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This self portrait was taken whilst I was shooting my new rifle, for the first time at my local shooting range. I’m shooting my new Savage Arms, .30-06. What fun it is!

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Here’s a shot of my local range’s rangemaster, whilst he’s working. He works and supervises from the lookout of this raised booth, surrounded by windows.

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So, I took a quick look at everything I shot last year, 2008. The shot above is my favorite, from the whole year. When we went to Washington, DC, THIS was the shot I wanted more than any other photograph. I went away quite satisfied. Below is a nice little slide show, demonstrating those images I selected. What do you think? Comment, away!

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Here I am, reading a short Peanuts comic to my youngest two boys, the Wookiee and the Joker.

This Peanuts book was given to me by my great-grandmother, in 1984.

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This self-portrait, whilst playing my ukulele, serves two purposes. The 2009 Challenge, music topic. The January Challenge, self-portrait project.

I love this sweet uke, but I’m not too good with it. I have new tuning machines and strings that I’ve been meaning to put on it, hopefully that will motivate me to get better.

I’d love to be able to follow along with a worship band, at church. I think it could add a nice touch. Don’t you?

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This morning I thought I’d share with you my daily routine. I get started with a little breakfast and catch up on anything important. I don’t go through all my email, etc, I simply look for anything important. Then, I take a bit to read a little from The Word.

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Hey all, I thought I’d share with you my 10 most viewed photographs, this year. There is some repetition from a few photo shoots, so I’ll omit the slightly similar shots:

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As you celebrate Christmas, tonight, I pray that you are keenly aware of the purpose for this holiday. It’s not about exchanging gifts. It’s not about eating a lot. It’s not about good desserts or strong drinks. It’s about a little baby boy that was born over 2000 years ago. He was born, to die for the wrong things you and I have done.

As I look at these photos of my kids, I can’t help but think about what  Adonai Elohim (The LORD God), aka El Shaddai (All Sufficient God), must have been thinking about his own precious Son. His own Son being sent into this horrible, hateful world, to be assaulted and murdered, on purpose. Just look at this sweet boy, in a green hood, and think if he were your son, “I’ll send him, he will die for them.”

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Over the past year, I’ve grown and learned so much as a photographer. Last year, I just finished my first year photowalking, and I was embarking on the second year as the facilitator of PhotoWalking.org. I had just had a few good months with the a couple of photo challenges, and I launched PhotoChallenge.org.

Through all of this online photography, I’ve met some really great people. Several of whom I’ve had the great pleasure of meeting and getting to know. Many others I have great hopes of getting to meet some day too.

One of those I hope to meet some day is Ann Torrence. Ann is a wonderful photographer from Utah. She joined the many photowalkers and helped launch PhotowalkingUtah. They started with just a few, and quickly launched into the largest and most active photowalking group.

Ann is also working on the finishing touches to a very anticipated photo book, US 89: the Character of the American West. In it, she starts on the US Highway 89, from the US-Mexico border at Nogales, Arizona, just south of Tucson, AZ. She traces US 89 all the way north, through some of the most beautiful states; Arizona, Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana. She ends this journey at the US-Canada border, in the middle of nowhere, adjacent to Glacier National Park. On her page linked above, there’s actually a nice map showing you the path.

Over the past year or so, I’ve kept track of Ann’s progress, getting more and more interested in a similar book of my own. But what would I photograph? Well, when we moved up the coast this past summer, I got my answer. Joining a new community has some exciting challenges. One of which is to see all the wonderful new locations to photograph. Then, it hit me. I’m still on the PCH, California’s famous coastal highway. So, I’m going to photograph from where I grew up, in Ventura County, all the way up to San Luis Obispo County.

The project will be from Pt. Mugu Rock to Morro Rock. I’m calling it, From Rock to Rock, on the PCH. You’ll be able to follow along with me, as I progress through the different areas. What do you think?

I’ve built a basic Google Map, that I’ll be adding to it desired destinations and accomplished locations. It’s just below:

View Larger Map

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Last year for Christmas and Hanukkah gifts we ordered a bunch of little paperback photo books, from Shutterfly. The ordering experience was as expected. They shipped us our order, and everyone seemed to enjoy the gift.

