I Think I Need Medication...or Some Holiday Cheer!

(Click to Enlarge)

    I was pretty lonely tonight. My wife went with the rest of the family to see my sister in law Shelly in a play at Western Wyoming University. So I had to eat dinner with myself...I even had to play scrabble with myself.  I did win the game at least. The guy I was playing against was a moron. Have you ever seen the show "Multiplicty"? He was as bright as the 4th clone.

     As an effort to cheer myself up I decided to do my own little photo-walking tour of 25th street in Ogden. I started at the Unions Station and worked my way down to Washington Blvd and back.  Here is what I saw...like I said I need medication.

(Click to Enlarge)

       You are probably asking yourself..."What is that?" Well if you were asking...thne you and I have the same question. I saw these on all the old frieght trains at the Union Station. I bet my father in law can tell me what they are.

(Click to Enlarge)

     While strolling along 25th street you pass many antique stores. This one had these awesome looking books. They had great detail and super good leather. The sad part was that no one reads them...what a waste. This is my take on how the books must feel...they are basically wasting away.

(Click to Enlarge)

     These nutcrackers are at the Christmas Village in Ogden. I was really in the mood for Christmas stuff and these guys were a small glimps. Most of the other displays had sheets covering the inside so you could not see anything. These guys gave me a small Chritsmas glimps.

(Click to Enlarge)

     Some people hate piegons..I don't though. I think they are pretty cool. I thought that where this one was looked cool in relation to the lines and tree.

(Click to Enlarge)

     Again you are likely wanting to know what this is..and why I took a picture of it. Well ...This is one of the pumps and a blower to the fountain in front of the Union Station. I took this picture because I like to photograph thinsg that most people overlook. My intetion was to make this look like something you would see in a music video for the band "Tool". Although I used to really like "Tool",  one day I listened to their lyrics closly and realized how different their spiritual views were to mine....so I stopped listening. However I do remember their very unique and strange videos.

(Click to Enlarge)

     I am still trying to find people to let me take pictures of their horses. I have a few relatives who have given me the go ahead, but I haven't mad arrangments yet...So I am still taking photos over fences. These gys are in Huntsville.

(Click to Enlarge)

     My composition sucks on this one...but I still liked it because it was a horse. I am sure it would not win any awards, but I liked it...and that is the only person I do photography for.

(Click to Enlarge)

     Lastly, here is yet another over the fence horse picture. I really like to take horse photos, but I have been very limited in what type of shots I can get. I hope that by this time next year I can have 5-6 really good horse photos. I will likely take a few thousand....it's a numbers game when you lack skill. You take a bunch and get lucky...then years later, you take much less and are simply good. I am still in the high numbers stage of my journey.

     Anyway, I know some of the stuff I show on here is weird, but it's just my way of manipulating things. I try to make things we see all the time look like we have never seen them before. I also don't get many volunteers for portraits, maternity, seniors or family photos or if they do say they want some, they never schedule a time with me; so I just take photos of whatever. I then try to do as many different things as I can. I also try to envision the final image before I shoot the see how close I can get to that vision. I can do regular people photos too. I of course am not a professional, but neither are 99% of the people charging and claiming to be. At least with me...if you don't like your photos, you're not out any cash, only I am.

Best Wishes,

Josh Ashdown

The Wannabe Photographer

A True Home Defense System....."Break in I Dare You!"

(Click to Enlarge)

     Well my weekend went by very quickly...now I start my work week. Since I work Saturday through Tuesday I get to miss all the real weekend fun.

     Over the past couple of days I was able to take photos a few times. Once at an old building and another with a Police dog.  Yep the dog above is the one I am refering to....(For those who understand....I took the dog photos with my fixed 50mm. For those who don't know...that means I was probably too close!)

     The dog above is named "Kourt" he's two and a half years old and is either looking like the spawn of Satan or Man's best friend. I thought I would show you a few versions of the more intimidating side.

(Click to Enlarge)

     Contrary to popular belief, it is very hard to get a dog to bite...and bite hard. Most dogs nip at best.  This is why simply having a dog in your home does not keep out all burglars. In addition it's even harder to get a dog to bite on command, release on command or do what is refered to as "Bark & Hold" which is simply a show of force.

(Click to Enlarge)

     Police K9's are constantly in training. They spend hours every single week going over and over what they are trained to do. To the dog this is a big game...to a criminal it's a pain with a capital "P". I have seen many times when there are several police trying to tell a suspect what to do and they won't listen. The a K9 Officer shows up and the dog starts barking....often times the sound of the dog is more scary then the yelling police officers.

(Click to Enlarge)

     Now that I have shown you a few mean photos...I will show you that the dogs can be nice as well. You see they are still dogs, but Police dogs are picked based of an ability to be aggressive. Most dogs are not aggressive and intellegent enough to be polcie K9's.

(Click to Enlarge)

     Kourt here can be friendly, but may be a bit too aggresive for being around kids. Some Police K9's are able to be around kids...but many are not much for family pets.

(Click to Enlarge)

     While taking this photo I started to think I was about to be lunch. Behind me was a guy in a "Bite Suit" He was there to get the dog to come straight at me....the he was supposed to move. I guess he waited a bit longer than he should have because Kourt looked like he was keying in on me...in fact he brushed right next to me as he passed. I saw in his eyes righ before he got to me that he changed his mind and went for bite suit. I am very glad he changed his mind.

(Click to Enlarge)

     During this shoot I had a brain laps and left my extra memory cards on the desk. So I only had one card to use. I would have liked to get more shots, but I was short on memory. I did get a few that I liked including about 8-10 more not shown here. I just quickly processed these to give some samples to Corey the handler.

(Click to Enlarge)

   

     I know you didn't think I would leave you without some weird random photo. Of course you didn't; that's why this photo should not be a surprise.

     This is an old building I stumbled across the other day. I am not sure what it used to be, but something tells me it was a school. The building and land are for sale, and there was a sign in front with an agent's number. I decided to call and ask to speak with the owner in order to get permission to take some photos. Luckily for me the owner is also the agent. He was nice enough to let me go on his property and take some photos. I also made arrangements to come back another day and take photos of the inside. Although it is wide open, it was cloudy and very dark inside. So I just took some from the outside.

     This leads me to my quick soap box. I will rant briefly, then get of the box. Sorry to be a jerk, but just like everyone else I have opinions too. So, without further yapping here is my complaint.

     I see photographers posting pictures all of the time that they took on private property.  I also happen to know that many of theses places they trespass on do not allow photography. I know because I actually ask permisson instead of asking forgiveness. I never ever take photos on property that I have not been given permission to be on. I think that when you take pictures and disregard private property and posted no trespassing signs you give all photographers a bad name. So, I urge other photographers to stop trespassig and get permission. if you don't have permission, then go somewhere else. I know that is a pain, but it's the right thing to do.

     For expample; I know of a house that has a tree covered with old licene plates. It is very cool and I want to take photos of it. I could simply get out of my car, walk up onto the egde of their lawn, snap a few shots and be gone before they could say anything. However, I have been trying to get permission. I have stopped by twice and knocked on their door. Both times no one was home....so I did not take the photos...and I won't if I don't get permission.

     Anway, all I am saying is "Stop Trespassing"  Just because it looks cool, and you could hop the fence and take a few shots doesn't mean you should.

Best Wishes,

Josh Ashdown

The Wananbe Photographer