For all that do not know...I am moving to Michigan. I am really excited. I have kind of had enough of the low pay at my job. I have been training new people at my work that make a lot more than I do. I just need to move on. Desiree and I were thinking of our options and it was between either moving to a camp and teaching rock climbing, or going back to school. We both were thinking about it and decided that school was the better option, but we did not know how we were going to execute this. Desiree and I were praying and trying to think of more options on how to go back to school, and not get into too much debt. Not too long after Desiree and I heard from my parents and we talked through the option that if I help my father refinish the basement, they would put a full kitchen in, and give us free rent while we went to school. Thank you LORD. This is too good to turn down. Desiree and I prayed about it, and the LORD said yes.
We had already planned a trip out to Michigan for Thanksgiving and my Cousin Chris' wedding, and it was too expensive to change our flights. We did not have to be out for school until January 10, and Desiree wanted to be with her family for Christmas. So the plan developed into moving our stuff out before Thanksgiving on a semi truck, and flying out to meet it in Michigan for Thanksgiving, so that we could unpack our stuff. Then we would fly back to Colorado and spend the three weeks with Desiree's family through Christmas. On the 26th we would drive our car back to Michigan.
So here it is my last day of work, and our stuff has just arrived in Michigan. I am really excited about the change, but a little scared at the same time. Spite the excitement there is one thing that is making me a little depressed.................... Climbing.
I was really trying to stay positive about it, but there is only one place to climb out doors in the Lower Peninsula in Michigan. My father said that he will let me build a bouldering wall in the garage. I started to look into it, and it is going to cost me more money than I thought to create this wall. My fear is that I will try to climb when I am out in Michigan, but I won’t keep it up, and my passion for climbing will go out the window. I really don't want this to be the case.
I LOVE TO CLIMB.
Friday, November 19, 2010
Monday, November 8, 2010
Climbing with Aaron
My good old friend Scott was coming into town back when I lived in Colorado Springs. I called him a few days before he arrived to plan the trip. I asked, "So Scott is there anything that you would like to do while you are here?" Scott said, "I want to do things that people in Colorado do." So there it was. We went snowboarding, and rock climbing. Scott, and Desiree, and I have never gone climbing before, but we did decide to go to an indoor gym. We all had so much fun and loved it. One Scott left, Desiree and I still could not stop talking about our time climbing. We had a plan to start a climbing membership instead of our YMCA memberships.
Time went by and it was about a year after the day Scott had come out. Desiree and I had asked my parents to not get us anything for Christmas that year, but just give us a gift of cash. After many discussions on what to do with our Christmas money we just could not help but to buy our own pair of climbing shoes. We had our shoes for about a couple of weeks, and still had not hit the gym. I was get very anxious and needed to go climbing. Desiree and I planned it, and one Wednesday we went to a gym called Rock and Jammin 2 in Denver, CO. Desiree and I were just a little intimidated. Everyone else was a lot better than us. We did not really know the ethics of the bouldering cave, and tried to stay out of people’s way as much as possible.
The bouldering cave is a small area, and you notice the people that you are climbing with there. Some people would come and go. There was a man that came in and he had a colorful hat on. There were a few things that I noticed about him: 1: He was a great climber. This guy would more like dance up the wall than climb. He found how to use the least amount of energy while he climbed, and it was very graceful. 2: He was very friendly, and filled with joy. You could tell that he loved climbing and climbing with other people. He would give advice, and was not afraid to climb with less talented climbers. This is how we met. Aaron could see that Desiree and I really had no idea what we were doing. He often times would yell something out at us while we were working on a problem to help us through it. It was great, and we liked this guy. He sure was a strange breed.
We got talking a little, and introduced our selves. We found out that his name was Aaron. Aaron was surprised to hear that we had never been climbing outdoors. He immediately exclaimed that we needed to go. He told us that he was going the weekend coming up, and he would like us to go. We then traded numbers.
