http://www.michaelthemaven.com/ Michael Andrew Photography en-us http://www.michaelthemaven.com/?postID=2324&day-73 http://www.michaelthemaven.com/?postID=2324&day-73 Thu, 17 May 2012 15:29:00 GMT

]]> http://www.michaelthemaven.com/?postID=2323&day-72 http://www.michaelthemaven.com/?postID=2323&day-72 Thu, 17 May 2012 15:27:00 GMT

]]> http://www.michaelthemaven.com/?postID=2322&day-71 http://www.michaelthemaven.com/?postID=2322&day-71 Wed, 16 May 2012 17:40:00 GMT
My brother Justin works at a Surf shop and was able to find a bigger board for me and I have to say...it makes ALL the difference. I only fell off a couple times. Would love to make this a regular activity and Ill be looking into buying a board.

]]> http://www.michaelthemaven.com/?postID=2321&day-70 http://www.michaelthemaven.com/?postID=2321&day-70 Wed, 16 May 2012 17:39:00 GMT

]]> http://www.michaelthemaven.com/?postID=2319&focus-on-one-thing http://www.michaelthemaven.com/?postID=2319&focus-on-one-thing Tue, 15 May 2012 15:50:00 GMT
We all have goals and dreams. For the past 4+ years, I have had MANY goals at the same time and have chased several of those goals simultaneously. While I have been able to chase and achieve many goals at once, I am more certain now than ever that this is a HUGE mistake, and a waste of time.

These last 2-3 months I've chased just one BIG goal at a time and essentially made it my daily obsession. The results have been truly astonishing. What used to take several months is now taking a couple weeks, and in some cases, a few days.

I cannot share the specifics of what it is I did, nor how we did it, but suffice it to say that focusing on one big goal at a time; meaning working at it day in and day out (with whatever limited time you may have) until you finish pretty much guarantees you will get it. Adding a second BIG goal in there at the same time will pretty much: either 1. Prevent you from achieving both of the big goals. 2. Slow both of them down greatly. I think this is probably the most common undoing of not achieving our goals, we try to do too much.

That said, adding the second BiG goal AFTER you finish the first, also means you will pretty much definitely get the second one too. This is true for the THIRD goal, etc. I would add that knowing how to identify distractions and eliminating them are huge. I still find time to exercise, relax and enjoy life, but I cannot overemphasize how well this has worked recently.

A wonderful secret to achieving your goals: Focus on ONE thing. Make sure it is something worthwhile and will bring you lasting happiness!

]]> http://www.michaelthemaven.com/?postID=2315&sand-paintings http://www.michaelthemaven.com/?postID=2315&sand-paintings Mon, 14 May 2012 04:43:00 GMT
Artist Andreas Amador creates some very beautiful designs in the sand using only a rake. He says that most of them take only a couple of hours to complete. You can see more of Andreas' work HERE

]]> http://www.michaelthemaven.com/?postID=2314&2nd-annual-mark-forester-price-of-freedom-memorial-run http://www.michaelthemaven.com/?postID=2314&2nd-annual-mark-forester-price-of-freedom-memorial-run Sun, 13 May 2012 04:21:00 GMT
This next Saturday, May 19th is the second Annual Mark Forester Price of Freedom Race / Walk in Haleyville, Alabama. For those of you who do not know, Mark Forester was one of my best friends and was killed in Afghanistan on Sept 29th 2010. You can read the original post/tribute I wrote the day I found out here: Tribute to An American Hero

This is an excellent event that allows us to show our appreciation for all our armed service men and women. I know there will be several of Mark's teammates there, many of whom are highly decorated and extremely down to earth living legends. (Some of the stories they can tell you are incredible).

There are two events, a race which begins at 9am, (there are varying race lengths and divisions) and a 31 mile walk, which begins at 6am. You cannot do both. There is a 50-50 chance I will be in attendance, and if I am, I probably wont know until a day or two before I go, but I would be entering into the 31 mile walk if I do go.

You can learn more about the events from Mark's Blog:

2nd Annual Mark A Forester Price of Freedom Race
2nd Annual Mark A Forester Memorial Walk
Mark A Forester Memorial Website

Mark's name and story has really grown since his death. Lifetime produced a Coming Home special in his honor, and I even found out a toy company had made a Combat Controller Figure patterned after him. (How many CCT's wear an Alabama Flag on their body armor?). Mark even has a song tribute to him.

I even received an email this morning from Crossfit.com that Mark has a workout named after him called "Jag 28":

Crossfit honors soldiers lost in battle by creating a WOD (workout of the day) after them.  Mark Forester now has a WOD and was honored today. (Thank you Andy!)

Cross Fit


]]> http://www.michaelthemaven.com/?postID=2313&dark-shadows http://www.michaelthemaven.com/?postID=2313&dark-shadows Sat, 12 May 2012 04:48:00 GMT
Don't ever see this movie, not in theaters, not as a rental, not on an airplane if it is the only movie showing. For the amount of talent involved, it has to be the worst Tim Burton movie ever made.

]]> http://www.michaelthemaven.com/?postID=2312&canon-speedlite-600ex-rt-tutorial-cover-revealed http://www.michaelthemaven.com/?postID=2312&canon-speedlite-600ex-rt-tutorial-cover-revealed Fri, 11 May 2012 05:38:00 GMT

We expect the downloads to be available around Wednesday afternoon of next week. DVDs will not be available for a while as we are waiting for the announcement of the sister flash unit (presumably to Canon 440EX-RT Speedlite). Once it is released, we will cover the menus and differences and fuse it into the 600EX-RT DVD to have a combo DVD as last time. The 600EX-RT Crash Course also includes instruction on the ST-E3 transmitter.

]]> http://www.michaelthemaven.com/?postID=2311&canon-speedlite-600ex-rt-training-tutorial-video-almost-done http://www.michaelthemaven.com/?postID=2311&canon-speedlite-600ex-rt-training-tutorial-video-almost-done Thu, 10 May 2012 06:22:00 GMT
I have some notes and reviews coming on the new 600...its really nice- once linked up, rarely misfires (and when it does its a battery issue, not a connection problem).

The technique on this is a little tricky because we are shooting into direct sunlight, but the settings were: 1/4000, f2.8 ISO 160. Canon 5Diii , Canon 24-70 2.8L , Canon 600 Ex-RT , Processed with Michael Andrew Lollipops ® Action Set!

One more for fun! What a great Model Annie is!

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