UPDATE UPDATE!
November 28, 2004 - Sunday

I am in the process of moving my photo a day gallery to a new site. For current photos please visit www.LifeAtF8.com

Thanks!


 

Directions
My Steering Wheel
November 23, 2004 - Tuesday

Today's photo is nothing special, I did not make it in to work today since I had some Flu like symptoms this morning. I am assuming that moving in the rain this past weekend may have something to do with it. Well, it's just a hunch anyways... 



This photo is of my steering wheel in my car as I waited for my lunch order to be taken. I had to venture out of the house to grab some lunch since Lisa and I haven't had a chance to get groceries yet. Hopefully we get a chance to do that this weekend.
 

Iron Works
My New Lens
November 22, 2004 - Monday

I got my new lens in today, a Canon EF 100mm f2.8 Macro. I've been meaning to get it for awhile now and thought it would make a perfect Thanksgiving gift for myself. I know what you're thinking, nobody gives gifts for Thanksgiving.. well I just make up any reason to give myself a gift so there... I said it! hehe.



This photo is of a new light fixture that I hung in our front Foyer area. I wanted to give the new lens a try. This shot does not show the full macro capability so I hope to try it out more in depth later. The specs sheet says this lens can focus at a minimum distance of about 6 inches. That's pretty darn close.
 

Finally Got Moved In!
My New Office
November 21, 2004 - Sunday

After 2 1/2 months of working on this new house Lisa and I finally got to move in! I got a REALLY good price on the house so we decided to invest a bit more into it while I still had about 3 months left on my previous lease. Along with the help of my parents, we gutted the entire house down to bones just about. We removed all of the carpet, padding, vinyl flooring, wallpaper, installed a ton of tile and new carpet, painted all of the cabinetry, trim and doors in the entire house white and also painted every single room from top to bottom. Not to mention replaced every single light fixture and ceiling fan with brand new ones as well as replacing every single door knob in the house, 18 to be exact. Needless to say the house has a complete makeover from top to bottom and I bet the previous owners won't even recognize it!



Today' photo is of our new office. As you can see the color of the room is VERY similar to that of this website and I didn't even notice it until Lisa mentioned it. We have a desk on the way so hopefully we can actually sit in a chair while we get on the internet very soon! I was very eager to get my DSL internet service installed since our satellite system isn't scheduled to be installed until a few days. I was surprised to see me get about 1222k download and 421k on the upload side. That's about 400k faster than my old cable modem. 
 

My Remote
My Living Room
November 11, 2004 - Thursday

After a long evening of working at the new house I came home and watched a little TV for a bit. It has actually been about 4 days since I've turned on my TV since we've been busy working everyday. I can't wait until we get moved into the house so that I can sit back, relax on the couch and not be stressed out about having to move in a few days.



My TV is going to be a challenge to move to say the least. I live in an apartment complex, on the second floor and my TV is a whopping 61" wide screen. It weighs in at about 300lbs so I know the movers will probably have some choice words for me. I was very impressed that the two movers got the TV up to the second floor to begin with so It should be a little easier coming back down. I hope.
 

Crunch Time!!
This Old House Starring Abel & Lisa
November 10, 2004 - Wednesday

I know my daily updates have not been uhh how should I say... uh not so DAILY. Hehee. Lisa and I have been spending every waking moment over at the new house prepping it for our final move in date. Our move in date has been predetermined by when the lease is up on the apartment so we don't have any flexibility in that regard. I think we will make it right on time though.  

We have a few more rooms to paint upstairs this weekend before the carpet people come in next week. I have scheduled the movers to come in the very next day so it will be a VERY tight time frame for sure!

Once we get moved in and situated, I will be able to get back on track on posting photos on a DAILY basis like I have been for the past 9 months or so. Unfortunately time has been extremely scarce here recently and let me tell you, I've got the itch to go out and photograph something! I will still post photos a couple of times a week its just I won't be able to post photos on a daily basis. I think this will only be for a couple of weeks so it won't be too long... 
 

A Little Racing
Sam Houston Race Park
November 5, 2004 - Friday

Lisa and I stopped by the Sam Houston Race Park on the way home from working on the house tonight. We plan to have a full day of painting tomorrow so we didn't stay out too late. I have my 70-200 f2.8L lens with me so I brought it in to snap a few shots. I think I shot this one at ISO 800 and it was still a pain to try to get the right shot.



I'd like to make it out to the dog track since they race during the day and that would make it much easier to photograph. Maybe one day when can get out there as soon as we are done with the house.
 

Flash Class
Near The Galleria
November 4, 2004 - Thursday

I signed up for a 3 hour flash photography class tonight which I know I have been in desperate need of. I learned quite a bit about flash photography in general and I think I should be able to produce some pretty decent photos now.



One of the things still on my wish list is a nice flash bracket. Maybe one setup with two flash units so that I can get more control on my lighting. Also did I mention that the place where the class was held was 24 miles from where I work. Normally 24 miles is not a bad haul but in 5 o'clock traffic it took me a whopping 1.5 hours to get there!
 

Lily
Mary Jo Peckham Park
November 3, 2004 - Wednesday

Today during lunch I stopped off by a local park and took a few photos here and there. 



This is probably the third image I have of a lily from the park here so I think I need to get a bit more creative. Hopefully I will be inspired soon!
 

Leaves
Near The New House
November 2, 2004 - Tuesday

Just a random shot of some plants near the new house we are working on. Nothing special.



The tile guys are at the house today wrapping up all of the cuts and such so they should be finished grouting tomorrow evening. I can't wait to see what the final product looks like.
 

A New Life
My Parent's House
November 1, 2004 - Monday

My mother was babysitting my cousins new born baby Aaron and I decided to get my camera out and take a few photos while the little guy was still awake. As you can see in the photo I think I frightened him pretty good with this big black camera at my face and the poor boy may need some long term counseling to get over the fear of cameras.



I'll try getting some better photos of Aaron next week and hopefully those will be much better than this crude attempt.
 

Halloween Party
A Friend's House
October 31, 2004 - Sunday

Lisa and I were invited to a friend's house for a Halloween party and costumes were mandatory. We managed to go rent some very nice costumes from a place near downtown and I must admit this was the first time I had dressed up for Halloween since I was like 6  years old!