Lighting up the dark

A while back we drove out to Enchanted Rock State Park to go camping and just get a way for a moment. It's a relatively short drive out to the park from Austin. Everything about our quick little trip was absolutely relaxing, including the drive. I remember listening to Daniel Makins while we drove. It was just right.

Enchanted Rock is the same park where I tried my first star trails photograph. It's just outside Fredericksberg, Texas, and it's stunning. So once the sun went down, naturally I pulled out the camera to see what tricks I could pull off. I put the shutter on about a minute and half and let it run while Andrea painted the nearby trees with the flashlight. I think she might have actually turned it on by accident at first, hence the very bright spot in the foreground.

It's amazing how a camera can transform a place. To us, it was extremely dark with a bit of moonlight. To the camera it was blue skies and green trees.

Rome in a rush

Back in 2005 while on study abroad I went to visit my pals in Italy. Most of my class chose to go to the study abroad center in Castiglion Fiorentino, Italy, which is situated between Florence and Rome. A couple of us from Barcelona flew into Rome. Our Italy buddies met us there. Unfortunately we had about 4 hours to visit Rome before we had to catch the last train back to Castiglion Fiorentino. So, Andrew mapped out a plan for us to see the best of Rome in our measley 4 hours. We were practically running through Rome. We hit the Forum then went to make a lap around the outside of the Colosseum then headed over to the Pantheon.

Andrew had been keeping a close eye on his watch the whole time, scooting us along whenever we were falling behind. So, we get to the Pantheon and Andrew says you have two minutes here if you want to make it to the Vatican. I basically look up, find the one portion of the Pantheon dome that isn't covered in scaffolding and snap this photo.

Literally two minutes later, Andrew and I take off running for St. Peter's Square (the others decided to hang back for coffee.) This was about two weeks after the Pope died, so it was a bit crowded. We made it there and went into the middle of the square. I shot a 360 video and then we started running for the subway. We had to catch the subway at that moment to get to the train station in time for our train. Rome only has two subway lines, so naturally they are always full. So we are running for the doors of one of the cabs, which were about to close. There was no room in the cab, and here I am leading our sprint. I just put my head down, and as we got closer suddenly the people moved out of the way and we managed to all file in. Just then the doors closed right behind Ara's shoulders.

It was probably the most adventurous day of my study abroad experience, and I loved every minute of it (all 240 of them).

The mash tuns

One Saturday in Seattle we decided to go thift shopping in Fremont. We found our way to this huge store. As we wandered around we realized there was a downstairs basement. Once we got down there we found this couch and wood wall. I instantly saw a "album cover" photo op. So I set my camera up on timer and we took a quick pic. The lighting was a litte too low, but we managed.

So, this is our band. The mash tuns. Why the mash tuns? Well, we went to brewery just before this shopping extravaganza. At the brewery they had these large tanks that said mash tun on them. A mash tun is where the actual brewing takes place. But, more importantly it's a great band name, right? If I had to guess I'd say I look like the lead singer (which would never ever happen). Andrea on the left looks like she'd be the drummer. Kate with her feet up would be the peppy bass player. And Laura, next to me, would handle the guitar business.

Unfortunately, our bass player is getting married in February, so it seems our tour will have to be cancelled. It was fun while it lasted.

Low fares, no hidden fees

Outside my window is this Southwest billboard. Last night I thought I'd play around with it in my lens. This shutter length was 1.5 seconds and I just zoomed out from the billboard in that time. Usually the Southwest billboard phrases are pretty witty. Unfortunately this one is not, but they will probably change it soon enough. Ironically though it's about travel, and just yesterday I was telling a friend I was running out of photographic inspiration here in Dallas and needed to travel. She had just been to Niagara and said it was beautiful and cycler friendly.

I wonder what the low fare, no hidden fee is to Niagara?

Marfa minimalism

Marfa, Texas is the most twilighty place I have ever visited. In way west Texas, it is near Big Bend. It's hippie to say the least. Marfans have a strong appreciation for culture and art. The whole town (that is about 2 blocks long) revolves around this appreciation. Galleries and museums are abound. Now how did this happen in a town the size of a dime in the middle of tumbleweed Texas? Donald Judd, a minimalist artist from New York City, decided to take his ideas to Marfa back in the early 1970's. Once he decided to stay he bought two airplane hangars which he intended to use for his installations.

