Michael Shivers + mdshivers Creative Media » Blog

Evening August 3rd, 2009
Twitter Post #1.

Going through old photos trying to find dates of my kids events. Wow, memory lane! I need to plug Aperture up to my TV.

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30 min later after working on some other photos I find that Aperture really has a hard time at doing Split tone editing. Call me crazy but it's much easier to do in Lightroom.
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Twitter Post #2:
if it wasn't for my 500gb Aperture library, I'd consider switching to LightRoom. When I need fast creative editing, I export from Ap to LR

This is my brain on Twiiter.

Posted by Michael Shivers at 10:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

i joined Twitter recently and giving it a shot. I'm going to use it as a communication tool to other people in the industry and to also have my Twitter feed on my front page of my website. When I have a quick thought about something, posting Twitter tweets on my iPhone is much easier than logging into my blog account and posting something that way. I think a lot of other people think the same and that is why twitter recently got another huge VC fund boost.

So I'll be keeping my thoughts rolling both here and on my front page (or twitter account).

This is the first year in a really long time that I am ready for winter to be over with. I usually love the cold and love all that comes with it, but with two small kids, I am ready for spring. Kids are like germ magnets! Well at least when I am older my immune system will be thankful for this time.

I saw a video the other day made by an Atlanta photographer named Zack Arias who was discontent and stuck in a rut with his photography. This video is extremely powerful and really struck a cord with me. It got 10,000 views in the first 12 hours, so I am thinking a lot of people are feeling this same struggle.
http://www.zarias.com/?p=284

Posted by Michael Shivers at 11:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I just wanted to give a quick post as it will be my last for 2008! Lots of things have happen over this year but over all it's been a good one.
I had some prints made yesterday of some photos that I worked on over the past two years and it was pretty rewarding. They have only lived on my computer and so it was nice to see them in print. As I was looking at the colors and textures in the analog format, it provided a warm and inviting experience.
Life is kinda like that too. Something lives in your head - an idea for a short film, a poem, a book or a photo. It lives in you for a while and you start to develop that idea. Then at some point it reaches it's fullest potential without you acting on it. And from there you either act on it, or let the idea die. It's not like you are telling it to die, but it's more of a slow process. Like decaying fruit, but there is no smell or sign of rotting. It just starts disappearing.
So at that moment you should really think if it's worth making it live. For me, yesterday was the moment that I needed to see some of my photographs printed. I needed to see it live outside of my computer and I needed a physical representation of it. So my idea hasn't died and I am seeing it through. Same with a video. I've got a lot of footage that I need to edit. It's just a little artsy piece to show off some HD footage and to show off some coloring ideas that I have been working on. But it's just sitting there and hasn't come to life. So hopefully this post will jump start that project :)
Well- I need to get back to friends and family and start kicking some some but on the Wii.
You guys have a Happy New Year!!

Posted by Michael Shivers at 09:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Vincent totally articulates what I think about the subject. I went digital six years ago, and it's been a long and interesting road. I've been able to shoot thousands and thousands of photos and a lot of times they get lost in my archive. But I have been using Aperture for about two and half years now and it has really allowed me to process and edit the new, but also visit the past very quickly. I've found some old gems that I totally missed at the time, but have become some of my best work. I never delete and my library is about 400gb now.

Have a read a Vincent Laforet's blog has some great thoughts about if you should delete your photos. He is a world renowned photography and just recently got back from shooting the Olympics.

Posted by Michael Shivers at 04:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

play me a melody, originally uploaded by mdshivers.

I recently got a Canon G9 as a little pocket camera, so I could shoot high quality pictures, but not have to carry my DSLR around with all the lenses and bags. I've been wanting to be able to have something discreet, but also something that can shoot RAW and can use my existing camera flashes. The G9 so far has been a really great camera. It's 12.1 megapixel chip with 6x lens, with an ISO range of 80-1600 and F-stop starting at 2.8 has been great. The micro-mode works wonders and beats out my big camera (20D). Also with the 12.1 megapixel and RAW mode, I can crop and do all sorts of stuff with the image and still have a high quality output.
To edit in RAW, you will need CS3, Lightroom 1.5 or Aperture 2.0. Or you can use the Canon software that comes with it.
It has a pretty high frame rate (obviously nowhere near my 20D, but still very fast. It's got movie mode, and panorama mode which already have come in handy.
so I defiantly recommend this little camera as your road warrior or the camera that you want to have without the difficulties of lugging around all your gear. I plan to take it with me on my trip to Chicago, and will be leaving the 20D at home to rest. I have used the G2 for several years too, and the G9 is a different beast. Smaller, sleeker and the controls are much more professional. So if you have a DSLR and are looking for a small compact full functional camera- this is the one.

