Our youngest attended a birthday party sleepover this past weekend, and created this little guy at the party. The clay is sort of a foamy type modeling material. The plastic feet base came with the kit. Totally cool. I have never seen anything like it. Great work kiddo!

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.

Walking downtown on Phillips Avenue today, taking in all of the activities and set-up preparations for Hot Summer Nights this weekend. The streets will be filled with Corvettes Harley-Davidsons, and people. While walking along, I glanced over and noticed this cool reflection in the window of an office building. I like the distorted imagery in the glass, and the way the reflective colors appear in the glass.

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.

The iconic sphere at Epcot. Inside is the ride Spaceship Earth.

I was so inspired by the gold reflective grid pattern, that I took it one step further.

Meet Robo-Elvis. He’s a 22 inch high, Hound Dog singin’ machine. Literally. Robo-Elvis was conceived by my 9 year-old daughter for a school project. The assignment was “Junk Robots.” the kids had to build robots out of things found around the house. (Yes. The Elvis Sunglasses were lying around the house…)

Robo-Elvis has a mini-cassette recorder that plays “Hound Dog.”

When asked what Robo-Elvis’ occupation? Lounge Singer. Teacher’s Lounge Singer.

Great work, Maddie!

This is a simple hill on a golf course… But the compressed view of the two hills and the way the clouds shadow the far hill is pretty cool. I just love the way nature creates its’ own design.

The old Stewart Sign in downtown Sioux Falls

I must be itching to do some graphic designing. Yesterday it was lines. Today it’s angles. I seem to be noticing more basic graphic design principles in everything. I found this one while driving through main street in Tea, SD. Of all the mundane things… It’s a basic telephone/cable junction pole.
Maybe tomorrow I’ll start a Gestalt-based photo theme.

Coming back from lunch today, I pulled up next to our building and looked up at the bright blue sky. I like how the sharp angles and lines in the building, along with the telephone lines slice into the smooth blue sky. After downloading the photo, it reminded me of a cover shot for a magazine, so I added the “Lines” copy along the right edge.

Detail from a glass portico on a new building in Bloomington, MN. The combination of the colored glass and the blue sky sort of reminds me of the ocean. Even though this building is in the heart of the Midwest, it has the feeling of being on the West Coast.

Thanks to Maddie for the inspiration of the name of the photo.

Neon signs are designed to stand out against a dark backdrop. What’s behind the neon tubing is rarely seen. A look deeper into this image, past the bright orange neon, reveals an interesting view of the supporting cast.

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.

The old railroad bridge that spans the Missouri River between Pierre and Fort Pierre has been the subject of many photographs. It’s a very popular visual for the SD Department of Tourism. However, I like this view of the bridge. It’s a view that’s not often seen. This angle creates a great convergence of lines.

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!