
So I finally got the Coronation Ball photos edited. It was like giving birth.

Without a doubt, this was the most challenging night I've had covering an event. The closest I can imagine is covering a wedding. I don't know how they do it.

Be thankful I'm not inundating you with all 1k+ that survived the final edit. Instead, you can see a subset here.
Coronation XIX Ball At The Syndicate
More soon.
But I'm still not totally caught up. Life has been a little crazy since Cincy's Coronation. It was my first, and I experienced my second less than two weeks later in Iowa.
Had a great time, but it's left very little left to complete editing.
Since I didn't want to overwhelm, or bore, with one event after another, I'll just post the links.

Coronation XIX In Town Show At Bronz

Coronation XIX Out Of Town Show At The Dock

Coronation XIX Ohiowa Show At Shooters
Working on the actual Coronation XIX ball next. Slowly but surely. Slowly but surely.

So I took this week off work to catch up on the backlog of editing I had to do for the Court shows. Well, and to be able to cover all the events leading up to Coronation.

I'm almost there...except for the 1k of shots I took last night at the In Town Show at Bronz. Lord.

For the curious, if I've not already overwhelmed you on Facebook, you can find the current sets below.
Tamika's Country Review At Shooters
Scott's Meet-Greet-Actual Birthday
Scott's Cincy Bar Tour
Scott's Big 4*0 Show
Cowpoke Show At On Broadway
Yes, I've been busy.
If you're around this weekend and looking for some entertainment, here's the schedule:
Friday September 11th Out of Town Show @ the Dock Complex 7 – 11pm
$10.00 Admission
Hosted by the ½’s Daddy Wayne and Eve St. Michael
The Iowa show to follow at Shooters
Saturday September 12th Coronation 19 @ the Newport Syndicate
in the Grand Ballroom
Doors open at 5:30pm
Open bar from 6:00pm to 7:00 pm
Show starting promptly at 7:00 pm
Silent Auction closes after the end of the 2nd set.
$65.00 Admission
Victory Tour to all the local hot spots following Coronation XIX.
Sunday September 13th Victory Brunch
The Kentucky Room @ the Holiday Inn Express Bellevue
11:30 am
$25.00 Admission
Hope to see you there.

Yes, another event. This time it's Scott's Cowpoke Show at On Broadway.

So at this event, it was the first time my equipment simply wasn't up to the task.
As you can see from the first photo, there was a fog machine in use. Which was cool, since the colors from the stage lights made it all pretty dramatic.
But it didn't do me any good. The camera and lens combo I've been using just was fast enough to capture motion and the lights at the same time. Eventually, I just had to start blasting everyone with the flash and post processing was still a giant pain.

Which lead me to renting a new camera body and lens combo for the coming week. Why you ask? Because of Coronation, of course. Starting on Wednesday, it'll be one show after another until the finale on Saturday. If you're local and want to support charities here in Cincinnati, please come out to the show. Information can be found on the ISQCCBE website here.
I'm also getting caught up, come hell or high water, tomorrow, so except an onslaught. This set is on Flickr over here.

As always, I'm slowly moving through the edits. This set is from Tamika's Laua show.

This was actually probably the most unhappy I've been with a set in a long time. I was just not able to get my head in it. And the girls were all extremely tired from the Gay Bingo at Ensemble Theater.

Luckily, the coming deluge of shots aren't as mediocre. For the set on Flickr, just click here.

So we're knee deep the campaign for the Court's new Emperor and Empress. I've shot a ton of shows, and we'll get to that later.

As a change of pace, I decided to go ahead and post the informal receptions each person has. These are all at Rosie's Tavern. in Covington, Kentucky.

A new friend brought out a limo for one the events, which made for an interesting evening. For the curious, you can find the full set on Flickr here

So the Court had a show to announce the candidates for Emperor and Empress a few weeks back. And yes, I'm still experimenting. As you can see.

Yes, I'm behind. Like three events behind. Or more. But there's only so many hours in the day. I should be in bed now for crying out loud.

Anyway, here they are.

Scott Steger for Emperor

Tameka for Empress
For the a small set I liked on Flickr, just click here. And if you're on Facebook, just go here.
There's all sorts of events around this leading up to something called Coronation. I've been taking a lot of photos...so yes, expect more of this sort of thing. Like A LOT more.
You're welcome.

Finally got to these. I've been avoiding processing this set for a couple reasons.

As you can see, I was experimenting quiet a bit during this one. And that's because I've been getting bored with what I've been doing. But mucking about with exposure settings messes with my head, keeping me out of The Zone.
I don't know how it works for other people, but for me, I have to stop actively thinking. Or maybe what I mean by that is over thinking. It does matter if I'm singing, writing, or even just figuring out a technical issue, if I get into The Zone the results are always 110% better.

The problem? I don't really learn anything when my consciousness is put on hold. And I still have much to learn, so I know that I'll continue to have these hit 'n miss moments. I'd just prefer to not.
The event wasn't completely full of fail, so if you're curious jump over to Flickr to see the best of the bunch here.

A few weeks ago, Don and I spent a Sunday afternoon with friends. Of course, I had to terrorize everyone with the camera.