This picture was taken with the Canon G9 in RAW mode with external 430ex flash. Post process in Aperture 2.0

Posted by Michael Shivers at 09:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

growth, originally uploaded by mdshivers.

i processed this about a month ago and totally forgot about it. as you can see, the photo a day thing has gone astray. I've been taking the photos for January, but I missed about three days. It's not that it's hard to take a photo a day, (well it's not easy) but the harder part is downloading, processing and then uploading to flickr. That to me is a long process. I don't really want to post junk to flickr anyway, I'd rather post stuff that I like and enjoy. That's just who I am.
So I am officially out of the photo a day for the year thingy. It didn't really push me artistically, and I got more frustrated with it as time went on. But I may try to do the thursday picture that Utata hosts or something to that degree.
What I do plan though is posting more photos to flickr and print more off. I need to see my own work in some way... so I can grow from that.

Posted by Michael Shivers at 09:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

another face, originally uploaded by mdshivers.

January 6th, 2008
So this picture a day thing is not as easy as I thought. Yes I have taken one everyday so far, but I really like editing the photos and playing with color and texture and all that jazz. But doing it everyday is drag. Well it's a drag when you are short on time and trying to make time for a little side project like that. So yes, I am continuing, but won't be posting each photo each day.. for now. I may change my mind and just snap away and then post.
I took this photo because I realized I don't have that many of me. I'm usually behind the camera and I'd figure I would break out the tripod and the remote control.

Posted by Michael Shivers at 10:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

January 5th, 1959 newspaper, originally uploaded by mdshivers.

January 5th, 2008
Over the holiday's I worked in my work shed. There was some newspaper that was stuffed in the cracks between the window and the wall. It was to block any extra wind I guess, but I didn't think that it was doing a good job. So I took the newspaper out to fill the gaps. I figured it would be maybe ten years old. Nope- how about 49 years old! Pleasantly surprised.

Posted by Michael Shivers at 11:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

reflections, originally uploaded by mdshivers.

today we were packing up the christmas tree and all the orniments. my little one was happyily taking one apart and as I was picking the pieces up, I noticed the great reflection from it.

Posted by Michael Shivers at 09:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

the world keeps spinning, originally uploaded by mdshivers.

starting the new year with a new spin. Hope to have some new and exciting stuff on flickr and my website. blogging,photos and videos. At least that's one of my goals for '08 :)
The last half of '07 was crazy busy, so I've slipped from posting photos. I've been taking them, just only visible in my little world.

Posted by Michael Shivers at 11:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

reaching out to life, originally uploaded by mdshivers.

This picture was taken a couple of weeks ago while in Flordia. It is just amazing to see her grow and explore. Every day is something new. Either words or movements or both at the same time!

Posted by Michael Shivers at 10:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Amelia, originally uploaded by mdshivers.

Enjoying my work/break here in Amelia Island. I've been able to take some fun pictures of my fam and the nature around me. I've also have been enjoying Lightroom a lot. It runs great on my 12inch Powerbook. It runs pretty fast and I've enjoyed the RAW settings and having advanced post processing abilities.

Posted by Michael Shivers at 10:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

First time at the beach, originally uploaded by mdshivers.

We're in Florida now, and it's the little one's first time at the beach. She really really likes it. We are enjoying our time off (though I am still working) but it's good to have a change of scenery. Yay for oceans and suns.

Posted by Michael Shivers at 10:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Someone on a flickr forum asked a question about how Aperture handles RAW files and if it was possible to send RAW files for RAW processing to another program. Also another question raised was comparing the two different programs in how they handle RAW processing.

@ Aperture handling sending RAW files to another program,

Yes, Aperture automatically handles all the RAW settings. When you open it with another program, you have to convert it to another file format. It can't send a native RAW file to another program. So you can't use ACR to change the settings of your RAW file inside Aperture. You could open the original file inside Finder, change your settings in ACR or Lightroom and then save it as another file format. ACR or Lightroom also doesn't let you edit RAW and save changes to that RAW file and then send the RAW file to another program. RAW conversion only happens once when you need to export the file. You can keep the original RAW with adjustments but it has to live in the native program that you editied with. (ACR,Lightroom,Aperture).

