Day 183

Happy Halloween!

Kimmik

Day 182

I love old buildings.

I am lucky to live in a city with some great architecture.

Kimmik

Day 181

Halloween at the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.

Amazing performance.

Kimmik

Day 180

First frost this morning!

I love cold weather and the holidays that come with it!!

Kimmik

Day 179

Thrills and Chills.

I am excited to see the Detroit Symphony Orchestra this weekend. For one of my classes, I am required compose reports on seeing two live theatre productions, a piece of art or a sculpture in a museum and an architecturally significant building.

So where does the orchestra come in you ask? Live music is an extra credit report and since this event was available this weekend, I decided to jump on the chance to go. The orchestra will be featuring Halloween music.

When I think of Halloween, I am reminded of the old school black and white films. I wanted to make my photograph of today resemble it some what. I added a little noise to it and made it all black and white, except the DSO logo.

Any guesses as to what I will be for Halloween?

Kimmik

Day 178

Reppin' my home town at home.

Kimmik

Day 177

Key to what?

I once read that the contents of ones keychain can tell a lot about their personality. I wonder what mine says about me...

Kimmik

Day 176

Image from yyskycrosser.

"10 points to Gryffindor" if you can guess which TV show I will be watching tonight.

Why yes, I am a Harry Potter fanatic and I am proud of it.

Kimmik

Day 175

New lens and new logo!

I am happy to announce that I added a Nikon Nikkor 35mm f/1.8 lens to my camera kit. I am loving it so far and it is a great lens, especially for the price. I was in between two lenses and my friend (and great photographer) Kurt Belen suggested I choose the 35mm. And I am ecstatic I listened to him. Salamat Kurt!! Be sure to check out his website!

My logo comes from JG Barnes, one of the founding fathers of Zenisphere Films. He does incredible work and I love my logo. Thank you sir! He recently invited me to have a behind-the-scenes look at Zenisphere Films' latest creation. You will not want to miss Theives when it comes out. Until it does, its teaser trailer will hold us over.

About the photograph. Again, it is Pongo though I decided to play with him outside, camera in hand. I set the aperture to 1.8 so I could see what type of damage my new little friend can do. So cool! I cannot wait to use it more.

Hope everyone had a great weekend, I sure did.

Day 174

Do your friends eat body parts? Because mine do. Well..no, not technically.

Today, I was fortunate enough to spend the day with some good friends of mine. It is rare that I dedicate the majority of my day to doing something more fun than my usual day full of work and/or studying.  My friends dressed up as zombies and volunteered at a haunted house for a local V.F.W. hall. I, of course, went along, but as a photographer. I happened to snap a few good shots, though it was hard in the haunted house. The crazy lighting mixed with the fog machines and decorations dangling from the ceiling made it a little tough for me. Though, the photographs turned out alright. But that is the thing about photography, there is always something that can be improved in a photograph. Through the fog, I did manage to get this photograph of Dayna. She is not that scary in real life, quite the opposite actually.

As most people say, Dayna is the "brains" behind the zombie make-up. She has an incredible knack for transforming the living to the walking dead. She has been doing this for a few years now and though it is hard to imagine, each year is better than the last.

Happy early Halloween!

Kimmik

Day 173

Model puppy!

I am happy to have my studio lighting set up and today, I put it to good use. I wanted to practice photographing Pongo so I could add some pet-type photographs to my portfolio. As I would with a person, I adjusted the lighting. In this case, it is my attempt to do split lighting with Pongo. He was anxious that I had a treat in my hand combined with the fact that he never sits still, the lighting was not perfect. Though I thought it had a neat effect here.

I must say a very big THANK YOU to you reading this. Because without you, I would not have achieved 5,100+ views so far. Every once in a while, I check my statistics to see where my audience is and how many of you have checked out my project. I could not believe that it is so many! So a large THANK YOU is in order. I sincerely appreciate it from the bottom of my heart and love the fact that you are all enjoying my photographs around the world! The U.S., Canada, Germany, the U.K., the Netherlands, Russia, Brazil, countries in the Middle East, India, Austria, the Philippines, Romania, Australia, Indonesia and many more. THANK YOU!

Kimmik

Day 172

More to add to my vintage camera collection.

I found this item on eBay and wanted it very much. Having learned about the tedious and time consuming process of making photographs in the late 1800s - early 1900s, it gave me more appreciation for the founders of photography and photography itself.

Included with the box are two unused dry plates. The glass plates are what were used instead of film or a JPEG/RAW file on a memory card. It is really neat stuff to read up about.

The eBay seller said the box and plates are circa 1904. It is great to know that I have little pieces of history, especially in photographic history.

