Yea…. real mature… fucking script kiddies!

I’m pretty sure that they had used an exploit in Jooma that has been recently patched in the latest release.  So, I’ve requested the server logs from my ISP so that I can track down the originating I.P. address and cause hell for these individuals by contacting their ISP.  And if I really want to be a bastard, I might bring the issue of my time up in small claims court and nail these sons of bitches to the wall.   As if yet, I don’t know if it was the password exploit, or a php or sql code injection attack, but I should be able to figure it out as soon as I see the logs.

Of course, it didn’t  help that smugmug had changed their configuration around the same time, causing www.kingphotosonline.com to come down a crashing hault as well.  So at first, I thought someone had broken into my godaddy.com account. Nice!

The good thing that has come from this is that I’ve re-installed the content management software using a method that allows for easy updating of the files and I’ve also made Korrupted.Net, marcellusking.com and a few of my other domains a bit more secure.   Of course, I needed to get on the ball and start getting Marcellusking.com built anyway, so hopefully, I’ll be able to be done with that in around a month if I can find the time to complete it.    I figure it’s about time I start picking things up in the business anyway.

Good thing too, because for a short while, my camera shutter button became briefly inactive following a sonic boom.  Thank goodness for having a backup camera body.   You never know when those will come in handy.   Fortunately, the problem was with the contacts not getting a clean connection on the shutter mechanism.   If it becomes more of problem, I’ll be sure to send it in for some quick service. 

But anyway, without further ado, here are some of the pictures from the air show.  Mostly consisting of the thunderbirds.

The only thing that bugged me though is that there seemed to be quite a few people there with cameras who acted like complete snobs as soon as they saw my camera.  And just about all of them were 50+ year old white guys with entry level SLR’s with kit lenses, or high end point and shoots.   Same move every time, they look at me, look at the camera, and throw some snobbish look at me and move on.  My “hi’s” and “How are you doing’s” were frequently met with silence and grumbles.   Out of the whole day, I only remember striking up a photography related convo with three people.   Two guys who had questions about what my ring flash was and how to get better close up shots, and another one who was an actual pro photographer in which I actually had a long and extended convo about lighting, new equipment on the photography scene, techniques, etc…   Thank god I was there to shoot flowers and butterflies and not socialize.  People who don’t even thank you when you keep the door open for them after you go through so it doesn’t slam in their face.   Here’s a tip people!  When people keep the door open for you, you ONLY walk through if you’re a woman.  Otherwise, you take hold of the door and say thanks.  Don’t walk through without even trying to grab the door or saying thanks for the consideration.   That’s how you catch an ass whipping by a black guy.   Fortunately, I’m not a hooligan.  But I wouldn’t mind being one for a day.  My theory was that these a-holes were from the rural areas where blacks aren’t too common. 

Next time I go to that area, I’ll wear a shirt with a black power fist on the front.

Anyway, enough with the rant.  Other than that, it was a pretty fun experience.  The staff that worked there were very pleasant and informative and I popped off plenty of shots.   Here’s a sample of some of the ones I shot

Wow!!! So much to show, so much to blog about, and so many pictures to show off.   I guess I’ll just go in chronological order.  First up, the trip to Denver.

We didn’t do much this time when we went up there.  It was mainly just chillin and hanging out, so there really aren’t any shots of mountains, lakes, and sweet looking rock formations this time around.  I’ll have to correct that the next time I head to Colorado, considering that it’s such a beautiful state.

This is my brother Harry, who probably thinks that I ignore him half the time haha.

And his lovely wife Jan.  Sorry I didn’t get more pictures of you Jan, but I know you hate me aiming that camera in your general direction all of the time.

My wonderful and absolutely adorable Niece

And last, but not least, my kick ass sister! Ricky couldn’t make it out with us this time, but hopefully, he’ll be around on the next trip.

And a few sights around their home

And some pictures and candids from the Art festival in Denver

And this young lady at the art festival was just TOO phoine.   I’m an extremely shy guy, but even I couldn’t resist aiming the camera in this beauty’s direction.

And to cap it off, some chilling in the spa

Okay, so that’s it for the Denver shots at the moment.  Harry, Pam, and Jan, if you want full size photos for your own printing, just hit me up.

And of course, I have to show off some of my recent macro shots

Oh, yea, and just took some pictures off the cat yesterday evening while testing out some new lighting schemes.  Which btw, I have some really sweet ideas for a few body landscape shots for those who are interested.  Just hit me up.   Anyways, here’s some recent shots of my baby girl.

And while out and about today, I picked up some Black velvet.  Had to test it out on some glass.  Which btw, is a real pain in the neck to shoot in a way that you can bring out detail.  There will definitely be some more experimenting with them.  But these were the glasses that my brother and his wife got for me.  I thought these things were absolutely stunning!

And last but not least, while I was in the studio, and had the lights set up, I decided to do some shots with the macro lens under studio lighting conditions.   Talk about a world of difference!  Wow!

