SNAPSHOT 2010

www.DLINDSEY.us

Fallin

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David's Holiday News Letter

October 15 my brother Scott and sister-in-law Stefani had a baby girl. My first niece and my parents first grandchild.

Avery Ryan Lindsey

7 lbs 2 oz - 18 inches

I am anxious to get home for the holidays so I can see her and of course hold her and get some pictures.

I hope that everyone had a wonderful 2010 andI hope that you have a great 2011!

Happy Holidays Everyone!

Work, Projects, and Travel

The year had a slow start. From May of last year up until March of this year I have been working on various little “pet” projects researching ways to advance our training delivery while reducing the size and cost of the training systems. None of which will work unless someone gets off the checkbook. In February the government turned on the money for the next phase of the WIN-T project that took me to Seattle in 2009. As a result travel has picked back up. I spent the summer and this fall bouncing between Augusta and our labs near Boston. I foresee a lot more time up there this spring as we complete the new course, lab exercises, and technical manuals. A nice aspect of the trips to the Boston area is the ability to visit with my cousin Kirk who lives about 45 minutes north of our corporate offices in Taunton. We spent a few weekends driving around New England visiting Salem, Newport, and walking into Maine. IF things stay on schedule we are scheduled to start training late summer or early fall. Though the government has not decided where training will be conducted. We hear Fort Stuart, GA; Fort Campbell, KY; and Fort Bliss, TX or a combination of two of them. Once that kicks off our training teams will be on location for up to 13 weeks at a time. The class itself is 10 weeks long. At the moment job security seems steady for awhile.

Google Search - "Army WIN-T" <click here>

Press Release: Military & Aerospace Electronics <click here>

Press Release: Military Information Technology <click here>

Press Release: Defense Web <click here>

Surprise July 4th!

I made it home a couple of times this summer. The first time was a surprise visit. I showed up at my parents camper at the campground. My mother was also surprised to find out that my brother, sister-in-law, and grandmother all knew I was coming home and that is why they had planned the fish fry at the camper. My Aunt Janet (in from Portland) and my Grandma England made it out to the cookout. July 4th weekend is a big weekend at the Kentuckiana Campground. One of the big events, aside from the weekly country music show, is the parade pictured above. I would say there were close to 100 decorated golf carts in the parade.

My second quick trip home was for my cousin Wesley’s wedding. Wesley & Erin were married in an outdoor venue at Wildlife Prairie Park near Peoria. I was sad to hear that due to budget and funding issues the park will be closing soon. Where will the send the buffalo and other animals?

Scotland - Lindsay Tour

In September Clan Lindsay USA sponsored an 11 day trip to Scotland that focused on Lindsay family historical sites. Some of the group flew into Manchester together from Newark while a few others were already in country and met up with us there.

Click on names of places to visit those photos.

York - After arriving in Manchester we headed to York for two nights. After touring York Minster during the day I went back in the evening for photos. It was eerie because someone was inside practicing on the organ.

Whitby Abbey & Lincoln - Day two we visited Whitby Abbey which had been burned out thanks to Henry VIII. The ruins are still impressive and beautiful. Our trip included Lincoln because at one point in history the area of Lincolnshire was actually known as Lindsey.

Bronte’s & Windermere - As we left York we swung through Haworth to visit the home of the Bronte sisters as we headed north to the English resort “lake district” and Windermere.

Lindsay Tower/Crawford Castle & Craufurdland Estate - As we finally cross into Scotland on our fourth day our first stop were the ruins of Lindsay Tower & Crawford Castle. The strategic location of the castle, built around 1175, guarded the approach from England into the upper Clyde Valley. Lunch was served on the front lawn of Craufurdland Castle. As with most of the old estates Craufurdland as had to diversify to bring in revenue. The estate leases out farm land, is open to hiking, and has a fishing business on the estate’s lake.

Rosslyn Chapel - After driving through Glasgow we spent the afternoon at Rosslyn Chapel. It was great to see what the “Da Vinci Code” movie did not show. Not to ruin the film for you, but the entire outside of the chapel in the movie was digitized. Due to restoration the entire building had been covered for years to allow the sandstone to dry naturally. That covering was removed the week before our visit.

