priority mode. My images are slightly processed through digiKam of the KDE Foundation, an open source project.

I do encourage you to look through the mass of images. Feel free to comment either here or on the page. These images are copyrighted by me. Please let me know where my images turn up. Sometimes it's really cool to see the various forms of non-commercial uses they show up as. FYI the MS Walk with Photo Walking Utah are released to the MS Utah for non-profit promotion under non-commercial license. If you see an image used other wise please contact that organization first and do let me know as well. The World Wide Web gets kinda sticky for artists in repostings. If you are in the image, please grab a copy to use. If on-line please link back to PreyingJaws.com

For more information about MS, the MS Walk, or how you can participate with the National MS Society please visit http://walkMSutah.org

Reflecting Me

ReflectingMe, originally uploaded by preyingjaws.

She has a great smile. Everyone did today. It's beautiful outside, warm, a light breeze, and a few high wispy clouds.

I briefly walked backwards around her looking through the march of walking people of all kinds out to support friends, family, and others in the fight agains MS. Many of the folks I met where walking for a specific person.

I joined up with Photo Walking Utah to provide photography of this important awareness raising event. For more photos concerning this event please see Photo Walking Utah and the MS Walking photo pool. I will post my images within the next few days.

Photo Walking Utah
http://www.photowalkingutah.com/2010/03/save-date-photowalking-utah-walk-ms.html
Flickr MS Walk Utah
http://www.flickr.com/groups/walkmsutah2010/pool/

Changing Lanes

Changing Lanes, originally uploaded by preyingjaws.

A quick check of the email and I was gone. The night before (Wednesday) a photo shoot encountered rain. Thursday evening much different with near clear skies and a bit of bitting wind from the north.

On tap for the next few days:
Photo Walking Utah is getting together on Saturday (tomorrow) for the MS Walk. The group is providing photographic coverage for the MS Walk event downtown. Street/Journalistic style of photography is one of my favorite styles and currently one of my least practiced.

Sunday is typically a hike day. I don't know where I'm going yet but I do want to get out for a few miles.

http://www.photowalkingutah.com/

Drivin' Moab

Drivin', originally uploaded by preyingjaws.

Miata Events, some folks will say it's about the cars, others will argue it's about the people. I must disagree with both of those. To me hangin' with the Miata Club of Utah is about the drivin.' Most folks we talked to as a group would exclaim, why Moab it's (insert off road here) territory. The general consensus reply, is have you driven the region, the roads are fun and the scenery amazing.

I took the opportunity recently to join my Dad for a preview/recon trip to Moab Utah. This quick trip was to double check the mileage, check on any detours, and make final arrangements for Miata's in Moab IV May 14-16, 2010.

For me and my Dad it's about hangin' out and hiking a few trails. We hit Delicate Arch during a busy time of day. We hiked into Corona Arch to check a few spots he thought may be of concern. And we joined in on the drivin.'

When you head south to Utah's Canyon Country, I'll tell ya up front there isn't any shade so watch yourself for exposure. Drink up on the water. I'm an avid hiker and this did catch me off guard even ridin' in a fun car.

Here's the links for the event which is rapidly approaching.
http://miatafun.net/MiataClubs/allstates/Utah/2010Events/MoabIV/MoabIV.htm
Here's the link for the Utah Miata Club
http://www.utahmiataclub.com/

Enjoy. Drive Safe. & Drink Up on the H2O.

Walk for a Cure

Walk for a Cure, originally uploaded by preyingjaws.

This past weekend hits on my Walk for a Cure with the American Cancer Society went up. Typically at the start of the summer this happens. I know that I mis-labeled this event from the beginning so I want to connect everyone to the event in their area.

Here is the link to the American Cancer Society's annual event for Cancer Awareness...
http://www.relayforlife.org/relay/

American Cancer Society
http://www.cancer.org

Cancer effects the lives of more then those who get it. For me, cancer invaded my family long before I knew what it was. I lost a grand parent to the affliction. During my time with Mercy Ships, I got that dreaded phone call from my Big Sister. Not long afterwards, I lost her. I am grateful to have spent her last days with her and I do carry dearly the memories of her close.

These events in your community in my mind is to help connect the greater body of the affected with each other and to raise awareness among those who have not been affected. Even if you do not donate please take a moment to find your local Relay for Life and walk the trail of the luminaries. Each one is representative of a life taken or affected by cancer.

Not Responsible

A late phone call and a fast email from Mr Luckau put me at the final rehearsal of Proletariat Theatre's production of 'Not Responsible.' Mr Luckau is a social worker and a producer, combined together he approaches touchy subjects. This play directly addresses Date Rape.

During the first part of the rehearsal I did not know what the content of this play was. It was only during the last few moments I clued in. I'd already chosen to under expose my images. In reviewing them I see I made the right choice. It is a dark social subject.

The play itself lasts approximately 35 minutes and is followed by a time of question and answer. Counselors and resources are available for those who have further questions or concerns.

I asked for 'The Slap' to be redone once I saw the dancing shadows. The shadows make this impersonal enough that it could be anyone at anytime. Her flying hair with his open palm adds further impact of the degradation of date rape.

If you or someone you know experienced RAPE in any form or means, do not delay... get help. There are many services available to you and for the person you know. Your information will be kept confidential. Do contact your local 'Rape Recovery Center,' your local 'Womens Resource Center,' or call the non-emergency number of your local police department and ask for their counseling department.

Which ever method you chose, get help.

Rape Recovery Center
http://www.raperecoverycenter.com/

Women's Resource Center at the University of Utah
http://www.sa.utah.edu/women/

Proletariat Theatre
http://www.proletariat-theatre.com/index.html

Three Amigos

Three Amigos, originally uploaded by freddyfromutah.

Salt Lake Photo Club got together at Black Rock for what looked like a non-sun sunset shoot. Well it did pop out and throw some awesome colors around the sky and off the waters.
This is Brady's photo (left). I'm in the middle. Mike almost takes center stage on the right.
For those who want to shoot sunsets. Go early, explore the area, find something of interest for foreground subject, and stay late. This is about 20 minutes after the sunset.
Knowing the Great Salt Lake, I went out with muddin' boots. I also booted my tripod with empty water bottles. Yeah, the group laughed but, my tripod came back cleaner and my tripod floated longer in the mud then the other felllas. This isn't to say I didn't get it dirty, just less dirty.

Tri-bidextrous

Tri-bidexterous, originally uploaded by preyingjaws.

I shoot a wide variety of subjects and one of my most recent trains of thought is myself. Am I stuck on myself? Some may say may be. I say not. How can I say this? Easy, I live by myself. I like to experiment with what I have so often I'll turn the lens onto myself. Lighting is fun to experiment with. I often check out other lighting set ups on the Strobist.com and the results on the Strobist's flickr page.

In this picture I have a chest high key light at 1/2 power bouncing of a partially opened umbrella, a back light set at full power bouncing off the umbrella and back wall. Both are optical slave set. I self framed, all though not to good, the point and shoot using a mirror on the wall behind it. The Canon A-590 is set to manual mode, 80iso, f/4, 1/30. The levels and cropping are done in the GIMP on an Ubuntu 10.04 machine.

