Great Pics -Always

I love this picture. It was taken on the bank of the Delaware River during low tide. As you may have guessed the "Always" rock was placed there on purpose in order to create meaning within the scene.

Always can mean a lot of things to a lot of people. This image creates a lot of emotion in me. Among all the random rocks scattered along the beach there lies this one. One rock among thousands that is pointing the way. One rock sending a message that among the chaos is meaning. 

I love this shot so much that I have planned to create similar scenes. Those will be coming soon and I can not wait to share them.

Great Picks - Goodwill Pick

This week's pick is so exciting, I had to make a video about it.




Check out the auctions on ebay right now! This way to my eBay auctions!

The Notebook

Spiral notebook and a Moleskine

I consider myself a creator. I am an artisan, a photographer, a writer and more. My most important tool is not the camera or the paintbrush. It is not clay or a computer. My most important tool that I have is my notebook.

After an idea germinates in my head for the proper amount of time, the first place it finds itself is in a notebook, handwritten. I carry one around everywhere I go because, as any artist will tell you, "you never know when inspiration will strike."

The notebook is a tool used for much more than just jotting down ideas. It also serves a percolator. A place where ideas are expanded. A venue for brainstorming. A place to create.

After years of trying all types of books, I have become very specific about the notebooks I use. Both can be seen in the picture. For the all around planning, brainstorming, and idea growing I use a 6x9 spiral notebook.

For the normal journalling about life I use the smaller Moleskine that you see. Both of these are the perfect size. Large enough to write in while still being small enough to easily handle and carry around with me.

Even if you do not like to create and never consider yourself an artist or writer, carry a notebook anyway. Everywhere you go. You will definitely be surprised with what you come up with and how much better life is with a notebook.

Great Pics - Wood Man

One thing I like to do with photography is create scenes, especially with toys and things that you can find around the house. 

One of the first props I had to buy was this wooden mannequin. He is used by artists to help position people in drawings. I have been directing him in a few of my photo shoots. There is a project I am working on and he worked with me for over a hundred shots. More on that project to come.

Great Picks - Silver Dimes

Actual eBay listing after auction end.

This is a pick that surprisingly enough many people don't even realize could be in their own pockets.

Silver is a valuable commodity. The price of silver has been steadily increasing and more and more people are investing in silver bullion than ever before. The United States Mint used to create most of our coins with silver. Any dime, quarter, or half dollar minted 1964 or before is 90% silver. That means the metal the coins are minted with is worth more than the actual coin. By a lot!

I recently put together a lot of 35 silver dimes all minted 1964 or prior. That is a face value of $3.50. I paid $3.50 to get these dimes. When I sold them for the silver content on eBay, bidding reached $87.59. That is an incredible profit on coins that I picked out of my pocket.

Damn The Man

All of our lives people are told to get an education, find a secure job, and work hard at building a successful career. But all you get from that is becoming overworked and under appreciated. Maybe if you define success as a six day work work and an expendable position in a big corporation, this way of life would be for you.

So you get paid a salary. No matter what you do or how many hours you work, your pay scale is the same. You work harder, the company makes more profit, yet you get paid the same. Maybe you get a quarterly bonus or a measly raise every year, but at least you have a job, right?

A bonus is nothing. It is like tossing a dog a bone. You do it to shut him up and make him behave.

Why is this accepted as the way life should be? Why can't we break away from these chains? What if we did not have to answer to someone that forces us to do things their way and for their gain?

I say no more. We can do things our way for our own gain. Work hard for yourself and no one else. If you want to break away from the norm, you must create streams of income that you control. The harder you work to maintain your income the more cash flow you can create for yourself, not for some company.

My time has come. I am saying "DAMN THE MAN". I am working for my gain.

The "traditional job" is fine for millions of people. But for thousands there is no need for a "traditional job" that makes you miserable every day. Work to live, don't live to work. I can now schedule my work around life instead of being forced to schedule life around work.

And thats the way it should be!

Great Pics - Light Painting

I love light painting with my camera. This picture you see was never touched with Photoshop or any image editing at all. This was done with only the camera and a blue light in a dark room.

For this picture I made the aperture as small as possible to let in very little light and set the shutter speed to bulb mode. That means I push the button to start the exposure and push it again to end it. I used a remote for that. 

When the exposure started I used a blue light to trace my door and my son's chair. Then I ended the exposure and this is the result. I love it. (Obviously my water mark does not appear on the actual picture.)

The only thing I would change, and I can re do this shot anytime as long as it is dark, is that I would add more items with the light. Perhaps create a crowded room. I may need to do that yet.

Great Picks - Chicago LockBack Knife

Chicago Lockback Knife

 This is one of my favorite picks of the year. This little knife was found in a storage unit that was bought at auction.

While digging through any unit, a lot of stuff is tossed in the trash. I was looking through drawers in desks and end tables and most of them were full of junk. It was best to just dump the drawers in the trash and be done with it.

But that is not how I roll. I carefully sift through everything, because gold comes in all sizes. This knife was found in one of those drawers.

Now consider this... after factoring in all of the items from that unit that can be sold and taking into account the price I paid for the unit, this knife cost me less than fifty cents. I did a little research on the knife and decided to list it on eBay with a starting bid of $1.00.

The auction went for seven days and at the end of the week it had about 10 people watching the auction and it ended with 19 bids. Final selling price of the knife was $68.50. That is one hell of a profit margin. This one little knife paid for over a third of the cost of that unit, and I could have easily thrown it in the trash.

The actual eBay listing after close of auction

Choke Bucket

Everyone needs a choke bucket.

In it's most literal form, the choke bucket is the bucket you keep in bed with you when you are sick. The bucket you need because you know, no matter what, you are not making it to the bathroom.

This blog is my choke bucket.

What better place to regurgitate words and thoughts than the Internet? It's what everyone is doing anyway, right? The words spilling into here will not always make sense. They may pertain to an interesting topic. Maybe they will even enlighten someone or spark some thought. But most times, they will not.

So watch out... I think I am about to spew.