SIMPLE PHOTOGRAPHY EQUALS GREAT PICTURES

It seems like yesterday that I was photographing portraits and weddings. I got started by photographing my sister-in-law's wedding, then it was my new brother-in-law's cousin, then another relative then friends of theirs. It just snowballed and after 9 years I finally decided I'd had enough. I made enough money to buy equipment, lighting systems, filters, extra lenses and photography gadgets. I had all this good stuff but no desire to photograph another wedding. So, for a while, I walked away. It had become a job.
Then something happened at work. My photography skills became part of my day job. The company photographer retired and so they started calling me to take pictures for the company magazine. I had lots of covers and almost every picture in the book was shot by me. I traveled all over North Louisiana and East Texas shooting everything from welding shops, natural gas cars to chicken houses. All the while doing my regular job. Then things changed again and the company downsized and I was out of work. So, I put my equipment away and just shot for my family and church school. I shot football games for 8 or 9 years and after my sons graduated I slowly got out of that and put away my cameras again.
During all that time, I learned how to shoot individual portraits, group shots, small product close ups, landscapes, and anything that came my way. I learned how to make my own reflectors and soft boxes. I used silver and white umbrellas with studio flash units to handheld units. I made some of my gadgets myself and got some great results for just a small amount of money. I suppose I bought every photo book that was on the market and read them with a white hot passion for photography. I had lighting books, posing books, close up books, fashion books, advertising books, and tons of magazines about photography.
So, what am I doing with all this knowledge now? NOTHING. That's sad isn't it? So, I'm thinking I might feature some how to articles here on the Stroope blog and if I get enough response I'll start another blog about using your point and shoot digital camera to make professional pictures using inexpensive lighting and backgrounds. If you're interested check back from time to time for the next photo article.
Take care for now and Happy Forth of July.

Stroope

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A LETTER FROM MY FRIEND SCOTT MITCHELL

Below I've posted an email from my friend Scott Mitchell concerning a story I told about Tom Mann on a recent podcast. Tom and his friends decided to air up a dog with a bicycle pump and then his little brother. Little did he realize that he could have killed the dog and his brother. Scott's email tells of a similar story that ended with the death of a child. I should have mentioned in my podcast that what Tom did was extremely dangerous and not to be taken lightly. Although it was funny at the moment, Tom did say in his book that it was a big mistake and included a warning. Which I failed to do. Thank you Scott for bringing that to my attention.

Hello Ron,

On a recent podcast you were talking about this book you were reading
about country boys in the past. You read a story where this guy put a
gopher up the butt of a donkey and then later pumped up a donkey butt
with an air pump. Later you said the same thing was done by one
brother onto another. What book was this? Who were these people?

You seemed to have kind of a ha ha nudge wink wink attitude towards
how things were in the old country days.

When you told this story I was taken back to my high school days. I
had a shop teacher... Mr. Littlefield. He was a grumpy and small wirey
guy that took no crap from anyone. On one day he got the class
together and laid out the rules of shop classs. He made it clear that
anyone fooling around in the LEAST... even just cracking jokes would
be ejected from the class perhaps permanently. As he was saying this
we all wondered what was this old fart's problem. Next he told a story
and he got real serious. A number of years before he said he was
running shop class and some boys got to horsing around. Ha ha wink
wink. They had a compressed air tank and a hose and one boy grabbed
the hose and put it up to the butt of a kid there and pressed the
lever. A blast of high compressed air came out and inflated the boys
intestine and it exploded. Before they could get the boy to the
hospital for emergency surgery he was dead from the poisons in his
intestine spilling out into the rest of his body and massive bleeding.
He never forgot it and became a strict task master. I respected that.

When I heard this story I was reminded of this. You probably never
gave it any thought. You might want to mention to never try something
like that for any reason and that it is not funny at all. I would hate
to think of someone trying that thinking it was funny. Also in this
day and age that would definitely be sexual assault akin to these
preachers that sodomize kids and the person doing it would have a
record as a sexual predator for the rest of their life. Now we take
such things VERY seriously. I am pretty glad things are different now
than in the good old days.

I know you adore kids and I am sure you were just not thinking about
it. I only thought I would mention it to make you aware of it as
kindly as I can.

