Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Rough Seas


This photo was taken in mid-February, late afternoon using a Kodak 800 series digital camera. The boat looking so close to shore is a true optical illusion, as there were points when the boat disappeared behind he crest of the waves.

Saturday, October 27, 2007

The Awe of Innocence


This photo was taken at our local zoo. I do not know this little girl, as she is of no acquaintance, but I do know this little girl. I say this because in spite of the pain and suffering I have went through personally, as we all have, I still see much of the world with her enthusiasm and innocence.

Do you?

This photo was taken using a Kodak 800 series digital camera.

Friday, October 26, 2007

Landing Zone


This photo was taken using a Kodak 800 series digital camera.

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Crazy Sky-Chicken


This cloud formation, photographed recently during a visit to Wisconsin, was shot in the mid-afternoon. If you look closely at the darker region of the cloud, you can see a what looks like a chicken head (top-left) attached to a body (center-mass) with on leg extended (bottom) and one wing extended (top-right).
The shape of the cloud was what I though was interesting. The shape of the darker and lighter regions are very similar, especially noticed aound the chicken's head, almost like a white drop shadow.
This photo was shot using a Kodak 800 series digital camera.

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Playing Around


This photo of my youngest daughter at the playground was taken in the late afternoon with a Kodak 800 series digital camera.

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Coastal Sun Break


This photo was taken at the top of Cape Perpetua during the early afternoon of a mid-February day. Although this looks like a black and white photo, if you look closely at the shrubs bordering the bottom of the picture you will notice a slight green tone.
This photo was shot using a Kodak 800 series digital camera.

Saturday, October 20, 2007

Mount Hood


This was my first attempt at drawing a lake reflection. As you can see the reflection isn't truly a mirror image, but it was my first attempt. This is a drawing I made from a photo of Mount Hood.

Friday, October 19, 2007

Blinding Storm


This photo was taken during my recent trip to Wisconsin. The sun was setting behind an approaching storm. This photo does not do the entire scene justice at all.
This photo was taken using a Kodak 800 series digital camera.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Floral Parade And Venting



This photo was taken at the local public garden on a late spring afternoon. It was taken using a Kodak 800 series digital camera.

Posting personal things in this forum is usually not my style, but today I am a little frustrated with several things going on over the last few weeks.

First, I got my evaluation from my boss the other day and as expected he had nothing but great things to say about me in it. What set me back and frustrated the hell out of me was his boss had nothing nice to say about me except that I don't create a "safe" team environment where others feel they can express their ideas on a given project. His use of the word "safe", especially in quotes, is the same thing as saying I create a hostile work environment... which is not true from my perspective. This comment was directed at my interactions with a person I will call Dilbert, no reference to the comic strip character. These interactions have been rather tense because this guy is a loose canon... and he goes unchecked by management (specifically his boss, who happens to be my boss's boss... see the conflict).

He also had the audacity to say in comment that I am less of an expect in my job than Dilbert is. Comparing my job to Dilbert's is like comparing an architect to a construction worker. Although both are valuable to the task of constructing a building, both perform completely different functions to accomplish the end result.

In the very next sentence my boss's boss claimed to have no idea what my job is with the company. Although his lack knowledge is not my fault, my real point is: How does he believe he has the right to judge me on how I am doing my job when he open admits in my evaluation that he has no idea what my job is?

I am meeting with him, my boss's boss, tomorrow to review his comments. I am going to do the best I can to sit there and listen to him rather than dispute each and every one of his negative comments. Rather I want to try and allow him the time to explain what he meant and put a little context around his degrading comments. This is not going to be easy for me to do because first of all comparing me to Dilbert was really the wrong comparison to make for several reasons that I won't go into and secondly I bust my butt for that place putting in my ten to twelve hour days supporting Dilbert and every screw up he commits and coming home and putting in another three or four just to get my real job done.

Now to top this off, my wife tells me near tears, that I need to make time to be able to go out to Michigan to visit with her Uncle. Now let me explain about her Uncle a little. He is my wife's last living relative.... her mom died, when my wife was twelve, of cancer. Her dad's whereabouts is completely unknown.. possibly prison since she was young. Her grandparents died long ago. This leaves her Uncle.

