An essential tool of photography

Let me take a minute to describe to you one of a photographer’s most important tools. Not only does it keep all his equipment safe from being damaged, but it also keeps everything clean. And I won’t even mention what it’s most commonly used for, but despite both of these essential uses, the thing I use it for the most is the disposal of the secretion of the nasal mucus glands. (Yes, I mean snot.) Toilet paper is one of those things that I don’t stay far away from, especially when I’m sick and my mucus glands are very generous. I mean it, I’ve been sick for a couple days and I’ve used almost two rolls of it. Maybe some people can only find one use for it, but I say that whoever invented toilet paper deserves a lot more credit than he got.

Forget the tux

I don’t get why guys always wear a tuxedo to their wedding. I mean, it’s the most memorable moment in their life and they’ve got to wear an uncomfortable, clumsy costume. Seriously, when/if I get married, I want to be comfortable. And when I say comfortable, I don’t mean like a t-shirt and jeans either. To me, comfortable is my favorite blue pj’s. Yeah, and some soft, fuzzy slippers. The last thing I need is to be distracted when my tie pinches my neck. It’s not like everyone has to follow tradition. Man, people are really crazy these days.

Okay, I know this is a really dumb post, but I’ve been sick lately and nothing exciting has been happening, so this was the only thing I could come up with.

The story of a true hero

I was interrupted today by a call from Spiderman’s agent. It turns out they’re looking for someone to be the next Spiderman. But even with my own natural abilities and photo genetics, I had to turn down the offer. I just have too many things going on in my own life to take on the responsibilities of Spiderman. Like keeping my blog updated and learning other languages, like Pig Latin for one.

Okay, okay, I’m lying. What really happened was the people who own the rights to Superman called, desperate to find someone to replace Keanu Reeves because he apparently turned down the offer to be the next Superman. As much as I would have loved to accept the offer, I legally couldn’t because I had already signed a contract this morning with a different company to do another film. That’s right; today I became a movie star. Today was the first day of shooting for the epic film, The Mathews Virtual Tour. Now from the title you might be thinking that it’s a long, boring, cheaply produced video describing the company that builds the best archery bows in the world. But in reality, it’s a dramatic action film documenting the life of a true hero. This legendary figure does his heroic deeds going from place to place disguising himself as a tourist, which is a very effective method of keeping a secret identity because once he has finished his work in one place, he leaves no trace of himself and moves on to where he’s needed next. One of his favorite techniques to distract a villain is to ask him complex technical questions about manufacturing processes. These deep, thought provoking questions distract his enemy just enough so he can capture him and take him to the local authorities. The villain is left so confused about what happened that he can’t remember anything, thus keeping the hero’s identity secret.

The release date of the film is, as of yet, undetermined. And I know that you’re just as excited as I am to see the final result.

SIM 90?

I recieved this strange looking small yellow sticker in the mail the other day, and I can’t figure out what it’s for. It has the letters S I M written on it inside this weird looking shape. Next to that is the number 90 in bigger letters. The sticker is only about one or two inches across, and it’s yellow with red lettering with a shiny/sparkling finish. I wonder, is it an acronym for something, or maybe some kind of code? To make it even more confusing, the envelope that it came in says to put it on my license plate. If anyone can help me figure out what this is for, I sure would appreciate it. And who knows, maybe there’s a bunch of other people that recieved a sticker like this and are just as confused as I am. Whatever the case may be, something needs to be straightened out here.

Had enough of myself

I was looking today at the website of a graphic designer named Josh Meyer. The more I think about it, the more I realize that my name is…well less than unique, to say the least. This isn’t the first time I’ve realized it, of course. In fact, I’ve become so used to hearing the name Josh, that I don’t even look anymore when I hear my name called. I did a search for Joshua at the Social Security Administration website and it came up third for the most popular male name. That’s just rediculous if you ask me.

The thought of changing my name entered my mind. Perhaps to some totally random mess, like maybe Sankunsensei. It turns up zero results on google. The only problem with that, though, is that noboby would spell it right. That’s the only good thing about being a Josh; it’s never spelled wrong. It’s not worth it though…

The Life of a Leaf

The Life of a Leaf - Leaf Skeleton

Imagine my surprise when I logged on deviantART this morning to find loads of comments and favorites clogging my messages page. I was totally perplexed, until I thought to myself, “No way, I didn’t get a daily deviation, did I?” I found that all the favorites were pointing to my picture “The Life of a Leaf” and when I went to take a look, my jaw dropped.

This image was one of about nine total frames. I experimented with different aperture sizes and angles. I chose this one because I liked the short depth of field. Some of the other images with a wider aperture seemed to be almost too busy and didn’t really lead the eye anywhere. With a shorter depth of field, it really helps to isolate the leaf and emphasize the texture and detail.

The leaf was given to me by a friend who had found it some years ago and kept it sealed in a plastic bag. It had a natural curve to it, which I thought was kind of neat, and helped add some interest to the picture. The lighting was all natural. It was kind of a sunny day with the sun off to the side a little. The sunlight was filtered by a small bush, which cast some interesting shadows across the picture.