So - Life has kept me from keeping up with my comments and notes as of late, I apologize to everyone who was waiting for some sort of approval to use my stock.

So - new rules!

1)  You can use my stock for anything you want, no questions asked.  Please credit me if feasible, and do not claim my photos as yours.

2)  If you use my stock, please leave a comment on the image - preferably linking to where you used it - I like to see how people use my photos.

Thanks!

Get it?  That's a double entendre..

I have had a number of people ask about stock usage policy - and I thought that it was more explicitly defined by deviantart.  It's not as strong as I thought - so here's my preferred model:

1)  You are free to use my stock for any non-commercial work posted on deviantart.com without obtaining my prior consent.  I do request that you
   a) credit me and link to the work (a link to the actual deviation so that people can see how it fits into your deviation - information I am curious about when I look at a photo-manipulation)
   b)  send me a message or leave a comment on my original stock photo so that I can see what you've done with it.  I post these images as stock because I want people to use them, and it makes me feel happy inside to see my art taking on new, often better, life

2)  You can make your deviation a print so long as all the above rules are followed and you do not sell more than a few copies.  Let's say, 3.  

3)  You can make your deviation a print if you feel that you have added considerable artistic value and your work no long resembles mine in an obvious way.  Please request consent before making your deviation a print in this case.  I trust you know what I mean  - I just don't want other people selling my photo with only slight modifications.  That'd be kind of a rip off.

4)  You can use my photos for a school project so long as using a photo from an external source does not violate the terms of the assignment.  Please let me know if you use my stock in this way.

5)  You can use my stock in a piece to be featured outside of the deviantart community if you get my permission before hand.

I'll add and refine this list as I come to a better understanding of what I'm comfortable with, and what I want to empower others to do.  Please make suggestions/ask questions !!!

As you may have noticed (ha!  is anybody watching any more?), my pictures are of higher resolution, lower noise, and wider aspect ratio.  I upgraded to a Canon Digital Rebel xti, and so far it's serving me well.  

And now.. which lens?  Kit lens sucks!  But it was free (I practically stole the camera from circuit city - way, way cheap).

I took my tried and true digital camera with me to Monterey, CA and took some wonderful pictures at Big Sur and Point Lobos.. but I think it's about to give up.  It may be time for a new camera.

I think I'm between a Canon Digital Rebel XTi and a Nikon D40x.  I've been a little tempted by the Canon g9 - but I just don't think I'm going to find a non-SLR with a lens that will keep up with me.. and my lightning photos really want a low-noise sensor.

I'm leaning towards the Canon for the sensor dust feature and the usb time lapse capabilities.. and I guess now I have to start learning about lenses.

Of course, I could just fix my f717's broken power lever and live with the bad connection to the LCD/EVF, limited 5.1 megapixel resolution, and crappy 3-shot burst capabilities... and save a bunch of money.  

I kinda want to take my camera underwater too, but I'm thinking that might have to be a separate purchase.  SLR housings are soooo expensive.

And awesomeness ensues.

Saturday was the process of a feast (gathering, preparing, consuming)...
Nothing like homemade turkey, gravy, fresh steamed vegetables, acorn squash, and rhubarb pie.  Saturday was for smell and taste and touch.

Sunday was another grand adventure in Key Largo - kayaking around rattle snake key and down through the mangrove mazes.  A ray, a sea turtle, and a flock of clumsy cormorants.. sun and water and waves..  Sunday was for sight and sound.

Saturday was a gentle afternoon sail upon Biscayne bay, extending through a city sunset to return...

...and Sunday was a belly full of fresh stew and cornbread and a long sunset evening bike ride through everglades, silhouetted by bright moon and twilight and fireflies - mysterious hungry sounds surrounding.

My kayak rests in my living room awaiting it's next adventure, jealous of my bicycle's most recent exploits.  My car sits parked - eager to flee dangerous city streets for wide-open-adventure.

My life is simple - I feel fulfilled.

Wow.  I hope nobody out there actually cares about me, 'cause I never update my journal.

Back on Sunday I took my kayak up to the Loxahatchee river and went along for a trip with 8 canoes.  The trip master made me sweeper (you know, hang back and make sure nobody is behind you - sweeping the slow pokes along and helping them if they need anything).  This turned out to be a great thing.

While I was waiting for canoes to portage, get dislodged from bad steering decisions, or just drift along at slow canoe speed I was able to fall back or run forward and really take my time with my camera.  I really like the pictures I found - and I want to do this more often.  The Loxahatchee is a beautiful river.

If only I'd remembered a lens cloth and my circular polarizer =/

So sunny!  Ah.. the weather was beautiful.

I spent a week solo exploring the Big Island of Hawaii.  Such a diversely splendid and beautiful place.