Best Regards
Scott Mitchell

Common man Uncommon thoughts
Step outside the box
Politics, Technology, Philosophy, & a slice of my life.
Shorten your commute by listening.
http://www.scottpodcast.com

HO AGENDA

HO AGENDA is a podcast that Tom Wiles and I do at least once a month. Tom, known as Trucker Tom, also has a podcast called the TruckerTom Podcast and has a tremendous following. When Tom and I call each other it's usually to talk about some issue in the news or something we've found to be interesting and most conversations end up being about 2 hours long. We got to thinking that we should make a podcast out of our conversations since at the time no one else was doing that. But, Adam Curry and John C. Dvorak had the same idea and beat us to the punch. However, that challenged us to get our show going and now 22 shows later we're still at it. That's almost 2 years of a monthly show. Since Tom is traveling and usually home only once a month we try to record when he gets a few minutes away from family and friends. Last night we didn't get together until 9:30 and due to problems it was probably 10:30 or 11:00 before we started recording. Around 1:00 A.M. we decided it was time to wrap up the show. We had a lot of fun on this episode talking about some funny subjects. We stayed away from politics for the most part and talked about everyday things like, hog traps. Yep, hog traps. It seems the country is being taken over by an over abundance of wild hogs. So, I informed him of what I knew about it. Then the subjects of water wells, rocks, rock houses, alligators, turkeys and a bit of technology creeped into the conversation. This is probably one Ho Agenda I'll actually listen to again just for a laugh. If you're interested, I'll include a link below to click on. Episode 22 in being edited and will be available in a couple of days. Here's the link: http://hoagenda.mevio.com or http://www.truckertompodcast.com . Enjoy.

Stroope

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SITTING BY THE POOL

At the moment I'm sitting by the pool watching my grandkids swim and play pool basketball. Peyton, Caitlyn and Parker are enjoying a week of vacation in Hot Springs, Arkansas, with their parents, Chris and Brandi. They invited us to spend the week with them so A.J. and I packed our bags and here we are. So far, we've been to Magic Springs Amusement and Water Park twice and they've been three times. We visited an alligator farm and petting zoo too. I know what you're thinking, no we didn't pet the alligators. The second day we visited a business that sells all sorts of beautiful rocks and crystals. These places seem to be everywhere. There's even a mining company that allows you to go through their 100 foot trough to find semi-precious jewels. Of course, there's an admission fee but you are guarenteed to take home at least 20 of these jewels. Does semi-precious mean precious to the owner but actually worthless? Well, that's my take on it. At the moment, that's out of the question. We are considering going to the putt-putt course later but rain is in the forecast so that's on hold. Currently the sun is shining and I'm seeing blue skies and a few wimpy white clouds. Call me Mr. Weather, but I think the rain is likely to not show up until we're in the middle of our putt-putt game.
Regarless of the weather, I'm just enjoying hanging out and taking it easy sitting here by the pool watching the kids.

Stroope

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Stroope

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Trip

I'm going to use utterli or at least try to send out mini-podcasts when I'm on the road.

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More Books About Golf and History

Yesterday was Mother's Day but I went to visit my Mom on Saturday since we expected our kids to come by on Sunday. They did and after their visit, we went shopping. My mom gave me a check, an early birthday present, and it was burning my pocket so we went to Dick's Sporting Goods and looked around at the golf equipment, balls, clubs, putters, bags, and all the related items to golf. They had lots of good sales going on but I was more interested in a particular golf book by Hank Haney called "Hank Haney's Essentials of the Swing". I didn't find it there so went went down the street to the local Barnes and Nobels bookstore. I knew they'd have the book and sure enough, I went straight to it. My golf swing is not too good so it's something I wanted and needed to get some good knowledge about from the best golf trainer of them all. He's the man who guides Tiger Woods so I know I'll learn something if I apply the principles of his book. Some of the chapters are: The Grip, Stance, Posture and Alignment,and The Backswing. You get the idea. So far, I've read chapter one I've already learned quite a bit. I'd recommend this book if asked. Well, I think I just did.
Next, as I was strolling through the bargain section, I came across the book "Einstein" by Walter Isaacson, a great writer. Only 9.95...what a bargin and it's the hardback edition. I watch this section because I love hardbacks. You can get them for a fraction of the orginal cost. The down side is that you might have to wait a year or two to get one. Then I found a book about Abe Lincoln by Michael Lind, "What Lincoln Believed". I can't wait to get into this one.

