The lighting was marginal at the Rosen Center ballroom– two cans on either side of the stage plus the room’s incandescents set low. Not trusting the light, I shot at 1600 ISO with custom white balance and that seemed to turn out passably well– though of course I prefer some room to work with. (There’s a firmware hack to allow the Rebel to shoot at 3200, but I’ve never been able to get it to work.)

I’ve never been a big fan of flat-floor venues for contests, either; the view from the back rows and side wings is nearly always problematic. That said, both the number of competitors and the level of competition were wonderful.

The bikini contest took up an excess of time, both in the judging and in the post-processing. I am seriously considering just skipping that portion of the shows… we’ll see how many hits those shots get in comparison to the shots of the athletes. To their credit, though, some of the bikini class participants are getting noticeably more athletic… likely tired of looking like the Sta-Puft Marshmallow Man in comparison.

I also did a shoot afterward with amazing competitor Iris Davis, and those shots came out spectacularly. Look for it shortly…

Okay, I was just looking for an excuse to get some new shots.

She bought it.

And they came out very well.

It’s just a reminder that schedules change, sometimes quickly, often without notice. While it’s handy to have all this information in one place, the only authorized source of show data is the official Florida NPC site.

There are great shows coming this fall and I’m looking forward seeing them. I don’t know if I’ll make it to Atlanta for the Nationals but one never knows.

The show had some excitement early in the form of a small fire caused by a wet light before the Saturday prejudging. Officials came and determined that there was no danger, so the show started after only a brief delay.

The show was held again at the Lazarra Theater on the UNF campus, so this time I chose a spot in the wings but more in line with the stage. I’m a lot happier with the outcome than I have been with shows I’ve shot there in the past.

These days, though, everyone seems to be gawking at Google. “What would Google do?”  “How can we be more like Google?”

It might be smarter to instead be looking at IBM.  They’ve been in business an order of magnitude longer, and still rake about twice as much profit as does Google. They’ve also successfully reinvented both their business and their culture on multiple occasions… a feat not to be dismissed lightly.

If the stimulus package, a.k.a. “we will take your money and give it back to you”, is part of what “saved the economy from recession”…

…wouldn’t it have been more effective to have simply never taken the money from us in the first place?

Correct answer: “Sure it would, but how could I fund my pork projects that way?”

It would explain a lot, actually.

She had been declining for the past month or so. She made a brief resurgence in the wee hours this morning and seemed to revert somewhat to her normal self, which allowed us to say our goodbyes.

Sadly, though, she rapidly declined shortly afterwards and throughout the morning, refusing food, sleeping most of the day, and not reacting to sights or sounds.

We conferred with our vet, and with no one seeing any possibility of recovery, we made the decision in the early afternoon to send her home in comfort rather than force her to face the inevitable.

“I said take this child, Lord,
from Tucson, Arizona
Give her the wings to fly through harmony
And she won’t bother you no more”
- Paul Simon, Under African Skies

She has been a great companion to our family for her seventeen long years, accompanying Sheila on the long trip from Arizona to Florida. Needless to say she will be missed terribly.

Rest in comfort, dear Buddie.

Shots from the 2010 Mid-Florida Muscle Classic, held June 19 in Orlando, are being added to the site.

Thanks for being patient– it’s a big show, I got lots of shots, and it’s going to take a while before it’s done.

I also got some nice shots of friend and model Athena that I will add as soon as I can. She’s as lovely as ever and there was some very nice soft light in front of the venue, which itself was an impressive piece of architecture.

I got an email from Kelly K. asking that her page be restored.

I was quite happy about this. Some of my favorite shots were (and are) on her page.

So without further ado, here it is. Welcome back, Kelly!