Hopefully in the future these programs can export RAW to another program and be able to reimport RAW.

hopefully this makes since :)

@ comparing ACR/Lightroom with Apeture Raw settings:

I have all three and I really enjoy Aperture's interface and auto tools. But when I need to get a specific look, I have to send it to photoshop.
One thing I love about Lightroom is the presets for adjusting RAW. It seems to be way advanced from Aperture and there are several settings that Apeture doesn't have. There are several websites now that you can download these presets for free or a small price. Excellent.

I am very happy with Apeture and it's file management and interface. But i really like Lightroom's RAW settings and presets. Guess I'll be using both and making sure Apeture mangages my files.

Posted by Michael Shivers at 10:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I stumbled across this site the other day. The company xRez has built a buisnees around extreme resolution panoramic pictures. On their website they have examples and you can zoom in and and out. I've never seen anything like it and really blew my socks off. They use a Canon MarkII 16mp camerea and they take thousands of shots and put them all together. One file is about 3gig's so it's pretty heafty.

But check it out for yourself. It's awesome. xRez

Posted by Michael Shivers at 11:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

peeling the layers off...., originally uploaded by mdshivers.

it's spring time again and everything is buzzing. I'm trying to get in the creative, feelin' good mode, but I am having a hard time. either I am too tired or too busy. Strange thing is that I have found some of the best music I have listen to in years. They've been around a bit and I've listen to them before, but now at this moment its just so fresh. the band... Arcade Fire. If you haven't listen to them, it is some of the best rock i've listen to in years.
I'm in the process of implementing this major video installation project, something that will give me new opportunities for video production. I'm really excited about it, but it's just taking so long on the builder's part.

But with all this, I'm dying to teach myself some new tricks, mainly with some design stuff, photoshop and css.

it's coming along, but the stuff can take a bit.

Oh and I am eating my oatmeal drinking V8. yum.

Posted by Michael Shivers at 09:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

For those who use the Adobe Creative Suite Software- I'd wait on the purchase. They are announcing CS3 on March 27th and shipping it later this spring. For Mac users, this will be Intel ready. Adobe calls it "the largest software release in it's 25 history."

http://www.macworld.com/news/2007/03/05/cs3/index.php

Posted by Michael Shivers at 03:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

reflections pass by, originally uploaded by mdshivers.

Taken during last weekend's trip to the mountains, this photo struck a cord with me. The symbolism here is that I took this photo and the raw version really didn't come out the way I wanted. But after some tweaks and work, it came out better than I imagined .

Posted by Michael Shivers at 05:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

fill 'er up, originally uploaded by mdshivers.

this past weekend we took a trip up to the mountains in North Carolina. It was one of those times where you are just dying to get out of the city. Seems to be a recurrent theme lately. But the mountains were excellent. So quiet that my ears rang. I've got some more pictures coming of weekend so stay tuned :)

This photo is in Rosman NC, at a antique shop right on the river. We have to drive by it to go to the National Park, or to my favorite restaurant in Bervard.

Posted by Michael Shivers at 09:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

still farming, originally uploaded by mdshivers.

I was able to take a quick trip out to the country and see the ol' kicking group. I have quickly forgotten how pretty the country side of Georgia can be. I'm going to make a trip back soon, and spend all day taking photos. Its great to get away from the city hustle.

As on flickr, I've gotten a little frustrated with it lately. I feel that I am limiting what I am posting because I am trying to think about what everyone would like to see. And that just isn't fun. So I am going back to what I want to post. so the next few photos are some fam shots that i took a few weeks ago.

Posted by Michael Shivers at 01:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I've joined in on several discussions and blogs talking about the best way to backup your Aperture library immediately and long term.

Obviously you can use Aperture's great backup feature called the "Vault". That is smart actions that you take to choose a location to where you want to backup Aperture's files and when you update your photo library or make significant changes, the vault icon will turn red telling you to update. It's recommended to use an external hard drive or at least another hard drive that your main library is not on.

SO what if you want to use DVD's to backup? Well I've been mulling over this for a while. I want to have multiple backups and I want to have a disc based backup too. So the recently released Roxio Toast 8 for Mac came to mind. I just got it a few days ago and my findings are that it's a great upgrade from the older version. It does "Disc Spanning" for both Mac and PC on the same disc. So say my photo library is 100 gigs it would take about 25 4.7 gig discs to use. Toast will automatically embed the software needed to read the spanned disk and will restore your library.

