Work in Progress

I appreciate the style of well done graffiti art, there's something about the freedom and attitude of it that I like.

My watermark logo is matter of fact influenced by graffiti style art I used to do when I was in high school.

I don't like however the defacing of public property and the lack of skill of the lowly amateurs who have no respect for the owners. The best graffiti I see are the ones where someone is making money from it and has permission from the owner.

This photo is No. 2...

Ninja Rule #51

"Always formulate an exit strategy"

Not all exits are as obvious as this, so keep your eyes open at all times and be creative if you have to. No point in sticking around somewhere there's a potential threat. Shady folks are like ninjas, they're everywhere.

Photo was taken at the Neusteters Lofts, Downtown Denver, CO and believe it or not this sign was already here.

They Must Really Like E

A recent photo venture through an alley led Alex and I to tour the Equitable Building in Downtown Denver as random as that is. The nice lady who looked over the building during after hours showed us all around the building which was built in 1891 through 1892. The layout of the building is also in the shape of back to back "E's" and was made to be as fire proof as technology would allow at the time. We were able to view the different lobbies and rooms, one of which was through a hidden marble door in a conference room; talk about ninja trickery! We left promptly as the lady then proceeded to offer us some sort of candy...

This photo was taken with my new 50mm. I'm loving the subject separation of this fast lens!

Unique by Design

Art is something I've always loved and appreciated for as long as I can remember. Whether it be someone else's work or my own I get a lot of enjoyment from it. I like things that are out of the ordinary that are tastefully done and took a good amount of dedication to accomplish. Meeting different artists is also interesting to me as everyone has their own unique style which can be good for inspiration.

This photo was taken outside the Equitable Building in Downtown Denver, CO. This VW Jetta was completely covered in designs which caught my eye. For this photo I used my new Canon 50mm f/1.4 lens the day that I finally got it. The Canon 50mm f/1.8 was sold to fund the purchase of Chinese triggers for my flash, as the built in system on the 7D isn't the greatest. The new 50 would be perfect on a full frame camera body, but I have to be careful what I start setting my sights on because once I have an idea about something it tends to consume me.

Ninja Rule #37

"Make discipline and sacrifice elements of your everyday life."

I'm always curious about things and my curiosity tends to lead me to do and try a lot of different things. I always wonder if I'd be good at something or what I could learn from it, it's how I started photography and I'm pleased I did.

My latest curiosity is vegetarianism after having read the book "The China Study" by T. Colin Campbell, PhD which I would recommend people check out. The book and it's findings actually promote a vegan diet, but as I've learned is a big challenge as a lot of foods contain dairy and eggs and I'd rather do things in steps.

So far I've been on a meatless diet for the past two weeks and my experience with it has been very interesting. The first three days were the hardest as my stomach was getting used to not having any meat which was a big part of my previous diet. Some of the benefits I've already experienced are that I never feel bloated, I can control food cravings, I sleep better, and I've been consistently losing weight and decreasing my body fat percentage. While there is a possibility I may not continue to be a vegetarian, it is at least good to know I have the discipline to try something challenging and out of the ordinary despite what other people think.

This photo was taken using an on camera flash, an external flash, and a strobe that my brother gave to me for my birthday. I donated blood earlier this week and I wanted to incorporate that into a photo and my buddy Matt's son showed me some fake blood he was playing with so I thought it would work well for this. Knife look familiar?