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©2005 HotShots Photo

Self Portrait. Photo was taken in 'natural' light on the last day I was in Nova Scotia. I was having lunch with my friend Shane at a pub that used to be called Alexander's. It's in an old historic pub. Lunch was great, but the view of the waitresses in school girl kilts with NS tartan was better.
©2005 HotShots Photo

This is the original crappy scan of the original faded photo. (See restoration below)
©2005 HotShots Photo

This is a photo of my dad. It's a bad scan from a wallet sized photo that got wet when my Dad capsized a sailboat years and years ago. This is the best restoration I could do of it considering what I had to work with and that I don't specialize in restorations. If I could get a really really good scan of it maybe I could give it to my friend Ken who does some amazing restoration work. I don't know what the story behind my Dad in diving gear is....I think my Dad is the only one that knows for sure. But as far as I know he never dove in this. He just tried it on one day while he was working on the docks. The photo is circa 1960's as far as I know. I don't know the vintage of the gear.
©2005 HotShots Photo

This is a similar techique to the last posting. It took about 10 mins to make. Combined from a photo from an old soldier at a recent airshow and erased around him until the flag showed behind him. Also set the Opacity to about 60% so that the flag shows through the soldier himself. Click on any photo to see fullsize.
©2005 HotShots Photo

This is a composition of a photo you'll see earlier in this blog. I combined it with an image of the US Flag I found doing a google search. Although there are many ways to create this effect, the 'simpliest' way is to put one layer over the other and then take your eraser tool and erase anything on the top layer you don't want in the finished artwork.
©2005 HotShots Photo

I've decided I will no longer support zoo's that merely 'house' animals. (See Photo below). There have been great steps in creating natural habitats for animals in captivity. And, any zoo that does not, or is not, taking steps to upgrade their facilities are merely 'housing' animal for profit, in my opinion. Newer habitats have been created that don't require visible means of containment. I'm tired of going through zoos and seeing bears pacing in cages like some mental patient in a straight-jacket when there is no need. And I'm not just talking a few trees for the cats to climb. I'm talking roamable habits, where the public is seperated by things like moats which are never seen due to optical illusion and good landscaping. Ones where the habitat is constantly changing and animals are not bored to death (literally). Ones where species are intermixed and animals can experience the smells and sounds of the other animals, hunt fish, etc. Watch Animal Planet or Discovery and you'll see what I mean.
©2005 HotShots Photo

This is a photo I took a few years ago at the zoo in Colorado Springs. The scratches on the glass are made by the gorillas scratching rocks against it. The image on the right is retouched. But look at the expression on that gorillas face.
©2005 HotShots Photo

This is a picture I took about 6-7 yrs ago. I've often dreamt of converting it to a home....drive in garage, interior spiral stairs leading up to open living spaces.....photo studio, etc. Maybe I'll have some plans drawn up someday.....probably cheaper to build it. Hmmmm....lots of places for solar panels on the roof.
©2005 HotShots Photo

When you can't find the right webpage it goes here. All 404 Page Not Found errors originate from the 404 Building, located in Pueblo Colorado.
©2005 HotShots Photo

This is a sunset I shot while photographing a baseball game one night in Central Texas a few months back. A funny thing about this is, that on an evening with a similar sunset a few night later we heard a fire call on the scanner. A lady called to report an 'orange glow in the sky unlike any she had seen in 20 yrs' thinking it was a grass fire or something. The dispatcher cancelled the firetrucks about five minutes later with 'Nevermind, she just realized it was the sunset'.
©2005 HotShots Photo

Thought I'd post a photo of our house in Texas. This is just outside of town. Notice that it's fully air-conditioned!
©2005 HotShots Photo

Photo of Shelley and TJ when we first moved to TX. Notice Shelley's short hair. She cut it two months prior, just before heading to Kuwait. It's grown back since. I'm posting this here so I'll remember where I put it. It's her Mom's fav photo of the two.
©2005 HotShots Photo

Here's TJ and Shelley soaking up the sun on one of the beaches we stayed on each night. Although we camped on the beach for two nights, the race promoter put us in a hotel the first night, and a beach house the 4th night....a welcome relief after 2 humid nights on the sand. The raced ended on Father's Day at the beach house of one of the racers, called CAT ALLEY. A good party ensued.
©2005 HotShots Photo

Team Tybee Island tackles the surf at a start. The most exciting part of the race had to be the start of each leg. The surf wasn't 'big' but it was enough to create some interesting havoc! We even had one manoverboard! Oh, and lest we forget the sharks!
©2005 HotShots Photo

Team Tybee Island starts a leg. This is one of my fav photos from the race. Each of the boats launched from the beach at the start of each leg. Two crew and one 'pusher' tried to get enough momentum to get through the beach surf and grab some wind.
©2005 HotShots Photo

You can click on each photo to view it larger.
©2005 HotShots Photo

This is South Padre Island, Texas. It's being pounded by Hurricane Emily at the moment. This photo was taken early Thursday morning before the start of the Great Texas 300 Mile Catamaran Race. 18 boats raced from here to Galveston over 4 days, camping on a different beach each night.
©2005 HotShots Photo

Yesterday, TJ, Chris, and I went for a drive down 1431 looking for interesting things or TJ to take photos of with his new camera. This was the result. TJ's photo actually caught the butterfly in flight! Good luck on his part to capture a great photo first time out.
©2005 HotShots Photo

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©2005 HotShots Photo

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©2005 HotShots Photo

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