Bill Mellett Photography Blog

Dallas Cowboys Stadium Aerial Photograph

2011-10-16T21:31:00.002-05:00

I’ve yet to actually enter “Jerry’s World” but, I certainly find it impressive from outside. We bought tickets to Taylor Swift’s performance for my daughter for her birthday. When my wife and I went to pick our daughter and her friend up from the performance we parked in one of the lots and walked up to the building to wait outside for them.

The building has huge sets of window that they had blocked off with huge black curtains inside so that people would actually pony up the ticket price instead of just party outside and watch on the big screen. It probably also helps with the show if they can darken the room down. We were able to peek through a probably six-foot gap in the curtains to watch the action on one of the “small” side jumbotron (oxymoron alert!) screens. We were watching probably a 30 foot across high-definition T-Swizzy performing live. It was pretty impressive.

It's pretty impressive from the air, too. I almost didn’t photograph Cowboy’s Stadium. I had an early morning flight planned out to photograph the Dallas skyline as the sun was rising. I usually like to stick to whatever plan I have as much as possible. After I was done with downtown Dallas, I was flying from the east, south of the DFW airport restricted airspace when I noticed the whole Arlington, Texas area being bathed in early morning light. Nice little surprise!

Arlington is really the playground of the Dallas/Ft. Worth Metroplex. I think that all of the local folks know that Arlington has Cowboys and Rangers stadiums as well as 6-Flags amusement park and Wet-N-Wild water park but, from the air you get to see all of it at the same time. It looks like one big playground, which it is. It was fun to shoot, too.

Click on the image for a full-sized view.

Diner

2011-09-15T09:08:00.000-05:00

Sometimes a photo just grabs me. That is my definition of a great photo, even if it is one of my own. I took this one with an iPhone in a diner in Salt Lake City for my other blog, Bill's Triple-D Restaurant Review. This is the Blue Plate Diner which is scheduled to be posted in December.

I just feel like this one captured the diner culture for me. Like a lot of people, I travel a lot. I've spent a lot of time in diners all over the country. The arrangement of catchup, salt, pepper, pepper-sauce and big sugar bottle is a sight that is pretty much exactly the same no matter where in the country you are. These objects are in the shadows which is what you feel like at diners sometimes.

It is kind of lonely. Again like a lot of people, the time I spend in diners is usually alone. There are no people in this photo even though there is evidence of people. The motorcycle parked in the restaurant is unusual. It doesn't belong yet it speaks to the point that diners are part of the transient nature of a lot of the people who visit them. You feel like you could just hop on and make a quick getaway without the bother of walking out to the street or parking lot.

Let Me Out!

2011-08-26T14:36:00.000-05:00

Sometimes inside of a bad or mediocre photo is a good photo begging to be released. I took the photo above as a reference photo to a place that I want to come back to. I don't consider this photo to be great. It was taken too far away for the focal length, there's no real subject and the perspective is off. But, I think that the location has the potential to be great.

It is Lake Arrowhead near Wichita Falls, Texas. When I was flying toward the lake, I thought that it looked pretty cool because I thought that there was a sailboat race going on. It was early on a weekend, so it seemed possible. When I got closer, I realized that what I thought were boats were actually oil or gas rigs. I'd never seen rigs like this except on a much larger scale in the Gulf of Mexico.

I find the white rigs against the blue water and red earth to be interesting. The very fact that the rigs exist in the water give a sense of depth and perspective if anything else happens to be out there also. It would be cool if I caught an actual boat whizzing around the equipment.

I couldn't loiter around because I had someplace to get to but, I'll be back here again ready to shoot. I will do my homework on when the best light will be and be ready to shoot. I'll try and see if there are any events planned to happen on the lake. I'll have my longer lens with me and an assistant most likely.

Good night, sleep tight

2011-06-17T21:19:00.000-05:00

The beginning of this year went by in a blur. I was really busy on every level of my life. My back burner was piled with figurative pots as one issue after another occupied my front burners. Not my ideal situation.

Flying by myself has always been one of those things that I value because it helps me to find center again. When I'm done I find myself at peace again. I usually realize that the noise of everyday life just seems to have washed away when I'm driving home later. This is especially true when I get to see a nice sunrise or sunset. I always sleep really well at night after having one of these days.

This image kind of reminds me of a town slipping into that kind of peace. The sunlit jet contrails remind me of the last bit of the day's craziness slipping away as the peaceful blue/green tones of a the night washes the noise and insanity of the day away.

I could close my eyes right now.

Film Bug

2011-03-05T17:07:00.000-06:00

I recently got the bug to pull the old film camera off the shelf and to try it out again. I had a fantasy about maybe buying some chemicals and some developing equipment and going "wet" again for a while. But first I had to get reacquainted.

The film choices have changed since I last used my film camera. In 2005, every department store and pharmacy had at least a small section of films. Not so much anymore. I wanted to shoot black and white but, unless I wanted to really go out of my way, I would have to accept the new generation of black and white film. They produce black and white images but, use the same chemicals for processing as color film. This wouldn't work for my home brew darkroom scenario but, for this little experiment it would be fine.

One of the things that I miss about film photography is that each film type had its own personality. Some were more vibrant, some more true to life. Using a new film was kind of like going to visit an old friend just to find out that they had sent someone else to meet you instead.

I remember that the Kodak color film that I was using in 2000 when we lived in Europe was a lot different than the off-the-shelf Kodak film we were getting in the US. It would produce very saturated colors. I liked it. The images were kind of surrealistic fairy tale-like which matched the bit of an adventure that we actually were on at the time.

So, I got the camera loaded with a roll of 35 B&W exposures and carried the camera around for a while. I used a Canon 50mm 1.8 lens on a Canon AE1 Program camera.

There were film cameras in 2005 with autofocus systems comparable with the modern autofocus systems but, the AE1 was not one of them. It has the old prism focusing system whereby you have to use an area of the lens in the center that is pixilated with tiny prisms inside the camera and then turn the lens until the pixilated area does not look pixilated anymore. It's very precise but, not very fast. I can't believe that I used to shoot sports with this.

I shot a moving train. In order to do this I had to focus on a mark then wait for the train to get to that mark and fire. I used to do the same thing with sports. I try to anticipate where the action would be then focus on a spot then wait for the action to reach that spot. Sometimes you got lucky and sometimes not. This would be hard to do from a moving airplane if I'm the one moving.

The actual image through the viewfinder on the old Canon is probably superior to my current DSLR, a Nikon D-90. The whole frame is much larger to the eye than the D-90. However, to operate the controls on the AE1 you have to take your eye away from the viewfinder. So, for methodically shooting something stationary it would be fine but, for moving action I am already too far spoiled.

After taking an image on either film or digital, I always have an impression of what I intended the image to look like in my head. With digital you can "chimp" right away which means to look at the display on the back of the camera and see how you did. With film there is a much more delayed satisfaction. I quickly missed the ability to chimp.

