Photography resolutions

While I am very aware that new years resolutions are often abandoned soon after february hits that doesn't mean they are a bad thing. They are goals and everyone needs goals. They give us direction and keep us dreaming. I think I will change things up a bit and focus mine to my photography resolutions this year and post them here so I can check my progress.

Here goes:
1. Shoot more often. This is first and foremost.

2. Shoot for fun much more often. I went looong spells this year without touching my camera between paid gigs. That was never my intention in this venture.

3. Network more. I need to be around, feed off of, get ideas from, and share my ideas with people who dig photography as well. I have some ideas in this space.

4. Get on the other side of the camera. This sill probably be pretty easy with my own wedding approaching.

5. Take better care of this site. I am MONTHS behind on updating my galleries on here and I got 'too busy' to post on the blog at the end of the year.

6. FOCUS! I am easily distracted and have a lot going on sometimes. There are no good excuses for not doing something you love.

7. Find a voice for this blog. No, not a narrator, but a point of view. Sometimes I am hesitant to post personal stories on here in fear that it will confuse people who view this site looking to hire me. I think it is important to hire a person, or people...not a business, so I want people to know who I am. I read somewhere once that it was a poor idea to mention photography as a hobby or side gig because it makes you seem like it's not your main focus. IT'S NOT MY MAIN FOCUS! It would be lying to say otherwise. I am proud to be a teacher and enjoy photography as well. That's how it is.

8. Teach more (photography, that is). I won't be teaching the photography summer school course I have the past few summers and have been meaning to give pam some lessons. I've also been considering talking to some folks in similar shoes as myself and maybe hosting some photowalks- anyone interested in attending?

9. Get new business cards. This has been on my to do list for some time so I thought I'd add it here.

10. Donate my time. I'd like to find more time to give.

11. Keep having fun. That's the point of it all, right?

See you all soon, folks.

my summer in pictures.

I decided that my last post of the summer should be a little recap of my summer.   Meetings start tomorrow, school starts in a week, and today is my last day of summer.... in a manner of speaking.  i shot this recap completely on my phone.    enjoy..... i know i did.

 stayed up late... usually too late

 

planned on building a deck (haven't yet) 

  

 went to a few concerts...... this is from weezer (great show)

went to MASC (see here) and admired these duckcakes that pam made. 

 

went to milwaukee with some friends for a bachelor party..... congrats seth (left)

 this is vladimir putin, on a horse.... inside joke.

 on our milwaukee trip we saw a father son star trek pair.   nice.

 

i also found a souvenir jersey for my jesus bobblehead.

 

i taught summerschool and watched some world cup.  zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

 

i went to plenty of royals games. 

 

 

 celebrated fourth of july....and ate PLENTY of good food.

 

helped pam find a new couch

 

witnessed some awkward toilet situations

 

 brenna got settled in to her new locale 

 

found this at Target.   weird. 

did plenty of yard work with only few casualties  

 

 saw seth and angie get hitched

 

'played' plenty of foursquare

 

suffered thru the heatwave (noticed the bottom left number)

 

 went to memphis and had even more good food.   above and below. 

 pam and i found a HUGE rocking chair.

 it rained for about a month straight..... which has been forgotten due to the terrible heat.

 enjoyed some more good food and have been trying to do so with some better decisions.

moved pam to Liberty!

 pam's new apartment.

another concert (old 97s) 

more royals games

survived a stick-up by Pam's mom.   (in retrospect, those may have been fakes)

 more heat.

got my backyard  looking much better.... there was once quite a brush pile.  still need to rig up a shed door.

the end.

Tomorrow starts year 5 of teaching for me.   I am sure that there will be another update when students come and the year actually starts.... but for now I just needed to say, "so long, sweet summer." 

MASC 2010

MASC is the Missouri Association of Student Councils and has bee a part of my life since i was in high school.   As a student i attended their summer leadership workshop (located in Fulton, MO on the William Woods University campus and often just called MASC) a few times, attended State and District conventions and stayed in touch with the people i met along the way.   

I have since then become a teacher, started working with student councils as an advisor, and gone back to attend MASC as an adult.   It is wild to be a peer with people i looked up to in high school but it is great to be able to give back and make this experience happen for others.    Below are some photos from the past week that i spent at MASC (my 7th summer there total).

 

 These are the people, like me, who have come thru this program and have returned to work as an adult.  Some of the best folks around.

 

 This is a photo of the group i was with this summer.   council k.  

 some enthusiasm during down time.

 our version of the show 'wild and crazy kids'.    the MASC olympics.   great team-building.

 council k in their warpaint.... ready for the olympics

 high school students from around missouri

the duck.... mascot for MASC.   This photo is at the end of the 'duck race.'   'buy a duck for a buck' to help support Special Olympics.

It sounds cliche but MASC really is a place like no other.  If you have attended then you probably get what i am saying a bit.   If you have never been I will try to explain.    Take 500 kids and send them somewhere where they can have fun, learn about leadership and hopefully better themselves.  This is a good start.  Then you divide them up into groups where they will likely know no one and make them meet some new friends.   Then put these groups through a series of activities that will slowly build them into a team.   Do all these things on a college campus and put a big emphasis on personal leadership and respect.  Encourage males to be gentlemen and treat ladies as they should be treated and encourage the ladies to earn and deserve this respect.   I am not sure exactly how it works out so well but it does.   It becomes a little week long utopia where people are kind to each other and it makes people wish that the 'real world' could be this way.   Maybe it can.... but we have a lot of work to do.  "Start small but start now"

for bunches of photos try my flickr feed or facebook album