And yes, I terrorized the animals too.

Brian, who is the person in the first pic, is quiet the chef. Even though we aren't able to make it every Sunday, it is a great way to relax and stay in touch.
As always, for the set on Flickr, just click here.

Well, sorta. Last month, Cincinnati has it's traditional Drag Races.

For those of you not in the know, the Drag Races are basically a relay race between various businesses downtown. Each team has to put on a wig, dress, heals and pursue (because accessories matter), run to one end of the block, and exchange the garments with their team mate. Who in turn, runs to the other end.

This year, the team from Hamburger Mary's won.

And no, that's not Mary. That's Joan. God love her.
For the full set on Facebook, just click here.

So Don and I went to a party in Williamstown, Kentucky this weekend. A lake party, to be exact.

It was a wonderful time, with friends new and old. Well, old as in known for a long time. You know.

You can find the smaller set on Flickr here, or just jump over to Facebook for all the randomness over here.

So yeah, more photos of Court events. But at least this time I'm doing it two at a time.

These are from the Entertainer of the Year kickoff show.

The small set on Flickr is here.
And these are from a different EOY show held on July 5th.

The small set for this one is on Flickr over here.

I think I'm starting to get the hang of shooting these. Sorta.
I know you've already seen these on Facebook, but for the larger sets you can jump over to the .me galleries. I've also uploaded photos from Pride. All at full resolution too. You can find that here.
And yes, I'm still crazy behind on getting through all the photos I've taken this summer. But that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Yes, more shots of drag queens, but not just drag queens.

See? And it was for charity. So there.

It was the first time I've used a separate flash gun indoors. Let me tell ya, it was definitely a learning experience.
You can find the set of shots I particularly liked on Flickr here.

So my friend Fred of Joseph WIlliams Home sang on Fountain Square Saturday as part of a part of an event called Equinox. I decided to do down and take some photos for his debut performance.

Don and I hang out with friends, and though the rain did put a damper on things, everyone had a good time.

That's George from Metronation, who put a lot of effort into get it off the ground.

And Tracy Walker, another performer from the day.
You can find the whole set on Flickr here.

So I finally got around to posting the photos from this year's Pride. Despite the downpour that occurred immediately following the last arrivals, it was a good day.
There's just too many to post here. I also decided to break things up a bit.
For the set of environmental portraits, click here.

For the photos from the parade itself, click here.

I've started cross posting now to Flickr and Facebook. It is a little easier since figuring out how to manage my Aperture to iPhoto workflow, but it's all still a bit of a pain.
And if you want to 'friend' me on Facebook, the link to my profile is here.

Oh, and I only have about a TWO thousand photos to process now. I've been a busy bee lately.

I'm so proud to be part of this show at Core.
From the press release:
net.works 2
singularities is a show consisting of artwork created by artists from my LiveJournal friends list. Twenty-eight talented men from all over the globe will be showing one piece, a singularity of work, representing the best of who they are and what they do.
The first net.works show in August of 2006 was a great success, with some artists selling work and even a few participants flying into Denver to attend the opening weekend. From painting to photography, drawing to sculpture - the range of artistic disciplines and execution of vision was extraordinary. This year's show promises to be just as exciting and diverse - don't miss this one!
If you're curious about the work being shown, click here. Thank you

So here's the new batch.
I do enjoy watching them run around the yard. The weird thing is how similar they all look. It's taken time, but I think I can tell them apart now.

One's still up for grabs, so if you're local and want a little cutie, let me know.

More, including Don holding the babies, and some Nom Nom Nom...( behind the cut. )

Just a random iPhone shot
Yes, I'm still alive.
And sitting on over a thousand (?!?!!!) photos to process from the past two weeks. I just need a night (or ten) to get through them all.
Pride is this weekend too, so the likelihood of this happening soon is slim. But I am learning a lot.
Expect more soon.

...as in Queen City Survey. What did you think I meant?
So anyway, this is Dan, who runs the blog in question. After being on the local news recently for his March(itecture) Madness contest (see QCS for what that is), this week he's in CinWeekly, the local entertainment rag. You can check out the article here.
Recently he asked me to shoot some photos of him around downtown to replace the overexposed and out of focus shots he likes to put up on Facebook. This is the first time I've done anything like this. I definitely learned a lot and his patience was a big help.

Yes, I let him wear a cowboy hat, despite my dislike of country music.

Showing off the guns.
( More behind the cut )

I didn't mention this, because I was hoping for the best. That was evidentially the correct course of action.
Remy escaped three days ago, and we hadn't been able to find him. He showed up this morning, thinner but OK.
Don and I were worried because he's not the brightest of animals, though is very sweet and loving. Don calls him 'Bedtime Kitty' since he loves to go to bed with Don. The earlier the better. Remy is definitely Don's baby.
I tend to call him 'Special Needs Kitty' because, well, you know how I am.
Anyway, Remy seems to think he's a dog, and that Hunter is his father. He's constantly rubbing up against Hunter, but being the good dog that he is, Hunter tolerates it. Remy even tries to clean him on occasion.
I'm (mostly) glad he's home.