I was really excited to go climbing the coming weekend, and Desiree was too. I called my parents to share the excitement, and they made me think a little. My mother was a little concern that I have only meet this guy once, and now we were going to go into the woods, with a stranger, to let him teach us to climb. It did make me worry a little bit. My excitement had covered my logic to be careful. I thought it out and was not too nervous, so we decided to go, but I did bring a knife. [This is now a joke between Aaron and me]
Climbing was so much fun. Desiree and I could not really do that much. Are fingers still had a lot of growing. It was hard to watch climbers that were all very good, and then hardly get my but off of the ground.
Aaron and I started to climb a lot together, and even for a while were going three times a week. It was a lot of fun. Aaron helped me to improve a lot, and I am grateful for the friendship that I had. Here are a few videos that we took while climbing:
Time went by and it was about a year after the day Scott had come out. Desiree and I had asked my parents to not get us anything for Christmas that year, but just give us a gift of cash. After many discussions on what to do with our Christmas money we just could not help but to buy our own pair of climbing shoes. We had our shoes for about a couple of weeks, and still had not hit the gym. I was get very anxious and needed to go climbing. Desiree and I planned it, and one Wednesday we went to a gym called Rock and Jammin 2 in Denver, CO. Desiree and I were just a little intimidated. Everyone else was a lot better than us. We did not really know the ethics of the bouldering cave, and tried to stay out of people’s way as much as possible.
The bouldering cave is a small area, and you notice the people that you are climbing with there. Some people would come and go. There was a man that came in and he had a colorful hat on. There were a few things that I noticed about him: 1: He was a great climber. This guy would more like dance up the wall than climb. He found how to use the least amount of energy while he climbed, and it was very graceful. 2: He was very friendly, and filled with joy. You could tell that he loved climbing and climbing with other people. He would give advice, and was not afraid to climb with less talented climbers. This is how we met. Aaron could see that Desiree and I really had no idea what we were doing. He often times would yell something out at us while we were working on a problem to help us through it. It was great, and we liked this guy. He sure was a strange breed.
We got talking a little, and introduced our selves. We found out that his name was Aaron. Aaron was surprised to hear that we had never been climbing outdoors. He immediately exclaimed that we needed to go. He told us that he was going the weekend coming up, and he would like us to go. We then traded numbers.
I was really excited to go climbing the coming weekend, and Desiree was too. I called my parents to share the excitement, and they made me think a little. My mother was a little concern that I have only meet this guy once, and now we were going to go into the woods, with a stranger, to let him teach us to climb. It did make me worry a little bit. My excitement had covered my logic to be careful. I thought it out and was not too nervous, so we decided to go, but I did bring a knife. [This is now a joke between Aaron and me]
Climbing was so much fun. Desiree and I could not really do that much. Are fingers still had a lot of growing. It was hard to watch climbers that were all very good, and then hardly get my but off of the ground.
Aaron and I started to climb a lot together, and even for a while were going three times a week. It was a lot of fun. Aaron helped me to improve a lot, and I am grateful for the friendship that I had. Here are a few videos that we took while climbing:
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Art
For all that do not know, I am a bit of an artist. I do photography, and also paint. Here are a couple painting pieces:
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Engagement Pics
My sister came to Colorado to visit Desiree and I. She brought her fiancee, Caleb, for us to meet for the very first time. I have met him before on Skype, but never in person. It was great to be with my sister once again. I love her so much.
It was great to see, and finally meet Caleb as well. Over dinner I had to ask some pretty tough questions. I needed to be a little protective of my sister. I am not as tough as I wish I was some times. I am a true softy and just want to love everyone. Caleb answered my questions well for the most part, and I let him off of the hook. It was good to start a relationship with him.
One of the reasons that Liz and Caleb came for the visit is because Desiree and I are now photographers on the side. They were very generous to let us take their engagement photos for more experience. It was a wonderful day. I learned a whole lot, and we were even able to have some fun. It was a great way for Caleb and Liz to see a lot of Denver, and we were able to wine and dine at the different locations we visited for the shoot.
Here is the album that I created with the photos we took from the photo shoot with Caleb and Liz:
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Mt. Elbert
What happens in a man's soul, a man's mind that enables him to wake up and have a new stirring? A kind of stirring that comes from nowhere. The kind that does not come from the thought earlier that day and not the kind that is just a fleeing thought. This stirring is never ending, and the only way to end it is either by swallowing it up by another stronger stirring, or just conquered the goal that this stirring is telling you that you must do.