I had the film developed at a good local camera store. They developed the roll and scanned it to digital images on a CD. I thought that the digital images were scanned a bit too bright. The blacks were not a rich black. I also sensed a bit of a sepia tone to them. In the end, the results were comparable to a modern digital camera. The most important thing to me is the feeling that comes across from the image. They are both good tools.

Technically, there are a lot more images possible with digital than with film. One of the first things that I noticed when I was shooting with film was that I no longer had control over the ISO. The film comes with a standard ISO setting and that is it. The ISO setting on a digital camera, which is just a sensitivity to light setting is controllable on the fly in digital land.

One benefit of film is that it forces you to be more methodical about what you are shooting. It costs money every time you click the shutter button. I realize in hindsight that I do the same thing in digital photography probably because I started with film. If digital-only photographers had to put a quarter in a jar for every time they clicked the shutter button then they would probably slow down and be more methodical, too. I've actually taken my digital camera off of single frame mode and onto high automatic just to experiment. Maybe being more intuitive than methodical has its advantages, too?

In the final analysis, I think that I'll just keep the digital around. I might continue to experiment with film but, digital suites my needs much better right now. It was a fun experiment anyway.

Change in Direction

2011-02-17T22:53:00.000-06:00

I'm changing the direction of Bill Mellett Photography. It's the next step in the evolution of the business as part of my own personal growth.

When I first launched my photography business it was all about taking action towards living a dream. That dream was to earn a living doing one of the things that I most enjoy which is taking photographs. It's my attempt at "the persuit of happiness.”

The other things that I most enjoy doing are flying and lending my flying ability to volunteer with the CAP doing emergency services work. We have a fleet of aircraft owned by the US Air Force and we use them to find downed aircraft, lost hikers and other missions primarily for the Air Force and Homeland Security. Lately, we have been getting a lot of missions to photograph things like the aftermath of Hurricanes Rita and Katrina, the Gulf Oil Spill and some other things.

Well, the CAP figured out that I’m pretty good with a camera so, first I became part of the Aerial Photography team. At first I was not excited about the idea of giving up a pilot's seat position for a back seat aircrew position. But, that did not turn out to really be the case. Now I am in charge of the whole Aerial Photography Program at my squadron.

In my work on Aerial Photography for CAP I discovered that I really like it. I get to do the two things that I love the most of all at the same time. I appreciate the role that aerial photography played in early aviation and that aviation played in photography. I believe that I am unique as both a photographer and an aviator in my passion and capabilities in both areas.

I like it so much in fact that I am going to focus Bill Mellett Photography on Aerial Photographic Art. I'm going to train my two passions on one unified effort.

I don’t have it all worked out yet but, the change of direction means that from a business point of view, I am going to focus on editorial work and sales of fine art. I plan on doing some personal projects in North Texas to build up my portfolio in this area. Then I am going to try and connect with art directors and publishers to get my work published.

On the fine art side, I will produce an inventory of prints and try to sell them on-line and in person. I might self publish a small number of books and try to sell them at local venues.

The audience that I am targeting on the editorial side will be magazines, visitors bureaus, real estate professionals and anyone else who needs imagery of the areas that I will cover or that they employ me to cover. I would love to see my work on the cover of Texas Highways Magazine, for example. On the fine art side, I imagine my audience to be anyone with a special connection to the areas that I will cover. I can imagine tourists to Dallas appreciating my aerial photographs of the city.

This decision did not come lightly to me. I’ve built up a client and partner base serving a small geographic area that I feel very loyal and imensely gratful to. Without my clients, partners and friends help it would not be possible for me to have the courage to take this next bold step. I’m not going anywhere. I will still be there to service any of my existing base for whatever photographic needs they have and want me to handle it. It would truly be my honor and I’ll continue to punt business back their way when I can. I'll still volunteer my services to local charities.

I’m glad that fractured parts of my life are starting to dovetail together. The next big challenge will be to develop the vision for my work. I have some ideas that I'm exited to get started on but, I’ll leave that for now and save it for another blog post.

The iPhone Camera

2011-01-31T23:14:00.000-06:00

There has been a recent trend in photography away from the ever increasingly more powerful computer technology in our DSLR cameras and even computer chips in our lenses to let us take tack sharp images even if our hands are a bit shaky. Any modern digital SLR can take incredibly sharp, accurate images even in very low light. They are really wonderful.

The problem is that this gee wiz science has been muscling out the art aspect of photography. It's been a little bit of a sterilization of the media. People get caught up in the fascination with the technology and forget about the art.

The quiet movement is called "The Best Camera" as in the best camera is the one that you have with you. Nowadays we all walk around with cameras attached to our cell phones. The beauty is that you can almost always be quick on the draw with it. A DSLR on the other hand is a fairly big thing that you tend to have with you only occasionally. Photography is art and the whole point is to get people to be creative and create art.

I know that I have had a lot of fun with my handy camera. A couple of Fridays ago I was in my office, not really in the mood to do any office stuff. So, I popped off some of the keys to my keyboard and rearranged them so that I got the letters TGIF to be together. Then I shot it with my iPhone just for fun.

I also like it because as I get more serious about my photography, a DSLR represents more serious work. When I've got the big gun out then that means that I have a purpose. It might be a real shoot for a paying job or it might just mean to hone my skill a little bit more for when I am shooting for real. Kind of like Tiger Woods hitting a bucket of golf balls, if I dare put myself anywhere near his category.

Cell phones are also really little computers that, by the way you can also talk to people with. That means that you can also program them. There are some really powerful applications for the iPhone that are a blast.

One of my favorites is Hipstamatic. Hipstamatic mimics old film cameras. You can change cameras and films that it mimics and just have a lot of fun with it.

As far as editing goes, photoshop has an app that is very powerful for a cell phone application. The best part is that it is free. The Best Camera also has an app that is not free but has some cool tools to quickly punch up a photo.

All of the photos on this page were shot and edited entirely with an iPhone.

I encourage everyone to unleash the inner artist and try some of these things. You've got nothing to lose.

Click the badge below to see my whole gallery of iPhone photos.

Windmills

2010-11-30T22:55:00.000-06:00

On the high plains there is a lot of nothing. Nothing can be good sometimes because there’s nothing to block the flow of air pumping over those plains. That flow of air has been powering windmills for generations as I learned on a visit to the American Wind Power Museum in Lubbock, Texas.

There is definitely a certain kind of beauty whenever form meets function. In this case, the windmills’ designs are obviously optimized to take full advantage of the blowing wind even in very light breezes. Less obvious design features help to control and balnce the windmill. If the windmill is allowed to spin up as fast as it wants in very blustery conditions then the windmill would litterally come apart in a centrifical explosion. On the other hand, if it is pointing in the wrong direction then it would not spin at all. The design experiments used to control and balance the windmills have led to some interesting shapes over time.

The windmill museum is interesting because they explain and display a lot of those shapes all together. Some of the windmills displayed only exist in America here. I’m talking most notably about the Dutch design. The Dutch windmill looked authentic to me. It had careful, unusual wood and metal craftsmanship that looks unlikely to have been fabricated here.

