Today was the worst commute I've experienced since my office was moved to Owings Mills and I've had to drive myself rather than ride mass transit.  A tractor trailer flipped over and spilled fuel on to northbound 95 about 15 cars in front of me.  I couldn't see the accident, I only heard about it on the XM radio traffic report.  I didn't see any ambulances or med evacs so I'm hoping that everyone was safe and uninjured.  All lanes were blocked for nearly 2 hours as the road crews cleaned up the mess, taking my total commute time up to 3 hours. 

It's interesting being on a four lane highway when nothing is moving.  People were getting out of their cars and walking around, getting updates from the road crews, and sharing stories with other stranded commuters.  It was really intriguing to people watch.  It was also a really nice day and I think people had a touch of spring fever just sitting in their cars. 

On the plus side, I finished my audio book, "Hit Man" by Lawerence Block.  I decided a few weeks back to make better use of my commute and listen to some books.  I started with "How to Win Friends and Influence People", a staple of the business world and then I listened to the Orwell classic "1984".  I joined Audible a few weeks back and for $15/month I get an audio book a month.  It takes me about that long to listen to a full book in between podcasts. 

Another positive that came out of today was my work bonus comes this week.  To reward myself for another 6 months of loyal labor to Legg Mason, I picked up a new piece of glass for my camera addiction hobby.  I wanted a wide angle lens for some ideas I have for Shutter On The Street and some studio shots I have in my head so I picked up Canon's widest lens, the 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5.  Due to my long commute, I didn't get to play with the lens very much so we'll see what the next few days hold. 

Zach Urtes, a student from Patapsco High School and my alma mater, is a finalist in Google's Doodle 4 Google contest. He is competing, via public vote, for one of the four National Finalist awards (as well as the possibility of a $25,000 technology grant for the school), so be sure to spread the word and do your best to build support for Zach. Voting is open until May 18th.

To support Zach:

• Go to www.google.com/doodle4google and click "Vote Now"
• Click the "Grades 10-12" link
• Select Region 3
• Click "Vote for this doodle"
• Spread the word

Thanks for supporting Zach and spreading the word.

The highlight of this past week was a photo shoot I did for Dan Cenidoza of Be More Training.  Dan is a personal trainer specializing in training with kettle bells.  Keefer introduced me to the idea of kettle bells but as I was shooting Dan's class, his teaching style was informative and took some of the mystique out of the odd looking apparatus.  His clients seem to really enjoy the class and the smiles on their faces made the work out almost enticing.  I have to admit that I was a little jealous that I was only there to take pictures and was missing out on the class.  

My Sister and I went to see Ironman on Saturday.  As is typical of my sister, she was late but I didn't miss much of the movie.  The movie was really great though and afterwards we drove to Delta, PA for the best fried chicken at Hickory Dicks. 

Other than that, I took the weekend off from shooting and caught up on some sleep :)  Until next time...

It was a great trip but now I'm back from Arizona. The weather was very dynamic in Arizona but lovely. When we landed in Phoenix, the temperature was 88 degrees but at one point during the six hour drive to Supai, the temperature had dropped to 24 degrees. At 7:30am when we started our hike down into the canyon, the temperature had risen to 36 degrees. We hiked in long sleeves and light jackets but the sun and movement kept us warm.

The difficulty of the hike down to the reservation was masked by the beauty of the canyon. A number of switchbacks helped us drop almost a half mile in elevation overall. The trail was at times medium sized gravel which was hard on the thin soles of my trail shoes. At other times, it was thick sand that was hard on the knees and filled my mesh shoes. All along the trail we passed mule trains and Havasupai natives on horseback that were headed to the trail head to pick up supplies, deliver mail, or pick up the packs of hikers with the forethought to hire them to carry their packs.

From Havasupai Trip

Despite the moderately difficult trail, everyone on the hike did a great job of keeping pace and keeping spirits high. We were all very supportive of each other and thoroughly enjoyed the scenery and adventure that we were on.

From Havasupai Trip

We were awe struck when we reached Havasu Falls. Pictures do not do the magnificent scene justice. The roar from the falls, the cool mist it produces, and it's crystal clear blue water were breathtaking. The water gets its color from the high concentration of lime pulled from the surrounding rocks as the water flows. The water, however, was freezing and you could only take a dip for short periods of time. We did manage to swim out to the falls and go behind the falling water. The noise from behind the falls was deafening and you couldn't see a thing from all the mist.