Because I do shoot with all three cameras can I call myself tri-bidextrous?

Thinning Out

I just thinned out my [deviantart] in box after two weeks of neglect. As I thin it out I am looking at specific elements that I've been critiqued heavily on at Wasatch Camera Club's competitions. Points like the 'Rules of Images' aka Thirds, focal point and color are always talked about in the general critiques of all the submitted images. As I am thinning out, I first eliminate the subject I have less interests in like: cats, puppies, bugs, some flowers, sunsets that don't tell a story, etc. I do hang for a moment on subjects that may capture a moment of interest: sunsets with story line elements, mountain scenes, people, etc. I am looking specifically for lighting, creative blurs, human subject interest (poses natural & artistic).

As I am reviewing these given subjects that do capture my interests I am looking for what do I have and what can I create based on what I do like from the groups I do follow. What I realize is I must check my focus before I finish a shoot. For instance, I know that my Pentax f/1.4 50mm front focuses. I need therefore to refine manually the focus. I seldom use this lens on the street. I do use it extensively at home.

I realized after my last photo competition with WCC I'm not submitting my best work. By looking at what pleases me and what elements I call good from this review I am applying it to my own work. In my own work I'm not delete delete but marking good, eh, and oh no. Then I go back through the good and sort needs help, eh, better then most, and alright. With the 'needs help' I look at how much work, if a lot I toss it. With 'better then most' I continue to refine until I have what is worthy of posting for the competition. When the competition time comes I submit that which is in the given category and two others that I think capture the human fine art interest elements.

Our judges in the WCC comps tend to lean heavily towards the fine art side. This can be difficult for me as I want to explore elements of news when and where I can. Even so this should not sway me from shooting what I like the most. I am looking at those elements I continually get critiqued heavily on and looking for the ways to over come them.

dA's helping with that by providing the grounds of massive amount of images I can can quickly scan, critique, and glean from. The greatest thing I've noticed is the spot on focal point of interest. If the focus is not on then, even with my unrefined eye, I move on.

As with many things, I am approaching, finding that spot on focus is of utmost priority. If the focus is not right on, I've either been passed up or moved aside. Photography at this time is more then about taking an image, it's become a teacher about life for me.

I can say my in box is 600 or so images down from 2400 of an hour ago. My hard drives of images, well let's say barely 5% will be seen by anyone else but me. Of those that one besides me sees 1% or less will be worthy of bragging rights.

Youth In Flight

Youth In Flight, originally uploaded by preyingjaws.

I've headed up to Farmington Bay UT several times in the past week as the sun beat blue into my room. It takes about 45 minutes to get on site once I decided to roll.
I feel as if I'm three weeks behind in processing images. I still have the Photo Walking UT event sitting on my hard drive semi processed. I haven't even touched SLC Photo Club Home Studio images. Some of the recent images may see light of day only if I grab one or two of the ones that catch my eye while I'm chimping while walking down a dike or showing a model.
This image 'Youth In Flight' isn't from Farmington Bay. It's actually from South Ogden Bay just a few miles north. He came off a snag of an old tree to check me out. The set is just out of focus but is in close enough to share on the web. I know I should only post perfect images. If you have a couple of grand for an f/4 400mm lens to send me I'll gladly pay the shipping.
If you're the model & I haven't posted or sent you an image please send me a gentle reminder. I try to get back within 48 hours.

Setting Trees

Setting Trees, originally uploaded by preyingjaws.

I escaped the valley on Tuesday to put a few miles on my boots and hopefully a few on the snowshoes. The snowshoes eagerly awaiting some use since the snow began to fall last October. I finally decided to check the weather, the maps, and review my notes for heavily treed areas that would be holding the snow to the mountainsides.
The avalanche reports keep cautioning back country travel. Caution is for good reason too, the base layers for our mountain snows are weak and do slide often. I doubt there's been a green (completely safe) day since last November when there wasn't enough snow to make snowshoeing comfortable. I like a base of 2 feet to 'shoe over. I've tripped over just covered rocks and stumps before.
Even though Dog Lake isn't one of my favorite places to go it met the requirements of being safe. The trail to the lake, hard packed and well traveled. I carried the 'shoes all the way. I found that there wasn't a trail around the lake so I made one - tromp tromp, ah.
Instead of packing the power house camera with me I took the point and shoot. It's quick, convenient, and if I fall the result is less cussing the stupidity of the fall.
I came down well rested and ready to tackle the tickle of going back up, soon,

caught in the light

caught in the light, originally uploaded by preyingjaws.

Photo Walking Utah asked 9 (nine) local professional photographers to come and set up their studio lights for the 3rd annual Studio Lighting event Feb 13, 2010.
Held at Gateway Community Church in Draper UT, the facility managed up to 200 photographers talking with each other, trading tips, chimping, and shooting at the 9 different sets.
These sets included:
Motion via a trampoline, strobes provided by PictureLine of SLC UT.
High Key
Natural Light
Beauty Dish
2 'typical studios' which actually were very different.
Lens Baby
and others.
My favorite wasn't so much shooting the models at the stations as it was getting to know those who came. The Photo Walks are great opportunities to learn about how to do something and to compare what is captured. Through turning the lens on each other some images are surfacing of wide angle ring lights, dorky grins, and the fun events like this produce.
I do want to extend my thanks to the models who volunteered, the provider of the facility, the sponsors who donated gear & time for the day, and to all who came out to shoot & learn.
I'm a photographer in development. Tips & Tricks of the hobby/profession I want to learn.

Links:
http://www.photowalkingutah.com/
http://www.flickr.com/groups/photowalkslc/pool/

leninplay

leninplay.jpg, originally uploaded by preyingjaws.

I logged on for a brief moment while running errands to see this image posted on Dec 13 of 2003 get 1580 hits since Noon my time. 1580 hits in less then 4 hours. I wonder is this for real or did something go a miss at Yahoo? Did I get hit with a worm or something else? I checked Big Huge Labs - Scout - to see if I'd been featured in the flickr Explorer. It turned up nothing.
Any ways I'm glad it got hit. It takes me back to a time I just recommitted to Mercy Ships and we were enroute to Korea via Kamchatka Russia in 1999 with the m/v Caribbean Mercy.
By re-posting this image I know the stats will go up slightly. I do find it incredible. I beg you to check this out...
It is taken in Petropavlosk, Kamchatka Russia.
Please drop me a note on the image as well.
Thanks
B

Lunch to Go

Lunch to Go, originally uploaded by preyingjaws.

