Splintor's Lair: Goodbye 2014

Splintor's Lair: Goodbye 2014: ..and good riddance. 2014 was entered with a hope to better the disaster that was 2013. It didn't. Sherri remained gone and...

Goodbye 2014

..and good riddance.

2014 was entered with a hope to better the disaster that was 2013. It didn't.

Sherri remained gone and has now filed to make that permanent. That trumped all the other things that went well in 2014 and occupied too much of my already crowded head.

That being said, here are some of the good things from this last year. I reduced my CC debt to a small amount that will vanish completely in 2015. Kamryn is driving and doing well. One of the dumbest mistakes of my life was, thankfully, just a wake up call and not a wake. Work has gone well and may have turned the corner back to thriving. (time will tell)

The picture above was part of a foggy morning walk that I will post more from later. It was my favorite because of the choices presented. Including just sitting down and watching others choose. Of course it is also fall, my favorite time of year, right up to my birthday. NOTHING good has ever happened between Nov 17th and Jan 1 for me, but hey, I'm only 48, it could change.

I hope 2015 contains more laughing and less crying, more conversation and less screaming, more hugs and less anger. In short more not less. So lets get this thing started!

Peace and Goodwill my Friends!

Rebel Halloween Shoot

My friend Misty set up a photo shoot at a castle last weekend with some photographers, models, and hot rods. Thought I would share a few of my favorite images here.

Creepy mask with shallow depth of field

Always check your 6

Clyde, meet your new Bonnie

Hot rods and hot women

This castle wears it's heart on the wall.

It was a lot of fun. These were shot with my D5100 and either my 34mm f1.8 or 50mm 1.8 at various ISOs. Enjoy and look for me @Splintor13 and on Pinterest

Splintor's Lair

You may wonder at the name of my blog. Well here is the Reader's Digest condensed version.

When I created my Dungeons and Dragons Campaign back in the day the nemesis of my players was a Shadow Dragon named Splintor. He had a brother, Shard, that was killed by adventurers and this left Splintor as a vengeful spirit behind the scenes in the ongoing campaign.

I have continued to use the name for various things and still do. For instance my videos I do under the name Splintor Productions

Well that's pretty much it. More later and remember to beware the Shadows.

BC

@Splintor13

Walk at Lakewood

Went for a walk with the Daughter. Sun setting gave some good light. Here are some of my favorites for your viewing pleasure.

Walk Bridge

Same Bridge with a little creative license

This last one is two images merged for a deep focus effect.

All of these were shot with my Nikon D5100 with my 35mm f1.8 (my favorite walking around lens.
For editing I use either Photoshop CS4 (home) or CC 2014 (work)
Please follow me @Splintor13 on Twitter.

House of Cards

Well I just finished season 2 of  Netflix series House of Cards. I really liked it. I know that sounds pretty vanilla. Of course I am torn by the fact that the production value is top notch, acting is off the chart, and writing is fantastic, with the fact that I have a belief that as bad as the characters are and as many agendas are working, it most likely doesn't even scratch the surface.

One of my few complaints is that when the "Kansas City" part of the story line plays out, they say we have "Indian Casinos" (we don't) and while they use a shot of the arch for the St Louis scene, they used nothing from Kansas City. Airport was most likely shot in St Louis or LA. I know this is a petty thing, but the fact they mention the term "fly over" State in the show? Then the writers are guilty of the same Coast arrogance and dismissal.

Still I would recommend it to anyone who likes TV and Political drama. Be prepared to be shocked and feel a little dirty after several episodes.

More Camera Phone Photogging

Here are a few more shots from my Nokia 920 from the past couple of weeks. I really need to find the time to get out and shoot some with the Nikon. I will soon, I promise :-)

This is in the courtyard at the law firm I was working at in Birmingham Alabama.

This is the Mineral Building off the KC Art Institute 

...and this was the sky last night at Fountain Bluff baseball diamonds.

The enhancements were done with Camera 360 and I would definitely recommend it to anyone with a smart phone. They even have it for Windows Phone.

Why do I own a DSLR

So I have a Nikon D5100. I have several lenses, some of them quite nice actually. I have taken and continue to take some fairly good and well received pictures. I still find myself asking, why do I own it? I guess the answer is in the art, but if you look at these pictures to follow I will tell you that not one of them was taken with a DSLR.

I am one of those people that think I SHOULD carry my Nikon with me at all times and be ready at the drop of a hat to win a Pulitzer for photography, but do I? Of course not. I come up with all the excuses;

       1) I might do something later and don't want to leave it in the car

       2) Is there really going to be anything there to take pictures of?

