Four Perspectives

Pin It I’d like to invite you.

Yes, you.

I am setting out on a new endeavor with a few friends of mine.

I know…crazy; one more thing to keep up on when my life is now a whirlwind of events.

http://fourperspectives.com/

I’d be flattered if you stopped by; moreso if you did it more than once.

From the Editor’s Desk

Pin It I hadn’t planned on composing a blog post at 4 in the morning; I thought I’d be sleeping. For some reason, my body just wouldn’t seem to agree with me in this regard, and I found myself awake while most of the state was still sleeping.

So instead of slumbering, I composed a message for my class website Thought of the Month.

I know, kind of a poor excuse to call a post, but what can I say? I’m a double-dipper…

From the Editor’s Desk

Mr. Zimmerman

How much to you put into your own education? I mean, how much effort do you really put into school?

When I was a kid, I was under the mistaken belief that it was the responsibility of my teacher to make sure that I learned. My job—I thought—was to go to school, sit in my desk, daydream, turn in homework that I did a halfhearted job on, and complain from time to time about just how much I hated homework and school.

You know the years have flown since I was in elementary school, and I’ve come to realize that it wasn’t really my teacher’s job to make sure that I learned.

It was mine.

No matter what I thought, my teacher wasn’t affected by whether or not I paid attention in class. If I learned it, I learned it. If I didn’t, my teachers didn’t go home having their lives changed for the better or the worse. It was my life that was affected.

The reason that I bring this up is that there seems to be an increasing number of students who seem to think that it is the job of their teacher to make sure they learn while they are at school. I’m here to tell you that this is simply not true. Now, I’m not saying that a teacher shouldn’t be prepared, because they should be, what I am saying is that the job of learning is yours.

There’s an old saying which goes, “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink it.” Have you ever heard somebody say that before? Maybe your parents or grandparents? Do you understand what it means? When I was a kid, I sure didn’t. What the heck did drinking horses have to do with me?

To be honest? Everything.

You see, a horse will only drink when he is ready to. You can take him to the water trough, you can even try to force his head into the water, but until he is ready to take that drink, it just won’t happen.

In a lot of ways you are just like that horse; you cannot be forced to learn…you have to decide that you want to learn. Then—and only then—will the learning really happen for you; it won’t happen until you make the decision for yourself.

You know that it all comes down to one person…

You.

After all, you all know that if you really wanted to, you could space off in class, and not pay attention in the slightest. Right? But who does this hurt in the end…really?

Just one person: You.

If the learning of the content doesn’t happen, whose fault is it? Is it the fault of your teachers? Is it your parents’ fault for not making you do your homework; for forcing you to read at night?

Now, when I was a kid I might have disagreed and said that it was my teachers’ fault; I’d have probably argued that if only Mr. Miller were a bit more interesting then I’d have learned what he was trying to teach. But really, let’s be honest here…was I coming to school to be entertained, or to be taught? Sure, it’s great when these two things happen together, but when they don’t can I really blame the teacher?
The truthful answer is:

“No. No I can’t.”

So now it comes down to you…what kind of effort are you going to put into your own education?

I mean, really?

When you stop to think about it, when you try to get out of things in school or find shortcuts in life, in the end you are just cheating yourself. You may not understand how this can hurt you right now, but one day you will.

So, what happens now? To be honest, I don’t know. It really depends an awful lot on you now doesn’t it? I would hope from this day on that you’d to put a little bit more into your own learning each and every day; after all, it affects you more than anyone else.

You know what though? Despite everything else, there is one enormous reason for putting more into school each and every day. So, what’s the reason?

YOU are worth the effort; give yourself your personal best.

Backroads Contest III

Pin It

So Teachinfourth, isn’t it about time you had another contest?

This has been the recent question I’ve received from a few friends and to be honest, up until now, I hadn’t really thought about it.

However, I think it’s a smashing idea.

Official rules are found HERE.

Good luck!

Backroads Contest (again)

Pin It Updated (see below).

I have a friend with whom I was recently talking. She thought she should have been the winner for the last contest on my photography website. I guess she felt that she wasn’t given a fair shake the last time I sponsored it (or rather, didn't know about it soon enough and other people got a big head start).

So, for those whom would like a ‘second chance’ at winning a free print from Backroads Photography, I will have the contest one more time. The only new addition to the contest is that Gerb and Summer are more than welcome to play if they want but, since they were the winners last time, they are not eligible to win again.

