OnTheCreativeSide

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A Glimpse Into My World

Events - From time to time I am asked to shoot an event. These events are a lot of fun and I get to meet a lot of great people and see amazing things. Event photography captures (just like the name implies) an event. Baseball, basketball, hockey games, corporate parties, weddings, etc…

Travel - I am lucky enough to be able to travel quite often and almost every trip has provided some amazing photos. I give you some insight into the areas I have been to and how I see the world.

People - Portraits are a stoppage in time. My favorite portraits are of children playing or a couple in a loving embrace. Good portraits are the window to the heart and soul of a person.

To see more images, go to Photography.

We Are All People - Think Before You Say Something

I have been sitting back watching a variety of situations (same-sex marriage, abortion, men behaving inappropriately toward women, etc…) escalate within the last few years (especially in the last month). I am frustrated and disgusted by the back and forth that is transpiring. Instead of a rational discussion of the different sides it has become heated and ugly in nature, usually with personal insults directed at the commenter. Most of what I am seeing is just flat out “hate” speak. It's less about the issues and more of an attack on the person commenting.

The anonymity of the Internet encourages some to say whatever is on their mind without thought or consideration of how someone else will take the comment. We are not considering the person on the other end of the comment; we just want to say what we want to say no matter who it hurts. As a society, we must remember everything we say (whether in person or online) creates a reaction (good or bad) from others. Think before you speak, write a post, update your status or make comment.

I wish more people believed in respecting another person’s opinion. Even when and opinion doesn’t fall in line with theirs. When rational and respectful discussions happen between two (or more) people with differing opinions, new ideas form. What a boring world we would live in if everyone thought the same way. Along this same line, I do not believe it is my job to “convert” someone to my way of thinking. It is more powerful to give someone information and let them come to their own conclusions and decisions. A person who is told what to think but doesn’t make the educated conclusions leading up to a decision will change that decision when another idea is presented, as they will not have the information to defend their initial idea.

Not to put too fine a point on it: Attacking a person instead of rationally and respectfully discussing the issue makes you look like an idiot.

If we continue down this path of disregarding others, the future is bleak. Ultimately we are all working toward the same goal: a happy life, a great family, and success. It is not an Us vs. Them situation. In the big picture of things, we are all one! Let's work together and become better humans. For all our sakes.

Gear for Photo Shoots

Over the past several years, I have become involved with several different events within the Phoenix area. I work with the Ignite Phoenix crew when I am in town to shoot their big events. And I help with planning and usually shooting for ImprovAZ. Both groups are a lot of fun and have their own challenges.

Yesterday, ImprovAZ had their Applemob. All participants were instructed to purchase a specific shirt (blue shirt, white heart with a bite out of it, with an apple stem) and meet at the Starbucks at Kierland Commons in Scottsdale for details. Once the 28 or so people arrived, they were instructed how to proceed and most importantly how to not disrupt. This was to be a more covert photography assignment, so the Cannon was out for this one. The entire Applemob took roughly 30 minutes.

I shot without my Canon. I did shoot with two different cameras: my iPhone 4 and my Flip HD video camera. First off I felt really naked! I know it sounds weird for me to be shooting with two cameras and feel naked but there is really something to the weight and feel of the Canon I use.

The Flip was simple enough as I turned it on and put it in my jean’s pocket and let it roll (I guess roll isn’t really a term used any more since it is all digital). The iPhone 4 though was a different story. First off it is not easy to shoot from the hip and capture images of anything other than people’s behinds (at least at my height)! Not sure I was so covert but I was using an Apple product so it probably didn’t look as bad as it could anywhere else! The iPhone 4 doesn’t respond as fast as my Canon but I was still able to take roughly 200 shots during the event. I wasn’t sure of the quality of the images as I was shooting. The is more grain and noise in the images than I usually would allow but not as bad as I envisioned. The final result was 98 images posted to the Flickr group.