Words from WickedZ

Indoor Skydiving

aaronz — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 04:07:25 +0000

Indoor Skydiving

Originally uploaded by Aaron Zieschang

Had the time of my life today thanks to my awesome wife! She went out of the box this year for my Bday and got me some indoor skydiving sessions. It’s a giant vertical wind tunnel that simulated a free fall. It was much harder than I anticipated and way more fun than I would have ever imagined. The staff at Sky Venture Colorado were AWESOME!!! http://www.skyventurecolorado.com/ I highly recommend you give it a try. They do group parties or individuals. When we were leaving we watched a little dude, maybe 3 -4 years old do it. So, anyone can fly!
I

Fierce Morning Sky

aaronz — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 15:54:47 +0000

Fierce Morning Sky

Originally uploaded by Aaron Zieschang

Hey everyone! There is a great contest going on over at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science (DMNS). I encourage all of you to head over there, create a login, and vote/comment on your favorite ones. The contest ends today, Thursday March 12 and the judging begins March 13th based on user comments and votes. I didn;t see alot of traffic on the comments and voting so I wanted to help create some buzz and get everyone other there! So go check it out and start voting! There is some great pictures over there. http://community.dmns.org/media/g/nu/default.aspx

Oceanside Pier

aaronz — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 06:00:53 +0000

Oceanside Pier

Originally uploaded by Michael Couron

My friend Mike visited Oceanside Peer while this past week while working in CA. This is a sweet shot. Just wanted to share with you.

Work it…

aaronz — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 06:45:43 +0000

Work it…

Originally uploaded by Aaron Zieschang

What a blast it was last evening! The boys and I had a little camera training session. My 5 year old and 2 year old wanted to take pictures. So I got all the gear out and let them have a good time! Not much else to say… just needed to test my blog linkage from Flickr…

Obama in person

aaronz — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 06:46:06 +0000

Last week a friend of mine and I got the opportunity to see Obama speak live (http://www.wickedz.com/photos/obama). He was in Westminster Colorado for a couple hours and was scheduled to appear at a local high school. It all started with a 2 hour wait in line. Almost 2 hours just to get through security and into the building and another 30 minutes of no movement of the line inside to get into the gym. Security opened up a second set of doors to the gym and were slowing finding seats for people one at a time. Mike and I headed to that door and squeezed in. A guy started yelling at us, well not yelling out of anger,it was just loud in there. “Hey you guys, media behind the rope! Hey media on the other side please!” You see, Mike and I had our giant cameras with us and I guess we looked like media… wow! Ok Mr… we’ll get right in there. So Mike and I got to sit about 65 feet from the podium in the media section instead of crammed in the bleachers!!! Yes!!! I was so excited to get a great spot to get some pictures that my hands were shaking. Add the fact that I just knew we were going to get kicked out of the media box once someone wised up on us that I was almost in a panic attack. It really was an exciting day all-in-all. No one ever wised up on us and we just bounced around in the media box getting different angles and watching/acting like the other press folks… It was actually quite humorous.

It’s pretty simple thinking, but very true…

aaronz — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 11:20:09 +0000

I recently noticed a large sign inside an office. It said, “If want to, you will find a way; if you don’t, you will find an excuse.” It was hand written and it didn’t quote the author. That phrase pretty much sums it up! Think about the last excuse you gave… I bet it was for something you really didn’t want to do. I know it was for me.

Good Fight… Good Culture

aaronz — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 03:44:58 +0000

Where did the good fight go? You know the one where we all get in a conference room and hash out the details to solve a problem? Of course the fight I’m talking about is not a physical one, but a heated discussion with passion and caring spirit for the cause at hand. I’m talking about the crucial conversations that occur in the work place when “work” is getting done. These crucial conversations and problem solving are key to establishing trust and confidence in one another; especially when working cross-organizationally. The culture of a company defines the level of politics. While we may agree that each person has an ideal culture that suites them best, politics are heavily weighted in the outcome of these conversations. A politically charged culture can make for a less than desirable result with no forward momentum. Usually these “safe” and “political” meetings result in scheduling another meeting… Death by meeting! Let’s get back in the ring and make a difference without taking it personal. Are you are in a politically charged culture that doesn’t work with your strenghths? My advice is to write the “cause” for the meeting on the white board. This will remove some of the emotion and personal attachment to the subject. Constantly weigh the conversation against the “cause” to keep things on track. I challenge you to let your political guard down a bit if you are comfortable. Try it enough with the right approach and you may find your colleagues letting their guard down too. Change starts with one person…

I recently edited this post as one of my esteemed mentors made a great point in an email to me. I had attributed the ”good fight” with the large companies. When in fact, ”It’s not the size of the company, it’s the culture.” Thank you Harriet!

In your face!

aaronz — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 05:53:51 +0000

Nothing like wedding cake in your face on your special day. I attended a post-wedding get together of my cousin Brandon. He was married during the winter in a beautiful cabin new Rocky Mountain National Forest. Kerry and I were honored to attend. Anyway, this get together was for the larger crowd of many friends and family of Brandon and Deann. If you would like to check out the action http://www.wickedz.com/moats/ . (Brandon and Deann, let me know which pictures you want and I’ll get them on CD for you) I just received my camera back from Canon Service and thought this event would be a great place to test it out. Most the images were pretty soft, still not sure what is going on with this particular 40D I have.

Kiss of Light

aaronz — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 13:57:01 +0000

In reviewing my photos I found this one from last month. I borrowed my dad’s 10D and used a 16-35 f/2.8L @ 16mm for this shot. Handheld, 1/125th sec @ f / 22, ISO 200. Only an “L” could give you a kiss of light like this. The rock face was being lit by the reflection from the red rock behind me.

Surprisingly Sharp

aaronz — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 13:48:00 +0000

Here’s one that’s hand held that is surprisingly sharp. 1/100th sec @ f / 5.6, ISO 400, 300MM focal lenth on my 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6L taken at 7:15 in the evening.