Happy New Year!

[ForeverAutumn]

What are your plans for New Years Eve? Do you go all out for the nice evening out at an expensive restaurant? Or are you more the quiet evening at home kind?

We'll be sharing the evening with some good friends as we've done for the last three years. Each year we rotate whose house its at. This year its NOT at ours (pro: I don't have to clean. con: I'm the designated driver). We'll be going over to a friends house for way too much food, drink (except for me) and laughter. On New Years Day we'll sleep in and then head over to my Mom's house for lunch with my family. I'm looking forward to it, but I'm getting tired just thinking about it.

[Rich-n-Texas]

I didn't know Canadians celebrated New Years. I always thought it was just another stunt by greedy corporate America to dupe the mindless consumer out of his/her hard-earned money.

(ResidentLoser would be proud of me for this post)

[GMichael]

Are you two on speaking terms again? How nice.

We're having a couple of friends over for a night of music, pool, movies &/or video games.

[ForeverAutumn]

Are you two on speaking terms again? How nice.

It's a Christmas miracle!

[basite]

probably some friends coming by, and family, and watch the fireworks in town and such...

and when we're all back here on AR we'll celebrate my 2k posts of course

Keep them spinning,
Bert.

[Rich-n-Texas]

Congrats Berts! 2K quality posts.

And... Do "metal dome" tweeters qualify as "soft material" or "hard material"?

[JSE]

Texas Hill Country as usual for us. Should be leaving in a couple of hours for a long weekend. We have friends that come out and see us and we usually make a big steak dinner and lots of wine, beer and of course magaritas! The rest of the time we do some hiking, shopping (ick!) and for me, a lot of photography when I can get it in.

[ForeverAutumn]

Texas Hill Country as usual for us. Should be leaving in a couple of hours for a long weekend. We have friends that come out and see us and we usually make a big steak dinner and lots of wine, beer and of course magaritas! The rest of the time we do some hiking, shopping (ick!) and for me, a lot of photography when I can get it in.

Hey JSE, how was your trip to Victoria? You promised to post some pics! Did you see any whales?

[ForeverAutumn]

and when we're all back here on AR we'll celebrate my 2k posts of course

Congrats on the 2000 posts Bert!

[Rich-n-Texas]

Hey JSE, how was your trip to Victoria? You promised to post some pics! Did you see any whales?

Oh, I thought he was in bed with a Shinner Bock hangover all this time. What do I know.

[JSE]

Hey JSE, how was your trip to Victoria? You promised to post some pics! Did you see any whales?

Hey FA,

Victoria was very nice and Vancouver Island was amazing. The highlight of the trip for me was Olympic National Park. Words cannot even describe how impressive it was. So much so, the wife and I have been seriously thinking about moving to that part of the country. Sounds corny but the trip really had an impact on our outlook on life and what's important. It's not all about money! I have been to some pretty amazing places in my life and have seen alot so far, but something about the NW really stuck with us. I have lived in Houston my entire life and I'm kindof getting sick of it. We need a change. We had always though about moving but never knew exactly where. I think we found our "where".

Anyway, I forgot to post some photos. Been busy. So here you go! These are my informal images. I still have quite a few of my "select" images that I am still working on. I don't post these on Flickr due to theft. These are just a lot of the fun informal grap shots. I hope to get a website up soon with my other work. Just have not had time. Another reason for a change!

Vancouver Island,
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jse-ima...7602595958968/

4 Wheelin' on Vancouver Island
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jse-ima...7602684706645/

Olympic
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jse-ima...7602819295174/

Experience Music Project
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jse-ima...7602922630406/

Seattle
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jse-ima...7602608427564/

[ForeverAutumn]

Wow! Those are great pics. Looks like you had a wonderful time. A few comments and questions...

I love the black and whites. Not enough people use black and white anymore (myself included).

It was very brave of someone to allow the squirrel to climb his leg.

There is a picture from Olympic National Park that had a kind of purple hue to it. It looked like a gravel bar in water with two big rocks to the right and an island in the centre. Did you use a filter for that? There are three pictures of the same site but one in particular has the depth of a slide.

What kind of camera are you using?

Cheers!

[JSE]

Wow! Those are great pics. Looks like you had a wonderful time. A few comments and questions...

I love the black and whites. Not enough people use black and white anymore (myself included).

It was very brave of someone to allow the squirrel to climb his leg.

There is a picture from Olympic National Park that had a kind of purple hue to it. It looked like a gravel bar in water with two big rocks to the right and an island in the centre. Did you use a filter for that? There are three pictures of the same site but one in particular has the depth of a slide.

What kind of camera are you using?

Cheers!

Black and White is my preferred format. B&W used to account for about 99% of my work but with digital, color had really been fun to rediscover. I still get into the darkroom from time to time but it's the exception these days.

The shot(s) you mentioned are all the same image that has been cropped and adjusted. It was shot in RAW format and tweaked a bit. The purple tint was actually pretty close to the actual color that day believe it or not. I altered the white balance a bit to give it some pop. This image was shot on a Nikon D80 and I think a Tokina 12-24 lens. I bought the D80 about a year ago for a small, light, feature rich camera for travelling. As I get older, lugging around medium format equipment and "pro" level SLR/DLSRs on vacations gets to be a real pain. Pun intended!

[bobsticks]

Beautiful pics.

The plans for New Years are still under negotiation. My current girlfriend is in college and, to her credit, spends a lot of time studying. I could easily be happy with a quiet night at the homestead but if she wants to trip the light fantastic I won't fight too hard. My hope is to meet in the middle and enjoy a nice dinner out and be in before the weekend warriors hit the streets.

BTW, congrats on the 2000th, Bert.


Peace to all and be safe

[audio amateur]

Nice pictures indeed.

This year me an my buddies from high school have decided to rent out a room for the night. We've planned about 80 people, mostly friends that graduated with us. Planned are light snacks & infinite amounts of cocktails hopefully some girls to shag and if not just a good party time with my ol' buddies. Possibly fireworks aswell.

We've decided to rent a PA rig, we'll see how it fairs. I was afraid that my current HT setup and my friends' rig would not do the job in a bigger room like this. My friend and I are still looking for the ultimate midnight tune that will get the party started
Last years was rock this party by Bob Sinclar, it did pretty well

But before I go out i'll surely be having a civilized 'apperitif' with my most of the time dispersed family. It's good to be back together a couple times a year.
Happy new year to all

[Bernd]

Great photos. Thanks for sharing those. Takes me right back. We have family on Salt Spring Island and this part of the world is just beautiful. I never want to come home from when I visit. Did some Humpback Whale watching there. Trully amazing.
Still waiting to spot the one we have adopted.
New Years eve will just be me, Susan and our four legged friends. After all the x-mas madness a quiet reflective night is called for. I saved a fine bottle of red and we will be enjoying that with some baked Seabass, grilled mushroom risotto and chili salsa. And be thankful for all the good things that come our way.

Have a great 2008.

Peace