From Havasupai Trip

Our camp was just a short distance from the falls and from the portable toilets. After an 11 mile hike with 40 pounds of gear, this was very beneficial for it provided a short hobble to the bathrooms. Two miles from camp was another set of falls, Mooney Falls. These falls were just as impressive and worth the extra mileage to see.

From Havasupai Trip

The helicopter ride out of the canyon was very cool. It only lasted about 10 minutes but we flew inside the canyon walls so the rock faces towered above us and offered a very unique view of the canyon landscape. Having never been on a helicopter, this was very exciting for me and I don't think I stopped smiling from the time we ushered onto the chopper until well after we landed.

From Havasupai Trip

Once we were out of the canyon, we took some time to explore other areas of Arizona including Montezuma's Castle, a mud house built into the side of a canyon wall, and Route 66 in Seligman. Seligman was the basis for the fictional town of Radiator Springs in the Pixar movie Cars.We also visited my Dad's cousin, Mark, and went to an awesome steak and western bar that featured live music and bar-b-q pits to roast marshmallows.

Arizona is a great place and I know that I'm very much looking forward to visiting again. I've already found a few more places I want to hike and some places I want to photograph there. I know why Sean wanted us to visit this place so much and it definitely lived up to the hype.

More pictures from the Havasupai Trip

Today is the day.  It's the start of my trip out to Havasupai Falls.  My flight leaves at 7:30 tonight with a brief layover in Chicago and I'll be in Pheonix by midnight (Arizona time). 

After we land, my Dad's cousin is greeting us with water for our hike in and fuel for our stove (things we couldn't take on the plane).  We'll then drive 6 hours to the hill top that is the parking lot for Havasupai reservation.  We'll start hiking at first light.  It's 8 miles to the reservation's town where we'll check in and then another 3 miles to the campsite at the base of the falls. 

I'll be carrying a 22lb. pack (that does not include water) and an additional 10lb. camera bag.  I'm sure I will have lots of pictures and videos to share when I get back on Sunday. 
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This past weekend was a bit of a roller coaster.  Chris and I went downtown Friday after work for happy hour and hung out at the Harbor people watching for a bit.  While we were there, I took the opportunity to collect more photos for my street performer photoblog and shot Brian Rudo and his adrenaline comedy show.   Keep an eye on the site and you'll see  some pictures of Brian soon.

I spent mos t of Saturday working.  It was supposed to be a trivial change. I figured two hours tops but it turned out to be more troublesome than expected as I ran into road block after road block.  Luckily I had a pretty open change window but I still had to involve my management to get approval for a mid-change change.  In the evening I got together with my family and handed out group gear for our trip to Havasupai Falls.  I'm very excited to be leaving Wednesday night and all the final details are coming together nicely. 

On Sunday, I was invited to the Inner Harbor by Evan Young to get some special shots.  He was having an audience member propose to his girlfriend during his show and he thought this would be a great photo opportunity.  Apparently the guy and his girl had seen the show on their first date and he thought this would be a great way to propose.  What a romantic!  Evan put together a special bit for the proposal complete with a musical soundtrack that meant something to the couple. The girl was completely surprised and thrilled.  The  plan worked and she said, "Yes!". 
 

I arrived early that Sunday and caught the last show from Lisa the Unicycle Lady. I got some shots of her show and she did a great job playing to my camera.  She was fantastic at striking a pose in the middle of her show so I could catch it.  Her unicycle skills are very impressive and I can definitely appreciate the hard work she's put into honing her skills. 

Sunday was a very fruitful day for Shutter on the Street pictures.  I filled up a 4gig and 2gig compact flash card and ate up one of my camera batteries.  In total, I took approximately 360 pictures in the three shows that I saw (Lisa's, and I stayed for two of Evan's).  It was a really good day for taking pictures.

After the shows, I was invited to Mrs. Pam's birthday party/dinner.  Her birthday is the day after my Mom's birthday.  So "Happy Birthday Mrs. Pam!"

Today is Friday so head over to Shutter on the Street to see today's post.
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Here's a fun little video I came across that gives you instructions for making money performing on the street.

Friday
After work on Friday, I went over to Don Pablos for some chips and a drink with some co-workers.  It has been a busy couple of weeks at work and I needed to wind down a little.  I headed back to the house to grab something quick to eat and my camera stuff and went downtown.  I had to work at our downtown office at 9pm so I took the opportunity of the free parking at our building and went down early so I could work on my street entertainer photography before I had to actually work. 

At the amphitheater there was a break dancing group and they were fantastic.  I watched two of their shows and the guys were really photogenic.  They would look right at me and strike poses or point to me to get my attention right before they were about to do something big.  I got quite a few "keepers" out of the session.  After the show I talked to their manager for a little while and got some background information for a future post on Shutter on the Street.

