Distant views

Distant views, originally uploaded by Septguy.

The other day I was thinking about "work" and how being creative really isn't required in the job I've held for the past several years. It's much more about working within the rules and guidelines of a large organization. About 10 months ago I spent half a day with a group of photography enthusiasts and a few models that agreed to pose. The sense of breaking out of the mold and exploring my photographic interests made for a great afternoon.

San Francisco art from above

San Francisco art from above, originally uploaded by Septguy.

It had been a long time since I'd flown into San Francisco. The colors and and patterns reminded me of an art piece as the pilot began the approach.

By The Rocket's Red Glare

By The Rocket's Red Glare, originally uploaded by Septguy.

Concentration

Concentration, originally uploaded by Septguy.

I like catching athletic movement and stopping the action. Even thou the movement is frozen the sense of flow and movement is there, I can hear the sound of the racket and the ball connecting.

Theresa Logar of the itf/USTA women's was captured during a recent tournament.

Intensity at a glance

Arizona Biltmore

It's the hat...

It's the hat..., originally uploaded by Septguy.

I couldn't help but notice the hat...

More than meets the eye

More than meets the eye, originally uploaded by Septguy.

Shadows and light

Erin portrait

Erin portrait, originally uploaded by Septguy.

The eyes

Erin, originally uploaded by Septguy.

Usually when I'm working behind the camera I'm looking at focus, checking on the reading and the basic composition. As I was shooting a session recently with Erin I couldn't help just seeing the depth of those eyes throughmylens.

Allison seemed comfortable and was having fun in her extreme costume. She certainly got some attention, which of course, was the objective in the first place.

I was minding my business enjoying my beer when I noticed she was
standing on the bar.

I was headed to Southern California, my first time flying into Burbank vs. LAX. Late evening, of course, as the plane banks to start it's approach, this scene jumped out at me, welcome to SoCal!

It was hard not to notice her!

Time to get up

Mermaid..

Mermaid.., originally uploaded by Septguy.

Tommy's taking pictures of pretty girls, I think I'll just sit here and see if someone pays attention to me....

Tommy's taking pictures of pretty girls, I think I'll just sit here and see if someone pays attention to me...., originally uploaded by Septguy.

One in a million

One in a million, originally uploaded by Septguy.

There are million's of photos like this, so it's not unique from a photographic image standpoint. It is very unique for me, it sits in a frame close to my desk at home. I've been thinking of doing something with this photo on flickr for a while and have kept procrastinating. I've now ended my procrastination.

The Ken Burns series "The War" recently ran on PBS. I liked his approach, it made the veterans of WWII and their families more human. It taught me some things I didn't know about WWII and what some of our veterans endured.

Unfortunately I never told my dad thank you for serving in WWII. He died in 2001. When I was growing up my mom kept a lot of family photos in a tin chalk container in her closet. Periodically I would take the can out, sit in the middle of the living room floor and look at them. This was one of them, there were others of my dad with some of his buddies in Italy. It's part of the reason I became interested in photography, I'd become lost in my imagination looking at the photos, wondering about the places and the people, the "guys" mostly in uniform in those far away places.

My dad wasn't in combat, he served in the Army Air Corps in southern Italy helping keep the planes in the air. Both his brothers were in the military at the same time, along with his brother-in-law.

My grandmother has a proud smile on her face here and I feel pretty sure she's holding his hand, he's got it hidden a bit in his left hand. His dad, who I barely remember was maintaining his quiet distance it seems, from this photo.

My dad went into the military around 1943, the war had been on for several years, the country was calling for more resources. He was around 29 at the time. Today that would seem old for someone to be entering the military. I often think about that when I look at this photo. I believe when this photo was taken he was preparing to leave for Italy.

It's a timeless type of photo. I wonder who took the photo, I was never told. It's one of millions of photos like it, but it's very unique to me.

Thanks dad.

Sun's rays over the Blue Ridge

Sun's rays over the Blue Ridge, originally uploaded by Septguy.

The Blue Ridge mountains create interesting evening opportunities.