The people who run the museum definitely appreciate art. In the covered outside area of the museum there is a very large wall. There was an artist in a portable lift probably about 60 feet off of the ground working on the mural in the room. The mural was a landscape devoted to farm and windmill life. It was quite obviously a major undertaking.

Some of these photos were taken while the museum was open but, most were before and after hours "through the fence" shots.

See some more of the photos that I took here or click below.

Horse and Rider

2010-10-05T20:57:00.000-05:00

One of the things that I enjoy so much about photography is that the camera gives me license to see sides of people’s lives that I never would have otherwise. My job as the photographer is not just to make pretty pictures but to try and capture the essence of someone and to tell a story with images. They pay me to visually present them in photographs.

I knew almost nothing about horses and the people that ride and care for them until recently when I did my first horse and rider shoot. I really didn’t appreciate the relationship that the horse people have with their horses. In my mind, the subject of the photos was the rider and the horse was there as a prop. I could not have been more wrong. It is horse AND rider together as partners. They are both equally important in their own ways.

It is absolutely not like photographing someone next to a lamppost. The lamppost just happens to be there and does not have feelings. It just is what it is, end of story. The horse very much has a mood, just like the rider and a feeling that is important and comes across in the images. If the horse is uncomfortable or agitated or worried then you can see it in the eyes and ears and posture. The horse and the rider have a connection that has to be respected and appreciated.

We got really lucky with the weather. I prepared by getting my subjects ready right during the best part of the light in the evening. We had just come off of a long spat of oppressively hot North Texas summer temperatures. This night was warm but, not too much so. The wind was also happily calm that evening in late July. The sky was also very clear. So, everything was falling in place for a good shoot.

It went off well. We squeezed a lot posed shots in including a wardrobe change from dress to jeans and shirt and from bareback to saddled. I don’t know if the sun sets quicker towards the end of the summer or if it just seems that way when you are trying to compose a scene and click away like a mad man but, I felt like my window of opportunity was really small and it was all over in a lot less time than I would have liked.

At the end of the session, I let Alyssa run Bailey around and I just shot them having fun. I think that both of them really liked the opportunity to stretch their legs out. I think that these were probably some of the best images from the shoot. It happens a lot that the best shots come when you just catch people doing what they love to do best. I count Bailey as a people, too.

The Joy of Photography in Arlington

2010-08-04T00:13:00.000-05:00

I recently went on another photo walk with a bunch of other photographers. This time I hooked up with a group in Arlington, Texas. The goal is simple, it is just to go out as a group and photograph whatever and/or whoever we come across. There is a plan for where to meet, the route to walk and where to meet-up again at the end but, that's it.

It’s fun to hook up with people who you don’t have to explain why you like to capture images then spend hours culling the many frames and editing the keepers to appear the way we imagined it when we took the frame in the first place.

Another one of the things that separates just anyone with a camera snapping pictures from those of us that are a bit more serious is our willingness to twist and climb and crawl to the right spot to get the angle on a shot that we have in mind. I had fun on this walk observing other photographers taking their pictures. Some folks did contort themselves a bit. It’s funny to watch only because I know that I do the same exact thing sometimes. I’ve ruined shirts and pants doing this. This time I didn’t ruin any clothes but did risk my neck standing on a wall probably 20 feet off of the sidewalk taking some shots of a waterfall at the University of Texas – Arlington.

I took some images of a few of the students who were out and about on a Saturday morning during the summertime. They were surprisingly very pleasant and agreeable to having their pictures taken at that hour.

There was one guy in a pickup truck that saw us and was telling us to take a picture of him. The photo that I got looked like he was angry and yelling at me but, he really wasn’t.

One of the photogs with us had a thing for photographing trash. What was even funnier was that he would shoot a trash can then other people would just join in and give it a try for the heck of it. I photographed them shooting a boring trash can. I have to admit that I’m as guilty as them though. I took one shot of an outdoor cigarette ash tray that I wouldn’t have otherwise.

A shout-out goes to Michael at Arlington’s Main Street School of Music for being cool and letting us get cool inside his school and letting us shoot him there.

Check out the whole slide-show here.

Shooting People

2010-06-10T22:15:00.000-05:00

Last year I went on a local photoshoot in Grapevine, Texas with a bunch of other photographers doing some street photography. It was part of a world-wide photoshoot. Photographers from around the world got together in local groups and we all went out and shot together. Sometimes we even shot each other. It was a lot of fun.

One thing that I noticed is that most of the photogs that I met were really shy about approaching any people. They'd rather take photos of shadows and streetlights. I'll include myself in this category as well about being timid. One area that I wanted to push myself on was in taking pictures of people; compete strangers literally off of the street.

It takes a bit of moxie to muster up the courage to ask someone if you can take their picture. One of my secret fears is that because I identify myself as a photographer, I never want to do anything that might cause someone to think of me as the creepy guy behind the lens. Some of this probably comes from the fact that as a father of two daughters, I take a lot of photos of them but also their friends. At least these kids and sometimes their parents know me. Asking to take a picture of a complete stranger is a whole different story.

I had some relief because an army of about thirty of us swarmed over the North Texas town all at once. We were pretty obvious. Everyone had an expensive camera, camera bags, tripods and all of the other stuff that you would expect. A few people asked me what we were up to. I got photos of four sets of folks that I was pretty proud of. Terry the biker dude rode up to a popular biker's watering hole, Willhoites. I asked if I could snap a few photos and he said sure and asked if it would be okay if he smoked a cigarette. Super nice, super cool dude.

There was a girl sweeping the sidewalk in front of a restaurant and I asked her the same thing. My creepiness fear kicked in but it was unnecessary. She was really nice and asked if I wanted her to do anything different. What she was doing already was perfect.

There was another biker dude with the full face helmet and full leathers on who himself was snapping a photo of the street with a tiny point and shoot. I asked him and he said "go for it."

There were a couple of guys on break from their manufacturing job just relaxing on a bench. I didn't speak Spanish and they didn't speak English but, with some pointing and waving we communicated and they let me shoot them. I think that they actually enjoyed the attention.

Jai Ho

2010-05-18T20:42:00.002-05:00

Sir Ken Robinson describes “the element” as:
“the point at which natural talent meets personal passion. When people arrive at the element, they feel most themselves and most inspired and achieve at their highest levels.”

The girls of the Northwest High School Sidekicks were in my opinion certainly in their element when I photographed them performing their Spring Show.

One dance routine in particular, "Jai Ho” really came together well. The song was from the movie from India, "Slumdog Millionaire" where the cast at the end of the movie were all dancing. The dance was likewise Ballywood inspired; very difficult choreography. They all moved in very fast, fluid motion together. The moves were complicated and physically demanding but, they made it look easy.

The fact that my daughter was one of the dancers brought me a special kind of pride. I honestly had a hard time staying dry-eyed watching her and her tribe perform their magic. All those years of her bouncing and twirling around the house seemed to really mean something now that she'd brought it to this level.

