before and after of my most recent edit. Blogger messed up the "before" picture by smashing it all together... oh well. I think i might have worked too hard on this edit. But I liked how it turned out. First time making edits like this... I'm satisfied.
this is just a random edit I did to a shot of the suspension bridge here at Forest Home. Didn't really like how the original picture turned out, so I took it to photoshop and chopped it up. I have another one that I did that I will post tomorrow. This is my first time doin an edit like this... and I kinda like it.
Im pretty good at takin blownout background pictures of Josh. They work I suppose. This picture was taken on Enoch's Nikon D700 with my 24/70 2.8 lens. This was creeksides highlander games, where they dress up in Scottish garb and do camp games that have a hint of Braveheart in them. I shot the whole event with the 700. It was my first time shooting a whole event in full frame. Its amazing... some day... I'll have a full frame camera...
So this is the new way I am going to do my posts. For now at least. This way you have to anticipate the picture... Till you click on the picture and open the blog... like you just did. So tell me what you think... good idea? bad idea? Its good cuz it requires you to actually click on an entry and look/read... but bad because it looks kinda funny. But a small preview on a picture is somewhat popular with sites... so maybe it will work. give me feedback.
this a awesome little preschooler kid in the kiddie pool. He is pretty intense... well... not "intense"... but more of "in pool" get it? get it? like in tents? oooh man. I definitely have my Dad's sence of humor... good stuff!
I think this is a funny shot that my friend Kyle took this past week. Yeah it was totally set up... but still it cool ha ha. I was told that if you add a little blueish tent to my skin and add some fangs i could resemble an orc. This is what happens when I find random bull horns on the ground. (edits made by Enoch Kim )
Here are 2 random shots of a high school dean from Forest Home so far this summer. I think they are pretty fun shots. I cant believe I have 2 weeks left here. I'm ready for school to start, but I've had a good time building my portfolio. Good stuff.
Got on a mission today and decided to revamp my whole blog... so I did. I like how it turned out... Eventually ill get the Ericmcfarland.com url and link it here... So once i get thins rollin' this blog will be pretty sweet. I'm still tinkering with the html on the page... so not everything is done, but everything major is pretty much finished... enjoy!
And since this is a photoblog (incase you didnt already know) here is a picture i took a while back of my old roomate kyle who for Man Week at CBU grew out a pretty rockin' stache'. Is that how you would spell stache'? Like moustache.. only more slangy. Oh well, works for me.
So this week I am shooting the Family Camp up here at Forest Home and just yesterday I was able to follow around the 5th and 6th grade kids and shoot them. (oh photography puns) I was walking with Tiger (one of the counselors) and a 6th grader at one point and the 6th grader was goin on about how he had already gotten 2 girls numbers yesterday which he added to his contact on his phone and about how he uses AXE body spray as cloonge... which the girls love. (according to him) After he finished all that it processed through my head and a red flag went up. "You have a cell phone?" I asked. "Of course i have a cell phone...I'm twelve!" he answered.
When my kids are that age they are not gettin a cell phone.. and if by chance they do they are gettin the ones that I can program so that it can only receive and dial out numbers certain numbers. I got my first phone in the middle of high school.
Sorry i haven't really given an up to date update from my Russia trip, I've been super busy with my job up here at Forest Home. But here is a good article written about us from the Ministry's website... check it out!
So things have been awesome in Russia so far. We have been here a week and a lot has happened. I only have less than 7 minutes to write everything so I'll do my best. I'm currently writing this from the Hermitage museum on Saturday. The kids that we work with are absolutely amazing and they are connected with us in amazing ways. One boy who is about 17 told me that I was his best friend, that he thought I was cool and that he will always remember me. He came to Russia from the Afghanistan area where his family has absolutely no money for food for him so his time at the halfway home is good for him and he really likes it. He thinks its nice to have food everyday, clean clothes and things like that. He came to Russia to find work but was picked up by the police here and brought to the halfway home. He leaves to go back on Monday. There are many other kids that I can write pages about but i don't have enough time to type about them. I have about 3 minutes which is not nearly enough time. Everything else has been awesome too. I was almost pick pocketed in the metro the first day we got here, but i noticed it and was able to save my wallet and money haha. Also I'm bummed that i forget to get everyone's addresses so i cant send out any postcards :( this also will be the only time i will be able to go online for the entire trip. so hopefully you guys will keep praying for my team for that we work though God and do his will. Thanks !!!