Since I take so many photos of the kids during the year, it only made sense to share it all with the ones we love.

This year I wanted to take it up a notch, and find a publisher who created a book that didn’t feel so cut and paste. It’s not that Shutterfly is a bad quality product, it just felt like a consumer product. I know, I know, I’m a consumer. I get it. However, I just wanted something a bit more.

So, I hit the internets and researched a few of my options. I found what I thought would be a good company, making a decent book, Blurb. I read a few reviews and wasn’t scared off.

Additionally, next year I’ll be embarking on a photography project, photographing Highway 1, from Pt Mugu Rock to Morro Rock. When this project is complete, I hope to have a nice large color book made, displaying all my hard work. This seemed like a great chance to have Blurb audition for my business. They failed, miserably.

I ordered a 40 page, soft covered, 7 x 7 book.

The first problem I saw right away was that the cover photograph I chose was significantly darker than it had been processed. Then, as I began to turn the pages, I could immediately see the binding separating to the underlying threads, right on past the alleged glue. This spreading was happening just as soon as I turned the page. There are three pages that are spread to the binding.

“What’s the problem? Why not send them back?” Well, these are intended to be gifts THIS WEEKEND! For many family members, this will be the only gift we give them. We CAN’T not show up to a family gathering for Christmas, without gifts. So, we’ve decided to go ahead and give these pieces of crap, as our gift, with the hope that Blurb will rise to the occasion and repair this injustice.

The moment I saw the books, I realized that I would be forced to blog this experience. I also tossed the first one down on the kitchen counter and photographed it a few times. Then, just before uploading them to Flickr, I realized that these are still going to be gifts! So I quickly marked the photos as “hidden”, and uploaded them. I’ll add them to this post, after Sunday evening. Come back and see what junk they really are.

****Edit****

So, upon closer inspection, only one of the books is really so poor that it can’t be given as a gift. The others are clearly a better constructed book. Additionally, my whining was picked up by Blurb, and they offered to reprint/reship as many replacements as I need. That’s happening right now.

Since today I’ve given the first few as gifts, and the remaining folks won’t be reading this, I’ll post the photos below. Enjoy!

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With our economy in the ropes, are there people in your life with real, genuine needs? Do you know someone who lost their job? Do you know someone preparing to loose their home?

All these people have real, genuine needs.

At this time in their lives, there are a lot of things they DON’T need. However, there are some things they do need. Don’t know what they need? Ask them!

One easy way to find out who has real, genuine needs is to ask someone else who might know. Be careful to stay clear of the gossip channels, though.

I’d suggest you ask your pastor. That’s a good person to be in the know about those who have real, genuine needs, this Christmas season. He can tell you who recently lost their job. He can tell you who’s about to loose their home.

Now, there’s a good chance that he won’t just give you their name(s). In fact, that’s probably a real good thing. So, just ask him to give you some stats about the family in need. Then, head down to a decen local store, like Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Lowe’s, or Sears for a gift card.

However, in times like this, there are great gift ideas that are a must. When the family budget gets smaller and smaller, the family eats out less and it’s important to carefully manage the food cooked at home. That’s when having the right kitchen tools can really help the family.

I’d suggest you look at a few items. Here’s an example:

• Hamilton Beach 4 qt. Oval Slow Cooker (item# 00814133000)
• Euro-Pro Convection Pizza Oven (item# 00848626000)
  

Additionally, items for repair around the house can be of great value. There may be less trips to the mechanic for the family car(s), and/or less call outs for repairmen. So, a decent set of tools can be valuable.

• Craftsman 154 pc. Mechanics Tool Set (item# 00935154000)
  

All these ideas are less then $100. That’s what’s so cool. You can really help a family in need, without breaking your own bank.

If I had $100 to spend on helping out someone or some family, these are the kinds of things I’d consider. How about you?

This idea came to me, from a blogpal, BenSpark. BenSpark Grants a Wish is his post, about doing quite a similar thing. He’s running a contest on his blog, so go check it out!

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