I like the smell of gasoline. And bondo. And fiberglass resin. Also oil. There’s probably more toxic substances that I enjoy smelling, but I can’t recall right now. Maybe my short-term memory has been affected. My better half doesn’t like any of those smells. It’s probably because she knows about VOCs. That’s “volatile organic compounds” … Continue Reading
In my last post, I took on a bathroom refresh that was intended to be a quick update, maybe a faucet…some paint…and I’m out. But as I peeled the onion, I realized the previous owner of the home did some pretty shoddy work—I saw my one-day refresh turn into a remodel. Stripping wallpaper, patching drywall, … Continue Reading
I decided to give my mom a hand and do some work on the bathroom in her (new-to-her) home. Maybe a faucet and a coat of paint. Well, it turned into a remodel. Kind of like my ’56 Ford project that I was going to drive while I fix it up. Now it’s stripped down … Continue Reading
Cropping a photo was one of the first things I learned how to do in my layout class in college. We did it by hand, with a ruler, grease pencil and your eyes all squinty-like to get an idea of how it’s gonna look when it comes back from the service bureau or printer. That … Continue Reading
Not everyone can change a dryer belt, build a cat condo or assemble your kid’s bike. But everyone can pretty much paint a room. You might not be a pro, but you have no problem picking up a brush or a roller (but never one of those paint pad things), opening up a gallon of … Continue Reading
When I’m taking shots of the family, I’m trying to be aware of what’s going on in the subject…are they looking at the camera, smiling, tall in back/short in front? …and then I’m all adjusting the camera settings, fiddling with a lens…blah blah blah. There’s a lot of multi-tasking going on when you’re making memories. … Continue Reading
It was 1999. We were looking for a home and knew exactly what we wanted. A mid-century, concrete block, terrazzo floor-laden home. Our realtor found one. It had the flat sweeping roof line and terrazzo made of black, gray and pink stone—it was perfect. But perfectly creepy. Like someone-just-died-in-the-home-and-they’re-still-there creepy. So overwhelmingly creepy that we … Continue Reading
It never fails. You take a group shot and something (someone) always ruins it. They blink. They look away. A rabbit ear here, a nose pick there. Little Billy vomits or the dog is humping Aunt Dot’s leg. Well, I got a fix for most of those. Crate the dog Tell everyone to say “cheese.” … Continue Reading
Ahhh… the big game is coming soon. Who’s it gonna be? The Tigers vs. the Sabres? I don’t care. Those aren’t even football teams. I just watch the commercials. But I do like the surrounding hoopla. I grill out, drink a few beverages and wonder if the CPI for $4M 30-second spot is worth it. … Continue Reading
It’s filter week here at Dadand. First I’m changing oil filters, now I’m applying photo filters. During my first few years of using Photoshop, it seemed all I heard about was filters. “Hey man what filter did you use?” Everyone was “filter-happy.” Filters were something anyone could do easily. Open a photo, apply the filter … Continue Reading
