OK reader, time for your semi-weekly update on all things “Joe”.  Lots of things are happening between now and mid-August, so I’ll just give you the skinny on it.

We’re moving. Finally! No, not the website - I mean me :) — I’m in the works of buying a house, only problem is: I don’t know where. I know what houses I like, and what houses I don’t like. I’m just having a hard time on picking an area in the ATL to settle down in. There’s a lot of options. Douglasville, Norcross, Kennesaw and more areas, all sound very appealing. I’ll pick one soon. What area would you suggest? Leave a comment ;)

Another update I’m proud to announce is that I’m building my own studio. It’ll be a private studio in my new home, maybe unattached - like a “pool house that’s really a photo studio” in the backyard - but either way, I’ll be equipped with a studio to call my own :)

Nikon is releasing the D700,  but I think I’ll stick with the D300 as my future camera (in mid-August). I can’t see spending the extra $1200-$1500 on a few features that I probably don’t need. If I were to, I’d go all the way and land myself a D3 for a whopping $5k. As a friend of mine told me, I’ve outgrown my D50 and need to upgrade. -Gotten too big for my camera :)

What else is new? Not much else to talk about at the moment. Haven’t seen any new movies, and nothing to gripe about. -Not that I gripe in this blog… that’s what MySpace bulletins are for ;) Speaking of MySpace… Add me :)

 

Today we had the photo staff meeting for this year’s Dragon Con. I’m excited about this year because Hayden Panettiere will be attending, along with James Kyson Lee and George Takei. Three great photo ops, to add to my wall :)

For more info about Dragon Con, or it’s guest, visit www.Dragoncon.org.

This weekend my wife and I, and a few friends, went to the Irish Bred Pub in Douglasville, GA. It’s located in the historic downtown area -right next to the fountain/square.

On a Saturday night the place was packed. The regular inside area was full of 30-40 yr old’s enjoying Irish boose and bar food in a non-smoking environment with huge flat screens and live music. The back patio was smoker friendly, but not server friendly apparently. It was poorly lit with no atmosphere at all. I’m just thankful for the ashtrays -even though I had to steal one off another table.

I can’t tell you how many times the waitress  server passed my empty glass. After a while I started stacking the empty glasses upside down in a pyramid formation -hoping to get her attention. Eventually, my glass of Bass was full again, but the bad news was that they were not allowed to serve alcohol in the square after 10:30pm. :\

Restaurant aside, upstairs there is a small club/venue with a bar, dance floor and DJ and/or live music. Don’t get excited yet. You’ll have to pay a door cover just to see what’s up there. Normally I don’t pay a cover charge when I’m not aware of what’s on the other side of the door, but curiosity had us all willing to shell out $5 a head.  After dishing out $20 for admission to the “club”, we get upstairs to find out that the place is ”at capacity” with what I can only describe as Taco Mac re-verb. No seats available, no room at the bar, and a folk singer instead of a DJ. The guy downstairs was reluctant to refund the admission charge, asking if we had asked for assistance upstairs before coming back down.

The best part of the night, was watching a waitress server storm off in a fit of rage while we were having dinner/drinks on the patio -with the manager on duty chasing after her. The entire patio was silent. Everyone had paused their night to listen to the drama around the corner. Once the waitress server returned, we all went back to our empty glasses.

Sad news is, I will be back. The lack of entertainment in Douglasville will keep this place alive until something better comes along. There are no bars in the 30135 worth going to anymore.

This week I joined a new social site, called Plurk. No, not that kind of social site. Think of it as a bulletin board that you use to let others know what you’re doing. Or eating, or where you’re going, or what you’re whining about at the moment.

Sounds like fun, doesn’t it :)

Seriously though, it’s a great way to keep up with others and waste a little of that valuable free time you seem to have too much of.

Have I sold you yet? I thought so. Join me on PLURK.

We have a NEW contributor to the blog here, Jayyrod.

Jarod (Jayyrod) has been my photographer’s assistant for about a year now. If you’ve seen me at a shoot, you’ve probably seen Jarod somewhere nearby. He’s a whiz with a light disc and helps me book gigs to keep us busy. But more embarrassingly, he carries the gear :)

Also, Jarod is a Guitarist in a few bands. Formerly with Some Sort of Substance (SSoS) and more recently working with Drowning Scarlett. His love for music (and maybe a little ADD) keeps him busy 24/7.

I’m not sure what you can expect to see from him here, but whatever he decides to post should be entertaining. -And maybe some shameless plugs for one of his band’s gigs.

We had a blast at the AVP tour on Saturday, courtesy of the 9-6-1 Project. Big thanks to them for the tickets :)

While it was my first time watching volleyball, I got the point. Ball goes over net, ball goes back over net, ball hits ground - Point!. Sounds simple, but throw in a fake beach, pretty people and a lot of beer vendors and.. Viola! Pro Beach Volleyball!

Of coarse I took my camera, enjoy this slide show. Add me on MySpace and drop a comment if you’d like.

…for the AVP Pro Beach Volleyball event on Saturday. The event run from Fri through Sun, but I’ll be hitting the Saturday afternoon session (8:30AM - 6:00PM). -Taking all things in moderation, even beach volleyball :)

Pics to follow on Monday.

Here’s a link to the festivities: AVP PRO

!Kudos! to those of you who got the reference in the subject ;)

I’ve decided to put the model photography on hold for a while. I’ve had a great run this last year and met many wonderful models and produced some great shots.

I’ll be concentrating on school and putting photography on the back burner until I have enough time to pick it back up. I’ll still be grabbing freelance work for parties and events - I just wont be shooting portraits or assembling TF shoots for a while.

Since I’ve decided to buckle down and get done with school, I’ve updated the rates page with additional info. I wont be able to fly by the seat of my pants when it comes to pricing anymore. I have retained those cheap-cheap prices everyone loves though :)

When I’m not shooting or editing photos I like to unwind in front of the computer with a little On-line gaming. Games like Battlefield 1942, Vietnam and Battlefield 2 have managed to keep my attention for years, until now. I’ve joined the millions of others, and recently started playing World of Warcraft.

There are many different servers for players to join, If you’re looking for me I’m on the Skullcrusher server. Alliance of coarse :)

Not a lot to update this week. Maybe I’ll have some shots from the weekend to share on Monday. Until then, I guess I’ll be in Azeroth :) See ya there.

(In pic ) Faulso, Warlock - Alliance (Skullcrusher server).