Nothing screams the holiday like a stock image.

2015 Recap

December 31, 2015

We had a great 2015 and I hope you did as well. Here is the recap of my year:

Work: My work has been very busy and rewarding. We expanded the geographic reach, types of services and number of facilities. We acquired a few other organizations and have a few other things cooking for the future. I work with great people who are dedicated and I appreciate each and every one of them.

I also continued my volunteer work as a National Examiner for the Baldrige Quality Award program. This year I helped score the training scorebook and taught a week of the national Examiner training along with the normal activities. The Baldrige work chews up hundreds of hours each year, but I learn so much from that time that I think it is worth it.

Family: I find it hard to believe that MJ and I will be celebrating our 27th anniversary in 2016. What can I say? I’m a lucky guy. Every one of the 27 years has been great. Blair is doing well and his future looks bright.

Travel: As usual, we had a busy travel schedule and I loved every minute of it. I know that travel isn’t for everyone, but I enjoy the experiences, new cultures, foods and seeing the different locations. We visited and completed the following trips: St. Maarten, Sedona, Michigan a few times, Peru, NYC, Caribbean cruise, Great Lakes shipwreck scuba diving trip, Washington DC, and a bunch of short events in and around Pittsburgh. We also have some great trips planned for 2016. They include a Caribbean cruise, Washington DC, New Jersey, and a Mediterranean cruise. I’m sure we’ll have get to Michigan a few times and maybe down to Florida to visit family.

Photography: I think I’m a good photographer, but far from the great. I spent 2015 working on improving my photography skills. I worked on my photography capture technique, composition, Photoshop skills, expanding my range and trying to create consistent high quality images that I would be proud to share with you.

I hope others like them, but that’s not important. If I like the image, I’ll call that a success. Most of my photography is focused around Landscapes, cityscapes and architecture. But I was given the opportunity for the 5th year in a row to photograph the Pittsburgh Steelers’ home games for the media. I am not a Steelers fan, but I love being that close to the game, capturing some great moments and in some small way, I feel like I’m part of the high energy environment. I plan to use 2016 to expand on what I accomplished and learned in 2015.

Below are a few of my favorite photos and experiences from 2015. Enjoy the photos below and have a great 2016.

Covering a Pittsburgh Steelers game with my all weather gear

MJ, my dad and I on Lake Titicaca in Peru

I got a chance to visit with my cousin Eric for the first time in many years.

Urban Exploration Crew - photo by Dave Truxell

MJ and I at a rural public school in the Andes Mountains deep in Peru.

Blair and I sitting in the Abandoned Pontiac Silverdome

My dad on a man made floating island in Peru

Human remains in the basement of a Cathedral in Lima Peru

Antonio Brown - WR with the Pittsburgh Steelers

2015 Bic Calendar

June 14, 2015

Last year, I was contacted by the Bic Company about one of my photos. They wanted to include it in a 2015 calendar they were creating for retail sales. We worked out an arrangement including a requirement that they mail me one copy. Well, it finally showed up in June 2015.

The photo they selected is one of my older photos (and least favorite). Regardless, I am proud to have my work displayed in the same calendar as Trey Radcliff. Trey is an HDR master photographer. I think the last time I looked, he has over 20 million subscribers to his website and even more social media followers. Anyway, it made me feel good.

To purchase or view a better quality version of the Bridge picture, click the photo above.

10 Saints Beer

January 7, 2015

Tonight I have something different for you. When we were in Barbados, we found this fairly new beer that is made on the island. It was first brewed in 2009 by 10 Saints Brewery Company. The beer is unique because it is aged for 90 days in Mount Gay ‘Special Reserve’ Rum casks. By the way, Mount Gay Rum is made in Barbados as well. This gave the beer a very smooth taste and made it our beer of choice all week. It is named 10 Saints because of the 10 Parishes (like counties in the United States) in Barbados are named after saints.

Anyway, I did an impromptu product photo shoot towards the end of the week. I cleared an area of the beach near our hotel, with the ocean and sailboats in the background. I took two bottles and let them sweat a little in the Caribbean sun. Then I laid on my stomach to get the camera as low as possible for this shot. And I attempted to bounce the sunlight back at the bottles.

If you’re interested in more information about 10 Saints beer, click HERE.

I have a special note below today’s photo….don’t forget to scroll down to see it.

To purchase a print or view the entire gallery, click the photo above.

NEWS:

Recently I was contacted by a research doctor at the University of Pittsburgh about using one of my photos for an upcoming conference. We negotiated a little and came to an agreement. So now my photo of PNC Park is being used for the annual Pheno 2015 conference poster. The conference gathers international physicists working on the phenomenology of elementary particles, cosmology, and astrophysics. Don’t ask me what any of that means….. The cool thing about this is the poster will be mailed and electronically sent to potential attendees around the world. You can see the poster below.