Dunkeld & Blair Castle & Edradour Distillery - Our tour took us north through Perthshire to visit the highlands. We stopped in Dunkeld to see this pretty preserved town and church on the banks of the river Tay near Aberfeldy which was where the Black Watch regiment (originally called the Lindsay-Crawford Regiment) was raised by the 20th Earl of Crawford in 1739.

Falkland Palace & Kilconquhar & Balcarres - Though Falkland Palace is an official royal residence none of the current royal family has ever stayed there. Though Prince William did use the tennis courts while attending St. Andrews University. Kilconquhar Castle & Estate are no longer in the family. A former home of the Earls of Lindsay, the castle itself dates back to the 13th century and was the ancestral home of Adam of Kilconquhar, Earl of Carrick, whose son was King Robert the Bruce. The Balcarres Estate, the current home of the 29th Earl of Crawford, Robert Lindsay, is adjacent to Kilconquhar. It has been in the Lindsay family since 1587 and covers 5000 acres in Fife.

St. Andrews - Not only is it home to the oldest university in the UK, but it apparently is known for its golf. The beauty of the course is in stark contrast of the manicured beauty of the Augusta National golf course. At St. Andrews’ Old Course the rough is rough and I cannot imagine anyone playing in those gale force winds. The city of St. Andrews is about 10 miles from the Balcarres & Kilconquhar estates.

Edzell Castle & Garden - David Lindsay, 9th Earl of Crawford, began building the castle around 1520 and expanded by his son, Sir David Lindsay. It is now a ruined 16th century castle, with an early 17th century walled garden. The Lindsays were Jacobites and sold the lands in 1715 to the Earl of Panmure, another Jacobite, to raise money for a regiment. Eventually it came into the ownership of the Earl of Dalhousie. It was given into state care in the 1930s, and is now a visitor attraction run by Historic Scotland.

Invermark Castle - Located in Glen Esk off of Loch Lee southwest of Aberdeen, this castle was built in 1300s. Over the years it has served as a watch tower/fortress, as a hideout for a murderer, and a family residence up until 1729. This was the furthest north we traveled in Scotland.

Edinburgh - There is a lot of history in the Scottish capital. A couple of interesting points. The Lord Lindsay & his father the Earl of Crawford are both members of the Scottish Parliament’s House of Lords. Edinburgh Castle houses the Scottish Crown Jewels which are in fact older than England’s. England’s original Crown Jewels were destroyed by Oliver Cromwell. Scotland successfully hid theirs. The castle now houses the “Stone of Destiny” on which all Scottish monarchs have been crowned since Lulach (Macbeth’s stepson) in 1057. All English monarchs since 1296 (except Edward V & VIII) have been crowned on it after Edward I moved it to London. It will be moved to London for the next coronation as well. We happened to be in Edinburgh for a very busy weekend. Our hotel was on the main street through downtown that was used for the Pope’s parade route. Our hotel also housed the participants for the Archery World Cup tournament taking place in the park across the street. I was able to photograph US Olympic Archer Brady Ellison during practice wounds. He went on to win the event.

England

After saying Good Bye to the tour group I took a train down to London for a nice quiet week on my own. I stayed in a little “old” hotel (George Hotel) near Kings Cross Station and a central tube line. The room was small enough that I had to put the suitcase on the bed to be able to get into the room and close the door. All the bathrooms for this part of the building are on the landings for the stairs indicating that they were all added to the back of a building that did not have them before. It was a very nice hotel though. Lots of “old” charm.

My first day in London was spent at the British Museum. Amazing! One of the highlights was obviously the Rosetta Stone. I had mixed feelings about seeing all of this history in one place. Was it taken for history sake or pilfered from its original country? A gentleman outside with a petition put a little perspective on my dilemma. He was trying to save some ancient Persian historical sites in Iran from flooding due to dam construction.