I got this same stirring one morning. I woke up and realized that I must climb a 14er. I presented the idea to Desiree and she thought I was a bit crazy, but when does she think that I am not. Through the next few days I think I started to make sense to Desiree and we set up a date to do the hike. I took a look at a few 14ers to decide which one would be the right one to climb. Then I found it. If we were going to go and climb a 14er we mine as well climb the highest mountain in Colorado, Mt. Elbert. Mt. Elbert is not only the tallest in Colorado, but, excluding Alaska, it is the second tallest mountain in the United States. So my mind was set. I was going to adventure up this mountain whether I was by myself, or accompanied by others. Desiree and I had another couple to go with us at the time, but during the week before, they bailed. So it was just Desiree and I. I was feeling pretty confident, but Desiree was a bit nervous. The day before the climb, Friday, I planned our trip and we packed. The next day, Saturday morning, Desiree and I took off at 4:30am to drive almost 3 hours to the base of Mt. Elbert.
When we arrived the parking lot was already crowded. We found a little pull off in between some trees and geared up. After both visiting the outhouse, we were on our way up the mountain side. It was fun to have the camera with us. We were taking blind photos while we were hiking. I felt pretty great and was very confident in my physical ability, and was thinking to myself that this is going to be a piece of cake. Was I wrong? Of course I was. Climbing this 14er was one of the hardest things that I have done.
When Desiree and I exited the tree line I could not believe that we were not even half way yet. It is a wired thought to think that the trees stop growing somewhere about 12,000 feet because there is not enough carbon dioxide for the tees to service since the air thins out to that extent. So this must be the same for oxygen, and yet we still had to hike another 2,500 feet above the tree line.
When I was younger I loved those inflatable games that you see at carnivals. One of my favorites was the game where you are strapped into a harness connected to a bungee cord. Two people would race and try to stick their beanbag, to the Velcro strip, the furthest. With this game the further you ran the harder that it pulled you back. This is exactly how I felt on the mountain. The further I gained in altitude the harder it was to breath, walk, and keep my balance.
There we were on the bare side of the mountain hiking up the trail and looking to the peak ahead of us. We were getting so close, but when we arrived to the top of the peak we realized that it was false. What I mean is the peak we were seeing was a steeper section, so it came out and hide the real peak from us. It appeared that we were only 2/3 of the way up when we thought we were done. On we went one foot in the front of the other to the top.
It was a very weird feeling because when we were just standing on the trail you were not out of breath at all and felt great, but as soon as you started to walk again it felt like you were in the middle of a 5k. You could feel that your body was looking for more oxygen. The best way that I can describe it is to say that it felt like your legs were trying to suck air through your pores to get more oxygen.
So again there we were on the next peak that we saw, but it was another false peak. We saw another one in the distance, and were hoping that the next was the finish. I started to get light headed and was glad that we did not have to go up much further.
We finally arrived hand in hand, and it was amazing. The view was just wonderful. You could see mountains after mountains after mountains. Desiree and I had lay down, and rested. We ate some a sandwich at the top. There were a lot of people at the top, and I would say that half of them were sleeping.
Desiree and I decided to head back down. It was eye opening on the way down, and you really started to realize what you had accomplished. Every section of the mountain was steeper and longer that we had thought. Desiree and I have had problems with our hiking boots, and our toes jam into the front of the boot on down hills. This hike was way too long and steep to be having this issue. By the time that we got to tree line, Desiree had enough and changed into her sandals. I was not so lucky for I did not bring sandals up with us. I rested and took off my boots. My nails had white lines in the middle of them because they were bending back when my toes jammed up into the toe box of the boot. On top of the toes I had a head ache that was getting worse every step that I took.