A tip of the hat also goes to whoever designed the stage lighting for this performance. They really did a good job of using effective back lighting for silhouettes and for choosing the right colors for the right mood and to coordinate with the costumes.

I hope that you enjoy the video as much as I do.

See for yourself here. (For best results turn "HQ" on and "Stretch" off.

Check out the stills by clicking below.

MetLife Blimp

2010-03-24T00:25:00.001-05:00

The MetLife Blimp was passing through town recently and I had the opportunity to photograph it over three days. Each morning I went go out there before having to check in at the office while the morning light was still right.

The Blimp was moored on one of the large grass areas on the Alliance Airport property which was also in full view from my office window. So, I got to watch its daily activities as the blimp folks would take it out for rides during the day then a small army of deck hands would scamper after the lines hanging from its nose to bring the ship back in for the evening.

I chatted with a couple of the very knowledgeable ground crew guys. The technology is as old as aviation itself. Basically, if you fill a large envelope with gas that is lighter than air then it will cause the ship to rise. Inside the large envelope was another smaller envelope that they pump regular air; the same air that we breathe into. The more regular air that you pump into that smaller envelope, the heavier the ship as a whole becomes and then it sinks.

It was interesting that the power to pump the air into the smaller envelopes when it is in flight comes from the twin Rotax 912 engines that also give it forward and reverse thrust. When the 912's aren't on then they have two leaf blowers pumping air into the scat tubes; an electric blower on one side and a gas powered one on the other. Nothing fancy. These were units that could have come from the Home Depot up the road and were held on with $0.75 hose clamps that probably also came from Home Depot.

The term "ship" really seems fitting. The early morning air seemed very still. But, like the way a ship in the water will gently tug at its mooring lines as the almost imperceptible water currents move that kind of ship, the airship would also pivot and bob gently around its bull-nose mooring point as the wind was waking up.

See the whole slide-show here.

Cotton and Cannons

2010-02-07T19:52:00.003-06:00

I was in Murfreesboro, Tennessee last fall. The fall leaves were turning and the weather was just starting to turn cool.

The Stones River Civil War battlefield was fairly close to my hotel. I decided to get up early and catch the morning light and see what was worth photographing.

You definitely get the sense that something important had happened here by the way the pristine chunk of meadow and woods was carved out of what is now Suburban America. Somehow the impact of the place is a little bit tempered by the sites of strip malls just beyond the 1860’s stone walls.

It’s sobering to think of all of the blood that was spilled here in stark contrast to the natural beauty of the morning light hitting the cotton and straw fields in 2009. I wonder if the people out for their morning jogs this morning ever even think about it. It would have been the same sun but a completely different scene in December of 1862 when the Union Army met the Confederate Army here.

There was a placard marking the Parsons Battery of the 4th US Artillery Companies “H” and “M” which explains why there were three cannons posing among the cotton plants.

This wasn’t my first time photographing cannons. Civil War cannons seem quaint and benign by today’s standards but, in their day they were the high-tech tools of war. I wonder what the people a hundred years from now will think of our now high tech lives.

Bovine in the Mist

2010-01-21T18:47:00.000-06:00

I regularly drive past some fields where cows and bison are kept. I've often thought, y'know, I aught to photograph those bison while they are still in the fields and not sitting on my burger bun or the land is converted into yet more housing.

One of them in particular usually has bison and it is on a slope facing up towards the sun rising in the east. The long shadows during the "golden hour" in the morning sometimes provides some cool situations to photograph.

I got lucky this past Wednesday morning. The bison were where they belonged, the sun was in the right position, I was going into work early, so I had time and there was a neat fog on the ground. Ground fog might not sound like much but, we don't get that condition here a lot. It's kind of like finding longhorn cattle in Connecticut. It might happen, but not often.

There is something noble about the American Bison. They remind me of a sports car in that some sports cars look fast standing still. The American Bison just looks important just standing there. It has a powerful profile and powerful features. It's also damned large.

Texas Snow

2009-12-04T20:54:00.000-06:00

We don't get snow every year in North Texas and even more rarely in the beginning of December but, we did this year. We only got about a quarter of an inch of snow and it all but disappeared before noon.

Whereas the natural world up north had been bracing for the winter for a few weeks already, the people, plants and animals in the lower latitudes tend to get caught off-guard with Mother Nature's surprises like this. The kids love it. My daughter was no exception. She took the opportunity to jump on the snowy trampoline and tried to catch snowflakes on her tongue.

Airshow 2009!

2009-11-06T20:41:00.000-06:00

I went to the 2009 Fort Worth Airshow at Alliance Airport. I was one of the volunteers working hospitality. We drove around in golf carts handing out water bottles and boxed lunches to the aircrew that were there. We got special badges that also allowed us some special access to areas off limits to the general public.

The US Navy's Blue Angels also performed. I've been watching them and the US Air Force's Thunderbirds since I was a kid and it just never gets old for me. Actually, I got to watch the Blues practice the week prior because my office is right at AFW airport towards the south end of the parallel runways and the window facing the runway is right behind me. So, when they perform it is pretty exciting. I'm three floors up and we get a pretty good view out of the floor to ceiling windows.

When the Blue Angels performed on Saturday, we took a golf cart and went to the show line off to one side away from the general public. It was nice to be able to photograph (don't want to use the word "shoot" with regard to military aircraft) without having to compete for space or to worry about being accidentally bumped causing a blurry image.

About ten minutes into their show a car drove up and four guys with London accents start frantically breaking open pelican cases and assembling video and computer equipment. It turns out that these guys were from the BBC and they were sent to tape the show in high-speed HD video. They got slowed down coming in from El Paso for some reason. I'll look forward to seeing that video when it comes out.

After the crowds left and we were done with hospitality duties, I got to have a few beers and BS with some of the aircrews who weren't flying out that evening. It was fun.

Halloween

2009-10-20T21:49:00.000-05:00

Ever since I started blogging I've been waiting to post this photo from a few Halloweens ago. This is one of my favorite photos.

My wife and her friend Leslie went around as witches on their electric scooters handing out candy to kids. The electric scooters were a little mojo challenged, so they had to walk the scooters up our hill. The hill peaks right at the point where I took this photo. So, I had the open sky from the angle where I was standing in the middle of the road down the hill a bit in front of our house. The light and the timing could not have been more perfect. They went out just as the sun was going down and there was an orange glow off of the clouds. Our road also happens to face to the west in the direction of the setting sun. So, it all came together.

I realized this all after I had snapped the shot. This was done purely on reflex. I saw their silhouettes against the cool sky and bang, bang, bang I fired away a few frames. I realized afterward right away that this had potential and I just hoped that one of them was in focus and that I hadn't done anything stupid with the exposure settings. I was really glad when I saw it on the computer monitor a few minutes later.

They've since upgraded their brooms to gas power. So, we'll see what this year brings.