Now optically what should you backup? At first I thought hands down just back up the aperture original library. Drag it into Toast and it will tell you how many discs it will take. Then after I started it, it was going to take about 30min on each disk with verification. Bah. that's a lot of time. So I canceled it and decided to think about it more.

If I backup my Aperture library in it's entirety, I need Aperture to read it when I want to recover it if something goes wrong. So what if I want just my photos and not all the data base stuff? I then thought it would be best to export all of my masters by Year/Month/Day and in a Folder called PhotoBackup. Then I could have all of my original photos backup (it doesn't do versions but it will export PSD files as masters). So i dragged the Parent folder "Photobackup" into Roxio Toast 8 and then do a cross platform disc span.

Now I have all of my photos in their original form backed up to Mac and PC format. Now I'm not swithching to PC anytime soon, but it's nice to know that I have the option. Also if I wanted to stop using Aperture for the next best app, i can just import my Photobackup with the Year/Month/Day scheme into another program. And then my photos aren't archived and be required to have Aperture to open them up. (I'm thinking long term here folks!)

Posted by Michael Shivers at 09:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Lake Geneva, originally uploaded by mdshivers.

Lake Geneva (Lac Laman) in crisp day. This is taken from Montreux, Switzerland looking across Lake Geneva towards France. You can rent boats, go swimming and take long walks along the lake. The lake was formed by thousands of years of glaciers melting from the Rhone Valley.

One of my favorite things to do is get a Turkish Kabab and sit on the side drinking a Denner. :)

Posted by Michael Shivers at 05:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

living with fresh air, originally uploaded by mdshivers.

This chalet just signifies a lot to me. First it was my brother's home for a long time and second I spent lots of holidays here. third waking up and seeing this view in the morning will just really make you humble. and for me really demonstrate that there is a God and that he is creative and that he finds natural beauty a good thing.

Posted by Michael Shivers at 09:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

sunrise over the alps, originally uploaded by mdshivers.

over the weekend, i've had some time to go through a lot of my photos that I have taken in Switzerland, France and Italy last March. I took over 4,000 pictures so needless to say I have forgotten about some of the photos.

I've been shooting mainly RAW now since last June, but last March I was shooting JPEG/RAW together. I was a bit intimitdated about RAW and it just took up so much space on the memory cards. I would go out and easy shoot 200+ pictures in an afternoon. I had just recently purchased my Canon 20D, and really couldn't afford several other cards.

But I have found that working with JPG's can be pretty easy too. Some of the coloring is already set for you and you don't have to do as much work when editing. I have realized though that I can't edit in JPG and save as JPG for my final photo. It is just way too much loss in data and quality. So I'll usually work and save in PSD, and if I am uploading to FLICKR or sending to a client for review, I'll save it as a 8bit JPG.

Anyway, this is photo is shot in JPG and edited. I tweaked the color a little and fixed the exposure. All in all it came out pretty good.

Posted by Michael Shivers at 10:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

still here, originally uploaded by mdshivers.

I've been driving by this dump for about 6 months now... always telling myself that I should take some pictures of this place before they bulldoze it. Well they haven't and I finally got around to it. The neighborhood really doesn't like people taking pictures of the place.... so a quick and go job.

Posted by Michael Shivers at 06:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

After days of trying to print with Aperture to my Epson R200, I wasn't have much success. I followed all the rules, change the setting in the Epson R200 perfences to Photo RPM, and turn off color management. Back in forth etc. Print borderless was usless and I was having color banding issues and my prints looked horrible. I tried everything!

Untill i did more research.

Conclusions to all of the headaches and sleepless nights...

For some reason when you add the Epson R200 to your printer set up using the "plus" key it adds the wrong drivers and wrong color proflies. It says it's it but it isnt'.
You have to delete the one you added "normally" and go about it another way.

1. System Pref - Printers and Util
2. click add printer with plus sign
3. more printers
4. choose Epson USB under the drop down menu
5. click on the Stylus photo .....
6. under drop down menu for Page setup choose "Sheet Feeder Borderless"
7. Go back to Aperture and follow all the normal rules of printing.

MY LIFE HAS CHANGED.

well may be not too much but i've got consitent good looking real bona fide borderless printing now on my trusty R200.

I'm excited and I can finish the christmas gifts that I had in the works!

Posted by Michael Shivers at 08:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

a colorful chalet, originally uploaded by mdshivers.

