From point A to point B

Goodbye all my friends at HenkinSchultz. I will miss you. We had some great times over the past 7 years.

The Fire Department was called out last night to help with storm spotting. We watched for tornados for about an hour and a half. After an exciting night of storms and tornado warnings, we were in the clear. The storm split-up and moved to the south. This is a few frames from the tail end of the storm as it moves south.

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I’m still in the mood to keep it simple.

Words cannot describe how sad losing a 10-day old baby must be. To my friend, we are praying for you. The sunset today made me stop and think for a good long time. I hope and pray that God be with you, and that your little girl be with Him in heaven.

Gracie reading in the living room. Practicing my HDR skills.

Here’s some shots of the Main Street carnival blended together into one panoramic shot. This view is a nearly 180 degree view. The Police Station on the left, and the Body Shop on the right are on opposite sides of the street from each other.

The Great Thomas Midway on Main Street during Tea Pot Days 2009

Scenes from the Tea Pot Days tractor and truck pull Friday night.

Last night’s sunset was affected by severe thumderstorms north of us, near Brookings. The colors and cloud formations are pretty impressive.

In the main entry area of the Sioux Falls Convention Center is a piece of art by Dick Termes. It’s a large sphere, with illustrative renderings of well-known Sioux Falls landmarks. I was out at the Convention Center this afternoon photographically documenting some other areas of the facility. This angle really caught my eye as I passed by it. The second shot is looking down at a round mirror that lies on the floor below the sphere.

Two days ago, I posted the photo of the cows looking at the camera, as if they were waiting to have their portrait done. I was re-visiting the raw images that I snapped on Sunday, and noticed this one. I love the “expression” on this cow’s face. It compliments the story idea that the cows noticed their portrait on my blog, and came back to make a statement. It looks like he wasn’t too happy about the previous image. Interesting how something taken out of content can be so funny.

Civil War cannon at the South Dakota National Guard Museum in Pierre, SD.

On my way home from Rapid City, I stopped for fuel and a quick break in Chamberlain, SD. These guys were standing in a pasture right behind the gas station. I barely gave them a second thought, as I was in a hurry to get home. But as I was pumping gas, they kept staring at me as though they knew I had a camera in the car, and were begging to have their picture taken. Fine guys. Here you go. You are on the web. The next time you’re surfing the web, stop by this blog and let me know what you think.

This is a view looking down from the 8th floor of the Holiday Inn Rapid City. I was out there for State Fire School this past weekend. I like the geometry and repeating pattern of the floor from this angle.

I’ve been experimenting with different lighting schemes the past month or so. Back in April, I found some success using hand-held flashlights, multiple exposures, and compositing. A couple nights ago I went back to the fire house after dark, and took new shots of our Ladder truck and Rescue truck. This is a collage I put together of the two trucks. The flag and flames are stock images. The phoenix logo I designed a couple years ago. This piece will be used as part of a framed collage of portraits of all the firefighters’ on the department. This portion will be at the bottom of the frame, with 35 cut-out holes in rows above for each firefighter’s portrait.

We tried 3 times to catch the fireworks show at Magic Kindgom, over Cinderella’s castle. Our girls were too tired to stay the first time, and we were rained out the second time. Finally, on our last night at Dinsey World, we were able to catch the show. It was well-worth the wait. We have memories we’ll never forget.

Disney doesn’t waste a single opportunity to immerse visitors in an experience. this metallic statue of Goofy sits right out side of Tony’s Italian Ristorante, where Lady and the Tramp have their famous spaghetti encounter.

Central Florida has some of the biggest grasshoppers I’ve ever seen. They are literally 4 or 5 inches long! Come to think of it… We were staying on a military-only resort. Maybe they’re secretly testing out a new form of advanced robotic weaponry. Hmmm….

The City Hall building at Magic Kingdom just before the park closed for the night.

To get anywhere at Disney World, we rode our Resort’s bus. Sometimes we’d have some down time while we waited for the bus to leave.