The Streets of St. Johns, NL

2009-10-14T23:28:00.000-05:00

It rains a lot in St. Johns. This is St. Johns, Newfoundland, not San Juan, Puerto Rico. Whereas San Juan is remarkable for its sun and beaches, Newfoundland is an island about the size of Texas hanging out in the middle of the North Atlantic like a big green iceberg which is remarkable because it seems to have large chunks of the North Atlantic just hanging airborne over the island in cloud form most of the time dumping that moisture back to earth.

I always look forward to jobs in out of the way or unusual places for their photographic possibilities. This wasn’t looking good so far. No car and rain, rain, rain. I was to only get one opportunity to take any pictures in St. Johns. After two days my SD card was as empty as the day I landed there.

I found out when sunrise in St. Johns would be then planned to be out of my hotel room about half an hour before then. (I’m such a photo-nerd, thinking back on it now.) “Sunrise” was to be kind of an optimistic misnomer because it continued to rain heavily steadily and the prospects of seeing the sun at all that day were not great.

I understand why armies make their soldiers get up at God-awful hours and perform calisthenics. There is a special kind of mental hardening that takes place when you train while others are sleeping comfortably. Forcing myself to shoot in bad weather, limited geographically by walking distance, wet, cold and trying to make something artistically out of nothing was going to be my form of morning exercise. Actual calisthenics probably would have been more heart healthy and less cold.

Every place has its own charm if you are willing to go out and find it. In the case of St. Johns it came in the form of the gingerbread houses that lined many of the old streets, many of which were probably built before the turn of the previous century.

The new age technology street lights cast out a display of subdued chemically colored lights at night. Just like adding various chemicals changes the colors of fireworks, the different technologies that use different chemicals makes the lights have different color casts. The early morning light provides a nice balance of natural sunlight to the greens, blues and pinks from the periodic table of elements colors in the newer lights as well as the dingy yellow from the old fashioned Edison lamps.

The human eye doesn’t notice the color casts as much as a camera does. This is kind of a cool artistic trick to make the scenes more surrealistic due to the highly saturated colors. Timing is everything to being there when the light is balanced just right.

Felton - Wandro Wedding

2009-09-30T21:40:00.001-05:00

I was really happy when John and Tracey asked me to photograph their wedding. I got the job because their wedding arranger, Gayla is a friend who was familiar with my work suggested me to the bride, Tracey.

I had a long email dialog with Tracey starting months before the wedding but, because of schedules we never actually met until the night of the rehearsal. I was a little scared that some of my location shot ideas might be a little too out there for the couple but, as it turned out Tracey was very adventurous and was all for it. She let me have pretty much complete artistic control which was a real pleasure. Like most grooms, myself included, John was up for whatever would make his new wife happy.

I got lucky because they’re a very handsome couple which helps a lot for making nice photos. John was really sensitive to the lights from the flash. There were a lot of photos where I used the strobe and Tracey looked fine but John looked like he was in pain. That’s because he was. He rolled with the punches really well though.

When it came time for the location photos, one of the last things that we were going to try was to take a few shots near the Justin, Texas firehouse but, we would need permission to be near the equipment. Tracey was absolutely awesome. She turned on the girl charm and knocked on the door where the firemen were in her wedding dress, of course and said “I just got married. Could we take some pictures on your fire truck?” The guys absolutely melted. She could have ANYTHING she wanted.

Thanks to Tracey, the picture I took of her and John laughing at something one of the firemen said is probably one of my proudest images.

This was my first professional wedding shoot. As such, it was kind of a nail biter for me. I’ve done photo shoots before but, they were never professional jobs. Overall, I’m pretty happy with the way things turned out. I probably took more images than I needed to. I took about 1,000 in all. I handed my second camera over to my daughter who was assisting me and she shot about 50 and her friend Alyssa who wanted to do it also took about another 150. It’s so easy to just snap away, especially at the reception when you’re taking mostly candid shots because there is just so much opportunity for interesting photography.

My Nikon D-90 camera will also take video, though it’s primarily designed for still images. I took some video snippets here and there. If there is something that I need to work on it’s my video skills. Because I was there to take stills, I would shoot what seemed like a reasonable amount of video then quickly switch over to stills again. In my post-processing I discovered that what seemed like 30 seconds of video was really more like 6 or 7 seconds. I also took some vertical video thinking that I would just rotate it in post. No such luck. I’m sure that there’s a way to do it but, I haven’t figured it out yet. I’ll still deliver the amateurish video because I think that would be a nice unexpected bonus but, I will polish up my act in the future.

Anyway, cheers to Tracey and John!

All of the images and video can be found here.

Mendenhall Glacier - Juneau, Alaska

2009-08-29T14:36:00.008-05:00

Alaska is easily one of the most incredibleble places that I’ve ever been. I’ve been there twice on business.

When I was in Juneau I went out to the Mendenhall Glacier a few times. This was winter so the lake by the glacier was all frozen over. The local people; mostly moms with kids would go to the lake, strap on their cross country skis or skates and push a stroller along in front of them. Some brought their dogs with them usually off of their leashes.

There was a sign posted that said that there was a lone wolf in the area. I was chatting with one of the park rangers at the visitor center there and she told me that the wolf was probably kicked out of the pack by one of the alpha dogs and is now looking for a new pack. So, he would try and hook up with the local dogs that came to the park. The only problem was that when the wolf got hungry then he would sometimes eat the park goers’ pets. A domestic pet is no match for a wild wolf.

One of the local guys told me that he had seen the northern lights from his deck the previous night around 10pm and that usually if you see the northern lights at a particular time one night then it is likely that if you are going to see them the following night that they would likely be visible around the same time.

So, I went out to the Mendenhall Glacier at 10pm the next night with the goal of seeing and photographing the northern lights. Who knows when or if I'd ever be back here again?

It gets really cold at night in the winter in Alaska. The trash cans are also bear proof which means that there are bears in the area. So, I’m hanging out outside in the middle of the night, in the dark, where a wolf has been hanging out near the trash cans that the bears like to try and get a meal out of hoping not to run into any of them.

The best that I saw was a green glow coming from above and behind the glacier and the mountain behind it. It was still pretty cool. I had to take LONG exposures of it. Some of the shots came out pretty cool, I thought.

Such a wonderful place!

Ohio, USA

2009-07-23T21:50:00.001-05:00

I found this wonderful house right by the client that I was visiting about 45 minutes north of Dayton in Sidney, Ohio. I don’t know what moved this person to construct a little tribute to America right there on their front lawn but, I’m glad that they did.

Independence Day

2009-07-05T11:43:00.006-05:00

We got invited to a private party at the Lightcatcher Winery for the 4th of July. Everyone brought a covered dish and Caris and Terry provided the venue, drinks and fireworks.

We met some really nice folks. The food that everyone brought was really good and Terry must have spent a fortune on fireworks.

