Got Girl Friends?

So iheartfaces.blogspot.com has an ad hoc contest in advance of their Blissdom Convention. The contests requests 'girl friend' themed photos. Well, I married my girlfriend, so I'm not sure if photos of her with me would count. So I scrounged my amateur image library and found one idyllic shot of girl friends and their boy friends



I captured the image on an excursion to the Second Market area of Tongducheon, South Korea with my wife at my side. We were sitting by the window in one of our favorite hangouts and I noticed that there were other couples congregating in the cafe with us. The photo was spontaneous. I wanted to document the moment for posterity. Considering that National Geographic photographers may expend hundreds of rolls of film on one assignment, I figured I could spare one or two digital images.

So some background on Korea for a moment, since I have your attention now. Young men in South Korea have mandatory enlistment for two years in the Armed Forces. Most of them are young college aged men. Occassionally women join, but it is not expected of them.

It is a unifying experience that spans generations. All men, unless they receive an exception serve, in either the military or the police. Those who speak english serve as Korean Augmentees to the US Army (KATUSA), a relationship forged in combat some sixty years ago.

However, the cutest part about being a Soldier, Sailor, Airman, Marine or Commando in the Korean military are the variety shows that showcase service members and their girl friends. They are very adorable shows which is why I dedicate this week's blog to South Korean Soldiers and their girl friends.

Check out other photos at the following website:

The original texture experiment....

Before the wonderful silhouette posted earlier, this was my first texture idea. While vacationing at Padre Island, I was digging a hole in the sand for the boys. We were about two feet down when I pulled up Mr Crabs on the end of my entrenching tool. He sat there long enough to have a few pictures taken. It was hard to do because in the bright sun, I could not see the little dude on the LCD.



In the original photo, the bright sun kind of bleaches out the texture of the wet sand so I had to spend some time adjusting levels of ligth, color and contrast to bring out the granules of wet sand.

An experiment in texture...

So this week's iheartfaces contest is texture. I had to get help from my sweetie with the texture technique on Photoshop. But I am proud to say the picture is mine. We were out on a hike down by the San Pedro Riparian Reserve and Karyn asked me to help her take some silhouettes. So I picked up the camera and snapped a few. This one turned out to be the most 'fun' pic of the day.

This photo is called "Keep on Trucking"



The boy was a sport, he took some time out of digging with a stick to momentarily drive up his mommy's tummy. When I say momentary, it truly was. Fortunately, due to many hours on the ol' shooting range at the University of Michigan, I am very practiced at just pulling the trigger when things 'feel' right. Like Bruce Lee says in Enter the Dragon. "Don't think. Feeeeeeel." He also says of his fist, "I do not hit, It hits."

So with that in mind, or no-mind, please enjoy this entry and others at iheartfaces.blogspot.com, use Mr Linky, below.

Yuki

The importance of relationships....

So there I was, on a business trip to Walt Disney World, Orlando, Florida, when it hit--me as it often does--married men with kids, like me, who travel for work are very lucky guys. I am particularly lucky. My wife is super mommy. Here I am at the Shades of Green while she holds down the fort with two little rapscallions, the wind beating the shutters and the rain flooding the desert. As my dad said of our mother while paraphasing Louis L'amour, "you have to find one to ride the river with."

Family is a precious entity in society, and it works when parents support each other and establish their priorities. While our kiddos are high on the priority list (because one day they will be paying our social security and changing our diapers) it is more important to maintain the integrity of the relationship that made it all happen. This is the covalent bond of the family and it must be nurtured to stay strong.

I read in Scientific Mind recently that Western marriages usually fail because we enter them with a fairy tale expectation of love. Think of it, we're at our best when we marry. After we get married, we're bouyant for a while, but that usually diminishes around year two and we begin to wonder how to deal with life and the fact that we have to change whether we like it or not. Time and tide changes us, and we lose control of it if we're not diligent or mindful of what's happening.

