November Birthdays!

Today is my brother's birthday. Today is my Grandfather's birthday. Today is also Mickey Mouse's birthday.

Caleb - 22
Papa - 80
Mickey - 80

I didn't reach Mickey, but Papa and Caleb both told me over the phone that they were having a good day. My Papa is 80 years old, and dangerously active for that age. A few months ago, his barn needed to be painted, so he just did it himself. A 79-year-old man up on scaffolding, painting a barn. Even better, my grandmother was his painting assistant, up there with him. Those two are nuts, and I love them both to death.

Caleb got some sweet headphones, for when he's out cycling. He likes to listen to his iPod while riding, so Mom ordered him some of the finest earbuds we could find. I can't lie, I'm jealous. She basically asked me "If you could pick out any earbuds, which ones are the best, which ones would you want?". And then she ordered them for Caleb. He deserves them though, and he'll put them to use out on the streets of Little Rock.

Just wanted to announce it, I know that this isn't really breaking news or anything, but I was just excited for them, and wanted to spread the excitement around.

People

For a photography essay, I'm shooting a ton of people in the area. Some of them are friends, but some are complete strangers. Some are indoors, some out. Here are a few picks from the bunch. You can see the whole bunch, with the other models, on this Flickr page.

Tip-Toeing In

With me being in the 479 area code this weekend, Phillip invited me to tag along with him to a show. The show was in Fayetteville, at some shady place, at 9pm. ehh.... Who's playing? "Jake Goss" I'm in.

So, we made the drive down to Fayette-nam, (similar pronunciation to Viet-nam) at about 8:15pm. Well, the show kept getting pushed back and back, so the downbeat hit about 11pm. We stayed for an hour of Jake laying down the funk, one song after another, and then took off. After being in that semi-smokey joint for almost three hours, I was ready to jet.

Being in that place where everybody was 24+ was really strange. I look like I'm twelve years old, if you haven't ever noticed, and that's on a good day. I got some funny looks, I have to admit. Something about a 12-year old nerd, running around a dance floor, trying to take snapshots of the band with a digital camera, draws attention. who knew?

When I got back to Bentonville, it was almost 1am. Well, being the good roommate that I am, I didn't want to disturb anyone. My Bentonville roommate typically beds-down at a reasonable hour, so I tip-toed in, keeping my noise to a minimum. I just had to sneak a quick photo of my "yes, I'm too young to drink any of this junk" armband next to her, and then it was nighty-night.

Banana in the Shoe

Taylor and I are both heading out for the weekend. I am notorious for being a momma's boy, and packing way too much junk. But, I spied Taylor trying to sneak out the door with his pack for the weekend, and had to document it. He's got a debate tourney in Shreveport this weekend, and he doesn't mess around when it comes to looking good. The man is a snappy dresser, 'nuff said. He's also an avid Banana eater, and managed to slip one into his pack on the way out the door (can you find it?).

I'm heading to Bentonville for a relaxing weekend with Papa Bear. We'll be batching it, no doubt spending the majority of our meals at McDonalds and The Awful Waffle. Aubrey is coming along too! When it comes to Co-Pilots, she's the best in the field. Driving home with her in the passenger seat is an awesome excuse to spend 4hrs together.

I hope everybody else has a smooth weekend ahead!

Go-Buy: Canon 2x Extender

So, as you know, I finally got my paws on a beloved Canon 2x Extender on Friday. I've been longing for this piece of gear for a while now, and have finally worked enough jobs to justify it's purchase.The Canon 2x Extender essentially doubles the focal length, or "zoom", of a camera lens. So, my Canon 70-200mm, when combined with the Extender, becomes a 140-400. It is a common misconception that the baseline focal length stays constant. For instance, that my lens would become a 70-400mm. This is incorrect, if you get double the length on one end, you've gotta take it on the other.

The only drawback of this lens attachment is that you lose a few f/stops. Now, I understand that the majority of the readers of this blog, all three of you, are not photographers. So, we'll keep it simple. What this means is you loose your lenses' ability to function as well in low light. With my lens becoming an f/5.6 instead of it's typical f/2.8, most indoor shooting is out the window. This attachment is great, but impractical for anything but the great outdoors.So, it's all settled. I now have a Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS lens, that, when combined with my new extender, becomes a 140-400mm f/5.6L IS lens. Pretty sweet, considering the extender runs under $300, and I still have the option of simply removing it, to gain my original lens back.

Note: a Canon 400mm f/5.6L lens, not Image Stabilized, by itself, is over $1000. Also, this lens is a "prime" lens, meaning that it does not zoom at all. So, by going this route, I really get two lenses, for only adding $300, and both lenses can zoom, Image Stabilized.

I understand that this probably means nothing to most of you. But, it's really important to me, and it's a really big deal that I finally got it.

I'm so excited, and I just can't hide it.