Sorry guys.

The official rules are found HERE. Since Christmas is coming up so quickly, this contest will end at midnight on Wednesday, December 17th...this way my friend can try for her free print in time for that self-given Christmas gift.

Good luck!

By the way, since I know that there are a lot of cjane fans out there, she would probably win the contest hands down, so I'll tell you what...I'll make sure she gets a free print and we'll have another one for the person with the most referrals other than cjane.

ADDENDUM: I just heard back from cjane, and this is the print she's chosen (just fyi). Winning a print for yourself is now up to you...

Saturday Photoshoot

Pin It A photo can speak a thousand words, so I will therefore let a few of my favorite images from Saturday's wedding photoshoot speak for themselves...

Winners Announced

Pin It I feel silly saying that I am 'announcing' winners when anyone who can count can go to the Backroads contest posting and count the amount of comments there. However, for those either too lazy to go and count, or who can't count that high, the two winners are Gerb and Summer.

To tell you the truth, I am interested to find out the print each of them select. When I contacted them, they both said they'd have to think it over...

Backroads officially online

Pin It Well, it’s been a long time in the making. Many sleepless nights and hours of hard work have been spent. I am proud to announce that the time is here, and Backroads Photography is finally online.

It’s strange that something which started off as a hobby years ago, has now become something bigger and better than what it was initially. I feel that I really need to thank my friends who encouraged me, family members who believed in me, and a Mom and grandfather who both shared a love of photography.

Thanks, Mom.

Thanks, Grandpa.

As I was making ready to put the site online I was thinking…what better way is there to kick off a new site than to have a contest?

You can learn about the contest on the site HOMEPAGE or start off your visit from the INDEX page which will then take you to the homepage right after clicking the first image. And yes, that is a photo of me ‘pretending’ to be a photographer.

Please let me know what you think of the site.

Saturday is a special day...

Pin It Today is a red-letter day in the annals of time.

Why is that?

Because today is the day my photography website is 99% completed.

What? Are you serious?

Yep, just like a chemistry final.

Can I look at it now?

No, I just updated the main page with a message announcing that Saturday is the day.


Why not put it up tonight or tomorrow? Why wait until Saturday?

Well, tomorrow is Halloween…I don’t want anything to take from one of my absolute favorite holidays, besides there are a few more ‘tweaks’ I need to do before I want to show it to the world. When you think about it, you’ve waited this long right? What are a few more days?

Good point. So, what are you changing?

Well, I gave my sister a ‘sneak peek’ at the site for any recommendations she had. She did offer up a few suggestions of things I could do so as to make the site a bit better…friendlier.

So, are you going to do anything to kick off the new site?

Oh, there’ll be something…it will be cool.

What do you have planned?

Check back on Saturday and you’ll find out. I also hope everybody will let me know what they think of the site. A lot of time, money, and hard work have gone into bringing my photography to the masses. It’s exciting really. To be honest, I want to publish it right now, but then it will be a bummer because it’s more or less the dress rehearsal, not the actual performance.

You mean, some of the buttons might not work properly?

That’s EXACTLY what I’m saying. Some of the ‘lines’ of code might not be just right. Heck, even when I publish the thing there will undoubtedly still be a few errors here and there…I’m counting on my friends to point these out so I can fix them…that way, I won’t look like an idiot to the world at large.

So, Saturday?

Saturday it is. What a red-letter day.

Call of two voices

Pin It The sunset is brilliant this evening...I just got home from work about a half hour ago and I find myself wanting to run out and shoot some photos...

Another part of me warns that the website still isn't complete yet and people are waiting.

I choose to listen to the voice of reason.

There will be another sunset tomorrow.

Website update

Pin It Well, believe it or not, the site is nearly finished.

I look at it and feel two things at once.

First I have a feeling of distinct pride—this is my baby. All of the photographs on the site are mine (well, maybe one or two my mom took years ago). The work on it is mine. The layout was my idea. I built a hefty portion of the site.

The second feeling I usually have after this is one that the site isn’t quite as professional as other photographers’. I also think of how many hours have gone into this thing…to start off with a basic idea drawn out on paper, and then flesh this out to a complete website. What if it ends up being yet another project which was a waste of over a hundred hours and ends up in the scrap heap?

Those are my thoughts while standing on the threshold of near-completion.

