I was contacted by Elmore Magazine about purchasing the rights to one of my photos for their web site and for the cover of their monthly magazine.
With a circulation only in the tens of thousands it’s no Rolling Stone Magazine, but still pretty cool if you ask me. There’s just something about print media that makes it seems more “real” even though more people are likely to see it on the web.
So shiny!
*Photo of Jay Lee courtesy of Cynthia
Three days of rockabilly and hot rods at the Houston Continental Club. A great chance to hear some good music and see some awesome cars. Since I was unable to attend during daylight hours I was forced to shoot at night on the oddly lit side street.
These are all shot handheld and without a flash utilizing only available light. There is no color correction or manipulation. The only post processing is a slight bump in “lightness” and a small bit of sharpening.
Please click image to see a larger version
Additional images in the Rock Baby Rock It gallery.
Every Saturday we have breakfast at our regular spot and all the staff there know us on sight. We really like it there and they treat us well. It’s one of those places where you place your order and sit down. When your order’s ready they call your name and you come up to the counter and get it.
They’ve taken to calling me “Don Pelon” and it’s always good for a chuckle…
One Saturday we got a late start and by the time we got to the restaurant the line was out the door. We didn’t really want to wait around so we went to the nearby La Madeleine.
The next week we went back to our regular restaurant and the manager asked us where we were the week before. We explained that we went to La Madeleine and he got all huffy (in a playful way) and on that morning when our order was ready, rather than call out “Don Pelon” over the P.A. I hear “Francois, your order is ready” in a very bad French accent.
He’s been calling me Francois for some time now so Cynthia and I came up with the idea of sending a Bastille Day card to the restaurant and the work above is the result.
We even had a few extras made up and sent them out to a few friends and family while we were at it. We figure most people won’t get it, but it sure made us laugh! Now we’re sold on the idea of sending out offbeat holiday cards as a matter of course and avoiding the “standard” holidays altogether.
Too bad St. Swithun’s Day falls so close to Bastille Day….
In 1988 Minolta produced a 70-210mm f/4 lens that was fairly popular amongst Minolta film camera users, but which slipped out of production in the late 90’s. This lens was often referred to as the “beercan” due to it’s shape and size.
The lens is experiencing a renaissance and has become very popular with users of the Sony line of digital SLR cameras as it’s completely compatible and is optically very powerful and optically superior to most kit lenses and other lenses in it’s class. The price is very appealing as well when you consider that a 70-200mm f/2.8 lens will set you back anywhere from $800 to $2000. The Minolta “beercan” shows up on EBay fairly frequently and if you play your cards right, can be obtained for around $200-$250 depending on conditon. I’ve seen them sell for as much as $350 to $450 on rare occasions. I suspect the price is going up as Sony users become more common and set out looking for glass that performs well.
Known for its sharpness, rich color rendition and smooth creamy bokeh, the Minolta 70-210mm f/4 has become more sought after and more highly prized by the growing legions of Sony dSLR enthusiasts giving the lens a cult like status amongst Sony users.
I just took delivery on my personal beercan and it’s AWESOME! I found it via a Minolta dealer online and bypassed the ridiculous EBay bidding wars altogether. I won’t say what I paid for it, but it’s in near mint condition and I got a good deal. I have another one coming tomorrow and I plan to resell it.
Seeing it on my Sony Alpha 700 just gives me the happy
I haven’t played with it much, but here are some test shots using two of my most reliable models:
70mm
210mm
You can see the original sizes of the above images here and here if you are interested.
New Flint Police Chief David Dicks orders police to crack down on sagging pants
I only recently learned that the sagging pants phenomenon has it’s origins in the American penal system. Prisoners combined one size fits all pants with the “no belts” policy of prisons to come up with this little bit of gangster chic.
The resulting “sagging pants” look was later adopted by the rap/hip-hop community as a way to enhance street cred and, I suspect, as a means of “keeping it real, yo” …
Personally, when I see some young person walking around, struggling to keep his pants on I am not thinking “gangsta” … more like “idiot.”
I’m much more “old school” about my trousers and I obviously had MUCH better taste in pants when I was young.
My band, The Flying Fish Sailors, has been nominated in the category “Best Traditional Folk Band” so please take time to go vote for us. You can find the ballot online at houstonpress.com/polls/musicawards08
We’ll be playing at the Awards showcase on July 27th from 4:00-4:45 pm at Dean’s Credit Clothing located at 316 Main St. in downtown Houston if you want to come see us play live.
Hard to believe that Technology Bytes has been on the air for 13 years, but here we are. I remember when we started up there was not much Internet going on for the general public. Windows 95 had just come out and everyone seemed to be scrambling to get multimedia kits installed in their 486 computers or get their modems upgraded to 33.6 or 56K so they could dial into their favorite BBS
A lot has changed in the last 13 years and Technology Bytes has been there for the ride.
Come help us celebrate this milestone in style as we get down, get funky at Dean’s Credit Clothing on Saturday July 19th from 7:30 till ?
Dean’s is a very cool space located at 316 Main St. in Houston, TX and features a full bar and a great atmosphere. DJ Amanda Robinson will be laying down the tracks as our DJ for the evening. We’re inviting all fans and friends of Technology Bytes (past, present and future) to join us so consider coming out to help us celebrate.
Please spread the word!
Randomly encountered some “fire manipulators” in the back patio area of the Continental Club while I was out and about last night. I saw this as an EXCELLENT opportunity to play with some extended exposure shots using my tripod and the remote control for the camera
Not bad, but whirly-twirly shots like this don’t stay interesting for long so I shot a few more handheld with less exposure time and got some interesting shots
There’s a few more in the Zion’s Flame gallery.