So, on the bright side, my wife and I had a great Mother's Day.

THE INNOCENCE OF A CHILD

I enjoy spending time with my grand kids. I believe that to a child "TIME = LOVE". That's something I read a while back in an article I got in an email promoting a book. I only wish I'd thought of it myself. If we are going to change the world, I think it has to start with the children. I'm not talking about being in their presence but talking to them, and relating on their level. Listening to what they have to say is important. They are full of questions and even though we give them answers it seems our answers only fuel more questions. That's a good thing to me. In a coversation my wife had with our eleven year old grandson, he asked her why we ( the United States ) didn't get all the hungry people of the world and bring them to the USA and feed them. That was a tough question from a young boy whose heart is still innocent. It's a shame that crops of food are grown and plowed under because farmers can't get "the right price" they want. I call that GREED. We have more then enough to feed the world.

ART LINKLETTER WAS RIGHT

Parker, my grandson, spent the day with me with the intention of spending the night. However, this afternoon we went to visit my mom. He was so funny. As soon as we got out of the car, Mom came out the back door and greeted us. Then he says to Mom, in his 3 year old big boy voice, " How are you today? " Of course, Mom ate that up. He did all the cute things kids do to impress adults. He sang, he danced, he rolled his eyes and followed Mom around making every step she made. He even asked her to let him see the inside of her car. Why? I have no idea, but she did it. She put him behind the steering wheel and let him play a few minutes. After that, he asked for a Sprite for me and one for himself and proceeded to eat a handful of Hershey's Kisses. While watching a country music show on RFD-TV, some guy came on and started singing the old Bobby Bare song, " I Wanna Go Home". I guess the sad song got to his little heart. He looked up at me with those big blue eyes and said, " I want to go home Pawpa Ron, (pause ) to my house. I want to see my Daddy. " I was surprised, because he's never changed his mind about spending the night that I remembered. So, after a few more minutes we headed home. After getting back to my house, I thought he'd forgotten about it. He was fine for about 10-15 minutes and then asked me again to take him home. I asked him why he wanted to go home and he responded, "I don't want to hang out with you now." After calling his dad, I put him in the car and headed south to Keithville. When we arrived he climbed out of his car seat. My wife, A.J., handed him his bag and a couple of toys. He looked at her and said, " I only have two hands, I'm not an octopus ".

Art Linkletter was right, "Kids say the darnest things". I know you're asking "Who is Art Linkletter? If you asked Parker, he'd probably answer, "Google it".

CUTTING THE CORD

I had a thought early this morning as I was waking up. What would happen if I cut the cord? By that, I mean, how would I be affected if I were to leave Twitter, Facebook and all the other social media including podcasting? Just simply walk away to a more simple lifestyle. Could I live without the internet? I've been on the web since the first browser appeared and was one of the first in my town to get online and have a website. Looking back I see how far we've come yet looking forward wondering "how far can we go?" What's next? Social media opens up your life and exposes it to the world. I no longer have local friends, I have global friends. Will I walk away from my email? After all, doesn't almost everyone have email? It might be like going to a deserted island in the middle of the ocean and watching the ship leave, never to return again. Can't change your mind now. Once you lose your contacts in the cyber world, if you went back, say five years later, would you be able to find them? Technology will be so far advanced that you might regret having missed being a part of the change. Is it possible to walk away? I don't think so, but if you don't see me for a while, don't fret, I don't have a boat.

THE QUESTION ?

What's the question:?

If one knows in their "knower" that they know something but can't explain how they know it, who put it in their "knower"? Do you know?

Have you ever known something in your "knower", your heart, inner voice, or whatever you want to call it, that you knew something was a fact and no one could change your mind? Then how did it get there? Who put the "know" in you? Someone supernatural perhaps? Could it be "God"? But, I've heard God is dead and if he is alive, he doesn't really care about me, right?

Or, perhaps it's the voice of the universe or the cosmic powers of beyond but not God...right?

Or, is God the one behind the energy of the universe or cosmic powers? Questions, questions, questions.

I suspect that God is alive and well, and still speaks to men in their hearts. I mean "knower". You know?