I leave for Russia in less than 24 hours. Im pretty excited/nervous about it since its my first time out of North America. Its going to be amazing though, and i know God is going to work though my team in amazing ways. I know I'm gonna learn a lot from this trip, life is going to be a lot different on the other side of the world. Culture, food, activities, not to mention that Russia get about 3-4 hours or darkness each day this time of year. That will be fun getting used to. This summer should be interesting since I get back form Russia on June 2nd and my photography job up at Forest Home starts a few days after that. I hear jet lag is for pansies anyway, so I'll be good.... I hope.
Anyways this is the blog that I will be updating while I am in Russia,given that we find a internet cafe, that I will try and update at least once a week. So check back often, ill try to write as much as I can with as much detail as I can so you guys can get a good idea of what its like over there. However if by chance I cant get internet access at all while I'm there my team will have updates on this site http://www.calbaptist.edu/spiritual-life/international-service-projects/default2.aspx?id=7372 which will tell you about what all we've done so far. So thanks for reading, please pray for my team as we head into Russia to show people Gods love though our actions.
so i decided to make a new banner for this little blog and realised that i title my blag as a "photoblog" when i havent put any of my pictures up in ages.... so ill get back on that...
also recently ive been reminded on how faithful God is. Ive been stressed with fundraising for my Russia trip in my few weeks so ive been praying about it. Then recently I got enough donations to pay for more than 2/3rds of my trip when like a week ago i had way less than half of it. God has blessed me so much through this and hopefully because of it my team can be a blessing for the people we meet throughout Russia... just as they will be a blessing for us. I am still taking donations though, since i havent raised all of the money yet... so if you or anyone you know would be interesting in donating, let me know. Hopefully I will have internet acess while im in Russia so I can update my blog from there. Thank you guys so mmuch for your prayers for my team this summer, please continue to pray for us while we are in russia so we can handel the culture shock and do Gods work. Thanks guys.
It was three years ago this May that I met the most interesting person. It wasn’t really a formal meeting, more of a familiar feeling during a brief moment that this person and me passed me on the street. I was in a hurry on my way to work at Jerry’s Antique Store when I felt a cool breeze on my face and decided to slow down, relax, and walk for a bit. I decided to sit on a rusty green bench along the sidewalk to people watch for a bit. I wasn’t too fond of my current job, and they haven’t paid me in a few weeks because not too many people want antiques anymore, so it was okay if I was a few minutes late. The few minutes that where spent here many people of all different backgrounds passed me. People watching is something that I love to do in my free time, during this I was able to eves drop on several conversations and heard about a girls new puppy, who she named Hurley, that she had gotten for her birthday a few days ago, then I heard a man briefly speak about his job and how it would help for him to get rich quick. I chuckled to myself when I saw a small lady running after her snow white German Sheppard who had gotten off its leash. Smells from the nearby doughnut factory filled my nose and made my stomach rumble, I decided that on the way to work I would stop by for some freshly baked maple bars. This day seemed pretty normal for me. The sun was shining through a near clear sky, the breeze was gently brushing across my face the birds where chirping and the bees where buzzin. Could life get better? I think not! That’s when this peculiar individual walked past my bench. He was middle aged, a little heavy set and had a small dog on a leash walking next to him. At first glance it seemed normal- just a person walking their dog. But then as this individual got closer, I could see that he was talking… but no one was with him… just his dog. It seemed as if he was talking in first and second person- as if there was another person walking with him engaging in a conversation. As soon as I heard this sentence come out of this stranger’s mouth I knew he was a wacko. “Who the heck are you going to listen to- the voices in you head or your best friend?”
How to get a tattoo, starting from step one. Step 1- Think of the tattoo you want then ask yourself questions about the tattoo like- “what does this tattoo represent?”, “will I like this tattoo when I’m 85?” “is this something I want everyone to see daily?” and “does this tattoo stand for what I believe in?” Many times, people choose tattoos from a quick random impulse and get to live with that super cute dolphin on their neck for the rest of their lives. Don’t be that mistake, don’t be the person that has to wear long sleeves in the summer heat to cover a tattoo you got on a whim when you turned 18. It seems that lots of people tend to forget that tattoos really do last a lifetime. So with that in mind- choose wisely.