That's what you're looking at, his two hangars, at what is now called the Chinati Foundation. Inside and outside of these hangars are installations. They are all very very minimal, which is often difficult for me to appreciate. Inside were steel boxes that were created by perfectly connected flush planes of steel. And outside were rectangular concrete forms also very well crafted and connected. When we went I didn't get it and was unimpressed. But, now, now that I've crafted my own art (the veneered tao panel) I understand how difficult it is to get perfectly flush connections. So sometimes I guess minimalism is about more than what you see, it's about how what you see came to be.

Keep on keepin' on, Marfa.

Mr. Squirrel

I love this photo. It's certainly not the best photograph I have ever taken, but the squirrel is so cute. I took this one of the Texas A&M campus while I was walking from Langford to the MSC. As I winding imbetween buildings, Mr. Squirrel popped out with his acorn.

Luckily I had my camera ready to go. He scattered away and then after a bit he slowly sneaked back out. Right as he sneaked back out, thinking I had gone, I got him in my viewfinder and put him in focus. He stood dead still. Little did he know, all I wanted was a good portrait not to steal him away. You can see how scared he is in the photograph, frozen with his precious acorn. Once I took this photo I left him alone and let him go about his day.

Thanks for the photo, Mr. Squirrel.

Blue brick building

This is from the building I was telling you about Monday. The one I went out looking for on Sunday afternoon. It's a beautiful blue brick building. On the back side of the building, which is rarely seen from the street, there is this row of planted cactus in front of an orange plaster wall. It's a nice combination of material and color. I had no clue that this existed until I drove around the building. A nice surprise. I have more photos of the blue building itself, but I really enjoyed the composition of this one. It looks a bit New Mexico to me.

The days of swing set

What kid doesn't love the swing set? This is Karleigh, my cousin Tiffany's kiddo. When we were in Mississippi for Christmas, Miss Karleigh took me on a tour of her playground. Not your average playground either. Karleigh is lucky to spend a lot of time on her grandparents' (my aunt and uncle's) land. And as far as I can tell, she owns the place. We went and saw the horses, the chickens, the stable, and last but not least the swing set.

The whole time Karleigh was showing me around I was trying to get some photos of her for Tiffany and Aunt Leila. At first, she was a little stiff around the camera, but eventually she really got into it and acted very candidly. So I asked her to get on the swing set and swing for me so I could get a photo of her. Well, she hopped to it in no time. And naturally she tried to swing as high as possible. It took me back to my grasshopper days when I'd try to do the same thing. I was having a blast and so was she. I ended up getting this shot, which I love.

Thanks for the tour, Karleigh.

Uptown Trolley

Yesterday was an amazing day to go out and shoot, so that's exactly what I did. The light was great and the temperature made it feel like a fall day, finally! So I went over to this building in uptown that I'd been wanting to shoot. While I was snapping away I heard the McKinney Avenue Trolley starting to roll up. Right as it came by where I was, I swung around and snapped a quick pic. I didn't expect it to turn out well seeing as I was hardly prepared for the shot, but it's actually kind of fun.

The trolley in Uptown is very cool. Unfortunately it doesn't come too close to my apartment, but every now and then I'll grab it from work to go to lunch. Who says you have to go to San Francisco to get your trolley fun? Just come to McKinney Avenue in Dallas.

Cars as canvas

How about the color in this photo? This is probably the most fun VW Beattle I've ever seen. I came across this guy at the Seattle Art Car Festival down in the Fremont district. There were rows and rows of cars that had been painted in the most ridiculous ways. Some had figurines or other random items tacked to and hanging off of them. It was very fun to look at all of them. Some were funny. Some were strange. Most were very very cool. Obviously Mr. Beattle and his wheel were my favorite.

The buildings of Barcelona

This one goes way back. Way back to 2005. I took this photo with my little tot-around Canon while on Study Abroad in Barcelona. A group of us went down to the new Forum Building one Sunday afternoon. A very cool building. The building itself was essentially hovering over the ground anywhere from 5 feet to 12 feet in different places. So you can imagine from that basic description this building was a tad on the expensive side. Well, the Barcelona government thought so too, and went into a legal battle with architects Herzog and de Meuron.

I took this photo from under one corner of the building. I enjoy how the color of the sky is reflected in the windows on each side of the building. Not bad for a snap-shot. Sure wish I'd had my Nikon during those four month abroad. Guess I'll have to go back sometime.

