Last year my oldest daughter created “old fashioned ribbon candy” Christmas tree ornaments to sell to our neighbors, friends, and family. She donated 100% of the proceeds to the Children’s Miracle Network to help with children’s cancer research. She sold them for $2.00 each. Her goal was to raise $100. She raised just over $430. Now, both my girls are getting involved, and are continuing the effort again this year with a new charitable organization in mind: Feeding South Dakota. These are prototypes of this year’s ornament. These are a little more involved, so they’ve decided to raise the price of each ornament to $3.00 this year.

My oldest daughter is creating “old fashioned ribbon candy” Christmas tree ornaments. She has a wonderful caring heart. Her goal is to make a whole bunch of these ornaments and sell them for $2.00 each. She will be donating 100% of the proceeds to the Children’s Miracle Network. She would like to help with children’s cancer research. I’m helping her effort by making an informational flier for her philanthropic endeavor. I am continually flabbergasted by the thoughtfulness of my kids.

This afternoon, I had a senior portrait consultation. While there, we did a few test shots for an idea we have of shooting portraits while jumping on the trampoline. To get an idea of how it’ll look, I had Nick jump a few times. I snapped 3 quick shots. This is one of them. I think when we actually shoot these for real in a few weeks, we’ll have a lot of fun, and they’ll be great!

Even though the place is open, and I’m sure it a hot, happening joint I found the empty street an interesting contrast to the “Open” invitation.

There’s a local auto-restoration company who had this beauty parked out in front of their business. There’s really no better advertising for their services than to show the fruits of their labor. The sleek lines and curves, and the color are truly amazing.

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.

The old Stewart Sign in downtown Sioux Falls

OK, OK, I admit it. This is a sorry post. This morning I had a photo shoot for Burger King, and this is one of the shots from the session. I don’t normally like to post these types of shots; not the most creative for an “Art by Accident” themed blog. Don’t get me wrong. It’s a great looking ice cream cone. And it’s going to look great on the in-store posters and signage for Burger King. But there’s only so many ways to photograph an ice cream cone before it melts.

That said, I do like the “floating” effect of the cone over the white background. Kind of surreal. And, if anything, it makes my more creative stuff seem really edgy.

I like the distortion of the neon glow in this reflection on glass block.

Details from an old neon sign…

120th Anniversary, girl in a bikini, and Goat Races… Who could want anything else?

This is a detail from a block-long sign painted on the lumber building. The building and sign are 5 feet from the road, yet the lettering is 30 feet high. The sign has been there forever. I remember driving by it on our way to Northern Minnesota 30 years ago. It’s somewhat of an icon. Looking at it from a normal viewpoint, the closeup details are interesting.

Everyone knows that there’s nothing better than bagels and coffee in the morning. This morning I set my cup down on the table in the Pomp Room (a.k.a. the company break room) and left it to brew another pot of coffee. I came back, and realized that my Firefox coffee mug and the colors of the Pomp Room neon sign work well together. Rock On!