West Bottoms walk about 6-22-13

My buddy Clint was in town from Minnesota (or Scandahoovia as he calls it) and we met near Kemper for a morning walk around. Due to laziness, and the night before, we were a little later light wise than we had hoped, but still got some good stuff I think. Enjoy!

 So many angles and not a right one to be seen!

 Follow the old brick road

 Clint working the large format

 Really like this one, kinda sums it up

 Tiny tree

 I've heard of the green door...

As always, life finds a way.

Cainsville Trip

A trip to North Missouri for Mom's Birthday led to a photo op 

(as most things do) 

Ditches still full of water from all the rain we've had

Someone lost a mailbox

Lonely creaking windmill

A little fun with a kind of HDR

Making a sunny day stormy

And the real reason I came. Mom would have been 78. It was a pretty day but would much prefer being able to sit and talk with her in person.

BC

Saturday Wanderings

Saturday took us to the Jacobson in Crossroads for a snack. A good morning for pictures and food.

                                           

and then some blues at Danny's Big Easy. Warning, web site comes up with music right away!

 

Trials and Tribulations

Finished a trial this week in Olathe. Win for our side. That is all I have to say about my actual job.

Joined the IFC this week after a couple of meetings and the Kansas City Film Festival. They are doing a program called One Night Stand in June. You have 10 hrs to write, shoot, edit, and render a movie. Then we screen them that same evening! Think we are going to try it so wish us luck. Be the first time Splintor Productions has screened anything for more than a couple of people. I am a bit nervous about it.

Finally took a trip to the City Market last weekend and shot a little, however it was a gray drizzly day and I was uniquely uninspired. Still guess I will post one here. Enjoy and take care folks..

KC FILM FEST 2013

Kansas City Film Fest

April 10-14, 2013

I decided last year that I would get a pass for the entire KC Film Fest. I had a great time in just the few films I was able to see and the seminars I attended. As this year approached I followed through and bought Sherri and I both Gold Passes for the Festival. Sherri, unfortunately had to work for some of the days and other commitments did intrude, but I was able to go all 5 days and see around 30 features and shorts. That is a lot of movie watching!

Wednesday

On the first day of the Fest I actually saw my favorite film. "Lost on Purpose". It is a feature and set on a rural dairy farm. The story was good, and I really enjoyed the sound of the film. They completely got summer in the country. I also watched a short program and my favorites here were "Death of Shadows" and "What about us?" Finished the day with another documentary feature, "Hit and Stay" about Vietnam war protesters.

Thursday

Only got to see one thing on this day. We had to go to see Isaac (nephew) in a play. Sherri did get off work early and got to come. We say "Heartland, Portrait of Survival" about the Joplin tornado. It was well made and we both liked it a lot. More on this to come.

Friday

Two more short programs. Heartland Narratives and Midwestern Tales. "Blind Sight" and "Nooner" were my two favorites from the first and "Into Thick Air" in the second. Probably my favorite short of the Festival. Very funny. We then had Volleyball to go to, so a short Friday evening.

Saturday

Well I was hoping to go to some seminars or workshops this morning but the format changed from last year and the educational seminars were reserved for young film makers. I, instead, went to see "Summer Children", a film made in 1964 and then lost until it's restoration by the original Producer and Cinematographer. I spent some time talking to Jack Robinette after and later at the Festival. Then after lunch with Sherri it was back to see another short program, Random Relationships. My favorite here was "Paper People" and Sherri's was "Stalled". Next up was "One Small Hitch". It was a well done romantic comedy that we both liked a lot. Then... Experimental and Animation. Sherri made it through the first 4. The 15 min film of time lapse of Tokyo sent her to the bar. She did miss some cute animated shorts. My favorite was "Green Acres". After that and a couple of cocktails at the after party (Bronies were there) home for sleep!

Sunday

Started the day off with "It's a Disaster!" Brunch. This was one of the few times the system kinda let us down. It was $15 above the price of our passes to go to the brunch. For that you get a "free" mimosa. Still had to pay for your food. Kinda missed the mark there. we liked the movie but they need to revisit something like this for next year. We then actually skipped the next session as it was 75 degrees outside and we had some lunch. Ended up our films with The Lighter Side or short films. I think our favorite here was "Thumb" or "Saving the Human Race" (the only zombie film of the festival. We had great fun at the awards program but were dissapointed by how few of the winners were actually there to receive their awards. (It did get us to the after party quicker though). The party was a blast, we made connections and enjoyed talking to all the film makers in a casual setting. 

Kind of the highlight for me was Andrew, the film maker who brought his short "Papa Pinata" , and I went with him on a flying trip before the award ceremony to take his picture with the big Pinata at Power and Light. 

Great fun, lots of memories and I am already looking forward to next year.

KC Zoo

Went to the Zoo on the 15th of March as it got to 80 degrees here in Kansas City. Of course it was 45 the next day...  Here are some of the images we got with my rented 70-200 f/2.8 Nikon on my D5100. Enjoy!

Win8 Redeux

As much as I hate Win8 for desktop is how much I love it for Phone