Diamond Knife and Shear

A preview of the site with my photos and be found here.

I'll update this post and add a link over there-->> when it's live on it's own domain.


Frankly, I don't recall taking all those photos. Glad I didn't have to do the post-processing, although I tried to make Steve's job easier by keeping the light levels as close to each other as possible while also insisting on new white paper when the pieces we were using got stained with oil.

Most of the websites that are filled with my photos belong to bands, so this was a nice change of pace for me. It sure was easier, since you don't have to worry about facial expressions and muffin-tops when dealing with steel.



Now that the weather has changed a bit, you can expect a return to normal around here.
I always slow down in the summer, but this was a particularly long and hot one. Rest assured, I'm looking forward to getting out there and shooting what I like again.

Sharper Things

Here are some shots I took for a friend's company website:













The shop tour was an education--posing and shooting all the dangerous steel was fun.


Here's one I did in our kitchen a few days later:




If you need anything sharpened professionally, look up Diamond Knife & Shear on Wye Dr. in San Antonio.

Brush Pickup + Morons

Having a broken doorbell is a Godsend during the weeks leading up to free city brush pickup! I barely notice the treetrimmers hustling for work.

The notice for brush pickup came about 3 days before one from the automated trash truck driver complaining about my branches hanging over the street and getting in their way, so I got to work on the problem I didn't need to be told that we had.

A few months ago we got an extension ladder on deep discount, and that was pretty much the budget for new yard tools--I'm still using my Stanley carpenter's hand-saw to rip through big limbs. (Bow saws are great, but this sucker is still pretty quick and comfy). A small chainsaw is next.

After dropping a few big chunks of the other tree it was time to tackle the king-daddy one seen below. The trunk is rotten 3/4s of the way through, but waiting for it to fall on it's own wasn't an option because it extended more than halfway across our street.

I set the ladder, walked inside for a cool drink, and came outside to find that my neighbor's landscapers had parked their truck in exactly the wrong place:

Break Time!

I knew from experience (at 9am every-other Wednesday) that they are over-staffed and therefore quick, and I like this particular neighbor, so felt it was best to retreat for a siesta.

The sawing took about two minutes before the tell-tale creaking and cracking started so I put my ankles into it, and also got ready to jump in case there was going to be any kick-back action like the previous tree that almost knocked me off the ladder from fifteen feet up.

And that's when I heard The Moron.

Some dumbass in a small SUV came roaring up the street just as this HUGE section of tree started falling slowly down onto the road. They swerved and almost hit someone else's truck to keep from getting crushed when my rotten ash picked-up a lot of speed at the end.

What gets me is that the way our 'hood is designed the is zero reason to drive up our street if you don't live here or are visiting. This idiot didn't stop anywhere, from one end to the other.

Imagine their story: "I was just cutting through, and a falling tree almost killed my dumb ass!"

Yessir! Woulda messed-up that pretty new car something fierce, inside and out.