I am so excited, I just found my bike light for my Mtn. Bike. I was cleaning out my truck and found it in one of the hidden compartments. Why am I so excited? Its been missing a while, it means I can go Mtn. Biking at night again (riding alone is a bad idea, but its even worse at night), And the thing is HID and super bright. Not to mention the thing costs like $350, so suffice to say I am pretty ecstatic. Now I just need to find the battery and charger for it. It should be around, but I cant seem to remember where I saw it last... Go Figure!

-Ellis

On my way to class this morning I saw a man holding a sign. No he wasn't a sign flipper... Anyways dressed in a full business suit and a smiling as cars drove by him I wondered what the sign said. As I got closer and proceeded to drive by I was able to see his sign and the message he was advertising. He was advertising himself! His sign said "Will work for Salary." Underneath that it said 20+ years marketing/sales/management experience. I thought to myself what a novel idea! Definitely thinking outside the box if you ask me... It did make me a little bit sad though because it just shows the sad state that our economy is facing and the worst part is that we haven't seen the worst of it. I am not big n negativity at all so on the bright side the man was gone when class was over. He must have landed a lead for a job just on his sher creative approach!

On another note, I would like to wish my Dad Happy Birthday. He turns 1/2 a century today... Unfortunately I wont be able to spend much time with him cuz I need to study and then will be running off to my Soccer game tonight. The dinner celebration should be good though since it brings the fam together. :)

Well gotta run. Here is a couple snaps I took from one of my favorite places in the world... (no not the toilet, LOL)

So today I started back at school and believe it or not I was actually on time to my first class at 8a.m. Not only was I on time I was actually early and thats even after I stopped at Starbucks! For anyone that knows me pretty close knows that I am typically on a 5 minute delay of our pacific coast time. Anyways, Im kinda glad to be back in school, but also nervous knowing the impending workoad and lack of social life I am looking at. At least I have set a date for a trip this spring! I am going to the Grand Canyon and I may hit one of the other destinations I mentioned before as well but this will probably be the first mentionable trip for this year.

As I was walking by the bookstore trying to peddle some of my old books back to the school, I saw a young girl struggling to walk in her high heels, look fashionable and sophisticated, and carry her new stack of schoolbooks and purse. Under her heavy load of makeup (in my opinion) I could see that she was getting quite frustrated and I felt a little chuckle rumble from deep inside me. Luckily I didn't let it escape me and she had no idea what I was thinking as she glanced over at me. The cost of fashion and education the ladies go through nowadays, real dedication!

Well tomorrow is day 2 as I am going to be going to school 4 days a week this semester and taking on 15 units. wish me luck!

I feel my blog is bland and boring without some photos so I dug up an old photo from one of my first road trips after purchasing my rebel years ago now (ahhhh memories...) This was taken in Northern California off the side of a highway. I put it through a traditional color version and I also tried to replicate a color infrared image and a B&W image just cuz I love them.



Side Note: Aren't Oak Trees cool??? They just remind me so much of the rolling hills of California...

Color infrared:




-Ellis

Things have been going really well since the new year began and I hope they are going well for everyone else as well. I am looking forward to what I think is going to be a great year. Here are some things I am looking forward to accomplishing this year (some long before the year is done).

-Update/finish my website (hope to be done by the time school starts back up in a couple weeks).

-Market myself and my photography better and more. (ongoing)

-Finish my transfer credits for school

-Decide on my top 3-4 universities I want to attend (travel to schools if needed)

-Procrastinate less (this is always an ongoing battle)

-Go for an extended backcountry high elevation camping trip.

-Get back in shape!

-Shoot more. I feel I can always shoot more and need to bring my camera to things I do much more often.

Here are some shots from this last year:

I think this photo was my first paid shoot ever... She needed photos of her and her dog for a children's therapy program she was doing.



And a shot of one of the ballerinas I shot last year...


Last year I also got to meet Kevin and Courtney. The two of them are such great people and are great to be around. I was lucky enough to shoot the proposal and will be shooting their wedding later on this year and I am so excited for it!



Some of the celebrities I have met this year:

Larry Miller



Dick VanDyke



Anthony Hopkins



I shot my first wedding this year as well:





My trip to Idaho was awesome. Here is my cousin Cameron fishing when we backpacked up into the mountains and camped at Independence lakes around 10,000 feet.



A shot taken outside of Sun Valley, (Ketchum) Idaho from the car window cruising about 55mph.



And one in B&W



My trip to Owens Valley:

Here is a shot of me at fossil falls...







And Finally a couple of randoms...