ALICE COOPER GOLF MONSTER

Alice Cooper, Golf Monster: A Rock 'n' Roller's 12 Steps to Becoming a Golf Addict is one of the best books I've read in a while. It's about the rock star and his addiction to alcohol and how golf played a big role is saving his life. It's a fast read with lots of good stories of how the band Alice Cooper came into being. Later the band split and Vince became Alice Cooper. ( forgot his real last name) He legally changed his name to Alice Cooper and the rest is history. He also talks about when he became a Christian and how it changed his life and show. It's not preachy, but he tells how that came about and how he overcame alcohol and saved his marriage. If you like golf and rock and roll, you'll enjoy this book.

A LONG TIME

Wow, it's been a long time since I've posted anything so I just thought I'd bring you up to date. Peyton stayed in the hospital for a week and then went home. He's doing fine. Caitlyn and Parker are also doing good and back in school.
Peyton has been accepted in a Magnet school for next year and he's excited about that. ( I wish I was that smart )

Health wise, I seem to be doing better but still have an occassional pain in my upper left stomach area. Possibly an ulcer?

I bought a set of golf clubs. They were the PineMeadow display clubs at a local Academy Sports store. Got them for 59.00 and the week before that bought a Nike 5900 Sumo driver for 150.00, also at Academy. They sell for 200.00 everywhere else in town as well as the internet. So, this Saturday, April 25th, I'm playing golf with a friend. Last Tuesday we went to the driving range to try out the driver and clubs. Whew, that was an experience. I'm a bit sore. It's only been about 8 years since I've played any golf. I did go to the dirving range last year to teach Peyton how to swing a club and had some clubs cut down for him. I'm hoping he'll enjoy the sport so I'll have a partner. I think he'll make a great golfer.
I'll post the results of my golf game here so you'll want to come back for a good laugh. See ya!

Meningitis

All three of my grandchildren were sick this week. Caitlyn has pneumonia and an ear infection, Parker has the flu, and Peyton has bronchitis and now has meningitis and is in the hospital. Peyton spent Thursday, Friday and most of Saturday with me. He stayed with me while Caitlyn and Parker stayed with their mom's grandmother, because the parents couldn't get off work. All three would have been too much for her. Early Sunday morning, around 4:00 A.M., Peyton was crying with back and neck pain so he was taken to the hospital and diagnosed with meningitis. Chris called me at 8:00 A.M. to let me know. Then Peyton called me on his mom's cell phone from his room to tell me all about it. He was given a spinal tap and told me it didn't hurt. Several years ago his dad, Chris, had meningitis and a spinal tap and said it was extremely painful. The doctor was amazed at Peyton's behavior during the procedure. The doctors are waiting for Peyton's culture to grow so they will know if it's viral or bacterial.

All this time, Anna Jean, my wife, was staying at the hospital with her mom who had surgery on her jaw. Her mom's jaw bone had to be replaced due to taking the drug Fosamax which caused the bone to be destroyed. It literally rotted away. She now has a metal jaw which has to be taken out in about 3 or 4 months and replaced with real bone. If the surgery had not been done her face would have become disfigured. She's 82 years old. The doctor said she's healing like a 4 year old and has the vitals of a 62 year old. I'm sure there was a lot of infection in her body caused from this as well. She wouldn't eat or talk about being in pain so we think it could have affected her mind. Since she's off the medication now she is beginning to act more like herself. I estimate that she lost at least 40-50 pounds over the past year. She came home from the hospital yesterday and A.J. went to her home to check on her this morning.

I'll keep everyone up to date with the progress of both Peyton and Meme.

THE SCARY GUY

I joined The Scary Guy's social network a couple of days ago. http://www.scaryguy.ning.com . I met him a while back when I found his website and decided to send him an e-mail. I've very impressed with his work. See below:

Who is The Scary Guy?

The Scary Guy is quite possibly The Most Powerful Agent For Change on the Planet Today!
His sole mission is ‘The Total Elimination of Hate, Violence and Prejudice Worldwide.’ These were the first words that Scary spoke when he began his mission in 1998. Since that day, Scary has worked with over 7 million people around the world promoting peace through the teaching of Love and Acceptance of all people. His audience consists of both youth and adults on an individual, community and society level, unaware of how they are using negative energy to meet their needs.