Stonehenge was definitely the highlight of my stay in London. Though I have been to London several times, I had never made it out to Stonehenge. It was tough getting pictures here since you walk around it and there are always people going in and out of your shot!

Windsor Castle was nice to revisit. I was last there in November of 1992 just after the fire. Those photos were lost by the photo lab from which I received the proverbial kids birthday photos. I had intended to walk the whole “Long Walk” in front of the castle until I realized how far it would be back to the train station. From the point I stopped it was 5 miles back and I did not smell commuter train friendly when I arrived. I figured if I did not say anything they would think I was French.

My last day in London wondering around I visited Greenwich. I got to straddle the “Zero” Prime Meridian Line. Never got a chance to use the Bike Rental Stations all over town.

Augusta Photo Festival 2010

The 2010 Augusta Photo Festival was another huge success. Once we started accepting entries for the photo contest and taking reservations for workshops things got busy quick. All photos and workshop reservations were submitted through the webpage this year. And as the webmaster I had to answer all the emails for those contestants who could not get their photos to upload for one reason or another. There were also email messages for workshop participants who could not get their schedules changed, etc.

We had an excellant turn out for all of our workshops and the various exibits around the CSRA (Central Savannah River Area). As a Committee member I was not allowed to enter the photo contest this year. But we had a seperate photo exhibit for the Committee.

	Homeless in Georgia Taken at a farm near Watson's Covered Bridge in North Georgia
	Changing Army Taken at the Fort Gordon Railhead. The Army now travels by trucks and planes.
	Rust on the Canal Taken in South Augusta where the water of the Augusta Canal no longer flows
	Shadows of Sibley Taken upstairs in one of the remaining warehouses at Sibley Mill. Rafters are a living history of messages left by workers

I am on the board for the Augusta Photography Festival as we are now becoming an official "non-profit" organization. Though we are already looking towards the next Augusta Photo Festival in 2012, we are also looking at "projects" that we can do in the in-between-years. Currently we are working on a project called Augusta 24. We will have teams of photographers photographing various aspects of life around the Augusta area. These photographs will be a part of an exhibit as well as a magazine being produced by a local company.

You can view the winners and finalist for these year's festival at:

www.augustaphotofestival.org

Hobbies That Pay

This year saw the picture counter on my Nikon D70S go back to “Zero” as I went over 9999 photos. Though it is only six years old it has been reluctantly replaced. Early in the year I started seeing problems with photos. When you viewed the photo you only saw the top half of the photo and the bottom half was “blank” or just digital garbage. I swapped out new memory cards and reloaded the firmware with no improvement. Granted this may only affect 2 to 3 photos out of 100, but that is too much if you miss a good shot. As a result I really “over shot” my trip to Scotland to insure that I good shots. I think over the three week trip I shot around 3000 photos. I did not take the laptop so I was really unable to view the photos until I came back. There were many unusable photos. It seems to progressively get worse. Luckily it is a hobby that helps pay for itself. I had a photo shoot in Atlanta that ended up paying for the new camera. After expenses like renting the venue and travel it still paid about $134 an hour for the afternoon. Just wish it paid for he new flash too. The photo to the right are from that photo shoot. The photo shoot was the result of winning a photo contest in Atlanta.

How was it done?

This photo was actually taken during a pool party where I was playing with my dive camera. The leaf is setting on top of the water in the pool and I am taking the picture up towards the sky from underwater.

How was it done?

My photography professor, Chuck Swedlund, always had us print “bad” negatives to see how they would turn out. Sometimes you would be pleasantly surprised. It does not have to be a perfect clear picture to be something interesting. This was taken in a garden at a park in Massachusetts on a VERY windy day.

The Big Move :(

I

am fortunate to have several friends in the area willing to come over to my house for weeks at a time to take care of Ptolemy (Yellow Cat) and Chartre (Brown Cat) while I was up north working. Unfortunately, the cats still spent a lot time alone in the house. Late this summer my friend Daniel in Atlanta was looking for another cat to entertain his cat. Thankfully he was open to taking in my two cats. Now I can take off for work at a moments notice without stressing over whether the cats will be ok. I do still have visitation rights.