This is one my favortie chalets in the village of Huemoz, Switzerland. Its not perfect by any means and by the look of it one wonders if anyone lives there. There are huge cracks growing up the walls of the house and the paint is a little old and flakey. But it doesn't matter. It's probably been there longer than the U.S. has been the U.S. and will probably last for long time to come.

The house just symbolizes a lot of the values you learn when you live in Europe or when you stay there for a period of time. People just don't tear things down to build something new. They work with the old, they fix the old, they keep the old.

Something that we should take to the heart. We're a bit busy at always trying to find the new thing in life, the new fix, the new building.

Posted by Michael Shivers at 03:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

let's climb, originally uploaded by mdshivers.

i grew up in the country and climbing trees was my favorite thing to do. living in the city now, but at least Atlanta has trees and they don't chop them all down.... yet.

here is to spending the afternoon up in the trees....

Posted by Michael Shivers at 12:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

autumn flowing, originally uploaded by mdshivers.

Last weekend we took a trip to the family mountain house in North Carolina. What a refreshing time! Good to see family and nature again. Sometimes the city can be nice- but I do prefer the outdoors. (Just give me internet!)

Posted by Michael Shivers at 08:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

One of Mastercard's design firms contacted my about using some photos of that I took for the website Priceless.com. They were very easy to work with and the site turned out great. They were doing a story on Café 458 and I went there a few weeks back when some friends of mine where volunteering there. Well the firm found my pictures through my flickr account and now they are on the site.

It's the first picture on the home page of priceless.com and also on the article page at , http://www.priceless.com/articles/a208.html

I did a screen capture of the page for archiving purposes

Posted by Michael Shivers at 01:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

KMD photo shoot, originally uploaded by mdshivers.

did a photo shoot on sunday for the band "Katie and the Ming Dynasty". We had lots of fun... .this is one of the images for it. Will be posting more.

Posted by Michael Shivers at 10:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

the streets of Vevey, originally uploaded by mdshivers.

Posted by Michael Shivers at 09:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Indeed it is. wow-- Apple came out with some cool stuff! New shuffle,Video Ipods, and nanos. Also updated Itunes 7 and a sneak peak at their new content streaming device code name I-TV. man that is going to be awsome.

I was expecting a little more- maybe I have my expectations too high lately, but over all its a good annoucement.

I mean now you can buy movies off of I-tunes and watch it! very cool. They will be a great way for independent film makers to get their content online.

Funny now that Apple is stuck with the I-Tunes name. They did change it to I-Tunes Store from I-tunes music store.

ok- i give you some feed back of itunes 7 when i can download it!

Posted by Michael Shivers at 01:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Château d’Aigle, originally uploaded by mdshivers.

Taken back in March- I've had a few extra minutes lately to go through the photos from my travels to Switzerland.

Renowned as one of the most important castle sites in Switzerland, the 12th C. Château d'Aigle, surrounded by vineyards, towers above the town. It has a square keep, numerous small towers and a balcony from which boiling pitch was poured down. This former residence of the Bernese provincial governors served as the district prison until 1972 and today houses an important viticultural museum.

Posted by Michael Shivers at 08:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

aigle 2002 (day 07), originally uploaded by mdshivers.

part of my "picture a day" series in August

Posted by Michael Shivers at 08:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

going out' (day 06), originally uploaded by mdshivers.

part of my "picture a day" series in August

Posted by Michael Shivers at 08:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

exploring (day 05), originally uploaded by mdshivers.

part of my "picture a day" series in August

Posted by Michael Shivers at 08:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

laps (day 04), originally uploaded by mdshivers.

part of my "picture a day" series in August

Posted by Michael Shivers at 08:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

it's hot (day 3), originally uploaded by mdshivers.

part of my "picture a day" series in August

Posted by Michael Shivers at 08:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

ford tough - day 02, originally uploaded by mdshivers.

day two of my pictue a day project. this is a ford ranchero. I see it everyday and always think to myself i need to take a picture of that! so i did and here it is. not sure the year of it... maybe i can find the owner.

its been HOT in atlanta. today the heat index is 106 and I am staying inside. Having some sushi tonight with friends. Boy i really do like sushi. best thing since slice bread.

and... I want a honda element. tired of dealing with car problems. just give me a foreign car and i'll be on my way!

Posted by Michael Shivers at 02:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Happy August - day 01, originally uploaded by mdshivers.

This is my first picture of my new series that I am doing.

