Travelers log

2009-12-04T16:30:00.000-08:00

Today was filled with dogs, bushes and mud... sometimes all three at the same time. I'm not afraid of dogs, but I'm always cautious of them. When you've had as many run ins as me, you learn to know which ones are okay to approach, and which ones are Cujo in disguise. This, for example, was one such unapproachable one:

These are the worst. They look friendly, they act friendly.... until you get within gnawing range. we almost got eaten by that one. These two were good ones. They didn't even care that we were in their yard. The smaller one did reach in my bag and take my dog treats though...

Quoto

2009-12-02T18:10:00.000-08:00

He knows when you're happy
He knows when you're comfortable
He knows when you're confident
And he always knows when you have carrots.
~Author Unknown

Foggy afternoons

2009-12-02T12:05:00.000-08:00

I got the day off today due to rain... rain that never really came. I don't like missing days of work but it did give me time to shoot more. I shied away from most of the rivers seeing as the rain has raised water levels and made them muddy.

Quoto

2009-11-30T17:30:00.001-08:00

Photo & Quote

"If you see a snake, kill it. Don't appoint a committee on snakes."

-- H. Ross Perot

Bama

2009-11-30T16:30:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I've written here (it's been a while since I traveled!) but I'm back on the road! A year off, a beautiful wife, a misdemeanor conviction, two lame jobs (one lost to the misdemeanor), and now I'm back! Kickin' it in Trussville Alabama. (It's a suburb of Birmingham.) So kick back, check out the photos and lets take a ride.

First off, let me tell you, being married is great! I have a gorgeous lady named Ashley at my side through all the stupid things I do (sometimes the stupid things are egged on by her). She's my best friend and the person I trust most. I love her to death.

This photo is by a great friend of mine and an even greater photographer, Shanna. Check her out. It's worth it. It trumps my stuff, but gives me something to shoot for.

This is an old watermill I found on Mill Creek. The wheel was broken apart, the gears to it were sitting, rusted, about a hundred feet away and water is starting to seep under the building.

Cahaba River

Upriver from the previous shot, right before it goes through two square tubes under a bridge.

This was fantastic. To the left is a hilly horse pasture, to the right, a three story plantation style house. The drive up to the house takes you down a blacktop road between two white fenced pastures up a hill and past a light blue four horse stable.

Stay tuned for more. I think I'm going to start posting a lot of images on here again let me know what you think.

Brian

yay!

2008-10-23T19:23:00.000-07:00

The road I'm on. Actually this weekend I'll be on the road a lot! My fiance (most amazing ever!) is coming out to get me. I quit the job I'm currently at. It's a good job. If you're single and have nothing holding you somewhere. I'd rather be with my friends and family and have fun with my life. I knew UPA was temporary anyways. So I'm moving to Powell, WY. I already have a house and everything! I'll keep you posted.

The bottom of my river

2008-09-25T19:57:00.000-07:00

I can't concentrate. Things are moving so fast and I have so much to do and things are piling up on top of me and i can't seem to get clear of any of it. I try to formulate thoughts but all I can see is EVERYTHING all at once. It floods my mind like dirty waters, carrying rocks that haven't been tumbled over each other long enough to lose their sharp corners and trees with scathing branches and snags that tear at the river bottom of my sanity. Turning, tumbling idea-rocks poke holes in my reality allowing my concentration to seep out of the holes as trees that used to hold my thought processes scathe and scar my emotions while tearing themselves apart leaving me.... thoughtless. So much going on and I'm... nothing. Not a depressed "devil-may-care" nothing, just, nothing. Like I just sat on the side of the river and watched as it all washed downstream and skipped rocks over the slow current of my mind washing away creating dimples in the stream that grow into rippling spirals. Hopefully they'll continue to grow into new ideas and new streams of thought... I'm going shooting this weekend. I'll let you know how it goes.

A few thoughts

2008-09-22T20:11:00.000-07:00

I hate being in the middle of things. I hate having two people pushing from either side and I get stuck in the middle. I hate when crap happens to good people and makes life difficult. I hate those decisions that have to be made that are the most difficult because they hurt someone. I hate lies.

2008-09-21T20:00:00.000-07:00

Okay so I really have been shooting, and I had a bunch of past stuff to post here but I recently traded computers and I don't have a card reader here either... so yeah it'll be about a month before I can get some new stuff posted on here. Very sorry about that!

Somebody's Superman

2008-08-17T19:26:00.000-07:00

It was a thought I had today. I have a superman shirt and I get people talking to me about it all the time and I got to thinking, I'm someone's Superman.

