Author: Farook Khan

Tuesday, 12 August 2008, 11:25 pm

It’s the middle of August and school starts in less than two weeks. Thank you for all your thoughts, emails and telephone calls over the last few weeks. This summer has very busy. 

One of my projects that I wish to complete by the start of school is to determine an email address that I will use as my 100% default email address for basically all my communications. I am not sure any of you are aware, but I have at least 15 different emails addresses that are checked via my computer or iPhone at any time. My goal to consolidate all my email addresses into one account. I would appreciate your participation in a survey that I created using Google Doc’s.

To take the survey: CLICK HERE

If you have trouble viewing or submitting this form, you can fill it out online: 
http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?key=pmAvn1AOCLDaxO_XkQXtvGQ

I would really appreciate it if you shared your opinion. I hope to publish the results here in the next few weeks.

A few days ago I was out in the front yard taking a look at all plants that we planted in the spring and had to take a few photographs. Here are some picture from the front yard garden. I am fascinated with photography of flowers. With fall coming I hope to get some great pictures.

Hope you have a great night and I look forward to talking with you really soon!

Farook Khan
farookium@gmail.com
www.khanfire.com/blog

Sunday, 27 July 2008, 10:14 pm

This last week I lost a friend who took her life. It has resulted in some pretty sad days. Holly was a great person and I am really going to miss her. About two weeks ago, I was able to capture some pictures while at a garden and thought I would share it. The same photograph was also used on the back cover of Holly’s program.

Farook Khan
farookium@gmail.com
www.khanfire.com/blog

 

Sunday, 15 June 2008, 11:35 pm

Happy Father’s Day! I have been having a great time over the last few weeks. I went home last weekend (to California) and was able to visit with my family and captures some great pictures of my niece Keilani. Yesterday I decided that I wanted to get back into model railroading and had fun setting up a small layout to play on. The plants in the front yard of the house are just amazing and thought I should share some pictures.

Keilani – This is a great picture of my niece. The lighting was great for this picture because the sun was going down in the background. She was actually running around the yard and her hair was trailing behind her making for some great pictures.

Model Railroading – This is my new GP-40 Union Pacific engine. I bough some track and had fun playing with my new n-scale layout.

Water Droplets – I have always loved photographs of flowers with water droplets on them. I figured it was time that I captured some of this pictures for myself. I think I might turn this one into a post card or something.

Colors – This flower has some great color to it. We have planted quite a few flowers in the front yard, each one of them with some great colors to them. I will have to send some more pictures out soon.

I have all the flower names written down somewhere, if you really want to know what they are called, just ask me and I will pull out their names.

Hope that you had a great weekend!

Farook Khan

 

Wednesday, 30 April 2008, 10:55 am

 

Zion National Park! After leaving Vegas, we drove to St. George and made our way to Zion National Park. The weather was amazing and we were able to do some hikes and got to check out the Angles Landing Hike. While less than a five mile hike, it was along some step cliffs and required some climbing. The views were amazing. I took about 1300 pictures over the weekend and here are some highlights.

 

Angels Landing: Taken from the peak looking down on the Virgin River below… there was a cliff right behind me that would take me directly to the river.

 

 

Zion National Park: This is a picture looking south toward the entrance of the park.

 

 

Lizard: Or are these things called geckos. This little guy was following us on our way up to Angels Landing.

 

 

Flowers: What would a hike be without a few spring-time flowers.

 

 

Squirrel: This bushy guy was also one the trails. He was pretty friendly.

 

 

Mountains: Cool picture, I used a German filter on this to get the colors like they are.

 

 

 

The whole weekend was amazing and I had a great time. Many more trips are going to happen over the summer. If you are having any difficulties seeing the pictures, feel free to check out my blog at www.khanfire.com/blog

 

Have a great day!

 

Farook Khan

Wednesday, 30 April 2008, 10:18 am

 

Las Vegas! Last weekend was the last week of school and I finished up all my finals and then went to Las Vegas for the weekend. It was a great way to celebrate my birthday and to get out of Utah.