Farmington Bay UT is home to one of the most diverse and easily accessed water foul managed areas. About 2 miles off I-15, a series of dikes retain and control fresh (sweet) water resources before they mix with the salty brine of the inland sea better known as the Great Salt Lake. Here migrating birds of all kind take to nesting to resting to hunting, many of which can be spotted from the road way.
This past weekend I headed up there for my 3rd weekend to see what I could find. I will walk a couple of miles along the dikes in hopes of spotting cranes and birds of prey. My favorite shots though do come right off the road. Using the car as a blind I've managed to snag eagles feeding, hawks cruising the fields, and even the above American Kestrel eating. This kestrel took off as I stepped away from my car for a better view.
The car not only acts as a blind but as a tripod. I placed my camera on my car, turned on the wireless remote and waited over 20 minutes to capture the shot of two eagles as found on the photo stream.
If you intend to use the car as a blind do idle up to the position you think will best suit your shooting style. Turning it off will help you steady the shot (besides obeying the new no idle law). Please be mindful of others by pulling off the road or signaling to let others know you are creeping along.
For more information about Farmington Bay please visit
http://www.greatsaltlakenaturecenter.org/homepage.html
One final note, Feb 13, 2010, the day before Single Awareness Day, will be the annual Bald Eagle count.

Coot Running on Water

Coot Running on Water, originally uploaded by preyingjaws.

I finally got my bird of prey photo which one will need to visit my flickr page to see.
The picture that surprised me the most was a mistake. My camera settings were for a landscape I just turned away from when I heard this duck taking off. Instinctively I spun with camera to my eye and ripped a few frames.
Nothing special at the time when I chimped. I was about to delete the set but, I didn't quite feel right about that. I reset my settings to aperture priority, wide open (with a standard zoom wide open can mean different f stops at different focal lengths).
Getting back home to the PC I see in a series I captured this fowl, a coot, not taking off but running to a different section of the canal. With a little bit of simple adjustments this image really takes off. I may re-crop this image to post on deviantArt prints. If I do so it will show in the deviantArt sidebar.

Snowing Face

Snowing Face, originally uploaded by preyingjaws.

Who can resist these eyes? I couldn't nor could my folks. Adopted last spring he quickly earned a place in our hearts. Little did we know that their four legged friend's nickname would become Mr Mischievous.
Finally with a little fresh snow my Dad & I got out to shoot a few frames of this character and antics.
The best of his antics though will take a webcam and a motion sensor. He's been known to take one book of a shelf and leave all the others in place...
I do encourage you to check out your local pet adoption agencies if you are interested in getting a four legged friend. Many of the pets who are left there are trained and well behaved. With a little time and a lot of love they will become even more.

Park City Weekend

Heads up there is a lot of activity headin' our way in Park City this weekend of January 20ish.

Because times are subject to change I've just included the links to the websites of information. Please refer to the websites. If in doubt call the event's listed phone numbers for ties.

As many know there is the annual Sundance Film Festival
http://festival.sundance.org/2010/news/all/
You don't tickets to see the stars or event to go out at night. One just needs a paparazzi sense of being and the patience of one.

Next, we have some shredding happening on the mountain. If you've followed a little of the local sports you'll know that there are a few Olympic contenders for the US Snowboard Team that's been taken out recently due to injuries. This event will be sweet and easily accessible at PC Mountain Resort.
http://www.grindtv.com/event/us-snowboarding-grand-prix-park-city-2010/

Also happening but not so far off the beaten path in Kimbal Junction's Olympic Winter Park is a world cup event for skeleton.

http://www.parkrecord.com/summit_county-sports/ci_14201684&ct=ga&cd=7796AtvQ73o&usg=AFQjCNG-fbv2dX7ZLs_f31TBIy0qUOJP0Q

Have fun shootin' there's a little everything for everyone.

Puppy

Puppy, originally uploaded by preyingjaws.

A lot of things go through my mind this time of year. As January 22 approaches I get a bit weird. I don't know how else to describe it. January 22 to me is the saddest day I now of. The 'it' is grief.
As many on Monday are celebrating MLK Day in memory of the late civil rights leader, few people know it's his birthday. Our calendars are set up to celebrate the birthdays of our heroes past. One could say these birthdays have become our national days of yearly grieving.
I take too chose a date, a birthday, January 22, as my day of remembrance for my Big Sister.
Cancer Sucks, a photo, posted several years ago on flickr, is from the American Cancer Society's Relay For Life Event. This picture continues to draw views. I hope it will draw a story or two. I hope also it will help others come to terms with their loss to cancer.
This little girl's smile never faded even in the worst of times. I learned so much from her growing up. These days I try to remember as much as I can about her. I try to remember the stories of our lives and those that she shared.
When I hear of friends lost, I try to find a personal story to share with the family. Every friend that has passed away I've written the family and included a photograph if I had one.
I know from experience, I hardly know any of my sister's friends. Those I do know I know mainly in passing. So much of her life is a mystery to me especially in the days following high school. She went one way, I another.
So, the stories they shared about her travels in the US, about her generosity, and her chosen life style of giving go beyond a photograph. These things have become her legacy.

YWAM Manoa

YWAM Manoa Sign Post, originally uploaded by preyingjaws.

I'm feeling a little sentimentality today. I do have multiple routes of social networks in place and one of my old shipmates contacted me through one of them. This set me off kind of on a search to find others I knew. Together we sailed though Hawaii in 1999 so I feel justified in connecting YWAM to Mercy Ships this route.

This image is taken on my first digital camera a Canon Power Shot S 20. All of 3 mega pixels the little box actually produced several of my still most popular shots.

The Manoa Sign Post stands in the entry area to Youth With A Mission's Offices in Honolulu. Yes, I know the Manoa'ites may bite me for this but I want to keep it simple for those who do not know YWAMese.
YWAM is Christian organization where one of the many facets of the global organization focuses on developing the person in a wide range of aspects from personal relationships with God to providing training in community development. YWAM Manoa focuses on teaching a small group of individuals on one method of how to study the Bible.
For 4 months in 2002, I too, was one of the students. Taking 4 months to focus on studying the Bible in such an intimate setting with others of like mind helped instill in me a needed balance after the loss of my sister the year before. Studying was one of several highlights I had while working with the non-profit Mercy Ships.

For more info on YWAM Manoa please visit their website at
http://www.ywamhonolulu.com/

If you are interested in connecting with me via one of the social networks please send me an email with why you want to connect with me.

Reflections of the Treks

ChristmasMeadows_dc_IMG_2208_20090721, originally uploaded by preyingjaws.

These are a few reflections I've made on last year's backpacking trips into the Uinta Mountains of Eastern Utah. Please bear in mind it was close to 17 years prior to those trips that I was out before last summer. The last time I went for a few miles hauling all was in Yellowstone N.P. criteria 1991. The rucksack (ruck) I bought back then bugged me a little but, so what then was then. I got the ruck because I needed something to keep me mobile as I worked from park to park. Since those parkie days that ruck's been in storage. Having the ruck and being an avid hiker I decided to make use of my days off with a little more distance and hopefully a few days of story making. I learned a lot in the few miles I did. I racked up over 115 miles in 5 trips out. I talk of trouble in some of these thoughts, I want to reassure you that in no way was I ever stuck in any kind of situation. The two exceptions to that is for a having wrong fitting boots one time and a ruck that didn't fit right.

Thoughts and ideas...

On Footwear
* Dry feet in wrong size boots equate to big deep blisters.
* Wet feet in right sized boots equate to prune feet at the end of the day and that icky feeling of sticking them back on the next morning.
* Light weight camp shoes were well worth every ounce, be the hike a 5'r or 20 mile day.
* Clean dry socks at the end of a long day are heavenly.

