I was hired to video a military funeral this morning, and it was very touching. The deceased was a WWII Navy veteran, and was given full military honors by a Naval chaplain and the local VFW honor guard.
It was, undoubtedly, some of the coldest wind I've had to endure for some time - I think every person there was freezing, and the wind noise from the mics should be fun to try to clean out in post-production. Everything is in the computer now, and I just need to piece it all together.
I've added a video feed to the website; Vimeo.com is a video-hosting website that I will be uploading video to, and there is a link to it as well as a player on my main website, jspicerimaging.com.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Go Pats!
-----------------------
Justin T. Spicer
GM Beer Division/IT Director
Western Wyoming Beverages, Inc.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Simplicity
It's been about two weeks or more since I had a decent bike ride - it's been fair and rodeo time here in Rock Springs, so I've had lots of early-morning and late-night responsibilities. Both of these make it difficult to ride, especially when I have to factor in an extra 25 minutes commuting time each way. I've ridden my bikes more this summer than I have in the past ten years, and I think it is making a difference. I haven't lost a ton of weight, but I have increased my endurance and stamina, and I'm much more in shape than I was three months ago. If there is a way to continue to do this until the snow falls, I will.
I have a folding Dahon Ciao! commuter bike that I bought on eBay a month or so ago - I had been watching it for a while, and after having sold some items I had the funds to purchase it. It really rolls nice and is fun to ride, although its 20" wheels look funny. It also has a dropped top tube, which makes it easy to get on and off. Aluminum frame, internal 8-gear hub, and integrated dynamo-powered light complete the package. All in all, a very cool bike and fairly practical - I can fold it up and put it in a corner of my office, or fit it behind my seat in my pickup. This is Rock Springs, however, and people riding bikes, much less bikes that look like this, are few and far between. I'm not sure i I could count the number of people who stared at me pedaling down the road today; if it doesn't have a V-8, why bother? The nice thing about this bike is that I can ride it without having to get all my cycling clothes on - the seat is nice and soft and has a few centimeters of suspension play, and the chain has a guard to keep the oil and grease off my pant leg.
In my quest to "get simple," I find myself trying to do things that make more sense economically and environmentally than I did even two years ago. Both my wife and I realized that our past behavior of consumerism and materialism (things we laughed at when we were first married, but eventually picked up the habit for) wasn't sustainable nor reasonable. I think we have had our wake-up call, and we're finding ways to be smarter with our money, time, and resources. For me, riding my bike to work even three times a week saves me or my company at least a tank of gas - that's $60-80 each fill-up. I get the benefit of better health and fitness (although it's mostly limited to my legs - my belly is still a keg and not a 6pk). My mind gets the benefit of having a (mostly) uninterrupted fifty to sixty minutes of "thinking" time - hard to come by during office hours when the phone is ringing and emails are popping up. Simple - that's what I'm really striving to get my life to be. That's a relative term - there's only so much simplicity one can have with four young daughters, two busy careers, bills, committees, etc. I have a path, though, that I'm firmly headed down to eliminate as much stress and unwanted (and unneeded) "stuff" from my life as possible.
I think the final piece of the puzzle that I want to work on is to get out taking more pictures. Just like the bike, it's hard to find extra time to do it. There's always something else that seems more pressing, demands my attention, or takes me out of the game. Maybe the answer is to combine the two. If I could figure out how to do more photography (i.e., sell more and take more) without sacrificing other parts of my professional life, I would. Given the current state of affairs in the Pepsi and Budweiser worlds, it probably doesn't hurt to explore other ways of income production.
A Nice Bike Ride
It's been about two weeks or more since I had a decent bike ride - it's been fair and rodeo time here in Rock Springs, so I've had lots of early-morning and late-night responsibilities. Both of these make it difficult to ride, especially when I have to factor in an extra 25 minutes commuting time each way. I've ridden my bikes more this summer than I have in the past ten years, and I think it is making a difference. I haven't lost a ton of weight, but I have increased my endurance and stamina, and I'm much more in shape than I was three months ago. If there is a way to continue to do this until the snow falls, I will.
I have a folding Dahon Ciao! commuter bike that I bought on eBay a month or so ago - I had been watching it for a while, and after having sold some items I had the funds to purchase it. It really rolls nice and is fun to ride, although its 20" wheels look funny. It also has a dropped top tube, which makes it easy to get on and off. Aluminum frame, internal 8-gear hub, and integrated dynamo-powered light complete the package. All in all, a very cool bike and fairly practical - I can fold it up and put it in a corner of my office, or fit it behind my seat in my pickup. This is Rock Springs, however, and people riding bikes, much less bikes that look like this, are few and far between. I'm not sure i I could count the number of people who stared at me pedaling down the road today; if it doesn't have a V-8, why bother? The nice thing about this bike is that I can ride it without having to get all my cycling clothes on - the seat is nice and soft and has a few centimeters of suspension play, and the chain has a guard to keep the oil and grease off my pant leg.
In my quest to "get simple," I find myself trying to do things that make more sense economically and environmentally than I did even two years ago. Both my wife and I realized that our past behavior of consumerism and materialism (things we laughed at when we were first married, but eventually picked up the habit for) wasn't sustainable nor reasonable. I think we have had our wake-up call, and we're finding ways to be smarter with our money, time, and resources. For me, riding my bike to work even three times a week saves me or my company at least a tank of gas - that's $60-80 each fill-up. I get the benefit of better health and fitness (although it's mostly limited to my legs - my belly is still a keg and not a 6pk). My mind gets the benefit of having a (mostly) uninterrupted fifty to sixty minutes of "thinking" time - hard to come by during office hours when the phone is ringing and emails are popping up. Simple - that's what I'm really striving to get my life to be. That's a relative term - there's only so much simplicity one can have with four young daughters, two busy careers, bills, committees, etc. I have a path, though, that I'm firmly headed down to eliminate as much stress and unwanted (and unneeded) "stuff" from my life as possible.
I think the final piece of the puzzle that I want to work on is to get out taking more pictures. Just like the bike, it's hard to find extra time to do it. There's always something else that seems more pressing, demands my attention, or takes me out of the game. Maybe the answer is to combine the two. If I could figure out how to do more photography (i.e., sell more and take more) without sacrificing other parts of my professional life, I would. Given the current state of affairs in the Pepsi and Budweiser worlds, it probably doesn't hurt to explore other ways of income production.
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Picking up the backyard on a warm(er) Spring day.
Justin T. Spicer
GM Beer Division/IT Director
Western Wyoming Beverages, Inc.
Sent by Blackberry
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