We got to hear Terry's take on what Independence Day means to him. He told the story of the founding fathers and how they really had to have been crazy because they were not destitute outsiders in British society. All of the founding fathers were wealthy men who had done quite well under the crown but, still felt like they needed to create a free country of their own. They had a lot to lose.

Very well put, I thought.

Longhorns

2009-07-05T10:18:00.004-05:00

Nothing screams out "North Texas" to me as much as an image of a Longhorn Cattle.

These guys weren't photoshoped other than some color and contrast tweaking and a bit of cropping. For the benefit of those that haven't seen these type of cattle before, this is what they really look like in real life.

I found these guys in a holding pen about half a mile from my day job office.

The guy in the bottom photo wasn't too happy about me being there and let me know it. He took a few steps to charge at me. He got my attention. I got the photo and quickly stepped away from the barbed-wire fence between us.

I was unsuccessful getting a model release in this case. I hope that they don't google me and have good copyright lawyers.

Kids Sports Photography Tips

2009-07-01T14:51:00.011-05:00

I’ve shot literally thousands of images at my kids sports events over the years and I think that I've got some tips that other parents and photographers might find useful.

Get Inside the Fence
Shooting through the typical chain-link fences at baseball games in almost all cases does nothing for your photography. Don't be shy but don't be dumb. If you are shooting a baseball game then stand inside the fence but far enough down the base line where the ball is unlikely to come your way. Use a long lens to get the action up close.

If you have to shoot through or around the fence then get the lens really close up so that the fence does not become part of the photograph. I find that I can get my 50mm fixed focal length lens to shoot through a chain-link fence to get pretty good shots of the batters. Examine the fence. If you look closely sometimes you can find one hole that it stretched out slightly. If you look where they attached the fence to the poles, sometimes the holes are stretched just enough to not be in your way. You might have to hold the camera upside down or at some other strange angle. The 50mm 1.8 lens has the added benefit of being really fast. So, this is great for night games.

Anticipate What's Going to Happen
For example, if there is just a runner on first base and someone is up to bat then you know that it is likely that they are going to try and steal second base. Watch the coaches to see what signals they are giving the batters. If this is your first time shooting this team then you can sometimes learn what the signals are by listening to the coaches instruct the kids before the game. You can also just ask one of the coaches and they’ll just tell you if you are shooting their team.

If there is a batter up and bases loaded then you can focus on home plate and get both the batter and the play at home plate. You could have focused on first base but, the real excitement is watching the player get to home plate.

Sometimes the excitement or interesting moment isn’t out on the playing field at all. It could be in the dugout, or maybe a coach teaching or practicing with a player outside the fence. The warm-ups can also be interesting because the fact of the matter is that not everyone gets to touch the ball during the game. But, if you can get a few shots of these players throwing the ball during practice then it makes the whole series of photos more interesting.

The Autofocus Lock Button is Your Friend
Modern cameras all have an autofocus feature. But, this takes a fraction of a second or possibly a whole second to lock on if all you are doing is pressing the shutter button when you want to capture the image. That's a very long time in a sports event. The better thing to do is to focus on something near where you anticipate your next shot. So, if you plan on getting the play at home plate then focus on home plate itself. Get the camera to beep at you that it has the focus and exposure correct then hold the AE button down. This way when you press the shutter button then it will more or less be instantaneous. If you have the camera set to take multiple exposures then it will just fire away like a machine gun. Some point and shoot cameras let you do this by just holding the shutter button half-way down then you just have to hold it there. I find myself rocking back and forth between my pointer finger on the shutter and my thumb on the AE lock button the whole game. You may want to avoid using the automatic exposure setting doing this because the bases are normally bright white whereas nothing else in the photo will be causing for some under exposure.

No Flash
You don't want to become part of the game yourself. If you are not invisible for the umpires then you run the risk of getting tossed outside the fence. More importantly, it could be dangerous for the kids if you temporarily blind them and then they end up getting hit by a ball or bat or a runner runs into them. You will probably be too far away for the flash to do much anyway.

Capture the Celebrations
I’ve seen other parent photographers make what I consider to be a mistake by getting so caught up in the celebration of a win or a home run that they forget to press the shutter button. It’s completely understandable but, if you are trying to capture images of the event then you have to use some discipline. So, snap a few shots then join in the fun yourself. It just takes a fraction of a second to snap the photo. So, you won’t miss much then you’ll have images to remind you of that moment forever.

Document
Take a picture of the score board once in a while so that people can put the images in context of what is happening. Or don’t. I’ve shot games and walked away with a whole series of really flattering shots of the kids making great plays and hitting the ball, etc… Truth be told, they might have lost that game miserably. The casual observer would have no way of knowing just by looking at a series of pictures. It’s up to the photographer. If you do take photos of the scoreboard now and again and you don’t find them useful later then you can always trash them or choose not to show them on your photo sharing web site or however you choose to show them. But, if you don’t take the photo then the moment is lost.

Focus on the crowd once in a while as well
The parents, siblings and visitors are as much a part of the event as the kids playing are. Including a few shots of the other people can be interesting and also anchors a sense of time and place of the game.

Use a Tripod or Monopod
There is enough camera shaking going on already around because you’ll be doing a lot of quick moving around. You’ll need all the help you can get. VR lenses are also very useful especially as the sun goes down and the shutter speeds get longer. You tend to get softer focus images and completely blurry images. If you try to hand hold the camera then that worsens the problem. You’ll also likely be using longer lenses which are usually a lot heavier. Your arm is going to get tired which means that you won’t be as steady as you could be and you will not have your lens ready to go which means that you are probably going to miss more shots.
Shoot in JPEG. Most DSLR cameras and a couple of point and shoot cameras have a setting to choose which computer file format that you want to record the images. I almost always shoot in raw image format for other types of photography other than sports. In the case of Nikon this is the NEF format. The raw image files save all of the information about the photograph as opposed to JPEG which is the raw information compressed down into a smaller file size. Having the extra information captured in the raw format is better for post production purposes especially if you need to do some color correction but, because the files are so much larger, it takes the cameral an extra fraction of a second to record the data to the media, either a CF or SD card in most cases. This extra time might be the difference between being able to shoot a burst of three or seven shots. If someone is sliding into home plate then you might miss the part where the runner actually touches the plate or when the catcher’s glove comes down with the ball, etc… I find that the time delay isn’t worth it. You can also fit a lot more JPEG files on a card than you can raw files.

Get it Right in the Camera
It is easy now days to rely on post-processing software to correct mediocre images and make them acceptable. But, this takes time. If you can do things like use the color correction options in the camera to avoid having to do that in post production then you can save yourself a lot of time. Sometimes using the shady day setting even on a bright sunny day will punch up the color saturation and make the images bolder.

Discard Images Aggressively in Post-production
It is not unusual for me to shoot over 300 exposures during an hour long game. One of the toughest post processing events is to be brutal about getting rid of the trash. If it is out of focus then it is pretty much trash. If the players faces are all turned away then it's also probably not important, etc...