On the Pack
* I cringe at the very thought of shouldering up my weighted ruck, 35lbs trail weight. I knew after my first trek with it in Y'stone it didn't fit right. Even in those days, I loved getting 'back in there' so I put up with the inconvenience then.
* I fancy using what I have, so I used what I got. The parkie ruck is now on permanent display hanging on the wall of memories with a few marks from last year.
* The issue encountered with multiple compartments became apparent when I could not place some items to please the balance.
* The multitude of compartments and pockets meant I could keep things sorted and ready for different purposes.
* Invariably the water bladder bottle walked it's way into the balance of imbalance.
* Even the best ruck is burden some when it doesn't rightly fit.

On Pain
* 20 years ago, pain was just an inconvenience to deal with. Today, pain management is everything.
* Preventing pain means ensuring the gear works and that it fits me just right.
* Letting pain go unchecked, equipment continue to wear into my body, isn't good.
* Letting pain become numb is dumb.
* Letting pain become numb over time or with drugs (aspirin) is not acknowledging the problem. Pain, it's the tragedy of ill preparedness or the ability to adjust the gear.

On Sleeping
* Even a hammock on a warm summer night gets chilly, breeze or not.
* The best intentions to sleep near the trees for hammock'ing can sometimes beget an area devoid of trees.
* Closed cell pads trap moisture but, are well worth the weight even in a hammock. They add a layer of insulation to the hammock. Take a moment to prep the pad with a graph paper arrangement of holes with made a pen tube in 2”x2” sections.

On Cooking
* Is a 3 minute to boil stove worth the expense of carrying the weight when a tab/alcohol fueled stove will bring water to boil in 7 minutes and far then then half the weight of the former?
* My problems with the tab fuel stove were easily over come with a little trail ingenuity.
First, in the wind it took 2 tabs to bring water from a chill to warm before I realized what was happening. To over come the wind, I took my wet boots to use as a barrier. My water came to a ready boil before the completion of the third tab. Now I carry a small sheet of foil wrapped around my water bottle to use as a wind screen.
Second, lighting the tabs wind or no wind took a few to many matches. To get the tab lit I used a shot of hand sanitizer on tush paper and one match. Now, I have a 1 oz bottle of stove alcohol, a few drops insures a quick light and a few more will add to the burn time.
* To simmer with a tab, put it in a modified mint tin so that you can slide the lid closed a bit.
* As with all stoves the small base size and high weight tends to lead to at least one mis-calculated tip. The wider the base the better. A big can lid with the 3 sides folded down can serve as a base or as a small stick fire fire pan. Be sure to file any sharp edges off the lid before packing it.

On Skills
* Having the right map and knowing where you are at, going, and have been is worth more then all the dead GPS batteries carried.
* Reading the weather is like reading a map, you have to know what the signs are before you get into trouble.
* Knowing how to rig a tarp in the rain will keep your feet dry at night and the soup from getting prematurely cold.
* The two greatest skills to master;
First, knowing when and where your limit will run out.
Second, the skill to know where you are at before you get lost.
Mastering these will keep your plans simple, your goals in check, and you out of the news.
* Have a plan. Plan out the trek with contingencies in place just in case. Let someone know where you're going and what the possible contingencies are. Stick yourself to it.
* Plan aggressive, hike conservatively, be willing to bow out should the need a rise. Their's no harm in turning around. There's no shame in not achieving the goal if it means staying safe. Stories are best told not discovered.
* Don't plan back to back treks, your city slick friends can only handle a weekend's worth of story a month.

On Photography
* A cheap point and shoot is more valuable then a dSLR left in the car.
* Packing right also means keeping the camera within usable reach without taking the ruck off.
* Pictures equal value added stories.
* The right picture can draw even city slickers into wanting to give camping a try.
* Add quality, value, intrigue, and mystery to the stories with unique and awe inspiring images.
* Keep your batteries warm, sleep with them.
* On every flash card before the trip,
Take a general map image.
Take a picture of the specific region.
If the trip is longer then take several detailed pictures in sequence.
Take a picture of your ICE card.
Doing so will give you a map at the push of a button and always one image advanced then the last picture taken.
It will also help you remember which trip was which when the trails begin to blend one into another.

On Boy Scouts
* Think like a Boy Scout, be prepared and have fun but, don't get lost like one. A sad side note, there is hardly a season in the Uinta's when a Boy Scout does not get lost.
* I ponder how many men have nightmares about backpacking because of their Scouting days?
* Many a Tenderfoot I passed that were over loaded with older Scout's gear. This is a right of passage, right?
* Many a troop I passed that were jingling and jangling with camp comfort stuffs.
* I passed many a Scout with the added burden of exhaustion. Ironic, they hadn't even cleared the half way to camp point.

On Music Devices
* The rhythmic thump of a steady stride is sweeter then anything I could can into my ears.
* The sweet song of a babbling brook near by is sweeter then Jewel's. IMO Jewel's voice is the best of my era.
* If you can't hear my greeting before you plow me over stay in the gym.

On Packing
* Laying out gear is a great way to see what's lost on the trail.
* One must be careful not to shave an ounce only to add pounds.
* A great debate always comes up, comfort on the trail verses comfort in camp. The balance is always the looser.

On Food
* Even Diddy More Stew [Dinty Moore/Hormel Foods] tastes good while camping. So I can't figure out why freeze dried meals can't taste half way decent at home.
* I prepped my typical back country meal at home recently. I took three bites and pitched the pot and all. I later fetched the pot.
* The search is on to find reasonable flavored low weight trail meals without spending a fortune or over loading my sodium intake.
* Granola is grandeur with a hand full of no melt chocolate.
* PB&J wraps last and satisfy my hunger while sauntering down the trail. Pre-made before leaving they are the no mess lunch, breakfast, and any time snack.
* Instant coffee, however foul, is still coffee in the morning. When will Starbucks make dunk it bags for the back country?
* Thanks to Into Thin Air I became a tea drinker, at least for my evening drink.
* Leaving a jug of water and a road snack in the car reduced the stress of one last trail meal.

Becka Aims

Becka aims, originally uploaded by preyingjaws.

Beka Bradford of the US Speed Skating Team takes aim at the finish line just over 40 meters a head as she rounds out the last turn of the 500 meter race. In the stands her fans wearing purple beanies cheered her on.

This past weekend and tomorrow with the following day the US Speed Skating Team are competing against each other at the Olympic Oval in Kearns UT (http://www.olyparks.com/uoo/events_calendar.asp) The team has a few more competitions before the Olympics. There schedule and team info is at USSpeedSkating(dot)org If you're around come on out to the Oval and cheer them all on.

Every time I see the races I watch these fine athletes push themselves beyond their best. Many times I witness new personal best times on the ice.

I Clone My Self

ICLoneMySelf_PnS_3082, originally uploaded by preyingjaws.

I went back to Temple Square with a personal assignment. After the previous evening's goals being more to socialize and to have fun I knew I couldn't let the warm evenings pass me by without a challenge.

