www.jeffcrossphoto.com

More to come from this shoot. Photos can be seen on my Flickr page.

Until next time…

While searching around downtown for unique locations, I stumbled upon this spot. This old building is very dark, dreary, run down, collapsed in places, and yet in intrigues me. I love taking photos with beauty placed in what some would call “not so beautiful” locations. I think beauty can be found in a number of places if we choose to look deep enough.

Lorie and I went out for a shoot and wanted to use this location. She wore a long black dress that draped so softly across her body one would question why she would even step inside this place! We took a number of shots, but this shot is the only one that has made it from the camera to the computer and now to the Web.

Click here for a bigger and better view of this photo. Any and all comments are welcomed and appreciated. If you’re a Flickr user, post comments here on the Flickr page for this photo.

Until next time…

Well, a friend and I went driving up through Arkansas Saturday afternoon. We went to Mena, AR and visited the Queen Willamena State Park. I believe I have been there as a young child as I remember the little train, but this was really my first memorable experience up there. It was very beautiful and the overlooks were quite impressive. I guess I now know where to go to get my “Arizona mountains fix”… It’s probably as close as I can get in such a short driving distance.

The photo above shows low cloud cover crawling across the highway. We got between 2400 and 2500 feet on this trip and it was very stormy this day. But, we got above the rain and then a majority of the nasty clouds were below us, or as this photo shows, on our level.

Until next time…

Well, as some of you may know, I participated in a “Come to Jesus Meeting” a week or so ago. What an experience!

So, I attended the meeting, heard some things that I know to be true but didn’t think they were that bad. Yes, they need to be dealt with, but are the issues that were brought up a deal breaker? Obviously so! I say “obviously” because the deal with the meeting originator has been broken… But, such is life…

I have been thinking a lot about my thoughts on relationships lately and why I seem to bounce to and fro. I have realized that I currently have a lot of fears when it comes to relationships. These fears cause me to have doubts about the person I am engaged in the relationship with. Fear causes me to not be able to commit for any “relationship industry standard” length of time. I seem to run from the relationship when it gets too rough… I always tell myself “Well, you weren’t married to this person so there’s really no harm in you leaving the relationship” and “There’s more fish in the sea”… Which, there may not be and I also realize that I have passed up and messed up a lot of situations that probably would have been very rewarding if I had stayed… But, I can’t live in the past now, can I?!

Now that I am finally putting a finger on some specifics in my life and the way I perceive things, I hope that I can target those areas and make some much needed changes. During this process, I will be stretched a lot and have to not let things eat at me so bad. I’ll have a lot of things I will need to let go of… A lot of fears, worries, stresses, and frustrations that I will have to put behind me and just take life as it comes…

Until next time…

A time when a polite ultimatum is given, generally followed by a less polite ultimatum, then a threat.

The definition of a “Come to Jesus Meeting” on the net is pretty much what is described above. A get-together between two or more people where a very candid, and somewhat harsh discussion will take place. The discussion is most often pointed towards one specific person, no matter how many people are firing at talking to the individual.

Before today, I had never heard of a “Come to Jesus Meeting”. I quickly did some searching on the Interwebs and found that this term is used commonly when harsh conversations are to be had. It appears that “Come to Jesus Meetings” are most often had when an intervention is taking place. Basically, quit this and that or you’ll be out on your arse!

Well, I am going to be involved in a “Come to Jesus Meeting” today and I am looking forward to it! When else can one sit down and receive so much truth from one or more person than in a “Come to Jesus Meeting”? I have made so many strides in the past year and a half since my separation from my wife, but I still have so far to go in many areas… This is obvious!

I have a lot of things I still need to deal with. So many things I need to let go of. So many things I need to accept. And, so many things I need to incorporate into my daily walk… So, what’s a little encouragement from someone you care about and trust? Sometimes you need to hear the truth from someone so close so you can see what others perceive is going on and hopefully obtain some advice in the process… I would like to think that on the other side of a “Come to Jesus Meeting”, a lot of positive change will take place in hopefully a short period of time. I’d like to think…

Anyway, this post if for all 1.78 of my readers who have never heard of a “Come to Jesus Meeting” like me. I don’t want you to be summoned to one and be thinking it is an opportunity for true salvation. However, if positive changes result from a “Come to Jesus Meeting”, then I guess you do get salvation in certain areas of your life and the positive mindset that follows is kind of like a revival… Let’s hope!

Until next time…

View Large on Black

Well, I got back from California last Friday evening and leave for Baltimore, MD this Sunday… at the ass crack of dawn. I have to be at DFW around 7:00-7:30am to catch a fight at 9:00am. Great fun…

Above:

The photo above is another attempt to achive this look I am seeing in my head. I obviously don’t know my equipment good enough yet to pull it off because this isn’t what I am looking for. I am taking a break from the portraits for a bit until I can better dial in my own look and feel into my photos consistently.

I have a lot to learn about lighting and post processing. There are things I envision in my head and I really want to make them a reality. I used to have this issue when I did artwork with pen & ink. I could see it, knew how I wanted the end product to look, but I never could quite execute… I have to much money, passion, and time poured into this photography gig to let it fizzle out. I need to make something happen soon though so I do’t get extremely frustrated and give up…

Until next time…

I’ve been doing a lot of reading, looking, learning, and experimenting with lighting and post processing lately. I have so much to learn but feel that I have the tools I need right now for where I am and I am happy to report that I feel creative and love this learning experience!

The above image is my first failed attempt to obtain the look I am going for. My shot was bad out of the camera so I never was able to get what I wanted when I was at the computer (Mac?!). So, before I can continue with my post processing learning, I need to continue in my lighting education and get my techniques and styling down so that what hits the camera is mostly what I am looking for right off the bat.

So, more to come… Be on the lookout. I am very excited and hope to pour a large amount of time and energy into getting this style of mine defined and easily reproducible. Consistence is the key when it comes to your “style” in my opinion… What say you?!

Until next time…

“I watch a lot of T.V., I drink a lot of coffee, but you know what’s really addictive? Heroin.”

- Jim Gaffigan

Until next time…