Since conception in 1932, S was an iconic hero for the time, he was pure, clean cut, honest, the epitamy of a "good guy". People looked up to him; even people who didn't like him looked up to him, respected him. Or at least some of his qualities.

Now look at your own life and the people that inhabit your world. Even if you're not an upstanding do-gooder with a 40's comb over, you can still be somebody's Superman.

Married!?

2008-08-15T20:39:00.000-07:00

Okay, I'm sick of this. I keep catching crap because apparently I'm not old enough to get married. The low down: I'm 22, Ash is 18. Yes, we're four years apart. No, we don't think it's a problem, I'm immature as it is so we're actually equal age as far as I'm concerned.

Yes, we may be young, and naive. But I don't think we're too young. I love Ashley with all my heart. She's my best friend, my reason for getting out of bed. We're compatible, we're both fairly understanding, and have the personality that sees life from a different perspective as most. So before you start spurting statistics about how young marriages end in divorce, realize that you don't know me. You don't know the relationship we have, that's between me and her. We're both in it for the long run.

So stop giving me crap people, because I know. I KNOW that both of us will do anything to keep this relationship together. And the funny thing is... it hasn't been that hard yet. For over a year we haven't had any big arguments, no fights that weren't made up within 24 hours. We have our disagreements and problems; but we understand that we will, and keep that in mind. So stop judging me and my relationship. Be supportive please, because not one of you has enough sway in my life to change my mind. I'm marrying this beautiful woman wether you want me to or not. Deal with it.

Engaged!

2008-08-11T20:31:00.000-07:00

Engagement and wedding ring.

Also for all of you first timers or virgin eyes to the BS I randomly put down on screen and you inevitably end up reading, I'm engaged. To the most beautiful lady in the world. Obviously she is, because she's with me. ;) The wedding's set for June 20, 2009 currently, and from the look of it that date'll hold. She's everything to me, the reason I pick up a camera and can still see beauty in the world.

Atlantic Coast

2008-08-11T20:18:00.000-07:00

So I made it to Charleston before once again leaving South Carolina; and I've got to say if you get a chance head out there and check it out. This'll be a short post, I had to drive here at midnight Sunday and just worked a twelve hour week so needless to say I'm a little tired.

Oh, and I forgot to tell you where here is! I'm now in Des Moines, IA. A seventeen hour drive from Columbia, SC if you didn't know. ;) I know, I know, "... what's in Iowa?". That's exactly what I said; but the company put us up at a nice hotel and it's on a ritzy strip (or as ritzy as it can get...) so it'll be an intertaining two weeks at least. Oh yeah, and I move again in a few weeks! only this time it's just a two hour drive up north. Hopefully I'll get some shooting in around here. Also hopefully I'll get some more photos up! For now if you want to see some of my past work in a sort of rough form check out my photobucket. That's it for now. Peace.

Brian

Getting started

2008-08-03T17:11:00.000-07:00

Okay, so in all actuality I'm not just getting started, but have been meandering around the US for seven months now. Here's a rundown: I'm currently in Columbia, South Carolina, quite a distance from my starting point in Montana. About ninteen hundred miles from home; and yes, I drove here... in two days. However I didn't make this trip exclusively, I've racked up a hefty mileage on company cars headed around MT, SD, ND, WY, and of course, my current SC.

So here's the deal, considering I'm starting this log of my travels a little late, I'll slowly bring you up to speed, where I've been, what I've photographed, etc. while still keeping up with the current vibe.

The main reason for this is not solely for your benifit, nor is it to stroke my ego, but more importantly for me, it's a journal, a way of laying out what I do, who I am, and who I want to become. I believe in minimality; I mean to say, with the world changing as it is and how scarce it is quickly becoming to find something to grab onto, something of importance to you, I find myself being dragged by the undertow of change. Our lives, our society, our existence is becoming based around... nothing. We have nothing to grasp to ground ourselves in reality and therefore are swept away with the flow of societal influences.

So take a moment, stop reading, close down the many windows on your computer, push aside all the folders and shortcuts on your desktop, and stare at your background. Whether it be a palm tree, abstract, the cosmos, even your flat middle tone gray and reach back in your mind and find what makes you happy; what anchors you to your reality.

Relax, tune in all the sounds you hear, the smells you smell, even the feeling of your keyboard as you run your hand across it. Basically, just slow down once in a while. Enjoy life. Don't just wait for tomorrow.

So that's it, this blog is a window to my mind; and, to help you understand it, my photos from time to time so you can see how I see. Hope you enjoy it in the coming days.

Lots of love,

Brian