According to my counters on both my flickr account and my yahoo 360 site, there is an audience for my ramblings and random thoughts. The whole idea of blogging is new to me and i hope i am continuing to offer fresh and informative insight into things that intrest not only me, but you as the reader. It is this effort to bring you a better offering that i have registered with both blogger and wordpress. I have not used them before so i will be learning as i go, but i hope one of the two be a better launching pad for my blog. I ask that if any of you have feelings about me using blogger, vox, wordpress or yahoo 360 that you include your thoughts in the comment box.
Because this blog is supposed to focus on photography, lets talk about long exposure for a second. Sometimes flash is not the best way to add more light to a shot. The posted photo was shot using a .8 second exposure. Personally, i enjoy the photograph and the other longer exposure shots i have posted on flick, but with these more artsy photographs there will be a much more varied reaction to your results. Also it is important to remember to keep your camera still, whether that be on a tripod or in this case, the back of a pick-up truck. Keep shooting and keep trying and please comment links to photos of your own that involve the methods discussed in the blog.
I am able to get to some very interesting locations and witness some great thiuss being carolinaour military. Although my most recent postings came from the USS North Carolina battleship which is a public museum. Beyond what i am able to see, there is the question of technique. I see many other photographers who see the same thing but return with different results in their camera. For me, it is a skill i am passionate about. Every time diffrent back from a shoot i want something that shows the world or the scene in a different way. I have very limited classroom education on photography and i have only been shooting for a few years. While i don't pretend to be a knowledge expert on photography I will offer a few quick tips that work for me.
- Change your angle: don't shoot everything from shoulder level, get down, get up, what ever you need to do to present the scene different from the way everyone else sees it.
- Consider the background: so many times people focus on their subject but neglect the things behind them. The properly placeded background can do wonders for a photo.

- Know adjust settings: When using a DSL camera you control everything. What happens when you adjust your F-stop, ISO or shutter speed? Once you understand those settings you can quickly make adjustments to create interesting effects. Add more or less blur motion in action photos, show more or less depth of field and shoot in more locations.
- Copy from the best: I cant count the times i have seen a photo on line or in a magazine and i said to myself "I can do that" and then i set out to create the same effect and in the process mastered a new technique.
- Ask, Ask, Ask: As was the case here, asking questions leads to more knowledge and more information. Never be shy of asking.

UPDATE: Thanks for the reaction to my photos, my tug of war shot gained 3 favorite nods in record time, at least for me. I appreciate you helping me perfect this stuff. Also please note that i have adjusted the settings on my flickr page and anyone can now note, tag and comment on my work.
--Semper Fi