So, what is left to be done?

Add Paypal buttons and options for each print on the site.

What? That’s it?

Yep, that is it.

I tried to add in the code for one photo early today and totally messed up the layout. Not just kind of messed up the layout…I trashed it.

Each image button has to be created with prices and options on the Paypal site, and then the code needs to be added in manually for each button on my webpage. When you’re looking at doing this 137 times (one for each image) there is still a lot of work to be done. I also need to wait for my programmer to have time to check all of this out, after all, I will just mess it up at this point if I try to do it again…How do I know this? Well, I already did.

So, when will the completed site finally be up? Well, I was hoping it would have been tomorrow. Now it seems more likely that it will be sometime next week.

Delays, delays, delays.

I guess I have been living far too long in the push-button, fast-food, microwave society where everything needs to be done by yesterday. I feel the same way about this little venture.

I certainly hope that nobody finds themselves disappointed with the final project.

Heaven knows I vacillate from day to day with it.


P.S. Just for being so patient, here is a preview of what the site will look like (at least one of the pages). Thanks for sticking in there for the long haul.

Busy day so far...

Pin It I got another headache yesterday.

I know what you’re thinking…

Again?

Yep.

I decided to go to bed around 7.

I woke up at midnight. However, my headache was gone.

I stayed in bed until almost 2.

I couldn’t sleep.

I got up and started to work on my website.

It’s looking great.

Still a lot of work ahead though.

I made cinnamon rolls.


Why?

I was hungry.

Still working on the website.

It’s 5:30.

Take it as you will

Pin It One should never promise things to people for which they have really no control.

I have no control.

The website is coming along nicely, and it has been a headache as well. I will say that my code-writer, Shawn, has been doing a great job for getting images up on the site. There are a few things which need to be done, however, before it can be accessed by the general public.

I do have a new “coming soon” image which might be a bit more aesthetically pleasing than what was there before. I guess I am hoping that if I throw this tidbit to the wolves, they'll stay off my back for just a bit longer...

I really need to stop promising things.

I guess it would be so much easier to just quit my job and then I would have plenty of time to work on endeavors such as this…

Of course, if I want to eat, I probably should keep my day job.

On a lighter note, I do have one ticket for the 8:00 ComedySportz show tonight and another for the 10:15 show. If you’d like either one, just make it known. Sorry about not mentioning it sooner but I was really hoping to get out of the show tonight to work on the website.

It isn’t going to happen.

Oh, and Nettle, you'll probably like the image...

This, that, and the other

Pin It It’s been an eventful week.

Sorry I have been away for a few days.

To be honest, I missed you all. I missed writing. After all, it seems that I don’t write anymore unless it is for work or for blogging.

While I won’t try to sugar-coat anything, I do know that many of you are curious as to what happened this weekend up at Sundance. While my sister tended to focus on the positive end of the experience, I instead decided to attend a pity party where all of the presents were for me.

I shut off my phone for two days.

I didn’t head to the blogging world to read up on anyone

If I’m being honest, a part of this was because of just being tired. Another part was because I had a lot to say, but didn’t feel like writing any of it down. The final part is that I just wanted a break for a few days.

Oh, and the amount of sales this weekend didn’t even cover the cost of the fee to have ‘spot’ up at Sundance.



There, with all of that said and done, let us instead move on to much more interesting things…such as the website.

So, will it REALLY be ready on Saturday like I promised?

To be honest, I don’t know. I look at it and there are a lot of empty spaces still. I am a bit nervous about that. I need to get a few more items uploaded (and written) so that will undoubtedly be tomorrow’s endeavor as I don’t feel much like working on it today.

Tonight I instead am listening to Nickel Creek and baking cookies.


Yeah, I’m so domestic, aren’t I?

Actually, the cookies are not for me. They are for a class who is bound and determined to have 100% of them turn in completed assignments. After trying for over a month, they finally did it for the first time today. You could feel the excitement in the room…mostly because they all broke into cheers and there was a lot of high-fives being passed around—as well as praise being slogged in every direction.

Ah, the subtle ways of a teacher to get his students to do their homework.

I just hope the ball continues to roll and does not lose the momentum it has now gained.

Time will undoubtedly tell as today slips into tomorrow.

I have nothing else to say as of the time being. However, I am still hopeful that the website will do something…

What?