       3) Someone else will have theirs

                         and of course..

       4) I just don't feel like taking it.

All of these things (and especially #4) are just the heights of laziness. I freely admit it. But as bad as I feel about not taking the gear with me, I do still always have a pretty decent camera on my body.

The other thing about it is that I can take great DSLR pics, then bring them home and jack with them in Lightroom or Photoshop and maybe get it the way I want. The images here have never touched by anything remotely as advanced (read expensive) as Adobe's toys.

Of course I am talking about my Nokia 920 phone. 8.7mp camera, Carl Zeiss glass, and "Pureview" (whatever that means). It takes some truly great pictures and when mated with the Camera360 app, effects and tinkering are a snap. 

So I feel guilty to let my Nikon sit at home and gather dust, but I have a pretty good walking around camera on me. Art is art. I've known people who shoot movies on VHS just because they like the "way it looks". Best quote I heard was "don't you hate it when you have a great shot all lined up, and someone calls your camera?"

Have fun all and get out there a take some pictures!

KC Walk Around

Well Kamryn and I walked around down by the old AS&B bridge the other day. Got a couple of good shots..

Fun with Bricks

Spring finally making an appearance

K shooting a goose, yes, I know you can't see the goose but trust me, it was there.

My not-so-little-anymore photog

Attempt at HDR. A merge of two shots.

I was shooting with my Nikon D5100 and the 18-55 kit lens. Kamryn was using her Mom's D5300 and the 18-140. 

Richmond to DC

So I was supposed to be in trial in Richmond VA this week. Arrival and sitting in a hotel was followed by settlement and lack of flights home. I wound up having to travel to DC to fly out on Sunday.

That being said, there are some cool places in Richmond. One being the Penny Lane Pub. Good neighborhood place with lots of Fütball (Commie Kickball) and Rugby. But my favorite place, as far as food goes, is Lady 'Nawlins. The special the night I was there was Cajun Meatloaf. It was described by the bartender as amazing and he was correct.

Yes, that is Abita Purple Haze in my glass, They have over 20 taps. 

My trip up to DC the next morning I headed out early so I had time to stop if I found anything interesting. It was a good thing. Right at 9am I saw the sign for the National Museum of the Marine Corps. Being an Army guy I still thought it would be a cool stop and it certainly was! 

Main entrance, atrium designed to resemble the flag raising on Iwo Jima.

I spent a long time there and would recommend it to anyone in the area. I took lots of pictures and here is a link to them on Snapfish; USMC Museum Photos. Here are a couple of my favorites;

Yes, those are ACTUAL F4U Corsairs hanging in the atrium

Actual larger second flag to be raised on top of Mt Suribachi on Iwo Jima

Lego model of the flag raising

Rest of my trip was boring business travel. Wish I would have gotten to work the trial, it was in Federal Court and seemed like it would have been interesting.

All for now, back to the daily grind of being me. (actually not as tough as I make it look) 

Jury's Out

In Independence Courthouse waiting for a Jury to come back. Took these two shots with my Nokia 920 phone and edited in Photo 360. Saw a cute quote the other day, "I hate it when I'm taking a great picture and someone calls my camera"

Saving Private Ryan

I watched SPR last night again, this time with my 15 year old daughter who is a Freshman in High School. I am a firm believer that ALL incoming Freshmen should have to see the movie. Youth are sorely lacking in any frame of reference about the sacrifices that Generation made for the well being of the free world.

That being said, I have another thought that came to me after watching it again last night. We call them "The Greatest Generation". For the USA that is a good statement. However if you look at the generation on a global scale the very same generation brought us NAZI Germany, Fascist Spain, The Iron Curtain, Mao, and a host of other evils around the World to go with our own triumphs and victories.

Don't let it be said I am trying to diminish our Veterans in ANY way! The victories over the NAZIs and Imperial Japan were monumental tasks that HAD to be done. Just pointing out that we only kept evil at bay and did not vanquish it as we did Small Pox.

 Evil still exists and I look around me and fail to see a generation that would jump as readily into the breach to stop it. Only one that would be annoyed if their Tumblr didn't update or the latest XBox game was late to market. I hope I am wrong. These same thoughts might have gone through the parents of the teenagers in the late 30s. Just keep in mind, European "peace" has come at the cost of a lot of the freedoms we hold dear. It is not a dishonor to the Greatest Generation if we slip back to the Europe we fled, it is a dishonor to the men that fought 238 years ago against a different Empire.