Use a Photo Sharing Site
If you’ve ever tried to email images then you’ve no doubt run into all kinds of headaches because of spam filters, misspelled email addresses, email systems that won’t accept large files sizes or filters attachments out altogether, etc… I use snapfish.com just because I’ve been using them for a long time and you can also order prints right from their site. There a lots of others. Flickr.com and google’s picasa web albums are among the more popular. You can set up the images to be viewed by invitation only if you want. If you have photographed children especially then using the privacy function on the web sites is probably a good idea.

Front Door, Back Door St. Louis

2009-06-19T23:22:00.012-05:00

St. Louis stands proud on the banks of the Mississippi River. It has a very rich history. Mark Twain wrote a memorable story about the Adventures of Huck Finn on the riverboats. I don't know if any of it actually took place in St.Louis but it is easy to imagine that it could have. It seems like a friendly place. It has a home town feel. Strangers make eye contact and say hello when they see you. There are colorful flower boxes on some of the buildings. There are green parks that people congregate to. The Gateway Arch makes the boldest statement about the city's proud role as the gateway to the American west.

I also walked down the alleys behind the hotel that I stayed at and between some of the other downtown buildings and parking garages.

There was one doorway in an alley that caught my attention. The doorway was deep and there were bars even with the line of the building thereby creating a tiny jail cell looking room. Even more curious, there was a thick chain and padlock hanging ominously from the brick wall. You could almost imagine a prisoner locked to the wall in there.

I'm sure that the reason for the little cell and chain were to allow the inside door to swing open and the chain was probably to hold it open and allow air in the building without allowing vagrants to wander in from the alley. It just seemed odd that it appeared like someone went out of their way to create an ominous looking image to make a statement. Mess with them and you might find out the hard way what the little room on the alley with the chain on the wall is really for.

What's with the chains?

The Two Californias

2009-06-18T23:13:00.008-05:00

I recently visited southern California. I was working in Ventura and staying in Oxnard. Ventura has a nice beach and marina area. The marina is kind of touristy. There are several shops and restaurants and of course some very expensive boats visible behind locked gates. The tables in the restaurants look out either inland to the marina or out to the Pacific. The beach and marina area were obviously the result of careful town planning combined with beaucoup real estate development dollars to create this comfortable place for visitors to enjoy and leave some of their dollars behind.

Less than a mile inland the scene was very different. There were fruit fields being farmed by migrant farm workers. They were busy doing their thing; people hunched over in the fields picking crops and men moving various farm equipment around. I doubt that they noticed the beautiful hills with a marine cloud layer wrapping one mountain range like a cotton-candy turban.

One day on my lunch break I drove down to the beach. I stopped along the way at a farm stand and bought some strawberries and pistachio nuts. I was just there alone with my camera and my iPod, so I had some time to dwell on the situation and snap some photos. The strawberries must have been ripened on the vine. They were really, really good.

I wonder how many of those farm workers drive down to the beach on their lunch breaks? I didn’t see any.

I didn’t really pity the farm workers and I don’t think that they pitied themselves either. They all seemed to work very earnestly from what I saw. My guess is that they were probably just grateful for the work. I’m not sure that I’ll ever be able to eat some California fruit or walk down the produce isle in the supermarket without feeling a bit grateful myself for what I do have.

My Kind of Town, New York City

2009-06-17T23:09:00.006-05:00

You know that you’re a New Yorker when you don’t really care about the tourist stuff. I grew up in the New York City area and certainly spent a lot of time in the city. I spent my senior year in college literally next to the Brooklyn Bridge at Pace University on Park Row across from City Hall. We used to sometimes hang out at a bar called Jeremy’s which was almost under the bridge between the school and the East River. But, it never occurred to me to walk out onto the bridge to check it out or just to admire the scene of Manhattan from it.

I haven’t lived in the Northeast for over 14 years but, I had to travel there recently for a job in Brooklyn. I decided to treat part of my stay in Brooklyn like a tourist. I did check out the sights of the city and I did walk out across the Brooklyn Bridge a few times. There were some locals running and biking but, for the most part the crowd consisted of tourists from all over the world.

That area of Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan are probably some of the most photographed scenes in the world. It is easy to see why. In addition of NYC having a high concentration of the best photographers in the world, there are just a lot of stunning scenes everywhere you look. The landscapes of the skyline and architecture especially of lower Manhattan set in New York Harbor are really impressive. The bridge itself is both a piece of art and a piece of American History all at the same time. There are all kinds of people and all kinds of things happening all in a very concentrated area. I think that I took much of NYC for granted when I lived there. I suppose that I had to step away in order to see what was in front of me the whole time.

Cow Pies, A Bird’s Eye View

2009-06-14T00:31:00.010-05:00

There is a photo book out called “America, A View from Above” by Jim Wark and Peter Skinner which I’ve admired. It has page after page of incredible images of mostly iconic landmarks and landscape scenes from all over the United States. The concept appealed to me because it involves two things that I am passionate about; aviation and photography. I thought that it might be interesting to take a look at photographing the Texas landscape from above and see what I can find. But, instead of just documenting familiar landmarks with stunning technical photography, I’m looking for art wherever I can find it.

I find that flying alone with my camera is the only way to seek out art from 3,000 feet above ground level. I can just go sight seeing and if I see something interesting then I can just go over and investigate and maneuver for the best shooting angle without having to explain to anyone. Having another pilot on-board might be handy if I was doing any heavy duty work then I could concentrate on the images and they could concentrate on flying the plane. But, I’m not. I think that if I had someone else with me that I might self edit what I shot because I know that where I might see an interesting composition of cows in a pasture, most people would just see another bunch of cows just like millions of others all over the country. As long as I can fly safely then I'm fine.

I flew last Sunday on a mission to explore the state for interesting images. My flight was from Hicks Airport in Fort Worth, Texas up north to Lake Ray Roberts, north east up to Lake Texoma. I landed at The Lake Texoma State Park Airport in Oklahoma to stretch and take a bio break. Then I took off again and just headed home.

It took 2 hours 45 minutes for the whole trip. On the way up I loitered around at about 85 knots most of the way. On the way back I had the Cessna 150 up near it’s max cruise speed which isn’t all that much faster at about 105 knots per hour.

I learned a few things on this expedition. First, I got lucky with the positioning of the sun. I left early and caught the early morning sun which cast a nice golden glow but, probably more importantly cast shadows revealing the depth of the objects on the ground in the photographs which otherwise would all look flat in the direct daylight.

The angle of the camera to the horizon or to the object being photographed is also important because if the camera is off axis to whatever you are photographing then the resulting image appears just off-balanced and awkward. If the image is framed along the same lines as the lines of a field, for example then it somehow just makes sense and feels right. The basic rules of composition were established by the master painters centuries ago and they still make sense today even with my cow pie field exposures.

Admittedly, most of the end results of this first real trip with a mission were less than spectacular. But, this was only a first attempt and I have a lot more ideas to investigate. The worst thing that happens is that I spend some time doing what I love to do anyway. It’s kind of like fishing. It really doesn’t matter if you catch anything but, it’s nice if you do. I’m sure that I’ll reel some in eventually.

