Error 99ed

The day after the Dallmeyer shoot, my Canon 40D started giving me an "error 99" code when I tried to shoot with it.  On Canon cameras and error 99 is a catch-all error that could mean anything from a bad battery connection to a bad connection with a lens to a loose ribbon cable on the internal circuit board.  I've gotten error 99s at work before, so I started going through all the procedures that usually fix them.

Nothing.

The very first shot that I took with my Canon 40D in December 2009

Then I tried them again, doing a more thorough job.  I cleaned connections and replaced batteries and tested with someone else's battery and reformatted my memory cards and reloaded the firmware.

Nothing.

So I took it to my favorite camera shop, Precision Photo and Video, in Austin.  The tech said that with that kind of an error they usually have to send them off to Canon to have them work on them.  That, along with shipping and any parts and labor usually costs around $400.  Heck, I could've bought a USED 40D that very day for $450.  But I figured that if I was going to spend that much money, I might as well put it towards a brand new camera instead.  So my old trusty 40D went where all good broken cameras go - eBay.

The very last shot that I took with my Canon 40D in March 2012

I was actually surprised how much I got for my non-working (except in Live View) old camera - $270!!!  So between that, some birthday money (thanks, Dad, Janet and Grandma Hagler!) and some freelance money I was able to get a brand new Canon 60D.

I'm going to miss that great old 40D.  We had been through a lot together and I used it to learn quite a bit about photography.  But frankly, after using the 60D at work for awhile I was starting to get frustrated with its limitations.  It was starting to feel its age.  So its demise ended up being a good thing.  An unexpected thing that wasn't budgeted for, but a good thing in the long run.

About 40 days passed between when the 40D died and when I got the 60D - a period of time the length of lent and just about as trying.  It was really weird to not have a camera other than the iPhone to be able to grab when the kids were doing something amazing.  My hand felt empty at family functions and pretty much all spring.  But the time in the wilderness has passed, thankfully.  And I'm grateful that getting a new camera was even an option (and especially grateful to have such an understanding wife who knew that it was a need.)

On to a new exciting chapter in my photographic (and video) journey... with my new 60D in hand!  I can't wait to see what I can do with it and to share those images with you!

Friend Portraits - Mason and Alex (and Austin)

Still needing more practice, another one of our favorite families allowed me to shoot some wildflower shots of their boys.  The boys have a new baby brother, Austin, and the original idea was to do some wildflower portrait shots of the three of them at sunset.  But sometimes things don't go as you planned...  For one, there wasn't much of a sunset that night.  And Austin wasn't feeling well, so we only got a couple of shots with him in it.  But we did get some shots of Mason and Alex that I think really capture their personalities, including one that is going in my portfolio.

Friend Portraits - Kannon

This spring, I decided I needed some practice shooting portraits of people and families and especially kids.  I wanted to practice and experiment using flash to light an outdoor scene in a live portrait situation.  So I enlisted the aid of a couple of friends' and their kids to shoot some location evening shots.

The wildflowers were pretty good this year, so we headed out to a great bluebonnet field to take some shots of Kannon at sunset.

I was having a rough day and my gear was malfunctioning - okay, okay... it was completely amateur user error.  But that's why I was there!

We ended up getting some really nice shots of Kannon and his family.

And as a bonus, I got a really great shot of Kayci at sunset, too...

What Have I Been Doing?

Many of you - family included - have heard either form me or form Kristi how busy I've been lately and that's what has prevented us from coming down for a visit or being able to get together.  April and May (and part of June) is the busiest freelance time of the year there is for me.  I know, I know... everyone's busy. So, what have I been doing, exactly?

I've been shooting a lot of photos and video... and creating an illustration.

The next few posts are intended to catch up a little and show what I've been working on...

Avengers - How it Should Have Ended

Slinky on a treadmill

Not sure how I didn't link to this before, but it's truly epic.

I feel dizaaaaaaaaaaaay!

Ridiculous, Stupid Fast

Ninja Awesomeness

Happy Tuesday, Nin Jas.

Cat on a Leash

Hilarious.

Thanks to Sherri B. for sharing this and to Jolie W. for posting such awesomeness into the world.

A Map from the Past

The past few months I've been working on an illustrated map for an amusement park in Lumberton, Texas called Adventure Kingdom. As part of my pitch to show the owner what I was envisioning, I referenced the old maps that everyone got when they went to Astroworld.  I had one hanging on my wall when I was a kid, so I could see it well in my head.  That made it necessary to find an old Astroworld map so I could show him.

Thankfully, everything is online now and there's Google image search.  It turns out it wasn't too hard to find what I was looking for.

What surprised me was that there were so many maps- one for just about every operating season that the park was open, starting back in the '60s.  I was fascinated to look at the maps in order and watch the park (and illustration style) change before my eyes.  After Six Flags was purchased by Warner Brothers (in the early '90s, I think), the maps (and the park) started getting less and less awesome, so I didn't download any of those.

But I thought I'd share the maps that I did download.  The 1981 season map is the one I had hanging on my wall, so naturally it's one of my favorites.  Here are some more of my favorites:

1969 

1974

1977

1980

The Origin of the Taco

From Smithsonian.com:

The origins of the taco are really unknown. My theory is that it dates from the 18th century and the silver mines in Mexico, because in those mines the word “taco” referred to the little charges they would use to excavate the ore. These were pieces of paper that they would wrap around gunpowder and insert into the holes they carved in the rock face. When you think about it, a chicken taquito with a good hot sauce is really a lot like a stick of dynamite. The first references [to the taco] in any sort of archive or dictionary come from the end of the 19th century. And one of the first types of tacos described is called tacos de minero—miner’s tacos. So the taco is not necessarily this age-old cultural expression; it’s not a food that goes back to time immemorial.

Fascinating article on the origin of a food that I once despised, but now one of only three foods that I could eat almost every day and not get tired of it (pizza and barbecue are the other two.)

I also never knew the origin of Taco Bell.  That alone is worth sharing this article.