Before heading over to work, I stopped in at Hats in the Belfry.  They had a really unique Kangol hat that I liked so I picked it up.  It's now the third hat I've bought from there.  I think I have an addiction :)

Saturday
I picked up my dogs Saturday morning so they could spend the rest of the weekend with me.  We went for a walk when we got back and ran into Carla, Steph's neighbor.  Carla is an amazing woman!  She has five adorable, well mannered children that she home schools.  Her husband has to travel a lot for work but she manages keep a very happy home.  Her latest addition to the family, little Naobi, was delivered breach, at home, while Carla was standing in the corner.  It was an absolutely amazing story that had me looking at Carla as if she had wings on her back and a halo around her head.  Anyway, Carla's other daughter Seraphine loves dogs so she walked Abby up the street while I walked Tess.  It was a lot of fun and Seraphine really enjoyed it.

I worked on some more pictures for SotS.  Just trying to get ahead.  And then I watched "Shoot Em Up".  It such a guy flick but it was great!  Nonstop action and great fake gun scenes.  I saw it described somewhere as gun porn, and it was.

After the movie I ordered a pizza and started to watch the UFC fight.  To make a long story short, my pizza was never delivered because they couldn't find the house.  For whatever reasons, the house is not on any maps despite the development being here for 4 years or more.  So I had to run out and get my own pizza which stunk but I was hungry and there wasn't much left in the house.  Besides, Dominos and fight night just go together for me. 

Sunday
On Sunday, I took the girls home and then went to Leah's to watch Eraserhead.  It was a very odd movie about a man, some crazy dreams involving a woman in his radiator and his mutant child.  Its was released in 1979 and has become a cult classic.  I don't think I'll be recommending it to anyone though :)

Sean Carabine Memorial Bench

Originally uploaded by ShawnGrimes

This past weekend, I went to East Hampton, NY to spend the anniversary of Sean's passing with his family and friends. Steph, my sister, and I caravaned with Steph's family. We started our adventure on Saturday around 9:30 in the morning and were making pretty good time despite a bathroom break, followed by a lunch break, followed by a "Courtney got sick in her shoes" break, and finally followed by a "Stop at Kmart so Courtney can get some clean clothes to wear".

We spent Saturday evening with the Carabines chatting while Alex played DJ. It was really great to have some time with the Carabines before everyone came up to talk and share stories.

On Sunday, everyone else came up to visit and there were probably 20+ people there to share the day with Sean's family and friends. We gathered at Main Beach around 2pm to "christen" the bench that Sean's parents had placed in memory of Sean. The bench overlooks the spot where Sean and Steph were married on the beach. Sean loved Main Beach and Steph says they stopped there on their way in and out of town (and many times in between). Sean liked to park in the parking lot facing the beach and listen to music in the car and watch the ocean.

I didn't really know what to expect from the event this year. Would it be a celebration of Sean or would it be a somber affair? It turned out just the way Sean would have liked it. The kids were running all over and playing in the sand. Everyone else was smiling and happy and enjoying each others company. A few people took a few minutes to themselves and visited the surf where Sean's remains were placed last year but the overall feeling was that of celebrating this great man's life. We were having a blast taking pictures on the bench. The only somber moment came when we fulfilled a promise made to Sean by some of his high school friends and played "Don't you forget about me" from the Breakfast Club movie. We all hung our heads and I don't think that's what Sean would have wanted. I think next year if we do the same thing, I'm going to suggest that we make it karoake to keep things cheery.

After the beach, we returned to the Carabine's home for snacks and to exchange "Sean stories." Sean was a great story teller and you always thought his stories were exaggerated (greatly). Then you would meet his parents and they would independently confirm the stories and you were even more amazed. Matt started an activity where we each told our favorite Sean story that we were there for, and our favorite Sean story that was told to us. We were laughing and having a great time.

It's weird but I'm actually looking forward to returning next year. I had such a great time thanks to Sean's family and friends and I can't wait to get back together with all of those great people that Sean surrounded himself with next year.

The Buddhist have a tradition of not celebrating birthdays, but they celebrate the date of death because that is when a person enters the process of rebirth into hopefully a better life because of their actions in this one. I have confidence that Sean will be rewarded for all the great things he did for people in this life and I think a celebration of his journey to the next life is very fitting.

You can see the pictures from the event on my picasa page here: http://picasaweb.google.com/grimes.shawn/SeanCarabineInMemory2008