Quite a task for one man but it's something he's not afraid to do. Recently his biography was released and can be ordered in paperback or downloaded. I chose to download it because I wanted to start reading right away. The writer, Mark David Hatwood, takes you on a 5 day journey to the schools in England as The Scary Guy presents his message to the school children and teachers. You'll read stories that will tug on your heart, of kids whose lives have been damaged by other kids bullying them. You see how The Scary Guy starts his "show" to get the attention of the young and sometimes rebellious audience. He holds them under his spell with some really serious facts and once he has them in his grip, he starts to be funny, and soon talks about giving hugs. He'll coax some unsuspecting kid up, shake his hand and teach him or her how to hug, with permission. By the time the session is over the hall ways are full of kids hugging and treating their fellow classmates with respect. He does this day in, and day out. It's his life, his hobby, his love, his lifestyle. Once he leaves a school, he goes back to the hotel for some food and rest and prepares for the next day. Once that's out of the way, he answers e-mails from kids, sometimes 25 or more, that have his special coded email address. These are the ones that need help the most. Sleeping about 5 hours a night and catching a nap between sessions sometimes, is all the sleep he gets but he's quick to tell you it's all he needs. Not every school responds, not every teachers gets behind his work but he continues regardless. After all, his life is is mission.

Oh, did I mention he has tatooes over 85 percent of his body including his head, neck and face. Now, that's why he's called The Scary Guy. In fact, The Scary Guy is his legal name. I suggest you visit his site at http://www.thescaryguy.com/ and read about him, watch the videos and listen to the interviews before you decide to write him off as just another gimmick freak show. You'll be glad you did. Then go buy a copy of the book for yourself, read it, and then ask yourself, " What can I do to change my world?".

.

New Podcast ....Perhaps

Thanks to Marice Zondag for his kind comments about the ZipCast. One reason I chose to stop the podcast was so I could do some heart searching and research about what I really wanted in a podcast. I've been so impressed with the work of The Scary Guy, because he's changing the world, that I felt too that I would like to do something worthwile. I played music, talked about my life and family, and sometimes talked about my beliefs. Not too world shaking but was a lot of fun but left me feeling empty. I wanted to put out some really life changing content or at least offer people something to take home and think about. I believe in change and that it's good, if it's right. Change for the sake of change is not good. In my next Podcast, whatever the name of it will be, I hope to share some insites about life and share some thoughts and truths that anyone can apply to help with their existience. ( I hope that's spelled right ) I don't have all of the answers, but I've discovered a few that I'd like to share. If would be fun if you'd share with me what you've learned as well. Life is a journey until you decide that it's not. When you give up, don't try and give it, life becomes a burden. Don't give up, keep traveling that road. Find out where you want to go and head in that direction. Don't settle for the well traveled road, take the path that few follow. It's there you'll find the adventure you've dreamed of.

2009

Brrrrr, Jan 16, 2009

It's cold in the southland today. In Shreveport the low was 22 degrees. I know that's not very cold considering that the rest of the country is below freezing but to me 22 degrees is cold. The sun is out and the high will be 40 so I can live with it.

By now everyone should have heard about the plane crash in the Hudson River in NY. Was that a miracle or what? It was so strange watching the people standing on the wings of the plane waiting to rescued. I can only imagine how they grateful they felt.

WHAT NOW? NAILS

As of the first of this year, 2009, I've decided to no longer publish The Daily Zipcast Podcast. Although I do enjoy podcasting I felt it best to stop and try other things. New year, new projects like blogging more. Blogging is a thought process and will probably take a little longer then simply recording a podcast. Not that I didn't think about the process and content of the podcast but I do admit sometimes it was just too easy to put out a lot of nonsense than to think the project through. At least here, you won't hear me say, "you know" like Caroline Kennedy or use "uh" over an over. I'm sure I can find other ways to get your attention.

Speaking of attention, I just realised that I'll need to cut my nails more often if I'm to type. I just cut them last week and it seems they already need cutting. I hate the sound of long nails hitting the keys. I'm a man. I don't grow my nails long but if they get past a certain length, I go bonkers. It feels that they are in my way. The disadvantage of short nails is picking up thin objects off the ground like coins or slivers of paper. Nails are useful for that but that's about it.

Editing. Now that's the other thing about blogging. You have to proff read. Oops! Make that "Proof" read, So, if I'm to "nail it" as a blogger, I have to be careful about what I say and proof read for mistakes. Good English is important too. I might need some help there but as I blog perhaps that will improve too. If it gets to be too much work, I might go back to podcasting.