Wow...the whole month of May I didn't post. I guess that was due to spending a lot of time in hospitals with my Mom and myself both doing some recovery time. Both of us are doing great though. I haven't been shooting much but I do have a shoot lined up this weekend with a woman from Walnut Creek and hopefully I'll get a chance to use my new wireless strobe transmitter. Should be nice to be unteathered. Other than that the photo show is over, and didn't go as well as I had hoped. I just need to bust out a new project with better photos and more excitement. On with it!

So right now I'm working on a new project as I get ready to show some photos at a local gallery in Lafayette, CA. The new project is photographing people on white. Simple idea which has been done many times before, but its still fun to see what I come up with. I'm doing it mostly to work on my lighting and play with exposure. I'm also going to work on a video to accompany the work so that I can get some more time editing video. Things are tough at the moment with my knee being busted and my life being in a bit of disarray. I'm also working on redefining myself in an artistic way, where my Internet appearance will come off different than my real world appearance. Should be interesting.

PLC

Rocko

Yeah, so I haven't have shit worth of time to get photos edited. I'm behind like mad on all sorts of things like printing up fliers for the show, getting my prints edited for the show...getting my wedding pictures out to my parents. Yikes, I'm going hear it on that one.

So yeah, I hate my job. Its so fucking boring. I need some creativity in my job. Please save me from this environment.

After milling around in Bulawayo for a few days and getting some great photos of the kids from the neighborhood (which might get posted in a later journal), we headed out for the bush in an adventure to go to Hwange Reserve in Western Zimbabwe and then up to Victoria Falls which borders Zambia and Zimbabwe and has a region bordering Botswana. Although we stayed in Zimbabwe, the opportunity to add more visas was there, but it would have been expensive.

Here are some photos from the start of our journey to Hwange and our stay at Ganda Lodge:




Gas was in high demand and short supply.




Coke and carved wood goods were easy to find.




Good advice.




Our welcoming committee at Ganda Lodge.




Wildlife a stones throw away, with no walls or fences seperating you from them.

Well after a day of drinking in the hot African sun, we left Bulawayo for a funeral in the country. We drove a couple hours and stopped along the way to buy Coke at roadside stores and bottle shops. The country side was beautiful and filled with cattle and goats. The only un-domesticated animals we saw on the road trip were baboons.



Roadside bottle store for buying Cokes.



Men riding in a donkey drawn cart.



Here comes the Rooster.



A young boy selling Mangos.

Well the New Year is here. So goodbye to the old and hello to the new. So I was thinking I'd do a year in review for everyone here that doesn't live with me or exist in my head.

January:
Went skiing in Tahoe for my birthday.

February:
Traveled to Yosemite and experienced it with full on snow. It was beautiful!

March:
Had a engagement party for Gina and I.

April:
Dealt with the postponment of my wedding date from July 1. Visited my family in Galveston, TX and saw my brother's new house.

May:
Headed out to Tucson for the 4th Annual White Trash Pool Party. Saw Madonna with my wife in San Jose, and was amazed.

June:
Prepared for summer and dealt with high temperatures.

July:
Traveled to Norway and visited Oslo, Bergen and Fjaerland where we stayed at my relatives hotel.

August:
Traveled to Tucson, AZ for my father's birthday and visited with family and friends.

September:
Stayed at home and tried to re-coup from all my traveling. Enrolled and begun a two month class at UC Berekely on portrait photography.

October:
Headed back out to Tucson, AZ for my friends wedding and I photographed it.

November:
Went to see Robin Williams at Bimbos in San Francisco. It was AMAZING and he was funny as hell. Hosted my first Thanksgiving with my in-laws coming over.

December:
Helped Gina train for her marathon in Hawaii, got my shots for Africa, shopped a LOT, drove to Arizona for Christmas with Gina and her family came out to spend time with my family and finally, I married Gina with snow in the mountains and rain falling down in Tucson, AZ. We drove back New Years Eve and watched the New Year arrive surrounded by our four legged animals, Miles, Scratch and TC! It was a good year!