Journal

For the past few days, the streets and highways in the Houston area has been super congested while recovering from Hurricane Ike. This morning alone it took me 2 hours to drive to work in what is usually a 30 minute drive. On the way home it took 2 hours! What has changed? Like I said, Ike. Before the storm, the transit authority has waived toll charges on all of the tollways to expedite the evacuation process and they are still waived. Many drivers who usually do not pay are enjoying faster routes and adding to the congestion on these roads. The frontage roads are great…when the traffic signals are working. For now, we treat these as four-way stops that add to the mix. Evacuees are making their way back into the city of 5 million+ people during all of this which is good news of course, but snarls the roadways.

When I first moved to Houston 2 months ago, I signed up immediately for an EZ toll tag because I cannot stand stop/go traffic. Hate, hate, hate.

HTA: please re-open the HOV lanes and bring back the tolls, mmmkaythxbye.

UPDATE: KHOU has an article about it on their website- http://www.khou.com/topstories/stories/khou080923_tnt_traffic_trouble_houston.a5ebeccb.html

Daphne- One Year Old, originally uploaded by Photo Mojo.

This little girl should be used to a camera lens pointed at her. The black tubes have been staring at her and stealing her images ever since the nurses cleaned her up and dried her off.

The courier delivered the brand new Nikon D90 last night and I cannot wait to put it through it’s paces! The 90 has been described as a D300 in the body of D40….which means wow. Amazing sensor, fast kit lens (18-100mm), GPS for geotagging (coming soon) and it even shoots HD video! Again, wow.

Wonderwife has some D90 shots of Daphne and I playing around tonight. We’re trying to get life back to normal since Ike hit Houston, but I’ll be shooting this weekend with it!

The D90 compliments our D200 and the D50 (which will be sold soon).

Related articles:

• Nikon D90 Official: First DSLR Ever With HD Video Recording
• Nikon D90 DSLR review roundup

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I love Daddy!!, originally uploaded by eagerlittlemind.

Daphne was really rowdy tonight after playing soccer with me in her room tonight. After I took the ball from her she decided to pounce on me to get it back.
The resulting skirmish was more brutal than the high school football dog piles I participated in but more fun. Every time I got the ball back, she’d pounce on me again. Every time she got it back, she’d raise her hands with ball in the air for victory…until I pulled her back into the fray.
The best part was hearing her giggles. Especially while mocking me when dry coughing/laughing.

She just recently turned one and is growing on her maturity. Wow.

The afternoon after Ike tore through Galveston and Houston, I went downtown to photograph the devastation I had heard about on the radio (no electricity for us). While there, I decided to shoot/stream live video just like the rest of the national media there.

By the way, you can hear the police preventing pedestrians from getting anywhere near these buildings with debris on the streets, but I was embedded… for awhile.

Images on Flickr by clicking here

Related articles by Zemanta

• The Destruction In Hurricane Ike’s Wake
• Hurricane Hell: How To Start Picking Up The Pieces

We have an unwelcome guest this weekend who just so happens to be in the area.

Photos & videos available as much as possible. Also if possible, you can catch my updates on Twitter

Crap.

After months of work and even a hiatus during our move to Texas, Photo Mojo is now the front end to the photography business and will serve as the interface between clients and readers alike. The photoblog that was original to this web address has been moved to http://photomojo.wordpress.com/

Keep in mind that both sites will always be in a state of evolution to make them better. Comments are always welcome, and thanks for stopping by!

I’ve stated before that this is not a political blog. I try not to use this as a platform to promote divisivness. I value my friends and contacts as well as their opinions, but these past two weeks  of party conventions has brought out the most snarky, bitter, hateful comments. Let me encourage civility and discussion of issues as opposed to slams, sound bytes and "gotchas"

My views are conservative and I welcome discussion and opposing viewpoints. The United States of America  needs this so we can truly become one and meet our challenges together.

image by Photo Mojo

image by bwdaly

Today is my little girl’s first birthday. Wow. I’ve been thinking of what I wanted to say to commemorate this occasion for awhile now but for some reason just get too emotional.  This time last year, Wonderwife was at the hospital 3 weeks before the due date for a routine baby check-up when the doctor said she was ready to go. At 7:37PM, little Daphne changed our lives forever.

The first thing I saw of her was the gorgeous, brown hair and then when I saw the rest of her I cried. Profusely.  Already I was a proud father and could not be happier. If possible, I love Wonderwife even more for bringing us Daphne.

The past couple of months have seen amazing change in her when she started walking around 9 months, starting to talk (overjoyed when I walked in and she said "Hi da-da"), has become more social including flirting with the preacher’s 4 yr old kid, and has even started kicking/dribbling a soccer ball around the living room!

Daphne Veronica: your mother and I love you very much and we are overwhelmed with happiness that you bring to us. Happy birthday!

Coming in January, passionate photographers in the area will gather for an UNconference to discuss, learn and share all things photography. I’ll go into further details as time allows and pieces fall into place but for now, if you are interested, go ahead and add yourself to the wiki page and follow us on Twitter!

PhotoCamp Houston wiki:http://barcamp.org/PhotoCampHouston

Twitter: @PhotoCampHouston

logo courtesy of David Herrold, thanks!

Splash!, originally uploaded by Photo Mojo.

Daphne does a very good job at splashing daddy and camera at the pool.

The Next Best Thing

Is it me or are you looking for the next best thing in software? Gadgets are nice, but who can afford all of them? Most of them are obsolete after you unwrap it. With software and web apps though, they can become a tool that is used daily. To prevent obsolescence, the software is modified and enhanced (or should be).

I use Flickr, Del.icio.us, Gmail, ,Skype, FeedDemon, Firefox 3, WordPress on a daily basis. These are absolutely essential to my daily life. I am sure there are a few more apps, but who can keep up with them all?
I am at the point now where I still enjoy testing new software for companies, provide feedback and write up a review/opinion, but I also want to integrate them into my daily world too.

Acceptance

At what point does something move from “shiny new thing” to a usable tool? The answer is “when your mother uses it”. Also, when you use it daily. How long did it take for email integration? Instant messaging? When Time magazine listed “You” as the person of the year, several articles mentioned Web 2.0 companies and trends. Have we crossed over yet? Is web 2.0 mainstream? Not yet because it has not been generally accepted by moms everywhere. Ask yourself, “Does mom use RSS? Why not?”

So my original question remains, now what? I’ve checked the memes out there this week and nothing is piquing my interest. A new social site here, a clone software app there. What is original? What can I use daily?

So many questions, I know, but I’ll finish with one more: What are you seeing out there that you can share with us?