I tend to shoot a little different when I challenge myself with the gear. Having unlimited gear is great but, it's like being hungry in the grocery store, so many choices and no focus. I've actually walked out of the grocery store hungrier then when I went in for a cheap bite to eat. So by limiting my gear I force myself into making decisions. For instance putting on the 50mm lens makes one make critical decisions about composition to get certain elements into the frame. Other times it could be limiting to one aperture stop say f/8 or f/1.8. These two apertures present different focusing challenges with the depth of field aspects.

This challenge, I joked with other photographers is about the point and shoots. Yeah, today's point and shoots even my PS A-590 is far more advanced then my PS S-20. So what? I want to generalize that so many times we who shoot with Digital SLRs forget about thinking about our images. Our dSLRs are so advance they can almost see in the dark. I wouldn't be surprised if one image shows up in the Photo Walking Group with stars behind the Temple and everything in close enough to perfect exposure. The dSLRs are getting close to being that sensitive and advanced.

So the challenge I took upon myself forced me to think differently. The point and shoots, even as advanced as they are getting, do have limitations. The sensors are about finger nail in size. The optics tend to be about the size of a small marble. The max aperture is about the size of a pencil. This all translates to limited light gathering capabilities. Light for photographers is graphite to a pencil artist. light or the lack of it is everything.

I took my Canon Power Shot A-590 out with a bean bag. Next time I'll use the mini-tripod I picked up for backpacking. The bean bag proved to be just a bit tricky to get settled in for a steady shot. The tripod once set all it needs to be for those slick surfaces, like icy bin tops, is held at the base.

This shot is from one of those icy bin top shots. I'd like to know how this young lady managed to be in my frame in nearly the same position during this long exposure. May be it's luck of the draw, either way it works for me.

I posted 17 images from Dec 18. Some are creative blurs, some are static images. If you shoot point and shoots don't think you are limited just remember you are alternatively creative. My previous night turned up a few more then say, 6 that work.

A bit o my history, I maxed out my S-20, then it died. I got into digital SLRs shortly after because of how useful and ultimately more powerful the dSLRs are. Through a variety of circumstances, aka I didn't want to tote the D beast everywhere, I returned to the cheap point and shoots. With the PnS I am not afraid of it being bounced around, broken or even stolen. Because I am more likely to have it with me I find myself using it more. More shooting should mean more improvements, so far my answer is yes.

Later
B

PhotoWalking Temple Square

PhotoWalk_TmpSqr09p2378, originally uploaded by preyingjaws.

Photo Walking Utah meet at the downtown library for a brief mini clinic on night exposures at 6:30. Our host, Rich Legg of http://www.leggnet.com, took a few minutes to explain how to capture night pictures and cover some of the common problems associated with night time photography.

As the clinic adjourned we descended upon the 7:45 TRAX train to Temple Square. The Temple Square secret service were forewarned about the army of photographers that make a photographic assault on their facilities.

Harley, one of the organizers, while at the library lost count after 130 in the meeting room, max capacity of 85. At the Square I met up with a few who did not get to the library thus adding to our numbers. About 10pm I caught up with Harley. I asked how many were still around. His guess about half or more. In years past he recalled the weather was so cold they lasted about 15 minutes the hardiest about half an hour. I was thankful for the warm night.

What makes Photo Walking so inspiring is a gaggle of photographers can be at the same spot, aiming at the same subject, and capture totally different images. Check out the photostream of the photowalkingutah group (http://www.flickr.com/groups/photowalkslc/) to see what I mean.

I will say for me I went down not to learn, not to capture 'the image,' not to get creative or tout expertise, I went in mind to socialize, to check out what others were looking at, and to have a laugh.

Laughing is good. The observation of people is a unique study to itself. At an event or venue like this people are well, funny. For instance place, a tripod, a camera, someone standing behind it then watch. People will walk around, duck, cover their faces, goof, be aloof, tense up, or relax. They'll do this whether they know the image is in process or not. Some people may even stop to ask if you're a pro even if the camera is a point and shoot.

Two tips if you're just there.
If you don't want to be in the picture at a venue like this, keep moving. Chances are the photog' is taking a long exposure and if you stop for more then 5 or so seconds then you might be in the picture, anything longer you might be semi recognizable as having been there. If you are trying to be in the picture, bring a flash light and light paint yourself.

I may not have had the inspiration to shoot 'the image.' I may not have been there to take a high quality image as many are now surfacing from last night. I did though have fun with the light. Long exposures do lead to some unique light trails and motion blurs.

I do encourage everyone of every skill level to get involved with your local Photo Walking Group (http://www.photowalkingutah.com or google photo walking). They're great for networking, learning, and in general just having fun.

Chaos of photos and back ups

sunrise_tweaked, originally uploaded by preyingjaws.

When one is new to a new stuff one pays no attention to how the stuff set. Eventually one takes a look back at how this stuff was set and ponders how'd this activity become such a mess.

Since the dawn of time when humans began to collect stuff
these stuffs were just set around stacks upon stacks be it a stack of rocks to a stack of wood. Archeologist find rubbish bins full of stuff but what if that was the 'good stuff'?

Anyone can pick up any kind of 'zine or read a web page of any kind and recognize some form of chaos control article. One can also see that through the medium that there is a form to keep things in order. This website for example has places for pictures, another for friends/watchers, and one for writings like this or feature news. Order to keep chaos under control. The typical chaos control article lays out that one is a mess and by compartmentalizing the stuff one becomes sorted. Sorted stuff who came up with the concept? My wife? Certainly not! I'm not married.

When I began taking pictures the order was prints and negatives in an envelope with a date and possibly a location if the location wasn't obvious like, camping in the mountains. Well now I've lived and visited close to 75 different mountain ranges I forgot which campsite is at which mountain. So I must rely on the hopes I took a picture of someone, deduct their age from the photo using face recognition/style recall and hope I get the age correct and place it in an approximate year time frame, give or take a month or region or so.

One of my most perplexing images which sees a lot of light is found on Caribbean-Mercy.org; page down a little on the left, one sees an image of rope, a life boat, and a sunrise or sun set. Scanned so long ago that it made the files of Mercy Ships tagged location Caribbean Mercy, port unknown, photographer unknown. Well the location would be known if I could locate that stack of prints. I really want to find the original negative for I see that image needs the TLC of a much better scan. It's one of those images that speaks volumes about foreground framing, timing, and depth of field. It also highlights one of the most common objects of life on board the m/v Caribbean Mercy - lifeboat drills and outreach locations. Even in the chaos of my files I found this image floating around on my hard drive.

On many an article on artistry sites from deviantArt to ArtistBistro pick on work flow. Work Flow? Yes, that which one participates in while participating in the process of creativity. Basically work flow is the process of staying organized while in the midst of creative chaos production. The sooner one works up a work flow that works well for them the less chaos will follow. Getting into the habit of organization could be an act of god as defined by the insurance companies.

