Adam Smiley

Days of Class Left

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For what ever reason, I feel like quoting some Three Dog Night:
From www.threedognight.com:

One is the loneliest number that you’ll ever do
Two can be as bad as one
It’s the loneliest number since the number one

No is the saddest experience you’ll ever know
Yes, it’s the saddest experience you’ll ever know
`Cause one is the loneliest number that you’ll ever do
One is the loneliest number, worse than two

We had graduation rehearsal today. I’ll be sitting in seat W-9, right behind Adam, who sits right behind Lance. I also learned that the tassel starts on the left side and moves to the right side.

These last few days are going to be about priorities. There’s really no motivation to do much work. I’m graduating and that’s a fact. My GPA can’t shift that much. I have a job.

So, how hard do I really want to work these next few days? How much fun do I want to have? How much are other people counting on me?

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Adam + Natalie, an Engagement Photoshoot

Way back in January, Adam, my friend and fellow schoolmate, asked if I would shoot Natalie and his engagement photos. I had been wanting to expand my experience into portrait-style photography, so of course I said I said, “Yes!”1

This is my first foray into engagment photogaphy and a steping stone to building a semi-professional photography career (Shameless plug, check out Andrew Ferguson Photography).

January isn’t a bad month to take engagement photos in, but Adam and Natalie wanted more of a spring feel. Se we waiting to schedule something until Spring Break in March. The day we picked couldn’t have been better. It was super nice out and not a cloud in the sky. I proposed2 several locations to them. We eventually decided on Red Rocks and Clear Creek.

It’s déjà vu all over again!

DSC_7067
44.0 mm || 1/1000 || f/4.5 || ISO200 || NIKON D70
Morrison, Colorado, United States

This is one of my favorite photos from the set, the coloring reminds me of a HDR3 image, even though it’s not

Adam and Natalie
38.0 mm || 1/125 || f/11.0 || ISO200 || NIKON D70
Morrison, Colorado, United States

Photo they used for their wedding invitations

Natalie and Adam
70.0 mm || 1/500 || f/4.5 || ISO200 || NIKON D70
Morrison, Colorado, United States

DSC_7019-Edit
18.0 mm || 1/2500 || f/3.5 || ISO200 || NIKON D70
Morrison, Colorado, United States

So cute

DSC_7093
50.0 mm || 1/8000 || f/1.8 || ISO200 || NIKON D70
Morrison, Colorado, United States

DSC_7133
70.0 mm || 1/1600 || f/4.5 || ISO200 || NIKON D70
Golden, Colorado, United States

I stuck a strobe back in the back of the tube with CTB4 gel, worked out really well if you ask me

DSC_7229
22.0 mm || 1/100 || f/3.8 || ISO200 || NIKON D70
Golden, Colorado, United States

Okay, maybe this is my favorite shot. I’m just a sucker for people jumping…I have no idea why

Jump Composite
Morrison, Colorado, United States

Continue enjoying the awesomeness over at Flickr: Adam + Natalie, an Engagement Photoshoot

I’m looking for any feedback that anyone wants to give: the good, the bad, and the ugly. I promise not to take feedback the wrong way…I’d rather learn from my mistakes here than be doomed to repeat them again. Let them here or, preferably, on the appropriate Flickr image.

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  1. …that’s what she said!! ↩

  2. pun fully intended ↩

  3. High Dynamic Range ↩

  4. Color Temperature Blue ↩

The $490,452 Question

Adam Smiley called today to inform me that over break he proposed to Natalie and will be getting married this summer. This, along with the other people in my life who are married or dating, requires me to contemplate my own status as a single and unattached bachelor (that’s actually redundant, whatever).

Specifically, with only 4 months before I graduate, is now really the time to begin seeking out a relationship? If not now, when? I could theoretically come up with a reason to put off romance for the rest of my life, I think, with one excuse after another precluding me from ever having to become engaged.

At some point, you just have to jump and now seems as good a time as any. Maybe.

(All of this is not to say that I’m going to spend 100% of my time seeking a relationship. But, perhaps, entertain the idea of maybe dating someone.)

Update: Also worth adding:
friends

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CSO Goes to the Movies – Trek: The Concert

One of the great things about going to the Colorado School of Mines is that we get $5 tickets to the Colorado Symphony Orchestra. Which, if I can manage to get a good seat, is a 93% discount. CSO posted their 08/09 schedule over the summer and I took a gander at. One concert immediately caught my attention: Trek: The Concert. I put it on my schedule at least four months ago and this last weekend the moment finally came!

I headed down to the Denver Performing Arts Complex and met Smiley and his girlfriend there. We got front row seats and proceeded to enjoy the music of Alexander Courage, Jerry Goldsmith, James Horner, Leonard Rosenman, Cliff Eidelman, and Dennis McCarthy.

Between each piece, John de Lancie (Q) and Marina Sirtis Robert Picardo (The Doctor) delivered comedic anecdotes about Star Trek and lore thereof.

I hung around for a while afterward, hoping to catch a glimpse and maybe even a photograph or autograph of de Lancie or Picardo. However, surmise they took the back exit.

I did manage to get my picture taken with some Klingons though!
IMG_0297

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Flight of the Puke

…with a Hat Tip to Adam for the find1.

Update: Video wasn’t mine, nor hosted on my account. I’ve found another copy of the video and linked to it above.

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  1. Archived here, in case it ever disappears from YouTube. ↩

Blood Draw

I had some blood drawn on Friday for a TSH/CBC check. It’s been over two years since I last had blood drawn/donated and that was only slightly better then the first time I donated blood.

I wasn’t quite sure how I do this time. I was only loosing a few milliliters of blood compared to the 450 mL or so given up during a donation, so I was hoping for no complications.

The nurse was great and was able to tap my wonderful veins on the first try. She collected the two vials (one small, one large) with a minimum of issues. However, as soon as I sat up, I started to feel it again. So and laid back down while she filled out all the forms. The lightheadedness subsided but I began to feel warm and started sweating. Then I started to feel cool (which I suspect was due to evaporative cooling). I finally felt recovered and was on my way.

Talking with some of my classmates about the experience, Smiley thinks that I might need to drink more water. I’ll try that next time.

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