Gradin.com » Celestial Studios

CayceTerrell.com

Olaf — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 04:33:47 +0000

I just finished up a site I was working on for a friend. It was actually finished a while ago, but I’ve only just uploaded it to the server for public view. I think it is one of the better looking site designs I’ve had the honor to put together. I was given total artistic license to be creative and present her old site in a new, revitalized way. I chose some very drastic changes from her previous design, but the customer was pleased with them. My wife, of Celestial Studios, provided all the photography. The new photos really added a lot to the overall professionalism and aesthetics.

The one thing I didn’t do was create a site that would work on every browser. Unfortunately, this one was designed to work on IE 7 and Firefox 2+. I doubt you’ll get much love from previous versions of IE, though Firefox may not choke too much. At any rate, I don’t know that I’m going to spend a lot of time on making it compatible with other browses at the risk of losing functionality. I do have some minor kinks to work out, but I don’t think the average user will even notice them.

Have a look and let me know what you think – good or bad.

Cayce Terrell: Storyteller

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Olaf — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 04:26:57 +0000

We’re doing the Harry Potter book release event for book 7 at “Bound to Read” in East Atlanta Village. It’s an exciting venue – it’s the last one as far as we know. We should have hit this market sooner – it’s a blast! The first one for us was in Gainesville at Chapter 13 Books. I think they actually filed chapter 13. “Bound to Read” is a cool little place right on the main drag in EAV. We’re getting quite the crowd of locals here, mostly in costume. The wife has put together a nice display including such props as the Sorting Hat, arcane books, and a large cow’s skull. There’s an interesting story around that last item, but it’s for another time.

Of all the dorks we’ve been associated or formed numbers with, Wizard dorks are some of the more tame. They’re about having fun, dressing up in wizardry garb, and reading books. Nothing too serious. I think a lot of them aren’t even really Harry Potter fans, they’re just interested in going to book parties and having a good time.

The only real problem with the deal was that they sold out of books from pre-orders and we didn’t get a chance to get a copy. That, and it’s like a million miles from Gainesville to East Atlanta Village. But this is good business for Celestial Studios.

*UPDATE Whoa! Just as I wrote that last piece, they wound up with three copies to spare. Sweet!

Celestial Studios Site Update

Olaf — Sat, 17 Jun 2006 22:25:12 +0000

I just recently finished updating my wife’s website for her photography/art business downtown. The new design is a far cry from the old, and now works in more than one browser :) It was ridiculous actually that it took me as long as it did to get around to re-designing it, but she really liked the old design and didn’t want to let go of it easily.

So my efforts haven’t gone to waste, check it out: http://www.celestialphotography.com/

What are your Convictions?

Olaf — Sun, 14 Aug 2005 20:20:14 +0000

Spirituality and religion are distinctly separate tracts within mankind’s existence. Spirituality is what is. It is what you sense and what you feel. It’s also what you feel through others. Empathy, if you will. The acknowledgment of an infrastructure, to put it in technological terms, if we are the applications. What this infrastructure is actually made of is probably best described as faith. Everyone has it, whether it’s faith in nothing or faith in a supreme being. To be without spirituality is to be without faith. Flying solo in life, so to speak. Religion, on the other hand, is something the faithless can have. Man developed religion long ago to help explain spirituality. With a lack of scientific sophistication, religion also explained the world around us. When the spirit is explained, it can become a religion. Maybe I should say that when explained, it’s spiritual, but when taught, it’s religion. Fine lines, but I’m sure the intelligent reader can discern the difference.