Step 2- Find a legit shop. Tattoos aren’t really the kind of thing you want to find a deal on. Chances are, the cheaper the tattoo, the higher you medical bills will be later on in life From what I hear, blood diseases certainly aren’t a walk in the park. So when you hear of free tattoos or hear of someone who will tattoo you out of his RV chances are that it’s a bad idea. Look around the Internet for shop if you have no friends that have tattoos. Once you find one online, look at all the artist’s work and decide if its quality or not. There are a lot of people who can grab a tattoo gun and call themselves tattoo artists, but there are even less who can actually do quality work. No one wants an ugly tattoo for the rest of their lives. Once you find the perfect shop, make sure they use sterile needles for every tattoo. Most shops will have an autoclave, which is a machine that will clean the needles perfectly for every use. Look into this for each shop so you don’t get more than a tattoo that lasts a lifetime.
Step 3. Save money and call ahead to get an appointment. If you find a good artist chances are they can fit you in the day you call. So find a date later in the week/month that will work for you and your artist. Bring enough money for the tattoo AND a tip. Tipping is important so that the artist will be happy working with you and will want to work with you again… and if you are lucky, the artist will see that you tip and may want to give you a discount on another tattoo sometime later.
Once you’ve completed these steps, you should have a rockin’ tattoo that you get to show of to your grandma and other friends! Take care of it daily because like teeth, if you neglect it, it will neglect you… and decide to fade away a look like a really ugly birthmark. Lotion is your best friend. You brush you teeth everyday (hopefully), so use lotion everyday. Welcome to the world of tattoos.
so i discovered Bradley Hathaway back in high school and thought he was a pretty legit guy. He really is, Bradley is pretty much a urban poet that goes around and does his slam poetry inbetween sets at some christian rock shows. His stuff really hits home for a lot of people so you should take 3 minutes out of your life and listen to "the hug poem" that i found on youtube. Its one of my favorite poems of his. Watch it, its awesome.
So Ive been sittin here goin through and reading a buncha posts from people I am subscribed to and got inspired to do a post. Only problem is I have no idea what to write about. I thought about going though my flickr account and blogging about the very first picture I ever posted there... but then found that it posted my first picture there on the 17th of febuary last year.. so maybe ill blog aout that then. Till then, ill continue to blog about nothing.
Continuing on with nothing, Lets go back to yesterday. I learned something interesting before my yearbook class... journalism students can type like no other. Like a million words a minute (more or less) and for me, I have to go back and fix all the typos i have from hitting the wrong keys and stuff. Yeah i can type pretty fast... but im not that agile about it. but thats okay right? right.
Disneyland is awesome in the rain. Ashley and I went last thursday while it was raining and there park was nearly empty. Pretty much every ride has a 5 minute or less waiting time. So now whenever it rains I want to go. Oh, and for those who dont know, I got a disneyland pass. I figured i would be a real southern californian...
alright... thats it. sorry this blog was lame and uninformative. There is no way i can give you back the few minutes of your life that you wasted reading this. But to make up for it, Ill give you a quote that goes at the end of all my emails. So, it would be only natural for it to be placed at the end of my blog.
peace.
"Art does not solve problems but makes us aware of their existence. It opens our eyes to see and our brain to imagine."- Magdalena Abakanowicz
oh. and dont worry.... my next post will be a lot better than this.
So i was going to pay my credit card bill right now when i noticed that my checking account didnt have as much money in it as it was supposed to. So i clicked on it and found out that $400 had went to something called google adwords... which i have never used in my life. Im kinda stressin over it. tomorrow morning im going to bank of america to see if I can fix anything. I also emailed google. Hopefully something can be done. no fun.
Recently I was rummaging through the ever popular YouTube.com when I came across a video of Howard Sterns talk radio show. For those of you who have never heard of Howard Stern be glad... try and picture the world most unhappy person, give them a talk radio show, and let them speak their mind... and you have Howard Stern. I normally would have just bypassed this Howard Stern video and gone on to other videos that are actually worth my time... but the title of the video caught my attention. Howard Stern Vs. The Jonas Brothers. Knowing Howard Stern and his ever so common negative remarks about... well just about everything... my curiosity drew me in. The video was pretty much Howard Stern critiquing The Jonas Brothers popular song "Love Bug." As the video started, I knew the critique could not be good.