I decided I am going to take a least one picture a day in August and upload the picture that same day. I don't know if I will do it, but I going to try. I had the thought a few weeks ago.. trying to figure out a way to get motivated about taking pictures and have some kind of system to try and improve. maybe this will help. Depending on how it goes I may try to do it in September too. Keep my photos and stream fresh. I'd like to take my time at finding that photo. My life is pretty busy- so maybe this will open my eyes to the stuff around me. Its always easy to take photos on vacaction... different enviroment and all provides simulation etc. But the day to day stuff can be pretty boring and you forget what you see around yourself.

My internet has been down all night (august 1st) and finally came back up at 11:20pm. errr.

ok still didn't work. it's now the next day. dang.

well my goal is to try to upload the photo on the day that I took it. we will see how that one goes

Posted by Michael Shivers at 01:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

prepare for landing..., originally uploaded by mdshivers.

where do you start? wish i blogged more.. but at least I do eh? Today was a fun day in tech land because Flickr got a massive update and so now i am enjoying the benifits of that. Also today- Apple announced their new I-Book replacements- the new Macbooks. And they are freaking awsome. Good price and they can dual boot. sweet. yes that wil probably be my next laptop in a couple of years. when they have made everything univeral. Bought time eh? can't wait.

Summer plans are in the making lookks like.... no where for now! yep sitting tight hanging out and waiting for new things to happen. bought some new photography books the other day-- very cool indeed. and then i realized i am in dire need to update my photos on my site. bit dated. just takes so much work.
yahoo also updated their home page today- but of course it doesn't support saffari yet- only firefox and explorer. Coming soon they say! sawh ever.

well i'm here we are here and kicken. oh we saved a geese baby this morning. it was lost and we walked it to the lake behind our house and it found its parents! once of those moments you get all excited that you messed with nature a little.

ciao ciao!

Posted by Michael Shivers at 07:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Spring Time in Georgia, originally uploaded by mdshivers.

I decided to see if i could capture something that us Georgian's see all the time. Lightning. We cringe at the sound and site of it- especially when we don't have a surge protector on our computer. I just upgraded so hopefully i'll make it through the summer. well hope you enjoy the picture!

Posted by Michael Shivers at 08:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Two Girls, originally uploaded by mdshivers.

My wife and our dog really are like two peas in a pod. They seem to both totally understand what the other needs and wants. Dogs have such a wonderful connection to humans. They just want to make us happy. And most of the time- humans want to make their dogs happy! (except when they chew on the couch) :).
When I come home for work- and the dog is jumping up and down and running in circles 'cause i am home... well that's just awesome. It just really adds to your day- you can "leave" work and really be home with your family.

Posted by Michael Shivers at 09:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Flight du Lac Laman


Originally uploaded by mdshivers.

We're back after a wonderful visit in Europe. Our home base was in Huemoz, Switzerland and we did some traveling around the alps, france and Italy. It was such a wonderful expereince to show Laurie my old kicking ground and for her to meet my really good friends who live in Switzerland. Our plan ride back was really bad- because the french folks decided to go on strike the day the we were flying out. I've told the story too many times now but basically our flight was delayed 24 hours- the drove us to EuroDisnesy for a hotel which was a hour away. Great food but they didn't bring a bus back in the morning so we had to pay $40 to get a ride back to the airport. 6 hours of delay the next day with boarding the plane once then a machnical failure then, deboard and the reboard again.

AHHHH!!!!

anyway we made it home but they lost our luggage. figures. but i have my camera and photos.



I took 4,050 pictures in 2 weeks- i was going for it. I just really wanted to capture Swiss L'Abri, Hueomz and all of the sights that we saw. I'll be posting them here on my site and on flickr site. But i gotta go through them first....



But we are good- very tried but good. I woke up at 3am this morning- ready for work. ughh. thats the only downside of traveling. Every hour of time difference takes a day to recover. So its going to take 7 days.



anyways- i've got some plans for my site and labri's site and really look forward to updating both. I've got a few videos done that i'll be posting-. not from europe but some other ones. i'll have a video of switzerland hopefully soon.

ciao!

Posted by Michael Shivers at 03:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Oakland Cemetery, 2006APS02


Originally uploaded by mdshivers.

I took this picture a few weekends ago with the Atlanta Flickr Folk. Lots of fun!!

Posted by Michael Shivers at 08:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I posted some new "Nature" Pictures. Go to the Picture section and check them out. Just a few for now but will be posting more sections and more pictures soon.

Posted by Michael Shivers at 10:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here is how apple is promoting creativity in the youth. This works!
http://edcommunity.apple.com/gallery/student/

Posted by Michael Shivers at 10:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)