Things to be Thankful For

As a toast to the coming Thanksgiving holiday my fellow coworkers decided to go out for drinks after work at the Tilted Kilt. I wasn't sure if I was going to go at first but my friend Ken's encouragement made all the difference in my night and I'm glad I did.

I think it's important to have friends because they make life a much more enjoyable experience. I think a lot of the great times I've had in my life would not have been possible without them. So, one thing I can say I'm very thankful for this Thanksgiving are my friends.

Special thanks to Ken, Mark, and Russell for sticking around with me at the Tilted Kilt; I wouldn't have been able to get the opportunity to capture these photos without them. Also a very special thanks to Tonya, Keilani, Tera and Ally for modeling for me!

Photos were taken using my new Canon 28mm f/1.8 lens I bought off a hippy/stoner in Boulder. So, I'm also thankful to that guy because this lens is awesome.

For the Love of My Parents

So, I've been keeping a little secret from my family for a while now, but I think it's time to finally let the cat out of the bag! Since the beginning of this year I have been thinking about the idea of getting a tattoo and two months ago finally decided I would.

The initial thought process of what I would get was very challenging, but I knew whatever I decided on would have to mean something to me because I wouldn't want to ever regret it. To me there is nothing in the world that means more to me than my parents. I think they did a great job of raising me and I wouldn't be the person I am today without them. So once I set my focus on that the ideas came very easily. I developed the concept in a night, slept on it, and woke up with the realization that what I had come up with the night before was perfect and then next step was finding an artist.

I've been giving little hints about getting my tattoo, the first being my "Unique by Design" post. The week of that post was the week I had visited tattoo shops recommended by friends to review portfolios and find who I would have do the job. This was an important piece for me and having an artistic eye myself I wasn't going to let just anyone tattoo me. The first shop I visited I ended up scheduling an appointment with one of their most experienced guys. But after sleeping on it I realized I was going against what I was saying before and decided that the guy I had scheduled with just wasn't my style and I would have to find someone else.

That morning I went to another shop called Th'ink Tank my buddy Jason recommended and I immediately loved the vibe of the place and was impressed by their group of talent. While I would have loved to have been tattooed by the owner or ex-co-owner of the shop, their waiting lists are 6 months to a year respectively; that gives you an idea of how good they are! I really wanted to have this tattoo done in time for my upcoming trip to the Philippines so that I could show my parents, so I found an artist who I not only was very impressed by but was also able to schedule me in a lot sooner, his name was Ryan Willard.

Luckily the shop I went to the day before didn't require a down payment, a good indicator of their lack of professionalism, and I was able to cancel that appointment and schedule one with Ryan instead. I first got tattooed the weekend of my second hint post titled "Work in Progress" which my buddy Alex was able to accompany me on and take pictures. I've never posted photos done by someone else but I have an appreciation for Alex's photography and I thank him for capturing an important moment in my life for me. The watermark isn't his official logo, just something I put together but hopefully he likes it.

I know this is going to be the most shocking for my parents and I hope they'll be accepting of it and understand why I did it. There will be a lot of people who will also frown upon it and disapprove, but I didn't do it for those people. This tattoo is something personal and means a lot to me and I don't want to share it with just anyone. I didn't understand it until I decided to get a tattoo that not everyone wants to show off their tattoo and it can be disrespectful to ask to see someone's tattoo. Also you should never judge someone's tattoo because you have no idea what it means to that person!

So, you're probably wondering what it is I got tattooed? What's the meaning behind it? Well sorry to disappoint but all I can say is that while it incorporates simple elements, they have multiple meanings which involves tributes to both my parents, incorporates significance of my siblings, my views on life and spirituality, and finally the timing of my trip to the Philippines.

I won't be posting pictures of it here on my blog. I'll save the photos for a more private location that I'll share with my family. However pictures will be in a while because you see, I actually scheduled three appointments the second of which was today so it isn't quite done. Getting tattooed is also a painful process and my skin right now is red and swollen, so I'm going to give it a while to heal before I take any pictures of it.

I love you Mom and Dad!!!

Skills on Display

It's been a while since I've done an artsy photo, hopefully this will make up for the time off. For this I was able to utilize methods learned from my "Pieces of Art" post but had to learn some new tricks as well for color adjustments due to the lighting and exposure of the original photo. I also experimented using a fractal frame editor called Apophysis for the background.

Photo was taken last weekend at the Driftoberfest event I shot for my buddy Alex who was able to get me access to take photos out on the track at the Colorado National Speedway. Total time in Photoshop was 5 1/2 hours. To the left is the original photo for the skeptics.

The Mac Daddy

So yeah, I wasn't able to update my blog in a timely manner this past weekend because the internet decided to take a dump on Sunday. I'm only able to post today thanks to my MacBook Pro that I love so much, because apparently today it will connect to the internet but my PC won't. My PC has done me some good over the years but it has caused me a lot of issues as well, more so lately. However when it comes to my Mac, I've had zero issues since I've had it. People like to think Mac users are snobs but people shouldn't hate on something that works and does its job the way it is supposed to.

Photo was taken at Driftoberfest, Dacono, CO.