The Posy

2009-06-12T22:48:00.005-05:00

I was recently reminded by a dear friend about a silly thing that we laughed about 21 years ago. She also explained to my daughter about a special group of friends that we were both part of who shared a special time. Those kinds of memories and friendships are timeless. They become the fabric of who we are and the memories only become more precious with time.

I was taking a photography class at that time and shot a lot of black and white film with my old Konica TC. For this class I had borrowed my aunt’s Nikon F2 with a Nikkor 50mm F1.2 lens.

I took this b&w of the gang standing under the wing of an airplane at the Westchester County Air Show circa 1988. There was nothing posed about it. We were all seeking shelter from the rain. I jumped out in the rain and snapped this exposure. I gave everyone a copy of the print which I developed and enlarged in the college darkroom. Each one was truly a “one of a kind” because I was still experimenting with darkroom techniques like dodging and burning, different exposure times, gels, etc… Each one was an experiment.

My favorite “walk around” lens now is still a Nikkor 50mm f1.4 on my Nikon D70 or D90. Only this one is autofocus with all of the through the lens wizardry that Nikon has developed over the years and the metal parts are now mostly plastic. So, it weighs a good bit less than the old metal tank. To be fair, a 50mm lens on a modern crop sensor makes it act more like a telephoto lens, say a 70mm equivalent.

My daughter has her own “posy.” A couple of years ago one of the posy friends was moving away and the rest of the group had grown very close together and wanted to give her something to remember them by. They decided to have a group portrait done.

The friend was moving to Ohio, so I chose a background that would inspire thoughts of Texas and something that they would as a group immediately identify. The fountain at the Town Square in Southlake, Texas was perfect. The fountain and Town Hall in the background are both beautiful but the architecture of the building to me was very Texan. More importantly, the Town Square was also the latest teen hangout. It’s where all of the teenage kids come to go to the movies, do some shopping and generally hang out with their friends and be teenagers.

Since this photo was taken, another of the girls has moved to Virginia. I’m fairly confident that this photo will someday be a treasure to her like the old photo of my friends is to me. She also takes quite a few shots on her own that Dad's not privy to seeing. I hope that she keeps them safe.

Scenes from the Airport

2009-06-11T21:11:00.005-05:00

I don’t think that it is any great secret that my other obsession is aviation. The places where my two passions meet are at the airport and in airplanes.

When my wife wakes up Sundays at 6:00 am to an empty bed then there is no question where I’ve disappeared to. I’ve probably taken the Cessna 150 out of the hangar for an early morning flight.

The first light in the morning and the last light of the day are good for both flying and for photography. In photography these points in time are called the “golden hours” because that is when the sun shines with a nice even golden glow. In aviation the mornings especially are the best to fly because the winds and the temperatures are the lowest. The sun hasn’t yet had a chance to warm up the earth and cause all of the thermal activity that causes wind and makes airfoil surfaces to be less effective.

Sometimes I can get back to the house before anyone else is even awake. That leaves the rest of the day for family time and honey-do’s.

Lightcatcher Winery

2009-06-11T20:21:00.006-05:00

My wife and I recently got invited to a wine tasting at the Lightcatcher Winery in Azle, Texas by Felicia, a friend of Tracey’s. We went on a Sunday afternoon. We had a really good time. We made some new friends, listened to some live jazz music, ate some really good pizza and sipped some wine.

They have an indoor and outdoor patio area with tables and wait service. They also have Adirondack chairs set up down on the grass below. So, you can stretch out and enjoy the music and wine under the shade of the pin oak trees.

I flipped through their photo album. It looks like this would be an ideal setting for a wedding or reception and a lot of people have already done so.

If you’re looking for a great way to spend an afternoon then I suggest checking it out.

Basset Hound Puppy

2009-05-25T17:38:00.005-05:00

The thing that we love about our pets is that you can talk to them and they don't understand a thing that you say and they really don't care. They just want to be loved and fed and played with occasionally.

That's great unless you are trying to photograph them which usually means that you need a certain amount of cooperation from your photo subject. Ah well, therein lies the challenge and the fun of shooting animals. You have to come down to their terms and just roll with whatever happens.

Reilly was a new addition to our neighbor’s household a couple of years ago. They decided to come by and visit. So, I turned the impromptu visit into a puppy photo shoot.

I gave Reilly's owner, Andrea a CD with the pictures. She said that she realy loved it. She has them on her computer at work as the screensaver and that it has been a great conversation piece at the office and just makes her happy to see baby pictures of her now grown basset hound now and again.

Pet photos would be really good as part of a photo show on an electronic picture frame. Especially if you have limited wall space that you would rather reserve for finer art and more precious family photos. You might not want to stare at Fido all of the time but, he or she would certainly be a welcome image on a screen for a few seconds or minutes once in a while.

The electronic picture frames ("digital photo frames" in the industry parlance) are especially great for anyone stuck in a fixed location for a certain amount of time like at a desk or in a hospital bed. Now they even have really small digital photo frames that can fit on a key ring with your car keys. So, you can take them with you. Some of them are very inexpensive. Amazon.com even sells one for less than $10.

Renee's Family Portraits

2009-05-18T21:26:00.006-05:00

Renee and I became friends when we both had daughters on the same softball team. Always “the guy with the camera,” I would shoot the softball games and just post the photos online for the other parents to enjoy. I also took a lot of pictures of the girls off the field, the parents and the sibling kids who also came to the games. I just did it for the love of the art and to record my own kid’s childhood. I had never really put myself out there as “available for hire.” I found the offer to shoot her family portraits was very flattering.

There were some obstacles to getting this shoot done. The biggest was the weather. Even though the photographs might look warm it was actually a fairly cold evening. We tried a few concepts that night and between sessions we would go back to the cars and warm up again.

Dallas the St. Bernard looks like a docile fully grown dog because he’s so big but, at the time he was actually still very young. So, imagine a 90 lb. puppy that you are trying to keep contained so that you can shoot his photograph. Dallas is a great dog. In the unlikely event that Chrissy ever decides to give him up then he’s welcome in my home.

We shot these photos on a high grassy hill near Trophy Club, Texas. I tried to arrange a morning shoot as the sun was coming up but, that wasn’t going to work so well with the kids. Evidently they’re not morning people. It wouldn’t do anyone any good to have phot subjects with not yet awake faces. So, we went for the evening shoot. I planned it to have them there just before sunset then we would shoot as the sun was going down on the horizon.

I think that the end results were quite nice. The warm looking golden glow of the setting sun transcended the actual frozen bones of the portrait models.

Renee told me that she and the family really enjoyed the photos that they were really happy with the results and that the temporary discomfort and effort was all well worth it. What a gratifying feeling for me the photographer. I’m really pleased to be opening a new door, so to speak with this passion of mine and to have the opportunity to take it to a new level. I have to pinch myself that people are paying me to do it