 

We stayed at Mandalay Bay and had a great room. We enjoyed the eleven acres of pools and got really tan. Went to a Cirque Du Soleil show called Ka’. It was amazing and would highly recommend it to anyone. There were people flying all over the place and the stage could basically rotate in an direction imaginable.

 

The food was amazing. On Saturday night we ate at Aureole at Mandalay Bay. (Check out their website at www.aureolelv.com) The restaurant features a Wine Tower that is fouty-two feet tall. Vegas also has many buffets and other fine dining venues.

 

Las Vegas was a blast! Here are some pictures:

 

The Strip: The view from Mandalay Bay was amazing. Off to the left you can see a whole bunch of cranes. They are building an eight billion dollar complex called the City Center.

 

 

Mandalay Pools: This is a look at all the pools from our room. That big one at the top is a fun wave pool with a sand beach.

 

 

 

Our Penthouse Suite: This is the front room with a sixty inch plasma television to the right which you cannot see. Off to the left is the dining room and also a kitchen. The room also had a huge jetted tub along with a steam room.

 

 

 

Hoover Dam: The dam tour was really cool. We got to go inside all the tunnels and I took tons of pictures.

 

 

 

After spending a few days in Vegas we made our way to southern Utah. Check out those pictures in #028 – Zions National Park. If you can’t see any of the pictures in the email, check out my blog at www.khanfire.com/blog

 

Farook Khan

Sunday, 13 April 2008, 9:03 pm

 

Hopefully you got the first email. I have just a few more really cool pictures to share that I have taken. Almost all of the flower pictures were taken at Red Butte Gardens. Some of the other ones were taken while walking around Salt Lake City.

 

Two of the pictures are from the last storm that came to Salt Lake. Notice the cool picture with the bee. That was taken in the front yard.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Flower with Bee – This picture is very cool. I hope to get a few more like this.

  

 

 

  

Hope your enjoying the spring!

 

Farook Khan

farookium@gmail.com

www.khanfire.com

Sunday, 13 April 2008, 9:02 pm

 

Spring! Winter is finally leaving and the flowers and greenery are coming back to Utah. The last day of school is Tuesday and then I’ll be done with finals a few days later. I have taken a few pictures and hope that you like them.

 

Equipment – I currently have three lenses and looking at getting one or two more over the summer.

 

 

 

Dinner – Another exciting dinner. Barbecued chicken and shrimp with rice and vegetables.

 

 

 

Utah State Capital – This image was taken from the east looking west during Sunset.

 

 

 

Jake – A great picture of Jake sitting in the back of the truck. We like our walks.

 

 

 

Utah State Capital – Black and White… this picture is facing South. It looked cool.

 

 

 

Breakfast Waffles – Some homemade waffles with fruits and homemade whipped cream on top. It was delicious. Notice the home roasted pecans.

 

 

 

Early Spring Flowers – These are the flowers are in the front yard. You’ll see many more of them.

 

 

 

Industrial Salt Lake City – This is a picture I took while going on a walk. It made it monochrome and it looks really cool. That is where I will be working for the next few years.

 

 

 

Look for the second email.

 

Farook Khan

farookium@gmail.com

www.khanfire.com

Sunday, 2 March 2008, 5:35 pm

 

Photography! I have been having some fun over the last few weeks with the new Nikon D300. There always seems to be something that I want to capture with a picture.  Each time I do that, I come home with about five-hundred new images to look over.  With a little more money I should be able to buy a few more lenses and combine that with some more time I will be unstoppable.

 

The last few weeks have been busy with school, work and playing. We are half way through the semester with upcoming midterms next week. My engineering classes are going really well along with a fun english class that I am taking. A few weeks ago I got a promotion at work. My new position has placed me with a very specialized team and they gave me some some great projects to work on. The change of pace in work has been a delight.

 

I also want to invite you to check out a website that I have created.  The website is at:

 

http://www.khanfire.com

 

This website has actually been around for over a year, but I finally put it all together. Take a moment to check out the website. I have included my blog and also a fantastic photography section.  I am planning on updating it with many more pictures soon. Feel free to give me any feed back.