Desiree and I continued, and I was trying to be a good sport about the pain. I just could not handle it anymore, and I started to jog down the mountain. My job got faster and faster. Again I was thinking in my head how much longer this hike was then I realized going up. The pain built up to be so bad that I almost started to cry. I sucked it up, and started to run even faster. Desiree was keeping up to me pretty well, and she was jogging in her sandals. We finally had reached the bottom at about 4:30pm that evening. It was time to head home. Desiree started the drive off home, and I slept for an hour. Then we traded and I drove the rest of the way. We finally got home about 7pm. What a long day.
Over all, the trip was amazing. I was not sure if I got slight altitude sickness, but it was still worth it when I look back on it. I want to do another 14er before it gets too cold. Desiree was a trooper, and I am so proud of her. When I first met Desiree she almost cried every time she was pushed physically, but now she hardly even complains and she finds that challenge fun. I love you Des.
I got this same stirring one morning. I woke up and realized that I must climb a 14er. I presented the idea to Desiree and she thought I was a bit crazy, but when does she think that I am not. Through the next few days I think I started to make sense to Desiree and we set up a date to do the hike. I took a look at a few 14ers to decide which one would be the right one to climb. Then I found it. If we were going to go and climb a 14er we mine as well climb the highest mountain in Colorado, Mt. Elbert. Mt. Elbert is not only the tallest in Colorado, but, excluding Alaska, it is the second tallest mountain in the United States. So my mind was set. I was going to adventure up this mountain whether I was by myself, or accompanied by others. Desiree and I had another couple to go with us at the time, but during the week before, they bailed. So it was just Desiree and I. I was feeling pretty confident, but Desiree was a bit nervous. The day before the climb, Friday, I planned our trip and we packed. The next day, Saturday morning, Desiree and I took off at 4:30am to drive almost 3 hours to the base of Mt. Elbert.
When we arrived the parking lot was already crowded. We found a little pull off in between some trees and geared up. After both visiting the outhouse, we were on our way up the mountain side. It was fun to have the camera with us. We were taking blind photos while we were hiking. I felt pretty great and was very confident in my physical ability, and was thinking to myself that this is going to be a piece of cake. Was I wrong? Of course I was. Climbing this 14er was one of the hardest things that I have done.
When Desiree and I exited the tree line I could not believe that we were not even half way yet. It is a wired thought to think that the trees stop growing somewhere about 12,000 feet because there is not enough carbon dioxide for the tees to service since the air thins out to that extent. So this must be the same for oxygen, and yet we still had to hike another 2,500 feet above the tree line.
When I was younger I loved those inflatable games that you see at carnivals. One of my favorites was the game where you are strapped into a harness connected to a bungee cord. Two people would race and try to stick their beanbag, to the Velcro strip, the furthest. With this game the further you ran the harder that it pulled you back. This is exactly how I felt on the mountain. The further I gained in altitude the harder it was to breath, walk, and keep my balance.
There we were on the bare side of the mountain hiking up the trail and looking to the peak ahead of us. We were getting so close, but when we arrived to the top of the peak we realized that it was false. What I mean is the peak we were seeing was a steeper section, so it came out and hide the real peak from us. It appeared that we were only 2/3 of the way up when we thought we were done. On we went one foot in the front of the other to the top.
It was a very weird feeling because when we were just standing on the trail you were not out of breath at all and felt great, but as soon as you started to walk again it felt like you were in the middle of a 5k. You could feel that your body was looking for more oxygen. The best way that I can describe it is to say that it felt like your legs were trying to suck air through your pores to get more oxygen.
So again there we were on the next peak that we saw, but it was another false peak. We saw another one in the distance, and were hoping that the next was the finish. I started to get light headed and was glad that we did not have to go up much further.
We finally arrived hand in hand, and it was amazing. The view was just wonderful. You could see mountains after mountains after mountains. Desiree and I had lay down, and rested. We ate some a sandwich at the top. There were a lot of people at the top, and I would say that half of them were sleeping.
Desiree and I decided to head back down. It was eye opening on the way down, and you really started to realize what you had accomplished. Every section of the mountain was steeper and longer that we had thought. Desiree and I have had problems with our hiking boots, and our toes jam into the front of the boot on down hills. This hike was way too long and steep to be having this issue. By the time that we got to tree line, Desiree had enough and changed into her sandals. I was not so lucky for I did not bring sandals up with us. I rested and took off my boots. My nails had white lines in the middle of them because they were bending back when my toes jammed up into the toe box of the boot. On top of the toes I had a head ache that was getting worse every step that I took.