Make tons of money of course…

I’d also like a rocket…

Perhaps a nice, big bag full of gold too…

Maybe a pony…

Photography Update - Status of the site

Pin It It’s looking good.

Not that there still isn’t a lot to do.

I spent somewhere near seven hours working on the website today…and probably have at least seven more of them ahead of me.

Am I happy with what I’ve done?

Yes. I say this because there is a certain satisfaction to doing a job and doing it well.

Could it be done better?

Probably, but this work is mine, and with this work I find myself pleased.

So, when will it be online?

Actually, it’s online now, but I haven’t added in links from the “homepage” so it can be accessed by the general public.

When will it be available?

The goal is for Saturday...one week from today.

How do I feel about this?

I’d have to say excited.

This could be real.

This could be great.

Or it could crash and burn.



It’s a good thing I have friends.

Photo Update - Whoa...

Pin It The photography is coming along well.

I spent nearly a thousand dollars today.

Tomorrow I will spend five hundred more.

I will finish up the website for a few more hundred after that.

All in all, this is a venture I sure hope this pans out…

If not, at least I’ll know.

And knowing is only part of the fun.

Photography - I really need to update

Pin It The Fall Festival up at Sundance is rapidly approaching, and I am not even close to being ready for it...basically, I'm up to my eyeballs in projects right now and am starting to feel the pressure.

I know that I said that my photography website would be online ‘in two or three weeks’ about two months ago. Unfortunately, there is whole lot more to getting photos ready for the website than I originally intended.

Let me put it this way…

Decisions.

There are around 1,000 photos I have taken which I would consider putting online. While many of these are nice, there are only a certain number of these which will sell—which is what I am really after, to be honest. The very idea of going through all of these makes me dizzy…I have now have it narrowed down to about 200 photos. When I stop to think about how many that is to get online, it’s kind of overwhelming. However, who’d want to go to a photography site and only see eight or ten photos altogether?

Building flash files.

Mostly a time-consuming process; also trying to figure out prices for certain photoshoot packages, and ways to word them for these flash movies…whoa, this is taking more time than I’d thought at first.

Cropping certain images.

Don’t even get me started on this one…for the Alphabetography page, there are many images I still need to sort through and crop…far too much work. I reached the letter “R” tonight, so I am nearly there—eight more letters to go!

Teaching.

When school started, my life was instantly consumed. This seems to happen each year, but I am getting better at saying, “That’s enough” than I was in the past…not that I always listen to myself, because I don’t. However, I am doing better.

I would love to say more, however, it’s late and I need to get to bed before 10 tonight. Too many sleepless nights have been taking their toll on me.

If you’d like to see the “welcome” page to the site with nothing more than one small image and the words, ‘coming soon’ please click here.

If you’d rather wait, it should be online soon…in about two weeks.

School website photo

Pin It I had to have an image on my school-housed website. The technology guru suggested a 5 x 7 photograph of yours truly; however, I couldn’t bring myself to do that. Perhaps if I were just a bit more narcissistic I would.

Instead, I designed a little photo to welcome folks to the site.

I sure do like it.

And no, I didn’t take the original photos…I don’t have any letters quite that big…

Vacation - Friday: Mac, Cheese, and Help

Pin It

Ever have one of those times when some completely mundane food sounds absolutely delicious? Well, this is one of those times for me, and I do have to say that I was not disappointed with the end product.

I made Mac & Cheese—all by myself. AND I didn’t even have to read over the directions more than one time. Yes, it really is that easy…that and I’m simply amazing! I even ‘shook things up’ a bit and added in hotdogs and black pepper—two items NOT listed on the instructions.

I have to admit that I had an awful lot of fun cooking the elbow macaroni, and even though the water I strained made both the sink and spoon feel slimy, it was fun to make something I hadn’t made since…well, to be honest, I can’t remember the last time I had this tasty dish my friends and I had at one time surnamed, “The Yellow Death.”

Now that I’ve celebrated my amazing accomplishment with you, I now plead for help on a topic which is TOTALLY unrelated.

“So, Teachinfourth, what do you need?”

I’m so glad you asked.

I have need of someone with a little more web development skill than I have at the present time to work a bit of magic. To be specific, I need someone who can do the following on my website:

1. Display images on a page and available sizes which can be selected at the click of a button.
2. Can show a page of small thumbnails images which can be dragged into a space below where they can be manipulated…meaning the order can be changed around. They also need the ability to ‘submit’ the order of images they’ve selected; also picking a size.
3. The ability to have a person enter some information: (address, name, credit card numbers) and have this information sent to me to fill an order, and the payment to go directly into a Paypal account.

