I made it back...

No, I didn't go anywhere, but life sure did come at me fast. Life is still moving fast, but I seem to have found time to post anyway. One of the reasons for my silence was my downloading of a new program. The program is called Bsecure and it is an internet filter/limiter. I heard about it on the radio and thought it would be a good idea to have since I don't want to even stumble upon the despicable stuff that floats around the internet. Bsecure seems like a good product, but because of some unique computer architecture it completely disabled my ability to connect to the internet! After a few days of fiddling (the rest of life limited me to just a few minutes of fiddling at a time) I finally contacted tech support. I shot them an email and to my surprise they called me on the phone just an half-hour later. The very nice tech had me up and running in about 5 minutes and even walked me through how to make Bsecure and my anti-virus play nice.

Well toodle-oo to ya'll, I might be back later. ;^)

The Photographer's Personal Ponderings 2: Lazy Lazy Lazy

Gracey the chihuahua living like royalty. Picture taken before noon.

I feel lazy. Don't you hate it when you feel like that? I admit I can be lazy on the weekdays when I don't go to "work". I sleep way too long and accomplish little until the afternoon rolls around. I could list all things I'm doing and make a case for why I'm not all that lazy but, I won't. I won't because I think I might just have fallen into a habit of laziness. I look around and I see I'm no lazier than any other American (the majority anyway), but I'm reminded in the Bible that we shouldn't compare ourselves to one another. No, even if I neglect comparing myself to Christ and compare myself to other biblical figures I can't find a good one that outdoes me in the laziness department.

Hmmm... By saying I have the habit of lazy, I don't mean resting when needed. I'm talking about resting for no reason. Resting when there are things to be done. A bit like gluttony when one eats because one can. I could go a while on that one too, but I won't. I'm going to purpose to do better. I can't promise I will do better, but with God's help I don't know how I could fail!

So, that's all I wanted to say, and boy do I feel lazy. I think I'll  go back to bed....

Gracey the chihuahua continuing her beauty rest. Picture taken after noon.

Banners and Things

Wow, nine days of blogging silence. I apologize for that. At least I have something to show for it...

A web copy version of a large banner graphic which was assembled by me! This my first real project since offering art photo and graphic design services and I am pleased with it. Given that the final printed size of the banner would be 6ft x 2ft, I began the project by finding two very large images of an eagle and an American flag. I found both of them at istockphoto.com. The images were purchased by my client and when I had received them I went to work. Using Photoshop CS3, I masked out the background of the eagle pic and moved the now backgroundless (new word?) eagle image layer to a new document the size of the finished banner. I then imported the flag image layer, enlarged and rotated. I added a gradient mask to the flag after that and finished with some pixel by pixel cleanup up the whole thing. The banner image also doubled as a business card header for my client. I think he was pleased with the results.

Now one banner can't take up that whole time, so of course I did some other things. Ordinary things like work, church, and play. I hope you all didn't miss me too much (then again I shudder to think of what it might mean if you didn't miss me at all). :D

Art Show Contest Results!

The winner is...

...image number three! Receiving the third place ribbon out of four ribbons.

The show was supposed to have three categories of skill: beginner, advanced, and professional. I entered the advanced category, but by the time of the show not enough photography had been submitted to warrant the categories. Everyone was lumped together and I ended up as the only non-professional earning a ribbon. :^)

Congratulations to Elizabeth and SelahV on correctly guessing the winner!

Art Show Contest

Today, I entered an art show at my local art center. Above is a picture of my three entries as they were and below are easier to view images. I ordered some large 16 x 24 prints from my supplier and matted them up to 22 x 28 frames. The prints were given a "metallic" finish that I was really pleased with. I was afraid that the special finish would be too much, but thankfully it adds rather than take away from the photos. It is almost unnoticeable, however, the shimmer from the metallic finish greater in the light areas compared to the dark areas which gives the photo an almost 3D effect. The metallic finish is available during checkout on all www.WholesomeWorksPhotography.com orders.

Anyway, I want to give you all the chance to make predictions on which, if any, of the photos will place where. While it is entirely possible that none will place, the photography category wasn't added until 5 days ago and tomorrow is the entry deadline. So, I don't expect a lot of competition. Place your votes in the comment box and I'll give the results next week!

1. Rest After a Journey

2. Glimpse of Glory

3. The Glitter Snow