I'm still sorting through and picking the best of my over 1000 photos to a smaller group I can show to people.  The island is such a great place.. it smells nice.  It's big.  There are active volcanoes (live lava flowing into the ocean), excellent diving, vast lava deserts, rainforests, pasture, waterfalls.. even some snow!

Anywho.. I'll be posting more photos as time and motivation permits.

In other news, I bought a kayak!  South Florida "winter" is upon us - and it's downright pleasant to be out on the water (so long as the winds aren't too stiff).  Now I just need some sort of water protection system for my camera and I'll be set!

Got my camera back today - the problems it was having were due to the infamous Sony CCD issue.  My camera was not under warranty, but Sony will replace the CCD sensors for any cameras exhibiting the problem for free until 2007.  Cool beans.

I've been doing a lot of kayaking lately (courtesy of meetup.com).  Miami Kayaking and South Florida Kayaking meetup groups.  

May you love in fall!

My camera is over 3 years old now.. I got it a little wet on an everglades adventure, and it's starting to.. act up.  I find the picture it takes are a lot noisier than I'd like, even shooting with fixed ISO, and I find that I'm limited by the shutter speed, lens, and recording speed..

So I guess the questions are:
1)  Should I get another pro-sumer, or should I SLR?  EOS-20D?  Should I think about an underwater housing?
2)  How am I going to pay for this?  It'd be nice to let the hobby pay for itself, ya know?
3)  Maybe I should just lean on my current camera until it really is dead..

<a href=[link]>Smith River Magic was featured as a daily deviation!  When I logged in I thought something was wrong with my account.  SO MANY MESSAGES!  Thanks everyone for your love and support (and Thanks ~gladly for suggesting it)

Even better though, I got promoted at work.  A big promotion.

Ahh... life is grand.

There's really not that much going on.  Slow hurricane season, dry rainy season, etc.

I finally got dive certified! w00t.  Fish are pretty.  The water is unbelievable this time of year.  If I only had a camera I could take down with me.

Check out my scraps, I've been havin' fun

The 2006 Hurricane season has started off with a muffled bang.  Only 5 and a half months more!

Why anybody would live in Florida.. I just don't know.

Now that I own stock (you know, feel like a real adult), I want to go on and on about economic matters.  Like my take on the housing market down here:
1)  Hurricanes.  You can build your place really strong, but your neighbor's house is still going to fragment and spray your house with shrapnel in a major hurricane.  Remember - South Florida hasn't had a major hurricane since Andrew, really.  Katrina and Wilma were cakewalks
2)  Insurance.  All these hurricanes lately and all the fraud that goes on.. your insurance coverage will be crap and your payments will bite into your food budget
3)  The bubble.  The majority of homeowners in south florida could not afford their homes if they needed to buy today.
4)  Traffic/overcrowding.  Have you tried to drive anywhere in Miami lately?  It's not pretty.  

Ultimately, the few businesses we have here that aren't tourism (burger king, etc.) simply won't be able to lure job candidates to the horrible traffic and ridiculous real estate market, especially if we keep getting whacked by hurricanes..

Something has got to give.  500K for a 2 bedroom with a leaky roof just isn't going to work.


Advantages:
It doesn't get cold here, ever.

I have a cool hurricane job in Miami, but a cool weather-service super computer type job has opened up in D.C.  It can pay quite a bit more, but if I stay in Miami I'd probably get to that salary too..  I haven't applied to the D.C. job yet.  I can't decide if I'd take it or not.  Working with hurricanes seems so important as of late, and I've had a lot of fun with all the perks (buying bottled water with a NOAA logo shirt, hanging out with the president a couple of times, listening to cricket matches while waiting for the BBC to interview me, being in the background of Larry King, etc..).  I might have better future career options in D.C., and I'm guaranteed to *eventually* make at least 25 grand more than I'm guaranteed to make if I stay in Miami.  I don't know Spanish - it'd be strange to be able to talk to everyone again.

Things I love about Miami (in no particular order):
1) gets hit by hurricanes
2) constant summer thunderstorms
3) snorkeling
4) everglades

Is living in D.C. better or worse than Miami, or just different?  

*sigh*

racked by indecision!

Wow!  Deviantart has a special message when you have a deviation that has been viewed 1000 times!  Anywho, the lucky deviation is:  [link]
Thanks to everyone who used this deviation as stock (and linked to it!).  I feel so.. encouraged!

DA rox.

Our webmaster left.

So for the entire 2005 Hurricane season, thus far, I've been the man behind the National Hurricane Center's website: [link]
Maybe you've been there?

It's such an honor to have run my favorite website - to learn it inside and out - even if only for one season.  I was acting interim, but my reign comes to an end on October 17th, when the new guy starts.

A few billion hits per storm, hundreds of e-mails per day, and a rickity system of mirrors to take the load.  Ah - what a job.

But man, I hate html.