He is a successful business man and wonderful Uncle-In-Law, although with my wife's family status, he is more of a father-in-law than anything. He has been very supportive of us and has been very giving... something that Kim and I truly appreciate each and every day.

The saddest thing is... My wife's Uncle has a very bad heart. He has had several heart attacks and other health issues relating to this. We do not know if he will last another year or not and I understand my wife's sense of urgency for "us" to go out and visit him. But alas, my employer provides me only two weeks a year vacation. To top that off, I have my daughter's two weeks during the summer and one week during Christmas break. I usually take a week off during the summer, the other week they hang out with my wife, and I take a week off during or after Christmas depending on the visitation schedule.

I have asked my employer for more vacation time... just an extra week... but always get the run around. They have been very generous with pay raises, but when it comes to what I need most... more vacation time... they won't budge.

I tried to explain to my wife that for me to make a trip out to Michigan for a week, I would have to work during the summer visitation with my daughters. She started crying and after several minutes of silence, (I don't know how to cope with anyone that is crying so I just there and wait for them to stop... an issue I have as I don't cry), I said, "This is awkward." She said sorry and turned over to start reading. She then said something like, "You can't tell me what I want to hear, so I will just read."

I got up, said I love you, walked over to the computer and started this post. That was 20 minutes ago. So now that I have this off my chest, I will close this posting and resume normal posts tomorrow... art work only. I just needed to vent a little.

Sorry about that.

Sunday, October 14, 2007

Twilight Sky


This photo was taken a the cusp of between when either Darkness or Light owned the sky. This is a personal favorite of mine. This photo was taken with Kodak 800 series digital camera from the back balcony of my apartment two years ago.
Enjoy this and all of the other art work I am posting up. If anything moves you in any way, please feel free to comment on it below. It is the only way I will know how some of this art work makes others feel.
Thanks.

Saturday, October 13, 2007

Night Dancers


This was taken late evening in Wilsonville using a Kodak 800 series digital camera without a flash.

Thursday, October 11, 2007

The Farm


This drawing was one of my first barns. I was unsure of how to finish the top left corner of the background forest and decided that enough was enough. I may redo this barn at some point in the future, but for now... I find it satisfying.

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

The Hunger


This photo comes with an unusual story. The wolves at our local zoo were hiding near the back of their environment and we could not see them. Without any prompting, my youngest daughter starts howling. It was cute, but wasn't a very realistic howl to my ears. Much to our surprise, without hesitation, the wolves came over the horizon and walked as close as they could before stopping in front of my still howling daughter.
The larger of the two began licking his chops. It was at this point that I snapped this photo. My daughter's howl may not have been realistic, but it appeared to make the wolves think they had supper waiting.
The photo was shot using a Kodak 800 series digital camera on an overcast October day.

Monday, October 8, 2007

Sunset Silhouette


This photo was taken in mid-February. A single person was on the beach admiring the sunset and ocean. The photo was taken with Kodak 800 series digital camera with no filters.

Sunday, October 7, 2007

Deep Thought


This is a photo of my daughter when she was two years old. She was in deep thought about something as she played on a playground.
This photo was taken using a Chinon 35mm camera and scanned using a HP scanner.

Thursday, October 4, 2007

Moon Over Wisconsin


This is a photograph of the moon during my recent business trip to Wisconsin. The photo was taken freehand, causing a sligh blur that left the photograph without a crispness to it. This photo was taken about 30 minutes after sunset using a Kodak 800 series digital camera.

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Storm Brewing


This photo was taken in the late afternoon of a mid-February day. This photo was taken with a Kodak series 800 digital camera.

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Here Kitty, Kitty


Taken at our local zoo, this Bengal Tiger was relaxing during a mid fall day. Although I wish that the tiger was looking at me more, I was happy with the framing of the shot. With a little post editing of the picture I might have something worth a frame.

This photo was shot using a Kodak 800 series digital camera.