Eschelon Telecom rings the NASDAQ stock marketing closing bell...

Yesterday, the executives from Eschelon rang the closing bell at the NASDAQ stock market!

Click here for pictures. In the hi-res picture, I can see my "bosses boss" standing behind someone off to the left.

Kinda cool the Eschelon logo was up on the big jumbotron monitor on Wall street.

Arlington, WA herding competition...

In the Zone Photography was the official event photographer on-site at the All-Breeds Herding Club of Western Washington's AKC licensed herding trial. It was hosted at "On the Lamb Farm" in Arlington, Washington (north of Seattle) from August 26th thru 28th.

For our first solo event, we did surprisingly well. Not that I had any doubts... But everything went relatively smoothly (minor hiccups but that's to be expected since we're new at this). Nothing that prevented us from providing professional photography services to the participants. We must have done something right because they booked us for two events next year!!

We took over 1,400 photos over the 3-day event. Sold a bunch of photo CD's (always a good sign you're taking lots of outstanding photos since they don't just get a print or two) and dozens of 4x6's. Also we gave half a dozen photos to the AKC representative that was attending the event and preparing an article for the AKC website. Overall, it was well worth our time and effort! And it sure was nice being able to crash at Erika's back in Seattle - instead of paying for a hotel (an extra expense that would have eaten into our profits).

All of the photos have been loaded to folders at our photo gallery - so everyone can review their photos some more - even though most participants took a look at the show (at our tent where Wendy was busily scrubbing and cropping the photos as I brought them in after each event thoughout the day).

New gallery...

click for larger
Moved pictures to new online photo gallery (smugmug.com). The family photos are available in there too, but hidden from public view and password required. If you would like to see the family pics, then get a hold of me for the "super secret" URL.

Oh, I used Photoshop to stitch together a panoramic of Wendy's graduation from WOU (shown above). It's in the new gallery.

The new gallery allows people to easily order prints. Many, many different sizes available (many hard to find), and you can crop the photo however you'd like. There's also mouse pads, coffee mugs, T-shirts, etc.

Check out the new photo gallery at http://inthezonephotography.biz.

(end marketing mode)

Photos from Willamette Agility Group event (Brownsville, OR)...

Lucky Critters has the photos up from the event Wendy and I helped at back on August 13th/14th. This event was a lot of fun to shoot for, but was a bit overwhelming at first until we settled into a good workflow.

Between me and the photographer for Lucky Critters, we shot almost 8,000 pictures. After weeding out the out-of-focus ones and others that weren't that great, there's still 5,000 photos...

See Lucky Critters gallery (no, you don't have to look at all 5,000 of 'em... well, you could, but that'd be crazy!)

Here's some nice examples:

Tunnel

Tire

Sunset on the Pacific Coast...

Went to the coast late in the afternoon... just to hang out, do some reading... that sort of thing. It was fairly windy, so we found a good spot sheltered by some tall grass.

Decided to stick around for the sunset, and took some pictures. Above is one of them.

Downhill mountain bike race at Mt. Hood...

Went camping over the weekend, and ended up checking out a downhill mountain bike race at Mt. Hood on Sunday. There were supposed to be some locals riding in the Sport class, but they dropped out in protest (apparently at the prior event the Skibowl booked a corporate event over the top of the mountain bike race - $$ talks basically - and so it was clear the race series was low priority to the resort).

I got some good practise taking pictures of the Pro riders.

Wendy and I met up with a local rider who I knew from Blackrock trails, and he showed us some good spots to take pictures. We hiked up the mountain with Korshka and Lacey - glad we didn't have to leave them in the truck all afternoon.

You can see more of the race photos at In the Zone Photography gallery.

Camping at Mt. Hood...

Mt. Hood
click pic for larger
We went camping at Lost Creek. Actually, that campsite was full, so we ended up back the road a ways at a nearby campground.

Hiked up a trail the local ranger station recommended for good view of Mt. Hood. We ended up hiking part of the Pacific Crest trail by mistake (made a wrong turn at a crossroad of paths in the woods). Was still a great hike, and we just doubled-back and got on the right trail... the "wow" trail. As we emerged from the trees, we were overlooking a valley of Mt. Hood and the mountain was right there - HUGE!

Set up at a good spot, and took pictures.

Think we'll come back in the future and hike up to Lost Lake. That's also a really good place to get pictures of Mt. Hood (along with the lake), but wasn't enough time this trip.

Coldplay concert...

It's 1:04am, and we just got back from a Coldplay concert up in Washington. It was about an hour from Salem (2 hours with rush hour traffic, 1 hour to get back). Awesome concert! They put on a cool show. Deep thinking band. We've got just about all their CD's, and it was an experience to see them live!

