Thursday's news conference

IMG_0005, originally uploaded by edrahe.

I would say it has been several years since I've been at a full blown news conference featuring a Governor. Heck, its been years since I've covered any kind of news conference and thus maybe a good omen to get back into the swing of things with a news conference featuring not one, but two, state governors. The details are in my Feb. 28. post below.

My digital XTi handled the job quite nicely, I thought, amidst the pros and their fancy glass. Yet I was reminded of commedian George Gobel's quip when he followed Bob Hope and Dean Martin on the Tonight Show: "Did you ever get the feeling that the world was a tuxedo and you were a pair of brown shoes?"

Little news breaks at news conferences

Two Governors, originally uploaded by edrahe.

But they do make for excellent photo ops of politicos. Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D-Ill), and Gov. Matt Blunt (R-Mo), looked like they'd rather be somewhere else while being introduced at today's news conference where they signed a ceremonial bi-state agreement to build a new bridge across the Mississippi River from East St. Louis connecting with I-70 north of Downtown St. Louis. In all fairness, they both perked up when it was their turn to speak and were generally all-smiles during the event. I simply think its an interesting picture because of the looks on their faces. You catch some interesting stuff in 1/125th of a second.

Up to my soles in pig poop trying to shoot geese

002, originally uploaded by edrahe.

Yesterday afternoon I was driving in the country and saw a field full of at least a thousand Canada geese on a layover from their flight south. I couldn't get close enough to see how many of them were on PDAs or laptops checking with the office. Anybody who's done any business traveling knows the layover drill.

The picture did not turn out at all how I saw it, which is actually food for thought. How does a photographer on the ground convey the impressiveness of a thousand honking geese in a wheat field? When I figure out that one I'll let you know.

The problem could've been the shooting conditions, too. It was below zero so the ground was pretty well frozen. So as I ventured into the field trying to get a good perspective I didn't immediately notice that there was about an inch of viscous mud on top of obviously frozen ground.

Then I smelled something and looked down in my shoes and scanned the surface of the field in my immediate area. Yes, I was standing in an inch of freshly applied pig poop -- acres of it. That's what farmers in those parts do with hog waste.

I guess pig poop is just another occupational hazard.

On the beach

I was called into the boss' office at 5 p.m. today and told that my services were no longer needed. While my rear end is somewhat chapped, my wife and I talked it over and agreed I should at least try making money doing what I love. Quite frankly the day job was getting in the way of my ability to get out and take interesting pictures. Thanks to great networking I already have some freelance writing work lined up at the local newspaper and the opportunity to venture into the world of wedding photography with a local studio. Graduation photo season is around the corner, so that'll help out. Also, last spring I had some aerial spec shots lined up for some folks but the weather and the start of a new (old) job came up and that never happened. Its time to try again. Coupled with a part-time job to fill in the gaps this is the plan for now.

The Democrat Front Runner

040, originally uploaded by edrahe.

In order to showcase another of my December 22, 2007, Barack Obama shots, I would like to take this moment to declare Sen. Obama the front runner for the Democrat party presidential nomination. No one in the drive-by media has done that yet. So, leave it to an obscure blogger to do the heavy lifting.

As always, this photo is available for licensing. Contact me for more details.

Taking the Cure

L1010045, originally uploaded by edrahe.

Some claim its haunted. My wife and I didn't see anything out of the ordinary during our overnight stay this past weekend.

The Original Springs Hotel in Okawville, Illinois, is a well known Southern Illinois institution where for more than a century folks from all over the region and country have come to soak in the healing mineral water. We each enjoyed a massage and the hotel's famous mineral baths.

If you go for the massage, ask for Claude Bell. Claude has been a massage therapist there since 1938. By my math that's 70 years! Claude can tell you a story or two, or three, about all the characters who've been on his table. I aked him about the ghosts that supposedly haunt the hotel. He just laughed and said that in all his years there he's never seen a ghost. I didn't have a chance to ask Claude much else about his job or the hotel because his work put me to sleep!

So, if you live near St. Louis I would reccomend taking a weekend of the cure at the Original Springs Hotel.

The cat...again

021908 001, originally uploaded by edrahe.

Yes, another cat picture. But how could I resist this one?

Great color

021908 022, originally uploaded by edrahe.

I like the colors and lighting on this shot.

mv ANN BRENT

mv ANN BRENT, originally uploaded by edrahe.

This is a still picture of the boat in the below video post. I haven't shot a towboat in a while.

River video

An errand took me to my old stomping ground today, downtown St. Louis. The only camera I had was my Leica point and shoot when a beauty of a towboat was upbound under the Poplar Street Bridge. Since these days I've been working on a compter with a seven inch screen I can't even see the nameboard of the boat. I got some good still shots, too, but still can't see the name board.

A test email post

The more I explore this system's blogging capabilities the more I am amazed. I thought I'd try out posting from an email to see how that works. If you're reading this, it worked.

It was the router

little computer, originally uploaded by edrahe.

As far as I know my HP Pavillion laptop is still somewhere being fixed.The last I heard they were waiting for a part from the manufacturer.

I wrote earlier aabout purchasing an Asus Eee to tide me over until my laptop returns. Its a cool little machine but I was frustrated when I got it home and it wouldn't connect to my home wireless router. Quite by coincidence when I was having problems connecting my Dell work laptop at home our company IT guy determined that I must have a bad router. Smart guy he is. I got a new router and now both laptops connect at home. Problem solv ed.

As for the Asus, it is a tiny lille thing. I thought I might have problems touch typing on the smalll keyboard. While its not the same as typing on a big computer I can manage. And I have large fingers.Taken for what it is-- a portable internet device -- I think I'm going to get along fine. Just don't expect doing any photo editing on it.

In the sugarbush

L1010011, originally uploaded by edrahe.

Finally, last Saturday I got out to the woods to tap a few trees. After skipping last year I'm trying my hand at maple sugaring again. This is a shot of my Dad among some of the maple trees. The weather turned cold and is to remain that way for the rest of the week. For sap to flow at an adequate rate the temperature needs to be below freezing at night and 40 degrees during the day. That kind of weather isn't expected until next week, but I'm ready.

Finally success

As for getting my new Asus Eee hooked to the internet, its not a problem that I bought a new router. It works like a charm now. I'm still without a full size computer with which to edit photos, but this is progress.

Computers Hate Me

I'm not having any luck with computers. As previously noted, my home laptop had to be sent miles away for warranty repairs and it looks like that could take a few weeks. So I ordered one of those cool Asus Eee computers. Imagine my utter dissapointment when right out of the box this little replacement computer would not connect to any wireless internet connections. In the few hours I've had this little machine I learned that this is a common problem never mentioned in the glowing reviews I read. Right now I'm connected via the ethernet cord, but what fun is that? I guess I'll send this one back tomorrow. (sigh)