Friday Foto: Sunset

Good morning to all. Another week has gone by. I can't believe it. Last weekend was fun, had lots of family in town celebrating my Grandmother's 86 birthday.

Today's fotos are from last night. I had a shoot yesterday evening for work. On my way home I saw the beautiful light through the trees and just had to stop for shooting, but what I got was more than just a couple photos.

Do you ever get so busy, your mind in so many places, that you forget to reflect? I mean, take time to just breath, take inventory of how your life is going? We work so hard trying to get places, become these identities that we have in our mind, while all along we are, and find ourselves wasting time not enjoying what we have. It reminds me of a scene in one of my favorite movies, "Joe Dirt". Joe spends the first 25 years of his life looking for his parents that abandoned him when he was a child, all the time pining for a family. It isn't until he's about to kill himself that his girlfriend enlightens him that he has had a family all along, he just didn't realize it. I know, quoting "Joe Dirt" is on the way to absurdity, but it holds true the point I'm trying to make. Reflection is key.

Anyway, tomorrow I am going up to a farm in mid Georgia to help celebrate my best friends bachelorhood. His wedding is next weekend. We should all have a grand time. Hope you all have a great weekend.

Friday Foto: River edition

So last weekend I went on the Altamaha River. Probably one of my favorite places in the world, and to be more specific, Lewis Creek which runs off of the Altamaha. I don't know why I love this place so much. I've seen prettier places, but maybe it's more than just the sights. It's the feelings associated with it. Off Lewis Creek is Lewis Island, home to the world's largest un-cut Cypress trees. Back in days, when they were pulling these trees for lumber, they eventually stopped because they couldn't get the machines any further back into the depths of the tree-populated island. So here today, they sit, monster trees. Trees so big it would take 5-6 grown men to wrap their arms around one trunk.

We got on the river to catch some of the morning light for photographs, then on to Lewis Island to hunt for the trees. See, they are kind of hard to find. This was my fourth trip to look for them, and each time we get a little closer. This time we actually found one, a dead one, but all the same. I can't wait to find the live ones. According to our calculations, next time we should find them. GPS's are great.

This weekend should be fun. I have a lot of family in, celebrating my Grandmother's 86 birthday. I am cooking Italian food tonight for the whole lot of them (around 25 or so!). Tomorrow we are all cooking lobsters.

That's about all I got this morning. I'm taking a half day so I can begin cooking, so I'm pretty excited. Hope you guys have a great day and weekend.

Friday Foto: YOB Pt.2

The YOB (Year of Ben) is upon us now. I'm more so than ever pumped about 2007. I found out this week that my boss/manager is leaving the company for better options. So now it will be just me and the owner/boss. This can only be good news for me. Possibly more money and definitely more control and responsibility. So, that's a good start to the YOB.

So, today's Foto comes at you from our own backyard. The St. Simons Land Trust, a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving land on our beautiful island, has just constructed a new nature trail located off Frederica Road next to the blinking light. I encourage everybody to go check this out. It's about .5 mile long and goes to a beautiful overlook on the marsh with benches. I went out there last weekend and took some shots.

I'm pretty pumped about this weekend. It will be nice to relax. I've been spending a lot of my free time building this coffee table for our house. I acquired some real nice marble tile and I wanted to inlay it into the top of a coffee table. I think it came our really nice. Kelly is very happy with it, which really, is all that matters. She helped too; was a good worker. Anyway, so this weekend I am relaxing. Sunday I'm hitting up the Altamaha River really early for a little photography adventure. I'm really excited... Definitely my element.



And, now to bore you all, I must mention the Apple iPhone that was announced this week. For extreme fans of the Apple company like myself, this announcement has been more than two years in the waiting. It will be released in June of this year and be provided with Cingular. The phone, just slighty larger than an iPod but thinner than a Razr, does it all. It's an all-touch screen, that is an iPod, web browser and phone all in one. I could go on and on about how cool it is, but I won't subject you to that. Follow the above link for photos and more info if you want.

Something you might find interesting is this though... Close to six years ago Cisco Linksys, a big tech company I'm sure you've heard of, actually trademarked the name "iPhone". Everybody new that if Apple ever made a phone that they would name it the "iPhone". Well, about a month ago, Cisco released an internet phone called the "iPhone". On Tuesday, when Apple's Steve Jobs unveiled the new cell phone, he said "...and we're calling the iPhone." It's a blatant request for civil action from Cisco and they took the bait and have already filed suit against Apple. Who will win? My money's on Apple for sure. The "i-whatever" naming scheme has been in public conscious for way too long now. Good luck Linksys, you're going to need it.

Hope you guys have a great day and an awesome weekend. Peace.

Friday Foto: New Year and Poi.

Poi (pronounced 'poy') is the art of spinning fire. My cousin, who has been and still is in the Peace Corp down in Belize has picked up this little sport. Him and his wife were home for the holidays and we got to hang out for a couple of days while I got these shots. What could be more fun then spinning balls of kevlar soaked in Coleman fuel on 18 inch chains? Not too much I tell you.

So yeah, it's the new year. I'm not giving myself any new year's resolutions, because I usually fail at them. I have, however, coined 2007 the Year of Ben. Life is about being, I know. But I can't help but look back on 2006 and ask myself what did I accomplish that really matters? A couple of things granted, but this year will have more. The Year of Ben is going to be a bountiful harvest, full of changes for the good of me and my family. Hobbies I've neglected, projects I've half started, time I've neglected to spend, etc... watch out! I'm coming for you.

My holiday break was great. I had a wonderful extended break that had me back in the office just Wednesday. Every year since I was born my dad has taken off the week between Christmas and New Years. It's always been a special time in my life, a time to relax and spend time with family and friends. Two Christmas's ago (2005) was my first year ever working during that time. It killed me, as I'm sure I posted here. This year I had enough time and was given a little extra, to enjoy that week once more. Now I'm hooked. After working through it one year, I'm never doing it again. I'll save my off days if I have to. It's too special to me.

So that's about it. My best friend Whit is having some wedding shower parties (notice the plural tense) this weekend, so I'm pretty excited. I love not having to worry about what to do. I hope everyone of y'all had a great weekend. Get ready, The Year of Ben is upon us all now. Don't be surprised.