I have a great marriage. Yes, it has its moments, but we work together to become stronger and to remember why we got married in the first place. The kids are an added benefit. Nothing compares to the joy of a little one giggling and looking at you with mischief in his eyes. But, ultimately, mom and dad, husband and wife, must nurture each other. It really isn't about the marriage. It is about the relationship. We all know couples who drifted apart or separated after children left the house. In the childrens' absence, the spouses saw strangers looking back.

There is some truth in the lyrics from Baz Luhrmann's song "Everybody's Free,"

Be nice to your siblings; they are the best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future. Understand that friends come and go,but for the precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and
lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young.

It should really be, "Be nice to the ones you love..." as they're the first ones we take advantage of without knowing it but usually the first to come to our aid when we need them most.

So what is the point of this post. The point is that we need to love, support and appreciate those who love us.

We are family (iheart faces contest)

So this week's contest is all about capturing the essence of family, traditional or not, in an interesting manner. I chose the picture below, not because it is necessarily interesting, but because it is necessarily real. It represents the world we live in, one that is more connected than ever before. This is a world where family is often electrons away, telecast over broadband networks connecting worlds apart. It is the reality that our service members live, it is the world of our government contractors, it is the world of our humanitarians, it is the world of our scholars, it is the world of business, and it is the reality of all who live abroad or apart within our borders.

I've decided to call this photo: Valediction forbidding mourning for lo' we have the video teleconferencing. Not too poetic but straight to the point.



To quote John Donne from A Valediction Forbidding Mourning (lines 21-36):

Our two souls therefore, which are one,
Though I must go, endure not yet
A breach, but an expansion,
Like gold to aery thinness beat.

If they be two, they are two so
As stiff twin compasses are two ;
Thy soul, the fix'd foot, makes no show
To move, but doth, if th' other do.

And though it in the centre sit,
Yet, when the other far doth roam,
It leans, and hearkens after it,
And grows erect, as that comes home.

Such wilt thou be to me, who must,
Like th' other foot, obliquely run ;
Thy firmness makes my circle just,
And makes me end where I begun.

The picture is of my colleague on the day of his promotion to 1st Lieutenant. We were deployed which made it difficult for his family to attend the ceremony in person. But, thanks to technology, they were there for it all. Everyone is smiling, but deep down there are emotions unseen by my camera, but felt by all in attendance--especially by those who have families.

The light conditions were not ideal in the room which is the cause of some fuzziness in the photo. But I did my best to clean it up.

Please enjoy and visit iheartfaces.blogspot.com to view other submissions to this week's contest!

I probably write too much commentary, so I appreciate your kindness and indulgence if you've made it this far down the page.

Bless all the men and women who serve and represent our country daily (civilian and service member alike)!

Cheers,

Yuki

iheart faces contest

This week's i <3 faces contest is titled: Best Face. I do not usually have an opportunity to take portraiture. Occasionally, I have the chance to take a picture of my wife and one of our boys with her camera. This is one. You might have seen it before on my very talented wife's blog (photosbykaryn.blogspot.com). But I went back to re-edit the photo with her help for this week's contest.

I call this photo: Sparta Calls Her Sons.



I like to think my son is focused on some faraway duty to protect the innocent and defend his country; after all, he is sitting in a fire truck. In his ear, his mother whispers soothing words to him, telling him it will be alright. But, since he is wise beyond his years, he knows better. Deep down he understands that freedom is not free, that truth belongs only to the brave, and that one day he will have to share his toys with not one brother, but two.

In his heart Viking words echo, they remind him, "The truth is that life is hard and dangerous; that those who seek their own happiness do not find it; that those who are weak must suffer; that those who demand love will be disappointed; that those who are greedy will not be fed; that those who seek peace will find strife; that truth is only for the brave; that joy is only for those who do not fear to be alone; that life is only for the one who is not afraid of death."

Using Photoshop, I tried employing 'Chiaroscuro' as a technique to draw your eye immediately to my son's face and make him the emphasis for the image.

Please check out the contributions of other photographers through the link below! Enjoy!!

Yuki

The American Mall Experience

So there we were, my wife and I, walking up to the Mall in Sierra Vista. She to have a pedicure and I to wander through the 'going out of business' shops to see if I could find something I would be interested in.