Friday night, outside of Celestial Studios, I was approached by a man – Neil, I think – with a conversation starter. Not being naïve to this sort of thing, I had a good idea that the guy was selling something. As one would expect in this part of the country, what he was selling was religion. I don’t look particularly lost, so this guy (and his companion that never spoke) was just taking a chance on me. He explained this later in our conversation. The conversation starter was a card with an intelligence test on the front (i.e. trick question). I don’t like being confronted with trick questions because I know they’re designed to create failures. That’s a hit at anyone’s pride and I take little interest in trying to outsmart them. At any rate, the conversation moved smoothly into the realm of spirituality. He asked me questions that pinpointed me as a sinner – pinpointed everyone in existence as a sinner, himself included. At this point, we began to talk about morals and ethics. I believe it was also at this point that the conversation turned into something more challenging than Neil first intended. I chose to describe to him my philosophy on morals and ethics. That is, their being something developed by society. Morals are fickle, like man. Murder was a favorite for Neil, because it’s an easy extreme. I pointed out, however, that murder can be justified by a society, but not a victim. That is, everything living has a will to survive. Any attempt to challenge that will, whether in theory or action, can initiate a defensive response. Not a good moral to argue. Despite my best efforts, the conversation continued to circle back to murder. We also worked through the metaphors to Judgment Day and Christ’s history. What was interesting about Neil’s schtik was that he was only talking about spirituality, not religion. In fact, he acknowledged that religion is man-made and error-prone. He also explained that the importance to all of this was not in the specifics, but simply a trust and faith in Truth. These are all very good things that I stand behind today. I’m thinking to myself, “why are we having this conversation? We’re on the same side!” It’s at the end of the conversation that Neil tells me to assume for a moment that the Ten Commandments (the major topic of conversation throughout) are the rules and Judgment is based upon a black and white adherence to them. I abide and must generally remain silent for the finale. Because I’m making the assumption requested, any questions asked are designed to ensure my guilt. By the end of the conversation, it’s made clear that I’ll burn in everlasting Hell unless I can change my mind in matters of what is now religion. I was able to hang with him up until he transitioned from spirituality to religion. I lost the game at that point.

I must say, I really like Neil and the way in which he witnessed to me. Of all the people who have, his arguments were the best. Of course, in the end we were still talking about religion. I’m interested in religion, but more from an analytical approach. Kind of like the way we’ve all studied ancient Greek mythology. I’m not a religious person yet. Perhaps I will be one day, but it’s hard to find a group’s practice of spirituality to match my own. I imagine it’s the same story with many people – they just settle for a close match. That, or they simply adapt their spirituality to match the religion; not true spirituality. That reminds me, Neil said that if someone had to explain the Bible to you, you’re probably in a cult. That’s pretty extreme, but I can see the truth in it. I took that to mean that the explanation from another encompassed their perception, when it should be yours alone. It seems logical then that I can deduce if someone has to explain a spirituality (e.g. religion) to me, it’s also cult. Heavy-handed, but it’s no different an assumption than the crude, black and white judgment foretold by a religious zealot.

By the way, on the back of the card I received from Neil was a website: www.raycomfort.com. It’s an evangelism site. I haven’t read through it beyond the first page, but I see mention of avoiding false conversions; a “tragedy.” I like that message. That is a great tragedy in my mind as well, and it goes for any religion or spiritual belief. It’s like lifting weights. If you’re not really into it, why are you doing it? It’s not like you’re fooling anybody – you’re just cheating yourself. What are your convictions?

Atlanta Flickr Group: Celestial Studios

Olaf — Mon, 11 Jul 2005 04:23:48 +0000

The Atlanta Flickr Group attended an informal studio lighting seminar my wife put on at her studio in Gainesville, Celestial Studios. Thank you to everyone that was able to come to that. I think it went quite well and gave something to everyone to play with in the future. I’d love it if the group could continue to find and put together events like this. Even if you know *everything*, these little seminars can reveal new secrets.

I’m falling asleep (something you may have noticed I do a lot while writing here), so I’m going to have to continue this tomorrow.

*UPDATED* I’m back. Awake, though looking forward to a coffee run shortly. Last night’s event taught me that there are many subjects on which workshops can be formed in photography. Even if you don’t particularly know everything about photography, your experience in something can be very helpful to others. Since nothing is so hard-edged in the instruction of photography, it’s great to take-in others’ wisdom and work it into your own.

Happy Father’s Day (cont.)

