captbrando’s log

welp, that hard drive finally decided that its time was up. We are now running on our new server and enjoying life once again!

We just got back from vacation and have spent the weekend unpacking and recovering while trying to enjoy the last days off before work begins tomorrow. Unfortunately, fixing a server was on the menu as well

We took around 350 pictures (I think) from the vacation digitally, and I’ll get to posting them in the next couple of days. Time to catch up with life first!

Ok, so the last few weeks were hellacious! I was shooting several
seniors, did a magazine photo shoot, and work has been killing me. In
addition to that, school ended last night for the summer and I had some
killer classes that were beating me into a pulp. woh.

This weekend we are doing the haircut thing, visit the niece, and then
head back here for some fun. I’m hoping to spend some time in the studio
tomorrow afternoon. Maybe 2 rolls and some digitals. We’ll see…

American Wedding comes out today! As I have been a huge fan of the
franchise, I am trying to convince Chris to head out there with me. We’ll
see how that goes. She gets off work early, and if I can swing it (work
is also killing me) I’m going to try and get out and do that with her. No
doubt I’ll be working this weekend anyway. Too much to do next week.

Why you ask? VACATION!! Finally a well earned vacation is on tap for me.
We’re renting a house on the beach again this year, but closer to Destin
than we were. This one is a 3 story house and I think everyone will have
their own bedroom this time instead of the girls sharing couches. I’m
going to concentrate on taking lots of pictures. I’ll be bringing most of
my gear I am sure (not studio gear tho!), so I hope to have lots of
opportunities. Maybe I can upload some daily picture updates for everyone
so you can live vicariously…

At any rate, work is calling, so I’m going to bust back in that direction.

Yeah. I’ve been lax. I’ve been photographing seniors all week, and did a
photo shoot for USPCA magazine. Whew! On top of my normal work load and
school, I’ve not had much time for anything.

This weekend we are off to the lake to recharge, so I’ll catch you on the
flip side. Check the photo gallery for fun stuff!

Today seems to be one of those software upgrade days. Seems like the
Apache update today was the last straw.

Wouldn’t you like to be a pepper too?

A rather lazy sunday today. I spent the majority of my time working on
school stuff and cleaning up after the party. Only 4 more weeks of school
and I am done for this trimester. We get about a month break and then I’m
back at it with 2 more classes. I am thinking an Entrepeneurial class and
possibly the Trusted Systems class (ugh). I wish UD had more of the IA
curriculum online today as opposed to a few trimesters from now.

Its looking like rain here in McKinney…

I think I’ll finish up some contract work and then go park it on the couch
for a few.

Yes, I do realize that it is one day early, but somewhere out in the
atlantic it is 12am Jul 4.

I got some film developed from my new camera the other day and boy was I
shocked. It was a full stop (sometimes more) underexposed! Well that
CERTAINLY cant be a problem with the camera can it? Did the lab hose it
up? Not likely. So yesterday I am running around McKinney taking random
pictures of various things while verifying all along that another light
meter was reading things just the same as the internal meter. Very
frustrating.

I think part of the problem was that the previous owner did not put a
battery in the film back which did not help things. But my second roll of
film (shot Astia to really see any problems) seemed to work fine and it is
well exposed where it should be. Very frustrating indeed…

You know, its amazing what a little PHP knowledge can save you money wise.
I found a great system to do my online proofing with. But they wanted to
charge me 10% of gross sales for every order! BS! Looks like my little
hack of PHP Gallery is going
to be the grand ol’ ordering/proofing proggie for a while.

At any rate, we are going to be busy all day tomorrow party hopping, and
then saturday I’ve got the smoker smoking all day. Everything from
Brisket to ribs. MMmmmm….

Ok, time to run away now and do something useful! Later!

This weekend was a blast, but boy am I sleepy. From fireworks to learning
how to waterski, I made this weekend quite productive! I finished testing
my new gear and hope to see some stellar results in the next couple of
days. I am still trying to figure out some of the procedures with this
new lab!

At any rate, my eyes are killing me and its time to sleep. More later…

Welp, we are off to the lake for Lakefest this weekend! We like to have
our boating fun before the Fourth crowds. Much safer that way!

This week has been interesting. Finalized a new development lab, chose an
album manufacturer and revised the Catchlights price list. I hope to
meet with my first bride in a couple of weeks! Meanwhile, if you are
looking for professional photography services, Click Here!

At that note, I hope everyone has a nice weekend and I’ll blog from the
road!

What a day! A day of birthdays and installs. I certainly hope someone
gets drunk…

Still on an install right now. Thankfully the hard stuff is done and we
are just on the cleanup crew right now. Its still a whip to be here
instead of beering it tho.

This weekend I got to drive the tractor again. WHEE! The grass was VERY
long and it took me a bit longer than it should have, but the lawn was
done and just in time for me to clean up and get to my haircut
appointment! Then we hung out with the niece and visited my parents.
Yesterday we roasted outside at the beach club and had sushi for dinner.
Tasty!

So I guess I’ll run away for now. I’ve got too much work to do and its
killing me.

Welp, the higher poker beings were not in my pocket last night. Dumb ol’
Darin was a big winner tho! I did manage to stretch my cash out the whole
night, but when we counted out there was only $0.75 in front of me.
(doh).