No sooner had we stepped towards the glorious effigy of American shopping experience, than we witnessed drama unfold on the sidewalk. A group of teenage girls were in a heated discussion with the parents of another girl, who I think was in the process of being rescued. A sailor would blush at the conversation, and the girls' great grandparents were probably rolling over in their graves to hear their progeny speak such scathing language, at an adult no less. The father sort of instigated it by his comments, but he was visibly upset, and the girls were like a pack of multi-colored lionesses with poor fashion sense sensing blood.

After a short retort, the parents disengaged, while the girls prowled back into the mall like savage hyenas taking pleasure in the verbal carnage they had wrought. One girl was the obvious ringleader, the others supplicants to her visceral tongue.

After that, I wondered, is this what I have to prepare my children for as they get older? I could only imagine the teen savages going to their facebook and myspace pages to initiate their next onslaught of savagery.

Perplexed to see such a public display of disrespect, I spent the next hour wandering the mall examining the people there, from the employees of dying franchises to the snake oil salesmen of the center isle and to wandering others like myself. Generally, I observed placate herd animals, congregating in isolated groups at the watering hole or grazing through shops for a good deal. I realized that the mall is a bleak place, and hope that my kids never go there just to 'hang out'.

I understood, then, why a platoon of yellow-clad security guards constantly patrol. Though none, of course, were at the scene of verbal bloodletting.

The mall, for me, has lost its luster. Some still offer an interesting shopping experience, but I no longer find them as fun to explore as I used to--least of all the one in Sierra Vista.

A new banner!

Victory! I've always wondered how to customize a blog template, and now I know. Thanks to my wife's Photoshop instruction, I managed to stumble through Photoshop Elements and make my own banner for this blog. Oh, the possibilities! I can see how blogging can be an addiction. I unleashes creativity in a torrent if unchecked.

My mind is buzzing with ideas for this blog. I wonder if AdSense works and how much money I would make by activating it on my blog. I don't suppose I'll make much, since I don't have a following. But that is small potatos.

This weekend there is an Starving Artist sale at the Windemere. We'll probably go check it out as there are walls that need covering in our large historic house. Supposedly nothing is priced over $59. I guess we'll see if there is anything worth buying. We have quite discerning tastes.

Where to begin...

I guess I have taken my first leap into the Blogosphere of the web. There is no turning back now. I am committed. I have joined a community and perhaps will gain a following. But that is not important. It is more important for me to ensure the blog does not intrude into my life or take it over.

In the meantime, I hope those who read these postings, enjoy them. Please forgive my simplistic webpage design. Perhaps I will hone my skills over time, but don't hold your breath. As an offering to the pantheon of internet idols and icons, I have submitted photos to iheartfaces.blogspot.com to sanctify this journey.

So what will be the purpose of this blog, you ask?

Well, I intend to share my thoughts on life and samples of my art. "Thoughts on life?" you muse. Yes, I might as well add my perspective, at least for my family. I think I have some original ideas.

"Art?" you ask. Yes, at one point in my youth I was an artist. But since those early years, I have strayed from the path of creativity onto the road of convention. So on these pages I will attempt to reconnect with my creative side and allow myself to be judged by the anonymous pundits of the web, those who may pass by to either cast stones or praise.

I cannot guarantee the regularity of my postings. But they will at least be monthly.

Cheers,

Yuki

iheartfaces logo contest

This is my first blog and my first entry on iheartfaces. I hope you enjoy! You might recognize the young lady and the boys as a regular on this site. I have to thank my wife for all her help getting me started!


Not sure how this one will be judged, but it has faces and a logo.


For all the frogs who dream of beauty.


Sliding among otters at the Waco Zoo.


The little guy looks like he's had the ride of his life...


This was a long exposure on a Sanibel Island, Florida. Taken around 8pm.

“I am submitting these photos into the I Heart Faces logo photo contest. By entering, I am granting I Heart Faces LLC permission to consider my photo for use in the marketing and promotion of their website.”