Kimmik

Day 171

Which way to go?

I was lucky enough to get this shot while I was downtown today. I was getting my car fixed and my mechanic is located in the city. I decided to take the "scenic" way home and drove down Grand River. My camera was sitting in my passenger seat and through the fog and rain, I saw a red umbrella. I picked up my camera, quickly focused on the rain drops on my window and took a quick shot.

Seneca said luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. I believe I was a little lucky getting this shot today.

Kimmik

Day 170

I bought him a new soccer ball, though he refuses to play with it.

He only thing Pongo loves more than cool weather, is his old and deflated volleyball.

Kimmik

Day 169

Tonight, tonight, there's a party on the rooftop on top of the world.


Tonight, I had the opportunity to catch up with a good friend of mine from high school who I have not seen in well over a year. I have always said that the best types of friends to have are the ones where you can pick back up where you left off. Regardless of the time that has passed in between.

It was great to catch up with him and hear of his musical endeavors. A great guitarist who is pursuing a career in music. One he releases his music, I will be sure to post it on here. You will not want to miss it.

Kimmik

Day 168

Such a pretty puppy.

Kimmik

Day 167

What is with all the Starbucks Coffee lately?!

I was just messing around with my studio lighting. I am lucky to have had my friend help me today so I could ensure I was able to get the correct light patterns for a model I am shooting soon. He was drinking the coffee. Not I.

Kimmik

Day 166

Kimmik

Day 165

HOMERUN!

It was nearly Charlie's bedtime when I realized that I had not taken a photograph all day. The day flew by as I was busy doing several tasks amongst other things. When I told him about my dilemma at 8.30pm and he was playing "Squishie Baseball," a game he invented with his favorite little toys. He suggested that I take a photograph of him playing and as with most of his requests, I honored it.

At the time I took this photograph, I was so focused on getting a shot to pass off for today's post, I did not notice how much effort he put into his game board. Making stands for the spectators, dugouts, flags and a field. Not to mention he even wrote a National Anthem for the Squishies to sing before the first pitch. Maybe it was because he attended a Tigers baseball game last night with his dad. But regardless, he is such a creative little kid and if you have not guessed by now, I completely adore him. With some crayons, paper, scissors and glue, Charlie created a world that he escaped into.

When I was a kid, and even now, my escape was books. I loved spending countless hours reading about far away places and things that only existed in my mind. Regardless of my attempts, Charlie does not share my passion for reading. Though we are getting there, slow but steady. Even if he never gets there, as long as he keeps his incredible imagination and creates his own little escape from the world, I will be happy.

Kimmik

Day 164

Coffeehouse Soundtrack.

It feels like when I am not at work, I am still working. Sometimes it is tough, but I would rather be busy than bored.

Kimmik

Day 163

Ready for lift off.

Today's photograph is of the spaceship that Charlie and I built yesterday. The bottom portion of the picture of the reflection of the Lego on the marble counters. Resisting the urge to take over, I let Charlie build the entire thing. I just helped him by getting him the right pieces he needed. We had a great time, as we always do.

Kimmik

Day 162

Mr. Lindbergh ready for take off.

Today, I was called into work on my day off. I started the morning off pretty groggy, feeling as if someone hit me over the head with a shovel. Luckily, my headache went away and I was able to pick up a few extra hours.

Charlie and I built some Lego together. It is one of my favorite activities to do with him. It is amazing to watch him work and put all the right pieces together. The sense of confidence and accomplishment it gives him is incredible.

We built a large spaceship together and not the Spirit of St. Louis above. He had build the plane over the weekend. I asked him if he knew anything about the plane and as I thought, his answer was "no." I told him a little about Charles Lindbergh and the Spirit. I think he was more fascinated that they shared the same name more than anything else. It was cute watching Charlie fly the plane around the house and backyard.

Kimmik 

Day 161

When zombies attack...

Today, I had the misfortune of being attacked by two zombies. Too bad I left my Zombie Survival Kit at home. I was armed with my Nikon instead of a shotgun or liquid nitrogen.

Kimmik 

Day 160

Cider Mill love.

Today, I went to the cider mill with some friends. While picking apples,we saw a lot of families and it was cute to see the kids' faces light up as they enjoyed their day. I remember going to there with my family as a kid. And I am still as excited today as I was back then.

Kimmik

Day 159

Just glad this guy was outside and not in.

Kimmik

Day 158

If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. Steve Jobs 

The first I heard of the passing of Apple's founder was indeed, on a social media site. I think it is sad to find out information by saying "Oh yeah, I read that on Facebook" instead of a more reputable source. After seeing a couple status updates on Mr. Jobs, I decided to check CNN where I found myself reading this article. I was wrong to think that his death may have been another "prank" on the social media sites, just as it happened to Jim Carrey and Jackie Chan.