The launchers are built for Lakefest! Thats great news! Its coming up
and I’m damn excited. This one is going to be the best yet. I’m hoping
we have just as good weather!

Don’t you love ebay bidders that mislead sellers? After talking to
manufacturers of both camera and flash, I found a guy on ebay who was
selling something that was completely incompatible with my camera setup.
Gotta love that captialistic spirit! I guess if people are dumb enough
not to do their research, they deserve it.

Work is calling now, and I guess I’ll answer it.

When we got down here to Whitney on Friday, it rained most of the way down and we had a couple of good downpours that evening. They conveniently
worsened when we were unloading the car. Yesterday was a great day. It
was very beautiful and sunny. The temperature was not that bad at all and
we had a nice breeze to keep us cool.

Last night however, the storms came through! I bet we got a good inch to
inch and a half of rain. Lots of good lightning and thunder to go with
all the rain too. We left our towels outside (oops) to dry off but I
guess that did not happen. This morning we are enjoying the quiet of the
morning and getting ready to head back to civilization. More when we get
there.

So I finally figured out what to use for some good counterweight on a
project I am working on. Lead shot! Dense and small, I could get to some
pretty decent weights fairly quickly. I called the local gun range and
the guy said he sold shot, but in 5 pound boxes, $19.95 each.
Ooookaaaay….. So I called a place down in Richardson and the guy said
he’d sell me a 25lb bag for $15. SOLD!

Tomorrow we are heading down to the lake. I am looking forward to a nice
weekend down there. The pisser is instead of bringing pleasure reading,
I’ll have a nice stack of schoolwork to go over. Lovely ain’t it?
Though, next week marks the 1/2 way point so that’s a kick ass!

Time to get ready to sleep now. Did not sleep through storms last night
for some reason…

Seems like when it rains, it pours! I found some photography gigs that I
am persuing right now and they all seem to be on the same couple of days
or when we are going to be in Destin (2 months!!). Its very strange and
cosmic how this tends to happen.

I’ve been busting my ass with school stuff the past 2 weeks. We had a
project due in one class (I think I was the first to turn it in, but I’m
not sure. Its due by Friday) and our group project is getting more and
more complicated in the other. I’ll definately be glad when this
trimester is over! I’ll have a wealth of new knowledge and a couple of
weeks off (whee vacation!)

With all that said, I’ve got to run away now!

welp, I’ve got the new palm in and it is bad to the bone. Thanks again
Birdie! Its a bit late, yes I know. We had some friends over tonight and
Chris is feeling a bit sick so I figured I’d chill in front of the
computer for a few before I hit the sack and was subjected to her poisons.

I hope everyone’s weekend is good!

I got so upset with this week in my back yard that I can’t get rid of
yesterday. I just dug those things up, filled in the holes with some lawn
soil, and reseeded. Did I find any treasure you ask? Well, I did find a
green shop rag that was buried about 4 inches down. So if you think that
treasure comes in green shop rags, I hit the jackpot.

It is raining today, so all that seed I spread yesterday should be getting
well watered in. This weekend I think we are looking forward to a little
R&R. We’ve been running around every weekend for the last 2 months, and
I’m tired. Plus, next week we are going to the lake. So its time to
catch up on school work and really enjoy working around the house.

I’m wearing sandals today with the rain. Figured if you cant win, might
as well have some fun…

Welp, I got to mow the in-laws lawn today with the old ’47 Ford Tractor.
That was definately an interesting experience! I feel more like a real
man tho now that I have done it.

Right now I am doing the whole school project deal. I’m going to finish
that and head over to a graduation party. I should have some pictures to
show you on monday. Seeya!

Welp, I’ve finally got around to it. Now that I have the digital camera,
and am taking lots more pictures (that are readily available for online
use), I finally updated my Photo
Gallery. Go check it out and see the fun we had this past weekend!

Welp, we killed the second keg already, and now I decided that number
three should be a DosEquis Amber keg. Mmmmmtasty. I have set up a LIME station as well (you know, give the wife something to do). How exciting!

Anyway, school is kicking my ass. Had to research the progress of
strategic management in Britain from 1450-1776. Wow that was phun. And I
had to write a small essay on it. Thank goodness I finished that!

Anyway, I am out. I have started to get together new content for the new
site so stay tuned!

The bugs are winning today! You ever have one of those weeks where it
seems like there is a vortex of digital death sitting above a company’s
building? Everything seems to bomb during the week and everything that
you do to fix it just seems to make things worse? Yeh. This week is our
turn. So its just been lovely.

I am working in the studio with the digital camera when I have time, and I
think that things are progressing very well. Those “oh yeah” things are
starting to hit me and thats a good. I hope to get some time to spend in
the studio over the next few weeks which will hopefully help me get to the
next level. I’ve found a few photographers that inspired me and I look
forward to shooting very soon.

Anyone watch the finale of 24 last night? Looks like Season Three will be
coming this fall (hopefully)! Pretty dang nifty!

Welp, I got my Digicam today. It’s pretty dang nifty and I’ve been
playing with it for about an hour just trying to learn what all the
nift-o-riffic stuff does. I’m looking forward to doing some fun shots
with it, and hopefully fixing my studio lighting problems. Anyway, just a
quick update there as it is STUDY TIME once again. Boy there is a lot of
reading involved!!