Before I go into detail about what was said in the video I am going to show you the music video for Love Bug. "Why not show the actual Howard Stern video?" you might ask. The answer is simple. It has lots of profanity and things related so if you want to see it... look it up yourself.
Okay now that your memory is refreshed on the Love Bug song, we can go into detail about what Howard Stern's opinion on this song. He first stated that he thought that The Jonas Brothers would be over by now and that he is surprised that this song is so successful. He goes on to say that he could write a song like this- that all he has to do is sing like a girl and write girly lyrics. Which he does about 20 seconds later with someone playing a horrible version of the song on guitar and his version of a "girly voice." Because I am not for profanity written in my blog I will help you to imagine Howard Sterns lyrics. Its simple, think about Howard Stern's opinion on one of Disney's heart throb icons, add his usual profanity, his "girly voice" imitation, and some poor guitar playing, and you have the song. I have to admit that after the first 15 or so seconds of his song I lost interest and moved on to other videos, but I feel that this video summed up Howard Stern pretty well thus proving that he is a hater.
By this whole post I am in no way saying that I like The Jonas Brothers, but more of saying that I don't like Howard Stern. I do admit though that the Love Bug song is cute, in the manliest way possible, and that I can see why so many people like it. In fact, just as I finished that sentence, the chorus of the song got stuck in my head. It's catchy, The Jonas Brothers know how to write a song that will appeal to their crowd- the elementary to teenage girl population. (and that population of guys who like catchy music they can someday sing to their girlfriends) I admit that if I could sing and play guitar better I would play this song to a special girl... and I am sure if Howard Stern could sing and play the guitar better (and wasnt a hater) that he would too... the song is perfect for something like that.
All in all after watching most of the video I have come to these simple conclusions. -Howard Stern is a hater. -Howard Stern is a talk radio show host- not a music critique. -Howard Stern's music choice does not correlate to a teenage girl's music choice. and lastly... -Don't listen to Howard Stern.
So I was walking into the caf a few days ago when I noticed this. Its a slushie machine that say mocha cappuccino. Good right? NO! bad... This may not make sence to anyone who doesn't drink lots of coffee... but to make it make sence... you have to understand that a cappuccino is by no means a flavor. Its a style of a drink. A cappuccino is half milk, half foam and espresso shots. It can only be a hot drink... because to have legit foam... you need hot milk. A cold cappuccino is an old cappuccino with expired shots and sour milk. Making it into a slushie is literally impossible. So this company pretty much used this name to make the consumer feel sophisticated and special. Good job slushie people.
(thanks mac for your awesome mirror like camera that makes text backwards in everything can this be changed? so that its normal? meh.. who knows....)
Alrighty... another book im reading- "the gutter- where life is ment to be lived" by craig gross.
so far its a pretty awesome book. Its written by the guy who co founded xxxchurch.com . He talks about pretty much what he believes and how other people either strongly agree or disagree with him. He pretty much says that as Christians a good portion of our time should be spent in "the gutter" witnessing to the poor, needy, and the faithless. He does part of this by going to porn shows and handing out bibles to people there... not like 10 of 15 bibles.... but over 1,500 i think it was. Lots of Christians strongly disagree with what he is doing. But i think that he is making a positive impact on peoples lives. I believe that this type of evangelism is important and should be done by someone. People need to spread Gods love regardless.... whether it be in another country... or at a porn convention in vegas. It has much greater of an impact than that typical guy with the "burn in hell" sign and the megaphone yelling at everyone who walks into a convention.
But anyways the book is pretty good so far. I am currently on chapter 6 page 61 and have around 95ish more pages to go.
my friend showed me this video well kinda... he posed a link on his facebook and i clicked... so he indirectly showed me.. either way... i think its pretty cool
yeah its five minutes long... but the cool part is in like the last 2 minutes... so you can watch like the first 30 seconds then fasforward to the end... or just enjoy the whole thing like i did... either way... do what you will.
and they disabled so i cant put it in my blog.. so you will have to click the link... sorry for making life difficult
