So... two new, and yet totally unrelated bits of news.

The bad news first.  I managed to take an amazing picture of the reflection of a clock tower off of a downtown building that was almost entirely glass.  However, just as I was wrapping it up, a security guard came out and asked me what I was doing.  I explained, and although he agreed that it was a cool picture, I could not keep them.  Apparently, the building was a federal building, and a bunch of people were freaked out about somebody taking a picture of it.  Never mind that I was standing out in the middle of the plaza, and not sneaking around.  Never mind that if I really wanted to take pictures of the building, I would have just thrown on a telephoto lens and taken the picture from far away.  So, they ended up deleted.  

On the plus side, I recently donated 5 prints of my shots (True Puppy Love, Witches Hat, Shadow Tennis, Lord of its Domain, and Staring Water Eyes to an AIDS fundraiser/auction.  There wasn't very many people there, but as a group, they raised $40.  So... woo!  The power of photography at work.

So, it's Easter, and I decided head out to the suburbs to spend some Easter-time with an old friend's family.  Well, there's a few hours available before dinner, so I decide to go walk about and take some photos.  But, everything is exactly the same - same houses, same lawns, same people.  I couldn't find any inspiration at all.

What does everybody else do when you're caught adrift in a sea of look-alike houses?  How do you find beauty?

deviantART is not a porn site!

Like most places on the internet, it was no surprise to me that the majority of the active participants are hormone addled males.  A quick browse searching for popular photographs of the day says everything there is to say, really.  Truly, the amount of really bad erotic photography on deviantART is astounding (possibly not safe for work).  And yet, it is praised beyond all other styles of photography.

Grumble, grumble.

Breasts are a great feature to have - seriously.  Let me list what happens to me as a result of my breast shortcomings:

* I can't take a picture of a child without its parents nearby, since they get worried that I'm some sort of child abductor.
* If I take a picture of a girl, I have to tell them first, or else I look like some kind of lecherous freak.
* Guys walk up to me and brag about their camera equipment.  I don't want to hear about it; I think they'd just ignore a female.  Guys tend not to go up to girls and brag about their shit because they know they don't care.

So girls, be thankful for your endowments.

I liked the photo so much in my "True Puppy Love" image that I went and had it printed out.  I stopped by the house where the girl was playing, and one of her housemates said she lives here (but that she wasn't home).  So, I gave him a copy of the print to give to her with my email address written on the back.  I hope she likes it and writes back - she's a total cutie.  

Update: She sent me an email saying that she likes it very much, and that it's adorable.  Making people happy like this makes me think that photography could very well be the best hobby ever.  

Well, I just got my Nikon D70 a couple weeks ago (on March 23rd), so I'm giving myself my own crash course in photography.  So far, I'm having a great time.

My equipment:
- Nikon D70
- Nikkor AF-S 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5
- Nikkor 50mm f/1.8
- Nikkon 70-210 f/4.0 (circa 1986 - used)
- Accessories (UV filters, step-up rings, and a circular polarizing filter).

I've also picked up a few books on both technique and artistry ("Learning to See Creatively" by Bryan Peterson and "The Joy of Photography" by Kodak being two of the better ones).  I'm not sure what I want to do - right now I'm trying all sorts of different things.  By far, the hardest is portraits - too close (~120mm) and people get nervous.  Too far, and I feel like a voyeur.  I guess I'll just have to get used to it.

I think I've got a pretty good grasp of f-stops, shutter speeds, ISO ratings, DOF, filters, and what-not.  Flash gives me fits - I can never get it to look right.  But, I don't know if it is me, or the flash unit built into the camera.  Still, I have trouble with simply fill flash.  :/