Aight, I’m off to bed.  Next blog entry will be more of the latest happenings in life outside of photography.  Hopefully, I can get that out over the weekend.  And boy do I have a lot to say!

And my boy Kelsey uploaded the 500 pound dead lift video from when I was down in Tulsa.

Okay, so here’s the deal.  I added another lens to the arsenal, and because I now have a car payment, splurging on the $1200 dollar canon 180mm macro was not an option.   So I ended up getting a Sigma 105mm together with a Canon Mr14-ex flash in order to get me started in the macro photography world.   I liked the ability to do macro so much, that I ended out buying some Kenko extension tubes  in order to get me even closer to the action.

So without further ado, here are some recent shots from the macro as well as some other shots along the way.

My first spider with the new lens.  Not much to begin with, but it’s a start.

Sometimes, you take a good picture, but you tend to miss it’s potential.  And therefore not do anything with it.  I had passed this one up because I shot it at an 800 iso.  It wasn’t until I was going back through the libraries and had some free time to spend that I was able to make this one really shine.

My second spider shot, which was a good candidate for the extension tubes.   For those who think this type of stuff is easy for me, here’s the deal with this one.  I was laying on my back, with other insects crawling on me, shooting at the underside of a leaf on my patio, in the dark, trying to get this spider about the size of ball end of a sowing pin.  Regular macro wasn’t enough to get this guy big enough.  This took all three extension tubes (12mm, 20mm, and 36mm), cabled remote, tripod almost down to the ground, and 15-20 minutes to get this guy with a suitable shot.  Yeesh!

Aight, so on from bug shots with the closeup lens.  Here’s some of the other activities from the past weekend.

First of all, I had to visit my sister to see her new dog.  Plus, I hadn’t been around in a while so I needed to be over there anyway to check things out since I’ve been a bit alienated from close friends and family lately.

Unfortunately, her previous dog Baxter had passed away from being hit a car, but she was able to find ANOTHER dog with similar traits by the same name.   Strange how things work out.  So I had to go over there and get some cool shots of him and Brody.

Sorry about the lack of action shots Pam.  Just wasn’t enough sunlight for me to really freeze that shutter.   So I left those out.

And as soon as we started talking about skunks, guess what we saw

  Two baby skunks, which to be honest, this was the first time that I had ever seen a live skunk in my life.  So of course I had to go check them out, despite their less than flattering reputation.    By the time I got through shooting, I turned around to see my sister already back up the hill and almost back in her driveway.   I guess she wanted no part of those skunks, especially since the dogs have been skunked before haha

And finally, hung out with Theresa, her boyfriend, Candice, and various others over at Theresa’s place.

Here are some first time shots the shots

So yea, back in Kansas City and I’m already a bit bummed and the week isn’t even over yet.  Go figure.  Part of the issue with that is most of the people I know here are either busy with marriage, kids, or work.  Or just  not really the type of person I would want to spend a considerable amount of time with.  Man, I need to find that special one and settle down before I go crazy haha.

Isis was very dang glad to see me when I got back.  I guess 3 days of not having anyone around can really make you appreciate someone when they come back home.  I guess even cats can understand that because she’s been hanging more closely than she has before.  When I sleep, she cuddles up right next to me in bed. And as I type this blog entry, she’s laying down next the desk.  Whichever room I’m in, she’s in.   And I have to admit, I’m glad I let Antoinette talk me into adopting her.   I think I need her more than she needs me.

But anyway, here’s a few pictures from the weekend.  I really didn’t do any scenery type shots around the city though.  More often recently, I’ve actually just wanted to leave the camera behind on a few trips and just chill for a bit.   And I got to snap off a few pictures of Kelsey and his wife in the park before heading back to Kansas City, dodging storms along the way.

But anyway, the main reason I went down there is for my boy Kelsey’s weightlifting get together, which I thought would be pretty interesting to photograph.  So here are some shots from the weekend.

Wake up Kelsey!

Trent on the squat.

Trent the powerhouse

Wish I could take credit for this one, but this was taken by Kelsey’s wife.   Nice angle and composition!

500 Pound deadlift!  Tulsa representing

So I had to step out from behind the camera and get into the fray and represent KC.  I didn’t expect to get this one up.  Surprised myself actually.

Kelsey and Chuck

Kelsey and his beautiful wife Lauren

The man Chuck!

This is Titan! Still just a puppy! Imagine that!

Paid a visit to Kelsey while he was at the station on Sunday.  Looks much more interesting than being stuck behind a desk all day.  Even got to play with the hose! Woot!

Artsy fartsy stuff

Family portrait

  Cute couple

In the meantime, I gotta get some other photos finished and burned to cd.  Stephanie and Jamie, thanks for being patient with me.  Been mad busy lately.  Not to mention Photoshop going belly up on me.  Argh!