Olaf — Mon, 20 Jun 2005 15:33:00 +0000

When I finally got around to a time that I could possibly finish up this post, it was too late. Father’s Day turned out to be exhausting. I did get to play a video game for about 20 minutes. Balthazar and I played “Knights of the Old Republic” on the XBOX – well, Balthazar played with a controller next to me that I had unplugged. I don’t know if he was just fascinated with the whole deal, or just liked mimicing me. He grew restless at a good point to turn it off, so that worked out well. We played while sitting in two really cool media chairs Amy bought for me. They’re the type that are shaped like bannanas and rock directly on the floor. They’re great for playing games in, though they’d need to be balanced differently to actually go to sleep in. Amy did get my car washed and did a great job. Carlos notcied first thing this morning that it had been done. I was concerned about the first application of Amourall on the interior, but the car seemed to take it just fine. No streaking or unnecessarily slippery surfaces. Balthazar napped as Amy washed the car, so I decided to work on her website as much as possible. I haven’t gotten much done on it until now, so it was needed. Afterwards, we went over to Amy’s parent’s house and had dinner with her family (Allison, her sister, came too) and my mom. I know Amy would have preferred going out to eat, but I actually enjoyed the home-cooked meal better. Eating at home – especially with all the family – lets everybody relax a little more, Balthazar gets to run around and play, and the food is plentiful and good (I had two helpings myself). We took Balthazar down to the lake to wade a bit. Amy bought him some new aqua shoes which he had to break in. After dinner, Balthazar and I walked back down to the lake to throw rocks from the cliff. We did that until my arm was fatigued. So what did I learn from this Father’s Day? Nothing incredibly new, I suppose. I still enjoy spending time with the families. I can still skip rocks really well. I can eat a lot of potato salad. In the end, Father’s Day is just another day. The difference is that my choice of things to do really determines whether or not I’m being revered as a father, or just a guy on a special day. I wonder what my dad did on Father’s Day?

I ‘Heart’ Vaginas

Olaf — Sun, 01 May 2005 06:10:00 +0000

The Vagina Monologues went off without a hitch this evening at 8:00pm, hosted by Celestial Studios. We had some pre-show belly-dancing entertainment from Troupe Galatia as well, and I think everyone enjoyed that to the fullest. There were probably 40 or so people in the room, which makes things comfortable. Jessie, from Dahlonega, performed the monologues for us and she did an awesome job. The performance was very professional, and the characters were well-conveyed. I was among three other men in the room, and we all enjoyed the show as much as the women. She started the show out with, “I’ll bet your nervous.” That was a really great way to start the show. She then proceeded to use the word vagina about 1,000 times within the next minute. I think that broke the ice for everyone in the room. We did not have picketers or any sort of violence, which was a little disheartening. I had expected some added excitement to the venue. Nothing says “come check out what’s going on over here” like a picket-line. The threats were empty afterall. To all of those that brought your support, we thank you; “My Sister’s Place” (the charity receiving profits from the evening) thanks you!

Canon EOS 20D

Olaf — Thu, 02 Dec 2004 21:46:57 +0000

My wife just picked up a new camera – digital for once. She’s generally opposed to the medium, but I think the competition and my bantering are finally winning her over. The issue, of course, is that she’s a medium-format user and digital cameras are oft-not capable of reproducing images of this caliber. There are several cameras that are considered medium-format replacements, but they range in the price of 2x-3x analog cameras. The ROI is a bit too far off to justify such an expense right now. However, the Canon EOS 20D (heavily reviewed, so I won’t bother) was a good prosumer selection. I believe the camera is an excellent replacement for most 35mm cameras. The manual controls are extensive and range far enough to give you a lot of working conditions. The most important aspect for her was a remote flash PC terminal. The hotshoe can do it with limitations, but the remote flash cable allows you to sync at broader ranges. Cool! We’re now trying to workout the workflow process of capturing images, transferring them to the computer, and printing them on photo kit sheets for customers of Celestial Studios. The difficulty in this is finding a single package to do it. There may be some out there for thousands of dollars, but I’m thinking it shouldn’t be that hard.

Pictures are Good, Video Better

Olaf — Sun, 08 Aug 2004 05:47:14 +0000

Playing around today at Celestial Studios, I got some great pictures of Balthazar. It was pretty much perfect weather, so we had a blast in and outdoors. I forget about this feature often, but check out the video Amy made of Balthazar’s new trick. more…

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