We stood on the grass up on "the lawn". They had giant screens so we got even better view than people sitting closer (who couldn't see the screens). It was almost a full moon, and as the concert started it was low in the sky and by the end it was directly over center stage. Seeing an outdoor concert in ampitheatre in the summer is the only way to go!

Coldplay official website

Lyrics by Coldplay...

Some (of many!) favorite songs by Coldplay...



From Rush of Bloood...

Amsterdam

Come on, oh my star is fading
And I swerve out of control
And if I, if I'd only waited
I'd not be stuck here in this hole

Come here, of my star is fading
And I swerve out of control
And I swear I waited and waited
I've got to get out of this hole

But time is on your side
It's on your side
Now I'm pushing you down
And all around
It's no cause for concern

Come on, oh my star is fading
And I see no chance of release
I know I'm dead on the surface
But I'm screaming underneath

And time is on your side
It's on your side now
Not pushing you down
And all around
Oh, it's no cause for concern

Stuck on the end of this ball and chain
And I'm on my way back down again
Stood on the edge; tied to a noose
Sick to the stomach
Say what you mean but it won't change a thing
I'm sick of the secrets
Stood on the edge; tied to the noose
And you came along and you cut me loose



From X&Y...

Square One

You're in control is there anywhere you want to go
You're in control is there anything you want to know
The future's for discovering
The space in which we're travelling

From the top of the first page
To the end of the last day
From the start in your own way
You just want
Somebody listening to what you say
It doesn't matter who you are

Under the surface trying to break through
Deciphering the codes in you
I need a compass draw me a map
I'm on the top I can't get back

The first line of the first page
To the end in the last place you were looking
From the start in your own way
You just want
Somebody listening to what you say
It doesn't matter who you are
It doesn't matter who you are

Politik

Look at earth from outer space
Everyone has found a place
Give me time and give me space
Give me real; don't give me fake

Give me strength reserve control
Give me heart and give me soul
Give me time; give us a kiss
Tell me your politik

And open up your eyes
Open up your eyes
Open up your eyes
Open up your eyes

Give me one cause one is best
In confusion confidence
Give me peace of mind and trust
Don't forgot the rest of us

Give me strength reserve control
Give me heart and give me soul
Wounds that heal and cracks that fix
Tell me your politik

And open up your eyes
Open up your eyes
Open up your eyes
Open up your eyes
Just open up your eyes

Oh give me love over, love over, love over this
Oh give me love over, love over, love over this

GarageBand.com and PureVolume.com - Independent music...

Sick of what they feed you on the radio? Tired of what mainstream America thinks is cool?

Slide into http://garageband.com or http://purevolume.com and discover your own taste in music. These are bands who aren't fettered by corporate demands. They haven't sold their soul for a record deal - they're playing music for their own love of music and for their fans. Find a local band, and go check 'em out at a local venue.

Just to get you started here's City Charts (top independent bands as ranked on GarageBand.com)...

Portland: http://www.garageband.com/charts/city/portland.html

Seattle: http://www.garageband.com/charts/city/seattle.html

Or, just choose a genre at either site (URL above) and stream All...

I used PureVolume.com to find local bands to feature in the Local Progression Riders Video that was produced back in February.

Freelance at Agility competition (Brownsville, OR)...

In the Zone Photography partnered with Lucky Critters to provide event photography services at a Willamette Agility Group (WAG) Agility competition over the weekend of August 13th (both Saturday and Sunday).

After setting up tent and booth, Wendy and I started out early Saturday morning a bit shell shocked. There were HUNDREDS of dogs in the competition and they were running them non-stop. I'd fill a compactflash card with a 200-300 photos and sprint back to the tent to hand it off and then, while I sprinted back for the ring, I'd snap a fresh card in place and format while getting back into position with good angle. My legs are sore today.

They had several different types of competitions including Steeplechase, Rally, and Snooker. I was shooting the pro ring, and the handlers and dogs were unbelievable! It was amazing to see.

My fingers went numb on Saturday (repeatitive strain) - they're still numb today - a 5 pound lens starts to feel heavy by mid-afternoon when it's close to 100 degrees. We came back on Sunday morning, and did it all again. But we had a good workflow by that time. I'd write down the ending file number of dog that just ran on run sheet, snap a "marker" photo of handler and dog before they started their run... so when I handed off the full compactflash card to Wendy back at the tent, she'd be able to split them up into folders easily. There was literally no time to remove cap from pen - it wasted seconds, so I left the cap off... I was always hoping the handler would call out the dogs name so I knew for certain I was writting down the file number for the right dog.. They tended to juggle the run order at the last minute, so I had to scramble to get in sync with the updated run sheet sometimes.

Between the two rings and two photographers, we shot around 6,000 photos. 8 - 10 MB each shot. We sold a decent number at the event, but not as many as expected. It was disappointing that a lot of people didn't even come to the tent to review their photos - there were some really good ones. But agility people come to compete, win ribbons and get a title for their dog...

