So for several years now every time I crossed the bridge over the Kaw in North Lawrence, I've noticed The Village Witch, a shop in a small stone building. The stone architecture and big red doors were something I've wanted to photograph every time I passed by in the car. With comfortable temps and a sunny sky, Kaysia joined me this afternoon to go "shoot the witch".

More photos were taken along the way. Click on the photo above to see the rest.

Not since Jessica was only months old have we taken the kids to a professional portrait studio for family photos. And while I'd love to say that is due to my raw skills as a photographer, it has much more to do with the fact that the task of trying to coordinate cooperation and simultaneous smiles out of our kids is something I would not wish on any poor, unsuspecting and underpaid studio photographer. And in that vein, after last night's living room studio session I've decided to post not only the picks, but also a handful of the shots that would have normally landed on the cutting room floor. Click on the photo below for a sample of what I'm talking about.

They might not be your typical family album fodder, but we had a blast during the shoot.

Thanksgiving weekend wound down and we had some dead time on Saturday afternoon. I headed out to find something new in Lawrence to photograph. Came across a cool bridge over the Wakarusa River that I stopped to photograph for awhile. Nothing earth-shattering, but kind of cool.

Picked up a new book recently and it has totally changed the way I organize and maintain my photos:

Went out recently to shoot a few locations I have had my eye on in Lawrence, one of which is an old storage / garage door on Mississippi Street across from the KU football stadium. Like the end result. Very apropos for hippie town.

No time to write anything interesting, but I took some fun photos this weekend at the NCAA Bicycle Race in downtown Lawrence.

Check out the photos here.

So, in the past the challenge for me has been to find the right photo to go with a story I wanted to post. Lately I have wanted to post photos but didn't really have a story to accompany the photo. I've decided to stop trying to cater to both sides. Hence, the photo below without any relevant text. We'll see how long it takes the owner to recognize its origin.

That's right. I'm now officially a photographer for hire...well, I could be a photographer for hire.  Rather, I've got photos that were deemed good enough to sell... for twenty cents each...if anyone really wants to buy them.  Damn, it sounded so much better in my head! 

Truth is, istockphoto.com finally approved my application and now I've got several photos mulling around on their site waiting for the throngs of customers just waiting to snatch up all that talent...or something like that.  so, wish me luck.  I figure it will take just under a half million photos to offset my salary.  (I wonder how many it would take to get me to quit...)
 

So, my new 50mm macro lens arrived Wednesday and I have since then found countless objects lying around the house which are just dying to be photographed.  ...Yes, even Q-tips.

For the curious: macro lenses allow you to place the lens much closer to your subject, capturing far more detail than a standard all-purpose lens.  More samples of my macro experiments are in the Photo Gallery.