I also don’t want to spend more than I have to…not that I’m unwilling to pay for services rendered by someone else…I’m more than willing to do this, however, I’ve already developed a website, and now I wonder if I will need to redo the whole thing for the capabilities mentioned above.

I’m fighting a war here, a struggle against time…if you know what I mean.

Any help is appreciated; especially if you have connections to someone/place which can work aforementioned magic.

Thanks, in advance.

Please don’t let my gratitude be in vain.

Photography - Website

Pin It

I have been working on a new photography website for the past week and have found myself reawakened into the workings of Fireworks and Dreamweaver. I am impressed with just how much I have forgotten over the past year since I took classes geared toward teaching me to build a website.

After a bit of frustration with a dab of annoyance, I was able to construct a simple website which would serve as the template of sorts for my ultimate creation.

I did, however, want to implement a few suggestions from avid fans (okay, friends who’ve seen the old website). A few of these general thoughts were to have a better ‘breakdown’ of categories, instead of just two, a way in which to show the photos without having to scroll down the screen, and to revamp the site so it looked a bit more professional. All of these suggestions were good and, after all, it’s all about impressions, right? If I can let somebody see an impressive website, it makes a powerful statement long before they ever meet me.

So, along came the arduous task of designing and building a website which, I admit, I took on with an energized vigor—with the sort of anticipation a child has when their birthday is the next day and they are sure that the party is going to be beyond their wildest dreams.

Well, the hours spent working on said website quickly moved from single to double digits. However, I was undaunted, and felt within me a determination to complete the website as quickly as I could.

Photos were an entirely different thing…having to go through them all, sort them, and make some painful decisions as not to include some while giving others the go-ahead. In a sense, I felt like I often do when asked to give the Hope of America award each year at graduation. There are so many which deserve that award, but only a few which can only get it. My photos were the same…though this one was impressive and worthy of showcasing, that one was just a bit more.

So, the process of deciding which should, and which should not, get the honor of being on the website is a daunting task which is still laid out before me. However, in time it will be completed.

I did want to thank those of yout who made suggestions as to a web domain name. I had many responses, and even a few texts, phone calls, and emails in regard to possible names. I will say that I have made a decision.

I’ll tell you what that is later.

If you are interested, and would like a sneak peek as to what the website will look like, you can see a working copy HERE. Let me know what you think about it so far.

Photography - What to do?

Pin It

Okay, an S-Corp is now underway with the official name of my “company.”

Backroads

I went up to Hoffman & Company this morning to sign the paperwork. As I did I discovered that I am the major stockholder of my company. I am also the treasurer, vice-president, president, CEO, and just about every other position in the company including the custodian.

It felt strange to be signing all of these forms, and hearing about everything I need to do to now that this is up…opening a bank account in the name of Backroads, keeping certain receipts and expense logs, keeping a book of mileage from now on, and other various and sundry items.

However, now there comes a dilemma. I don’t want to have people finding my photography site by typing in: http://www.classroomofchaos.com/photography/photographyhome.html

That, to me, is just a little over the top, and hard to put on a business card. “Oh, where’s the site? Just type in classroom of chaos—by the way, that’s just one word with no spaces or hyphens and no capitals either—and then type dot com and then add a backslash…yeah, I’m pretty sure that it’s a backslash. Then you’ll need to type the word photography with another slash and then word photographyhome…yeah, I know it’s actually two words, but it has to follow that pattern to get you to the right site because that’s what I named the page. Well, after that you just put another period, and then html. That’s all there is to it!”

Yeah, and here’s your map and three day supply of food. Hope you survive.

So I went online to find a domain name because I am planning on revamping my photography website (and updating it too) as well as give it a good, easy-to-remember address. Unfortunately, backroads.com is already taken.

So, here’s the question…what should the address be? I thought of thereandbackroads.com but nobody seems to like it. My sister suggested oldbackroads.com. My roommate offered up something like picturesthatIhavetakenthatarecool.com, however, I don’t think I’ll go with that one…a little too good if you know what I mean.

So, are there any suggestions for an address?

Oh, and by the way, you can check the availability of these fabulous addresses HERE.