 

Here are some pictures:

 

Farook – This is a portrait.  You might not think very much of the picture, but I had a great time with it.  It is one of the first pictures I took with the new camera and also one of the pictures that I was able to edit a little using Apple Aperture 2.0.  I also was working with a brand new flash that I bought for the camera and it is amazing what the camera can do.

 

 

Bird – This is actually a picture I took about an hour ago. These birds were outside my window.  I thought it would be fun to capture the birds that are out enjoying the pretty Sunday afternoon.  Never before have I been able to take pictures like this.

 

 

Jake – Some of you have asked about my dog. This is Jake.  He is about six months old and full of energy. Jake is actually my roommates dog, but since Jake is at the house, we all clam ownership, except when it comes to cleaning up the crap.

 

 

Winter – This is just another picture I had some fun composing.  I went out toward Utah lake to take this picture. It was taken on one of the first clear days we’ve had this year.

 

 

Snow – Another picture I took while I was up in the mountains. I like how the wind was blowing the snow and the sun was hitting it just right.

 

 

Dessert – What would all this work be worth with out a little break. This is probably one of the best banana splits I have ever had. Please observe the deliciousness.

 

 

That pretty much covers what I have be doing for the last few weeks.  At least the interesting parts.  Hope things are going well in your neck of the woods! Talk to you soon.

 

Farook Khan

 

farookium@gmail.com

www.khanfire.com

Sunday, 27 January 2008, 11:13 pm

 

Winter Fun!  The last few weeks have been really exciting.  After waiting a few weeks I finally got my new digital camera… the Nikon D300.  I also got a beautiful wide-angle lens so that I can take the most spectacular photographs ever.  This weekend was stunning and I was able to make it up into the mountains to take some pictures.

 

That wasn’t the only thing I was working on this weekend however, I also managed to get my new company registered.  I am now the proud owner of Khan & Associates LLC.  I also go to enjoy the fine food from my own kitchen.  I included a picture of tonight’s special.  Penne pasta with a special oven baked vegetable sause.

 

Oh, I forgot… I am still in school and having fun.  My engineering classes are getting really interesting now that we are learning about real-world applications.  Math still kicks my trash but my gym class balances it out.

 

Big storm coming in tonight… makes for some great pictures.  Those will be coming soon.  Have a great night and a great week!

 

Farook

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday, 6 January 2008, 3:45 pm

 

Happy New Year!  It is has been some time since I sent out one of these emails.  Life has been really great and I am getting ready to start another exciting semester at BYU tomorrow.  Some highlight from this last semester of school included becoming a resident of the state of Utah and purchasing a remote start system for my truck.  It is really nice because I can start my truck from about a mile away and by the time I am ready to drive off, it is already warmed up and ready to go.

 

I have taken up snow shoeing and that has been a blast.  The nearest mountain trail is about ten minutes from my house.  My roommate has a 5 month old yellow lab who loves the snow and it has been fun.  Christmas and New Years were pretty tame this year as I spent it in Salt Lake with from friends.  Other than that, life continues onward.

 

Pictures:

 

New Years Dinner – I made my dad’s special pasta primavera and it was by far the best pasta that any of my friends had ever tasted. I cooked with shrimp, chicken, vegetables and some unique spices to give a great flavor. (Thanks Dad)

 

 

 

Snow Shoeing – This is my roommate Charlie from Salt Lake and I snow shoeing in Mill Creek Canyon.  It is very beautiful.

 

  

 

Toyota Tacoma:  This is my baby. I don’t know how I ever survived living in Utah without a great truck. I have spent a few extra bucks doing some after market upgrades.

 

 

 

Snowy Day – This is outside my place and the tree looks beautiful.  Winter isn’t all that bad.  Pretty days like this make it worth it.

  

 

 

There are many more pictures and I will eventually find a way a to present them.  I am looking forwarded to purchasing a professional grade camera so I can take even more stunning pictures.

 

Happy New Year!

 

Farook Khan

 

P.S.  I am using a new email program… if I am using the wrong email address, let me know.