Geometric evolution

I started reading the Frank Lloyd Wright Lectures, a book written by Wright himself about his take on modern architecture. I found this book at Borders a couple weeks back and I'll be honest, I judged it by its cover. The cover was absolutely beautiful. It was covered in a colorful geometric drawing. The book is pretty good, but the cover has been most inspirational to me.

So I decided I would start to do similar drawings. Just draw and watch the geometry evolve. Its terribly relaxing, especially with a glass of wine. I just do a little bit each night, because like I said its an evolution, and a playful one at that. I hope to create a series of these.

Runner's sole

Meet my running shoes, the Adidas Boston Classic. They are incredible shoes. In fact, I've worn this model of shoes for the past four or five years now at least. They stopped selling them in stores about three years ago and since then I've had to hunt them down on the internet.

The other day I had quite the scare. My usual online running shoe store didn't have my size in stock. Actually they only had sizes 6.5 and 11. I freaked out. I jumped to the conclusion that Adidas no longer made the shoe and this was the last of them. But, after I calmed down and googled a bit more I found a shop in Indiana that had my size in stock. I called them up to get the status on how many they had left. The lady kindly told me not to worry they had plenty and yes, Adidas did still make the shoe. Oh thank God!

A runner's shoe is very important. We don't have much garb, so what we do have has got to work well. And for me, that's the Adidas Boston Classic.

Grand Old Country

Well the conventions are all over now, and the election season is full throttle ahead. I watched both the Democratic and Republican conventions over the last two weeks. It was like the political olympics. People on both sides were passionately rooting for their team. But, last night John McCain very clearly put his party second, second to something greater, his country. His campaign motto has been "Country First" which was explained very well last night. I was proud of him and proud of our country while listening to his speech. And, just as he probably hoped, I never once thought how proud I was of the Republican party, because that's not what it's about. The quote below was the one that made me tear up, and I hope everyone remembers it when they cast their vote in November:

"We are fellow Americans. And that association means more to me than any other." -Senator John McCain, September 4th, 2008

The campaign buttons in the photo were a gift from the Museum Curator at the George Bush Library in College Station. To me they represent an important legacy, but they also represent the Grand Old Party of the past. I look forward to the neo-Republican that is John McCain.

Paperweight philosophy

Mom gave me this paperweight a long time ago, and it has always sat at my desk (wherever that has been.) It's very unique. In some ways it reminds me of a painter's palette with its little thumb hole. It has a brushed metal finish which catches the light nicely. And etched in the metal is a "quote" from Socrates, and by quote I mean idea. Socrates was a classical Greek philosopher who is credited with laying the foundation for Western philosophy and his contributions to the fields of ethics and logic. Socrates believed we should ask questions to not only gain answers, but also to develop a fundamental understanding of an issue at hand. This idea influenced the development of the scientific method and the use of hypothesis, which in themselves have had a profound impact on modern wisdom.

Hence, the quote, "wisdom begins in wonder". Never stop wondering. Always seek answers, not for the answer itself, but for where it might lead you next. This is why I keep the paperweight close by, it is a simple and enjoyable reminder that learning is not meant to cease.

Rio road trip

This photo was taken down by the Rio Grande in Big Bend National Park. We went there back in January (Big Bend was also the source of the star trails photograph). While there we stayed at the Chisos Basin campgrounds, which is basically in the middle of the park. But, one night after a very, very long day of hiking we decided to road trip to the other side of the park. And when I say road trip I mean it. The park is huge, from the middle where we camped to the Rio Grande side is about 20 miles. So, why did we drive 20 miles after a long day of hiking? Well, we were searching for the famous hot springs.

We finally found the springs; they are basically a large natural tub just on the edge of the Rio Grande. So, we sat there for 45 minutes soaking in warm spring water as the frigid river water flowed by right next to us. Now, remember this was January and it gets very cold at night in Big Bend, so this was a real treat. But, the sun started to go down and we needed to head out. As we were leaving we looked back towards the springs and this was our view (the river is to the right of the photo). The sun going down made for amazing colors in the landscape, particularly on the mountains behind. I quickly got my camera out of the car, and I remembering standing on a boulder on my tips toes trying to get the composition right before all the colors faded away with the sun. I think that little building was an old spa house, it's abandoned now though.

Needless to say, it was an extremely relaxing evening, with beautiful scenary for entertainment. Thank God for our National Parks.