An example of this chaos are my back ups. Spread out over 10 years of computing originally with Windows 2.x. Yes, before "7" long ago even before WinDos 3.14 was actually Win 1 but, I used Win 2.x on a xx86 laptop, there were such devices back then that had less power then microwave oven's memory. I've up dated my back ups from 5 1/4 floppies to 3 1/2's and eventually to CD's. If one ponders why CD's/DVD's are just under 5 inches look no further then the fact we already had cases for things of that size. Now CD's are in danger of becoming obsolete so I'm transferring everything to DVD's. Which with high hopes will not become legacy ware within the next year or 3. In the process of gathering I've transferred to external hard drives. Hard drive back ups are also called live back ups because one can pull a file, modify it, and put it back. All these mediums have their faults and the biggest comes from the in putter, me.

Chaos was my toy box growing up, next it moved to the garage, and finally took up residency on every electronic device I own or came into contact with. Today, with the ages of years passing it's time to tame the back up beast and get organizing.

One key element in wanting to get organized is so that when I come across a corrupt file I can deduct whether it is something of great value and in need of rescue or of little value and I can let it pass. The other reason I want to tame the beast is so that I don't have so many multiple copies of an image I can't decide which is better. For a good example of that see my flickr stream. My flickr up loader 2 years ago kept cutting out on me & didn't let me see what was uploaded, so I kept uploading the same batch of images. Image recovery is also a bit easier when one is looking for just one image and not a dozen of the same. All though having a dozen of the same and a good set of photoshop skills one can recreate an image if enough of the pieces are recovered.

So the process will be thus, 5 gigs at a time over the next month. This should get me back about 3 years then the files get smaller and easier to sort. I'll have to rename in batches, add tags, and summaries. I may even have to label some unknown for researching later.

If one's read this far so far a quick tip. Set up a standard of organizing even before starting down the creative process. May your standard include how to rename the files in such away duplicates don't happen very often and that the name is key to the date and style of event.

my picture of her picture

my picture of her picture, originally uploaded by preyingjaws.

I love doing stuff like this. It pays to be shootin' with two eyes open, one eye to roam, one eye in the view finder.

One of my most fav'd pictures is of Obama on his campaign tour stop in Kimbal Junction (PC) UT. The image is of him in a cell phone camera. I also caught him in my frame. This image I couldn't quite do the same as the lens I had on the Nikon was a 70-300mm.

I hit the Essent ISU World Cup Speed Skating event at the Kearn's Oly Oval. Many personal best times were set and a few world records were broken over the last 3 days. This event is one of the last events these fine athletes have before the Vancouver Olympics. The results help them define where they need to improve and what they need to strengthen in the final weeks.

My focus at this event was more on the fans, hence why I chose this image to blog. I looked for the interesting sudo portraits to the characters. I also took a look at the training the athletes were in process of.

When it came to creative shots I pondered the zoom pop. I'll blog one of those images in the next few days.

With the intention of supporting the locally owned and operated coffee shop I darted through the house to grab the laptop and left the camera bag at home with the 10 gigs of full SD cards from today. I'll work on those images later.

Presentation Card

Presentation_CardPAD_Oct262009_2210_20091205, originally uploaded by preyingjaws.

I just finished processing the hardest images I've ever under taken. I wrote a blog in October concerning Patrick Dwire. The final set of images are now en route to his family.
If you knew Patrick, I plead with you to write down a story, a clip, something about what you and Patrick did or how you want to remember him. Then give what you write to his family.
Having lost my sister over 8 years ago I am still touched by stories that are shared with me when I meet one of her old friends.
Please share your story. It greatly helps the family know the lost be loved.

In my mind of Cube

I'm taking a fast detour to write an article about the Rubix Cube. The cube is something I flip around while I'm reading or looking at different topics.

Rubix Cube Info

This article is for me to consolidate what I know about the Rubik Cube, in particular towards solution theories along with a few tangents. I've found there are two major theories in solving cubes (without disassemble), the layer and the block. In reality, as I look for other ways to improve my timing, I continue to look for other routes of speed. Currently my time averages 110 second with 2 errors in the solution. This may not sound like much but, my time without errors is about 90 seconds, almost without thought. When my time comes to speed cubing, I'm slow. So why do I want to be faster? It's not so much about being faster but, about learning. I am one who seeks to learn new things about things I already know. The cube is one of those things I had as a kid and solved by disassembly. A while ago work slowed down enough for conversations so one of my coworkers began showing another how to solve it. This slow period began my current interest in the cube. I challenged myself not only to learn it but to teach others as well. Initially, I began solving per included instructions which is a simplified layer method. I've gone on to learn the 4x Revenge and 5x Professor. I am struggling with the 2x Pocket Cube. Once the basics are learned with the 3x, finding solutions to the big cubes will not be much of a problem.

If you're here because you want cube info please head to the Rubix Wiki. I am not an expert, just a coffee shop solver. No worries, I don't drive n solve.

Of the major methods is the Patrus Method, often referred to as the Block Method, is toted as the fastest solution method according to Wiki. The easiest way to learn this method is to sit in front of the computer with a cube. I have yet to find printable or mobile pages. I do understand that with this method once the basics are learned and one sees a head that this is the quickest method. I have studied it but, have yet to figure it out enough to use effectively for timed solving. Lars Patrus developed his method which uses a combination of Group Theory and Edge Theory. The benefit to using his system is one can eliminate a lot of moves as the solution progresses.

The Layer Method is the easiest to learn, personally, with the memorization of a few patterns and repetitions. The layer also has the most number of patterns to memorize. I carried cheat sheets based on Jasmine Lee's Layer Method for a while. The Layer Method is often touted by the various manufactures and websites as thee method to learn. The downside to this method is that it involves messing up and resolving the other layers to get a piece in place. Another draw back is as the solution progresses more moves are required for completion, which can lead to errors. If one is in a distracting environment or where one cannot dedicate time to completing the layer this may not be the method to learn first. If the cube is put down while the algorithm is in process the place or pace may be lost.

The other systems that I am finding I'll classify as Pattern to Solution based. These are based on getting the pieces into a recognized pattern then solving. Adam Cheyer claims that he solved regularly in 26 seconds at his most practiced timings with the corner's first system. He uses an arrow symbol system that is easy to follow.

The slowest system that I've come across is by far the slowest is corner/edge. I've since lost the web page where the author reveals only two algorithms for the solution. Philip Marshall gives a good over view of a variation of this method. Personally, it is also one of the most puzzling because one needs to look a head just enough to recognize it may take 2 or more repetitions to get a piece into place. This repetition of the same pattern over and over may confuse the impatient.

If one wants to practice solving the cube without having a physical cube in front of them head to one of the many cube simulators. Ryan Heise's simulator gives the opportunity not only for open practice but, also to see how various cube solution systems work. Those without continuous web access but, who do have administrative access to their computers can download a simple program from VanGestel.

When it all is said and learned, the ultimate solution is the one that works the best per individual. I find that in the process of learning I need multiple inputs. I have found when one learns just one system without getting other view points they limit themselves and those around them. I could make major detours here but, let's just say there are many paths along the way from issue messed up to issue resolved.

Once solutions were thoroughly in place and practiced beyond dreaming about them, my next phase of learning took me to the patterns. Many are the pages for patterns. Walter Randelshofer has probably the most complete compilation of patterns in one place. Patterns are great to learn, not only to impress friends but, also to improve on speed. I've gone many a session without accurately memorizing a pattern leading thus to starting over. If it takes me an average of a minute and a half these sessions can get pretty long hence for the need for speed.

