start. people. places. things. me. | island profilin'

An illustration of my life, loves and various random information
that you may or may not find the least bit useful...
all from the island of St. Simons.

Friday, January 25, 2008

Friday Foto: Oaks


Yeah, I know this shot has been done a zillion times. I've even shot this place several times, but it was a foggy morning the other day, and in keeping with my attempt to shoot more, I pulled in and did a little.

I like it all the same, the color one is pretty nice too, but I'm trying to work on my B&W conversion here. So, tell me what you think. As always, you really need to see this one blown up and printed nice and large. It's super sharp, showing tons of detail, and this little preview doesn't do it justice. If you want to see a better representation of it, go here... I've uploaded to my web site. Be prepared for a large file.

So anyway, I have a normal, fun weekend ahead. A party on Saturday night and that's about it. Maybe I'll get to work on the Jeep a little, who knows. I have no real plans. Y'all have a great weekend!

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

New countertop; bathroom finished

Over the christmas break we tiled our spare bathroom and hung various new fixtures. This past weekend we finished the bathroom with a new countertop made out of the same marble tile. I removed the preexisting top, modified it with new back and side splashes, and glued the marble on it, cutting where necessary. I reinstalled it and we painted a little of the walls and hung a new mirror. Done with bathroom number one, on to the master bath!





Friday, January 18, 2008

Friday Foto: art



It's been awhile since I've expressed my artistic side with photography. I get so busy shooting material for ads and clients that is seems like I have less and less time to further my artistic skills. It's a shame, because this is what I truly enjoy. I try to add my own style and artistic "flare", if you will, to my everyday shots, but a lot of the time the material I shoot dictates the style in which it needs to be shot, not the other way around. 
So, I've come up with my own self-help program. I'm forcing my self to put together all new material for a show of grandeur proportions. I don't know when it will be or where. For those of you who have been to Monkey Love and seen my work there, it will not be like that. I want this in gallery, with just my work, all for me. Having this high of an aspiration forces me to push my skills further. I want BIG, bold, beautiful prints with nice solid frames. I don't know how I'll pay for that yet, but that's just a hurdle. 

Now, the photography part... The show's going to have a theme, of which I haven't decided yet. Right now I'm in the conditioning stage. I've started going out and shooting more art related shots. Each time I go, I only allow myself one lens, and so far, it's been my favorite fixed focal length 50mm lens. Not having a zoom really forces me to think a little bit outside the box.
I'm toying with the idea of doing a black and white show, but haven't decided yet. Above are two shots that I took last weekend. I'm not displaying these as potential show material, just would like to get some feedback. Criticism is much needed.  Have a great weekend.

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Twin-Sticked Dana 300

Ok, I know this post will probably appeal to only about 3 readers, but what the hell... it doesn't hurt to know a little bit about Jeeps, so read on.

Over the Christmas break I installed a twin-stick conversion kit into my Scrambler (thanks Santa!). What's that you may ask? I shall tell you.... Typically in 4-wheel drive equipped cars, you have two options for 4-wheel drive. 4 High, for faster speeds (like driving on icey roads, etc) and 4 low (for slower speeds, which also includes a lower gear ratio so you get more power with less engine stress). Now, that's great and all you really need (in most cases). In my Jeep, when you shift the lever, you are actually pulling a rail in and out of the transfer case (the thing that gives power from the engine to the axle). There is one rail for each axle. When you shift, it pushes both in or out, depending on what you are putting it into. Look at the stock photo with a twin-stick installed below. See how the two shifters each go to one rail? That's what I did. This gives me the ability to now shift just the front into high or low, just the rear into high or low, or any combination of the two. There are three common uses for this upgrade:

1. Rear Low, Front axle disengaged. This puts just the rear axle into low range. Imagine riding a bike in the easiest gear to peddle... Especially with a locked-rear (both wheels get power, like my jeep), in 2-Low you can get through pretty much any thing. This is good, because it puts a lot less stress on the car, not having to deal with the front axle.

2. Front Low, Rear axle disengaged. This does the opposite, putting the rear axle into Neutral. With this, you can do what's known as a 'front dig'. Having just the front axle working, you can move the front of the car where you want it. You can pull yourself up or out of things without digging the rear into a messier state of 'stuckness'.

3. Front High, Rear Disengaged. In the worst case, if you break something in the rear, like your axle, drive shaft, etc, you can disengage the whole rear driveline and get home in front-wheel drive. I've actually been in that situation before.

So anyway, here's a couple of progress pictures from my install and tunnel cover I made. Hope you enjoy...

Original setup, notice one shifter (on the left) for 4wd.

Stock Dana 300 Transfer case, with a twin-stick installed. Notice the two rails.

Mine installed, before I heated up the stainless steel
shifters and bent them to a better position.

Bent into place and beginning fabrication of a new tunnel cover
constructed of stainless steel.

All finished!!!

Friday, January 11, 2008

Friday Foto: BBQ

I'm working on some more photography for Southern Soul BBQ at the moment. It's a great clients because he's edgy and it allows me to be a little bit more creative with my photography, which I always love doing. Hope you enjoy some of these pics...




Monday, January 07, 2008

Ipe Dinning Room Table

Pronounced "eepay", Ipe is a hard wood commonly used for outdoor decking and furniture. Much like Teak, it is very hard to work with (I broke about 6 drill bits in the process) but sands and finishes beautifully. I got my hands on some over the Christmas break and set out to build a new dinning room table for our house. The wood was originally used for some fencing in a development on the north end of the island, and wasn't needed anymore. I modified a section of the fencing for a better fit in our dining room. We had to sand and plane a lot of it. The hardest thing to do was make the legs. I glued four planks of wood together for each leg and then tapered and routered the corners for a more elegant look. We finished it with Minwax's Clear Gloss Polyurethane... a total of five coats on the top. I think it turned out fantastic and am very happy with my 400+ pound dining room table. We need new chairs now...

Beginning of table, dismantling original fence design

Diligent sander!

Making legs. Each leg weighs approximately 30lbs!


Finished sanding.


Measuring, fitting, cutting and biscuit-joining trim to top.


First coat of polyurethane.


AND...... FINISHED!






Friday, January 04, 2008

Friday Foto: the last pics of 07

2008 is here, and I'm back at work after taking close to 2 weeks off. Man, was it nice to have so much time off. I'm fortunate enough to be able to have this time off and I greatly look forward to it.

We had a great Christmas and New Year's. It was nice and peaceful. Full of good food, friends and activities. I got a lot of work done on the house, some on the jeep and started a couple of other projects too.

Today I have just an assortment of pictures to entertain you with. Some were taken with my iPhone and the others with my wife's point-and-shoot. Nothing fancy here folks, just a little bit of what I did over the break... I'll explain after each photo:

Gwinny at the beach on Christmas Eve Day.


Gwinny riding in the Jeep... She loves it!


Christmas morning came early at the Galland house... 6:15 to be exact!


Christmas morning, I love presents!


Our spare bathroom before I began tiling.


Our spare bathroom after laying the marble floor.


On River Street in Savannah on New Year's Eve Day.


A little preview of the other project I started over the break.
Should be finished with it this weekend and will post more pics then.