Lucky Critters is still post-processing the pictures, and they'll hopefully have them up on their web server later this week. I'll make some picks for my portfolio and post a link to them here.

There were some really incredible shots. Tunnels, jumps, tires, A-frame, weave poles... crisp action shots of dogs flying thru the air with paws up, SOARING, head turned in mid-air looking for their handlers cue for next command... kicking up turf as they carved an arc out of the landing-- streaking towards the next obstacle... smiling!

Local newspaper features my photos in article about freeriding...

There's an article in todays Appeal Tribune (Silverton, OR) newspaper about the freeride mountain bike trails in the area. In the Zone Photography supplied the report with several photos featured in the article, and they also mentioned the Local Progression video I made last year to help raise funds for trail maintenance.

check it out! "Freeride Nirvana Flys to Silverton" (article by ANGELINA MORGAN with the Appeal Tribune)

Summer Nights concert in Seattle on Lake Union...

We were in Seattle again this weekend for another Summer Nights concert on Lake Union. We saw Aimee Mann It was again a perfect night for concert. This time we sat right up close (3rd row).

What's awesome is that we could just walk from Erika's apartment on East Lake down to the concert venue on Lake Union, and then back afterwards...

Wendy is spending the week there, but I have to work so drove home the next day.



When we drove to Seattle on Saturday the Blue Angels where flying a demo for an air show, and we saw them flying the diamond formation and they came right over I-5. Was cool to get a glimpse of them flying 400 miles an hour over Seattle in perfect formation and roaring by overhead!

Tonight on Dicovery HD, there was a documentary called "Blue Angels: A Year in the Life". Was cool to learn more about the U.S. Navy demo flight team.

New photography website...

We've created a new website for "In the Zone Photography" that features a gallery. It'll include pictures from events we book.

Also, instead of hosting family pictures and stuff on a separate server, I decided it'd just make sense to throw all the photos into one gallery. BUT the "family" photos (pictures we want to share with family) will be hidden from public view (you'll need to know the login username/password) - just ask Wendy or I and we'll let ya know what it is!

The snapshot from the site shown above shows the new Family folder because that's sample of someone logged into the Gallery at http://inthezonephotography.biz - that folder isn't there if it's just the public visiting the gallery.

Eschelon Telecom, Inc (NASDAQ: ESCH), the company I work for, went public today...

Here's the press release...

Eschelon Telecom, Inc. Announces Pricing of Initial Public Offering

Minneapolis, MN – August 4, 2005 Eschelon Telecom, Inc. (NASDAQ: ESCH) -- Eschelon Telecom, Inc. announced today the pricing of its initial public offering of 5,357,143 shares of its common stock at $14.00 per share. The securities are being offered in connection with a distribution by the company. The company and certain stockholders have granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 803,571 shares. A portion of the proceeds will be used to redeem a portion of the company’s outstanding 8 3/8% senior second secured notes due 2010. The company’s common stock has been approved for quotation on the Nasdaq National Market under the symbol “ESCH” and is scheduled to commence trading today. The offering is expected to close on August 9, 2005.

Lehman Brothers Inc. and Jefferies & Company, Inc. are serving as joint book-running managers of the offering. UBS Securities LLC is acting as a joint lead manager.

A copy of the final prospectus relating to the offering may be obtained from: Lehman Brothers Inc., c/o ADP Financial Services, Integrated Distribution Services, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, New York 11717 or by calling (631) 254-7106, or Jefferies & Company, Inc., Attn.: Equity Capital Markets at 520 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10022 or by calling (212) 284-2342.

A registration statement relating to this offering has been filed and been declared effective by the Securities and Exchange Commission. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any state.

About Eschelon Telecom, Inc.
Eschelon Telecom, Inc. is a facilities-based competitive communications services provider of voice and data services and business telephone systems in 19 markets in the western United States. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the company offers small and medium-sized businesses a comprehensive line of telecommunications and Internet products. Eschelon currently employs approximately 1,130 telecommunications/Internet professionals, serves over 50,000 business customers and has approximately 380,000 access lines in service throughout its markets in Minnesota, Arizona, Utah, Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Nevada and California.

- more -

Forward Looking Statements
This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. The forward-looking statements are based on Eschelon Telecom’s current intent, belief and expectations. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. Actual results may differ materially from these forward-looking statements because of the company’s history of losses, ability to maintain relationships with RBOCs, substantial indebtedness, intense competition, dependence on key management, changes in government regulations, and other risks that may be described in the company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Existing and prospective investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of today’s date. Eschelon Telecom undertakes no obligation to update or revise the information contained in this announcement, whether as a result of new information, future events or circumstances or otherwise.

Contacts:
Media: Jenna Soule, Sr. Manager, Corporate Communications. 612-436-6426
Investors: Geoff Boyd, Chief Financial Officer, 612-436-6486