overworked, originally uploaded by McMike-.

#33 of 365 project

Let me start off by saying that I don't really like self-portraits, especially of me. However, work has been busting my chops lately and I wound up working long into the evening. When I realized I hadn't yet gotten out to take my daily shots, I wanted to show just why.

That said, this shot summarizes why sometimes it's hard to balance work and personal life. But it /can/ be done.

**Note: regarding my upcoming posts. I will be out of town and largely unavailable from a computer until next Tuesday. I'll be posting my daily shots in sequence when I get back from my long weekend.

I think I can, I think I can, originally uploaded by McMike-.

I tried a few different concepts yesterday and this macro is the one that really came out above the rest. This pewter locomotive was supposed to be the first in a set of the "National Park" collection that I was going to pick up for Liam.

I picked this one up at Bryce Canyon along with the train car that attaches to it. Each national park was supposed to have a train car that was unique to that National Park.

When I made it up to Glacier National Park in Montana last year, they nothing about these. I was a little disheartened because I planned on collecting a full set for Liam.

halfway, originally uploaded by McMike-.

#31 if 365 project

I went exploring yesterday to a part of my neighborhood I've never been to. Behind the elementary school is a creek that I've finally found a way to cross. Once on the other side, I found what appears to be an old park of sorts that has been converted into a city tree nursery. There is a trail that is kept mowed and has trail markers on it like the one pictured above. Little did I know, I was halfway down the trail when I snapped this one.

thwarted, originally uploaded by McMike-.

#30 of 365 project

Went out last night to shoot this fountain in one of the ponds near my house. On the way there, the sun was providing some very nice shadows and highlights and I was hoping to get some shots of the fountain lit up while everything else had some nice contrasty shadows.

This is the first shot I took yesterday. By the second shot, the clouds had moved over and hung there so I couldn't get anymore light on the fountain. Oh well.

technology, originally uploaded by McMike-.

#29 of 365 project

I've been inspired lately to shoot some vibrant colors, and stray from my normal, "moody" shots. We just bought Liam some new crayons and I just can't believe how far they've come since we used to use them.

I remember how neat it was to use my first mechanical pencil, but now my kid is already using mechanical crayons! Crazy days we live in.

so my burden I began to divest, originally uploaded by McMike-.

#28 of 365 project

Wanted to try my hand at some "bubble" shots and wound up drinking a bit of "bubbly" instead =)

simple, originally uploaded by McMike-.

#27 of 365 project

I've been wanting to try out some more "available light" shots over the past few days and just haven't been able to make it out and get some nice street lamp shots.

I decided to try out a concept where I could spot meter on some inside lights and try to mimic what a flood lamp would look like on a foggy night.

Granted, this was against an interior wall that is textured, so I had to blur the wall just a little bit, but the concept seems to have worked out well enough. It may just need a little more work.

end of the end, originally uploaded by McMike-.

#26 of 365 project

My wife and I have a rather large collection of books. We love to read and tend to always keep our hardbacks that don't suck. We have filled many shelves throughout the house and have even run into the precarious issue of not having any room for book ends either! Many of the book ends we have were gifts from either friends or family and are generally very special to us. The only place to put them now is facing outward on the shelf to show them off.

We eventually would like put built in shelves into Sherri's downstairs office (converted tea room) and turn it into our library.

selenium, originally uploaded by McMike-.

#25 of 365 project

I rarely, if ever, use any of the lightroom presets on my work. This time around though, I decided that the dandelion I picked to shoot needed something to differentiate it from all of the rest. After tweaking and tweaking with processing on this one, I decided to thumb through the built-in presets for lightroom and came across the selenium tone. It actually did quite a bit for it in my eyes, though the subject has still been WAY overused.

Hey we can't all have brand-new ideas everyday =)

good source of folic acid, originally uploaded by McMike-.

#24 of 365 project

Last night's dinner consisted of a very tasty combination of green asparagus, toasted brown rice that was then seasoned and boiled and grilled chicken legs/thighs. On top of being tasty, it was a very visually pleasing meal. I decided to grab this shot while preparing the asparagus for the grill