Desiree and I continued, and I was trying to be a good sport about the pain. I just could not handle it anymore, and I started to jog down the mountain. My job got faster and faster. Again I was thinking in my head how much longer this hike was then I realized going up. The pain built up to be so bad that I almost started to cry. I sucked it up, and started to run even faster. Desiree was keeping up to me pretty well, and she was jogging in her sandals. We finally had reached the bottom at about 4:30pm that evening. It was time to head home. Desiree started the drive off home, and I slept for an hour. Then we traded and I drove the rest of the way. We finally got home about 7pm. What a long day.
Over all, the trip was amazing. I was not sure if I got slight altitude sickness, but it was still worth it when I look back on it. I want to do another 14er before it gets too cold. Desiree was a trooper, and I am so proud of her. When I first met Desiree she almost cried every time she was pushed physically, but now she hardly even complains and she finds that challenge fun. I love you Des.
Friday, August 13, 2010
Our Home
This is a video to show everyone, that will not have a chance to come and visit Desiree and I out in Colorado, where we live
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Directing Models Research Continues
I am on my way. Yesterday I was doing some Google searches to find any tips that would help with my model directing. There were a lot of links that I found, but most of them were filled with pretty common sense stuff. I was not finding any information that came alive to me, or made me feel like I was making any headway until I found a link by Nicolas Henri. I have never heard of Nicholas Henri before, but I had come across his blog. Nicholas is a professional photographer and I could tell right away, when I started to read this blog, that I liked this photographer. It was not Nicolas' work that made me like him, even though it is fantastic work, but it was because of his obvious willingness to share with other photographers and help their growth into the best photographer we all can be. This is Nicholas' site that I had come across: http://nicolashenri.ch/blog/2008/08/directing-models/#more-115.
I started to read on about how Nicholas, as a professional, feels about models today and models he has had to work with. Nicholas said that models are having to work with some very bad photographers that teach them how to model in a very poor way. Nicholas states that it is always the photographer’s job to share what he is looking for in the model, but in a way where the model can act out an emotion. Too often we use adjectives to help get the models to look a certain way.
The night of the photo shoot at Rachael's house I was very guilty of the exact thing that Nicholas Henri was saying not to do. I would tell Desiree to look sad, angry, and emotional. What I learned from Nicholas is that I need to direct Desiree and treat her more like an actress. I need to tell her a story about herself, and put myself into the story if possible. This way, now the model can create an emotion through the story instead of trying to pull an emotion out of thin air. This is a brilliant idea, and cannot wait to try it. I almost came across this style of directing models and few times, but I would feel silly and would abort the idea. I am going to give this a few tries and will share some photos soon.
Check this link out though. It was one of the best well written blogs that I have read. I can't believe that it came from a photographer that cares about helping others grow in this craft of photography.
I started to read on about how Nicholas, as a professional, feels about models today and models he has had to work with. Nicholas said that models are having to work with some very bad photographers that teach them how to model in a very poor way. Nicholas states that it is always the photographer’s job to share what he is looking for in the model, but in a way where the model can act out an emotion. Too often we use adjectives to help get the models to look a certain way.
The night of the photo shoot at Rachael's house I was very guilty of the exact thing that Nicholas Henri was saying not to do. I would tell Desiree to look sad, angry, and emotional. What I learned from Nicholas is that I need to direct Desiree and treat her more like an actress. I need to tell her a story about herself, and put myself into the story if possible. This way, now the model can create an emotion through the story instead of trying to pull an emotion out of thin air. This is a brilliant idea, and cannot wait to try it. I almost came across this style of directing models and few times, but I would feel silly and would abort the idea. I am going to give this a few tries and will share some photos soon.
Check this link out though. It was one of the best well written blogs that I have read. I can't believe that it came from a photographer that cares about helping others grow in this craft of photography.
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