‎ While reading the article, I could not help but be impressed by Mr. Jobs' history. Such a brilliant man who did many great things for the world. According to CNN, the "tech titan" was mourned on Wednesday night by his friends and other Apple fans who referred to him as a "Modern-day Leonardo Da Vinci."

I enjoyed reading about his life and was surprised that he dropped out of college after a semester and quit one of his first jobs to backpack across India and take psychedelic drugs. According to CNN, "Those experiences, Jobs said later, shaped his creative vision."

Like many around the world, my household is filled with several of his products. Five iPods from different generations, a MacBook Pro, an iHome, iTrip for my car and I'm always fighting with my college-student budget to invest in the iPod Sport Kit, Apple TV and an iMac for my photography.

So I thought I would relate today's photograph to honor Mr. Jobs. Charlie was playing with his mother's iPad and I liked the lighting. Tomorrow is Charlie's 9th birthday, so he was looking up the rare "Squishies" that he wanted. It is incredible how these kids grasp the concept of technology at such a young age. Katy is four and works the iPad better than I do. Though I always monitor the YouTube videos she watches because I do not want to hear "The Annoying Orange" a million times a day hahaha.

But in all seriousness, Thank You Mr. Jobs for creating such wonderful products and introducing brilliant technology into this world. I use my MacBook Pro each and everyday and I truly think it has helped bring out the best in my photography. The "finger-swipes" in my trackpad is not only a huge timesaver, but a lifesaver. The clarity of the screens and all of the functions of the computer come together precisely to help me perfect my craft, just as Mr. Jobs had done. I cannot imagine using any other brand of computer for my photography, nor will I ever. My next big investment will be an iMac for my studio.

But most of all, thank you for inspiring me and others to create the "next big thing."

iKimmik 

Day 157

Though it is the first week of October, I was a bit disappointed that it felt a little like summer today.

I am a fan of good weather, but not the 90º, "let's go to the beach" weather. But more of crisp, cool fall weather that is followed by the snow that blankets my Michigan Wonderland.

Now, because I spend way too much time procrastinating to social media sites, I saw my friend MB's facebook status state the she was mad because Mother Nature is catering to the summer people. And I could not have agreed more with her.

When I got home after my meeting, I was bummed to see that the sun was shining brightly and I was sweating. I was desperate for some sign of autumn. Then I saw the lone leaf on my front lawn. It was as if Mother Nature saw MB's status and sent me a sign. It is incredibly cheesy of me to say this, but I think to think Mother Nature was saying, Do not fear Kimmik; Autumn will come and you will have your Michigan Winterwonderland soon enough. So I decided to pick up the lonely leaf, and use it as today's photograph.

I hope to see more leaves fall to the ground to give this little guy some company.

Kimmik

Day 156

Kimmik

Day 155

“Fawkes is a phoenix, Harry. They burst into flame when it is time for them to die, and then they are reborn from the ashes. Ah, fascinating creatures, phoenixes.” Dumbledore

I took some shots of a fire in a grill today and was surprised to see this flame looking like a bird. Of course, I instantly thought of Harry Potter and Dumbledore's phoenix. Yes, I'm a dork, I'm well informed =)

Kimmik

Day 154

And you are there on my heart, at the start, 
Of my every morning and I,
Can't deny, by the end of the day that I'm running on empty but,
You make it full, steal my breath, you're so unpredictable
That's what I'm coming home to
Andrew Allen

I love my puppy.

Kimmik

Day 153

Oh my, what a big shadow you have.

Today's weather followed suit of earlier this week. It was cold, grey and miserable. But at least it was not raining. Usually when the weather is like this, Pongo barks and scratches at the door until he is let in. The day turned around and turned out to be a sunny, blue-skied, crisp and cool. Perfect weather to welcome back Fall.

So naturally, Pongo does not want to come inside when it is like this. Not too hot, nor too cold for the puppy to run around and burn off that energy. I went outside and played with him for a little while. His favorite toy is his self-deflated volleyball. Pongo likes it the best because it keeps the shape of a ball, but he can grab it easily and toss it around. Such a silly puppy, but he is my puppy.

Winter shall show its face soon and that is when we have the most fun. I can most definitely tell that Pongo is destined to by my puppy pal when I see him frolicking in the snow and choosing a hockey puck over a tennis ball. Two qualities I see in myself.

I guess it is true, pets take after their owners. Though in this case, Pongo is not just my pet and I his owner, we're friends. (Cheesy but true.)

Kimmik