Upside Down

Down the street from my house there used to be an apartment complex in the shape of a square enclosing an average size pool in the middle. These burned down a few years ago and they were completely torn down living just the bare concrete foundation and the pool in the middle. Since this area has been left abandoned since, my brother has turned the space into his own little skate park. It works well because there are multiple levels of foundation and most of the concrete is smooth and flat. My brother and I were at the burned down apartments so I could take pictures of him skating. He skated for awhile and then went and sat my the edge of the "pool". I use pool lightly because it's basically just a hollowed out rectangle decorated with graffiti and the remnants of the water that used to fill it. The water is really dirty and swamp looking- awful for swimming but great for photography. Since the water was so dirty I was able to photography my brothers reflection. The photo above is the reflection of my brother. I edited the photo in Lightroom adjusting the clarity and saturation and rotating the image so that it looks like I took it from underwater. Also my brother had thrown a rock in the water right before I took this creating a cool fun house affect on his reflection. Look closely at his head and you can see it. My favorite part of this photo are the specs in the water that transformed into shooting stars when I rotated the image.

If you want to check this photo out in a larger size click here!

Americans Have Too Much Stuff

I was flipping through channels earlier and came across a show called Hoarders. It's about people who are chronic dis-organizers and have a problem throwing things away thus their homes are filled with mountainous heaps of trash and a multitude of other useless junk. These people are living in a ravenous sea of clutter. A sea whose waves are growing larger by the day with every new piece of rubbish they bring into their homes. The floors have not been seen in years and some rooms have completely been closed off because they are completely incapable of being used. How does this happen? How do people accumulate so much that they have to devote entire rooms to their garbage?

It's sad truly sad. How you live affects your lifestyle. Sound like an obvious statement but it's something most people don't understand. If you live in a messy environment then other areas of your life are going to be messy. This works the other way around too. Haven't you ever noticed that those people who keep a clean appearance physically and in their homes are also organized, punctual, and productive? It's true. How you live affects all aspects of your life. These people had let their lifestyle take over and destroy their lives.

How do they gain back control? Get rid of the trash! A simple task yet to hoarders it seems impossible. This woman on the show had to work up the courage all day before she was able to part with a disgusting looking over sized teddy bear that she couldn't even remember where she has gotten it from.

10 Reasons Why Flickr Is Awesome

Why Flickr is Awesome:

1. Outstanding Community
2. Allows you to add contacts and find your friends
3. Allows comments and notes to photos
4. You can favorite photos
5. You can tag photos and add people to photos
6. Extremely easy and user friendly sign-up
7. Allows you to add your photos to groups (up to 10 if you have a free account and 60 with a pro account.
8. Partners with Picnik for easy editing
9. Pro Account is only $24.95 for a year which includes limitless uploads
10. Ads are easy on the eyes and non-existent with a pro account

I've been using Flickr since August 2009 and upgraded to a pro account last month!