If you are interested in how I solve the big cubes, I use a similar method to the layer method incorporating many of the 3x algorithms. When I get stuck, I clean up the cube before proceeding. Consolidating the centers and edges tend to help me visually solve the rest. The theories involved in solving the big cubes do include center's first, layers (a branch of 3x), pairs/lines, and block. Matthew Monroe and Dan Harris give some easy to follow instructions on how to solve the cubes and the many variations of them.

I hope you find the information a little useful. Now instead of reading, grab a cube, and go show someone how to solve it, even if that person is yourself.

Links

Current of Dec 6, 2009

These are currently in order of appearance.

• Rubix's Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubik%27s_Cube
• Wiki Book: http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/How_to_solve_the_Rubik%27s_Cube
• Speed Cubing: http://www.speedcubing.com/
• Lars Petrus: http://lar5.com/cube/index.html
• Jessica Fridich: http://www.ws.binghamton.edu/fridrich/cube.html
• Jasmine Lee: http://www.ozcubegirl.com/rubikscubesolution.html
• Adam Cheyer: http://www.ai.sri.com/~cheyer/rubiks/rubiks.html
• Cube Simulator: http://www.ryanheise.com/cube/speed.html
• Philip Marshall: http://helm.lu/cube/MarshallPhilipp/index.htm
• Matthew Monroe: http://www.alchemistmatt.com/cube/rubik.html
• Ryan's Cube Simulator: http://www.ryanheise.com/cube/speed.html
• Fam VanGestel, download simulator: http://www.famvangestel.nl/

Patterns

• Walter Randelshofer: http://www.randelshofer.ch/rubik/

Printable Algorithms

• Dan Harris, current: http://www.cubestation.co.uk/cs2/index.php?page=faq/faq
• Dan Harris, old: http://www.cubestation.co.uk/oldindex.php

Dan's printable algorithm pages may be tricky to find. Refer to his old page and they do surface. These are two of the most useful printable pages.

• http://www.cosine-systems.com/cubestation/f2lprint1.html
• http://www.cosine-systems.com/cubestation/cs2/3x3x3/cfop/pll/pllprintablepage.php

Directory of Links

• http://www.google.com/Top/Games/Puzzles/Mechanical/Rubik/Solutions/
• http://www.dmoz.org/Games/Puzzles/Mechanical/Rubik/Solutions/
• http://rubikscube.info/
• http://www.nanogirl.com/games/rubiks.htm

Luge Practice

LugePractice_5004_20091204, originally uploaded by preyingjaws.

I've not yet shot luge until Dec 4, 09. So I found out when something was going on and went up to the Winter Sports Park. I struck up one a conversation with one of the spectators, a Luge' Mom (I should say she struck up with me). I found out this is a local sports team and that many of the participants have MYSPACE pages. So I shot the lot of 'em. If you are one of the characters but, you don't see you picture email me and tell me what color your suit is, I'll get back to you shortly. If you want to post the image on your website please give credit and link back to this page or to PreyingJaws.com. For prints email me. This set is not of print quality.

As a side note as I am getting more hits on my sport's sets; Coaches, Moms, and participants I am available to come out to your event (practices and games) with in the greater Salt Lake Region. I am based in West Jordan. My region may include Kamas, Ogden, and Spanish Fork. This is a hobby of mine & I want to practice while letting you participate in the results.

Big Bucks

Big Bucks, originally uploaded by preyingjaws.

Taken on June 30, 2008 and posted with in a week on Flickr, this image is my first 1000 plus hit image. I want to take a moment and thank everyone for making this my most popular image.

I encourage you to take a look through some of my other images both for wild life and sports. I am branching out into other avenues of photography as well such as portraits, events, and yes, weddings.

Wedding images displayed on Flickr are drastically down res'd and watermarked for the protection of the Bride & Groom. If you are of the wedding party & want a specific image please contact me or the Bride. If you are interested in finding out more information on how I can be of service to you please contact me at PreyingJaws(at) America On Line (dot) com

Clutter

purple ticket, originally uploaded by preyingjaws.

I'm fighting the clutter on my hard drives this week while adding to it.

Photography for me is an art form while it is also a stress relief. The best part of this hobby is the creative aspect of seeing life 'just' differently enough to make an impact. The hard part is the post processing of what I take. If I get the post processing started within 48 hours then a few images have a chance to be viewed within a week.

I've starting recently to make decisions before I go shoot. If the purpose of the shoot is personal casual walk along then I take the point & shoot. If the purpose is artful then I prep the folder & keyword file before hand while making sure I have the primary lens on the dSLR.

The purpose of the Purple Ticket shot is that, art. This image also was a conscious decision weeks ago to join the Photo Walkers on the Turkey Shoot downtown. A group of 30 met downtown SLC for a casual evening of photography. Check out some of the images other turned over.

This new added marker on my work flow is helping cut the clutter.

Details of the shore

Details of the shore, originally uploaded by preyingjaws.

Long before I realized my keys were safely in my car, I wandered the mud flats of the Great Salt Lake. This image is one of the few images that captured all the elements I went looking for: fore ground interest, textures, sky, and the setting sun.

The last couple of nights were fabulous on the mud flats near Saltair. Today a storm is blowing in. I hope it dumps enough snow in the mountains for a good opening day for the ski resorts. I added a couple of links just for the winter.

Several of my shots from the last few nights are up on deviantArt. Please swing by and take a closer look as something to decorate your wall.

Hello? Where's My Bride?

double_rdc_JAM_Oct231865, originally uploaded by preyingjaws.

By request of the bride, I've posted the wedding pictures I've shot so her guests can take a look at them. She will get her wedding album shortly. The images posted on flickr are not of print quality unless you like grainy 4x6's.

Vote for Me

Anastasis in London, originally uploaded by preyingjaws.

Please take a moment and head over to http://www(dot)jpgmag(dot)com/people/PreyingJaws I have submitted several items for December's Competition. Clicking on this image will not take you there. The above image is on flickr.

Speaking of competition. I submitted a couple of my images to Wasatch Camera Club's November Competition. Check out http://wasatchcameraclub(dot)com/html/competition(dot)html
My images are Who Me (a remix of a Bull Elk), Three Posts (Great Salt Lake), The Proud (UT St Capitol), and Dress Rehearsal (Proletariat Theatre). I doubt I'll be in the novice category much longer (wink). I'm personally finding our volunteer judges are leaning more towards images with emotional people connections.

Please do take time to visit my images on flickr, deviantArt, and JPG Magazine. I always welcome critiques and comments. If you can't comment on the image itself, email me.

Zemijon taking the goats to market

Zemijon taking the goats to market, originally uploaded by MercyWatch.

I took a fast look into one of the flickr streams I follow. The above picture is from MercyWatch, Denise Miller. She is one of the many volunteers with Mercy Ships International. Currently in Benin West Africa the m/v Africa Mercy is providing medical care and community education to this needy nation.

When I saw this image my own time with Mercy Ships came to mind. There were many a times I took the local transit affectionately known as the chicken bus. Along the coast of Nicaragua the name changes to the fish bus.

Do I dare say this guys is riding a goat-cicle?

Thanks Mrs. Miller for sharing a clip of what you are seeing.

For more information about...
Mercy Ships
http://www.MercyShips.org
Denise Miller
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mercywatch

Nov 13 Jordan River

Nov 13 Jordan River, originally uploaded by preyingjaws.

The region between 6400 South and 90th South along the Jordan River in Salt Lake is seeing rapid development after years of neglect. Even in the midst of this construction I find beauty along the pathways near my home. It's all in perspective if you ask me. What's not scene here is the construction of a new office park hidden by the bull rush grass and willows.

There is still open areas for deer to roam and ducks to land. In the field behind me in this picture I've seen a small herd of deer on the occasional basis. One day I keep saying to myself I'll get a good picture of the Jordan River Deer Herd.

The years of neglect along the River brought caught the attention of the EPA. Not far from this site is the sight of the old Midvale Smelter. Now encased by tons of clean fill and monitored for ground water contamination it's a stark reminder that we need to pay attention to our rivers nation wide. Our Rivers are our life stream.

30 years ago the river had a stench today it's a refreshing breeze. I am glad to see the Jordan River is regaining some of the prestige it had when settlers first came to the Valley. There are numerous projects under way to restore natural habitat to remaining wet lands and for cleaning up environmental disasters. There are also many areas where parks have sprung up. A path way of sorts now weaves its way from Utah Lake to the Great Salt Lake.

Grease Monkeying Around

I'm wasting time but, since I'm wasting it I may as well waste it a little more efficiently. I'm all for open source, though not a programmer myself, I appreciate those who's hobby is to tweak, create, and produce high quality software. One of the best aspects of course is for the casual end user who just doesn't know the difference from a bug from a crash, with open source a fix may be as simple as saying hey look what just happened. You could say I am an apostle of open source.

Open source goes beyond just software it delves into making even pay for use software more usable by customizations. One of the best way to customize everything is via Grease Monkey Scripts (GM). GM itself may not be open source (the info I've looked at for this article is not clear on it) but the customizations that can be implemented by GM are endless and open.

From the Greasespot Blog (http://www.greasespot.net/2009/09/who-uses-greasemonkey-part-2.html#links) 91.5% of GM scripts are Window Users. Hum, does that tell Microsoft something? It should & they do take it into consideration.

A quick Google search for GM scripts produced more then a hundred pages of scripts many of the articles begin with "The Best GM Scripts to Use..." It's an easy fill in the blank. I'll highlight just a few of those pages for productivity, deviantArt, and for crossovers like myself Flickr.

For the most up to date info on Grease Monkey and the GM Scripts visit:
the Wiki
http://wiki.greasespot.net/Main_Page
the Blog Greasespot
http://www.greasespot.net/

For deviantArt we can thank a few of our own who highlight specifically what GM is and does.
In the news, from Sathoro
http://news.deviantart.com/article/68563/
In journals, from Philho
http://philho.deviantart.com/journal/15970524/
http://kabukikatze.deviantart.com/journal/24602932/
In miscellaneous regions
http://swik.net/lightbox+Greasemonkey
From UserScripts.org
http://userscripts.org/scripts/search?q=deviantart&x=0&y=0
That was a fast search that pulled 177 different scripts. I haven't looked at more then a page full of these & I will say, interesting. Some of these I may use others I'll disregard.

For crossover users on Flickr check out:
Slick Affiliate
http://slickaffiliate.com/best-of-greasemonkey-scripts-firefox/
Flickr Hacks
http://www.flickr.com/groups/flickrhacks/

For productivity which does include vast manipulations of G-mail and other big G services. These links produce a mixed bag of what can be done.
From Y! Tech
http://tech.yahoo.com/gd/17-greasemonkey-scripts-to-turbocharge-your-browser/209049
Irony strikes with this article for it highlights how to control a few G-mail features while only touching on one Y! owned web page.
From Lifehacker
http://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/top-10-greasemonkey-scripts-to-improve-your-productivity.html
Another mis-labeled article on how to control G-mail but then again how integrated is the Big G in not only our surfing lives but now into our un-virtual lives as well?

What then are my favorite GM scripts? To many, I've got more then a megabyte of saved scripts. Most of these scripts are to manipulate Flick. dA does a great job of handling their own services in a user friendly way I have little use of manipulating it.

Fire Prevention

rdc_TPFT_DSC_2520_20091104, originally uploaded by preyingjaws.

The last several weeks have not been tops for one of the nation's refinery of oil. They suffered several set backs in regards to fires. Thankfully, few if anyone were injured in the fires which were quickly contained & controlled. The most recent fire damaged some homes in a Woodscross neighborhood which were damaged due to being within an unknown blast zone.

I'd hate to think about the fire damage done had teams not been on location. I know when I hear the local fire units roll out, they heading out for damage control. Seldom do the brigades arrive in time to stop the spread of immediate damage.

The day of the Woodscross fire the Wasatch Camera Club had the opportunity to experience the training that went to use earlier that day at another facility. The above image is taken at the training facility.

Before going out to the location one of the firemen (a club member) briefed us. He said the local fire brigades will not enter the facility under their chief's command, they will take up defensive positions outside the property, and follow instructions as directed by the facility's team if their help is requested in the facility. He went on to say the company's fire brigade is staffed by employee volunteers who train regularly and who are on a rotating on call duty roster. They have teams on scene literally within seconds verses minutes if they relied on an outside source.

As I set up my camera gear in the designated viewer area I thought back to my own fire fighting training with Mercy Ships. It was train, train, and train some more. Review the materials list, know the lay out of the ship/facility, know the gear, concentrate on the task at hand, etc.

Not only do I remember the physical aspect of it I also remember the preparation of it. The best way to put out a fire is not to let it start. Most of our would be fires were because of an over loaded power transformer 220v stepped down to 110v. These transformers would overheat, sizzle producing acidic smoke, and blow a circuit breaker. We'd keep our eyes and noses on the look out for overloaded transformers.

The designer's of the m.v. Africa Mercy took the lessons learned, the safety requirements, and implemented them. I haven't been to the m.v. Africa Mercy but I have seen her design, talked with the engineers, and those involved in the project. I know that our old ship issues were addressed. I'd say she's a very safe ship from that aspect.

As we head into this year's holiday season, as we pull out our decorations, as we pull out the memories of years gone by, please remember fire safety is more then not playing with matches. Fire safety begins by inspecting electrical cords and connections. Fire safety includes resisting the temptation to overload a circuit. Fire safety includes making sure flammables are away from the flames and heat source when a flame is lit or a heat source turned on. Fire safety begins with common sense.

I live in a multifamily community, not a rack and stack as some apartments are but, still I share a common wall with 2 other families. I'd hate to loose out because of a simple over sight by one of my neighbors. Even more so I'd hate for them to loose out because of me.

As we head into a season of lights, jolly, and good times please remember...

Fire safety begins with prevention.

Prevention means using common sense.