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Clouds and Cellos

Last night we went to the concert at Flag Pole Hill.  It was the Dallas Symphony Orchestra playing some great American music.  Of everything they played, the best were the fight songs of the military branches.  I didn’t realize how much I would enjoy listening to the orchestra play, it’s very powerful.  At one point I laid back on the blanket and looked up to the sky while they played away.  It was a good moment.  I was relaxed and reverent – perfect for Memorial Day.  This photo isn’t from  last night, but the general feel was the same.  The sun was starting to go down and a handful of clouds were scattered across the sky.  Welcome summer time.

Red, White and Blue

Happy Memorial Day.  You know my favorite thing about Memorial Day?  The flags.  People fly their flags on Memorial Day.  It gives me goosebumps.  As a little kid, we would go out to the front yard with dad when he would put the flag up for Memorial Day or July 4th or any other good day for national pride and remembrance.  Good memory. I don’t have a flag, nor a place to fly one really.  But, when I do, I will.  Enjoy the day, and take time to remember those who gave it all.

Parc Guell

Came across this old pano a couple days ago when transferring files from my old computer to my new one. This is from the three crosses at Parc Guell in Barcelona. When I studied abroad there I remember I would often make the trek to the park just to soak up the view. One day, prior to my hike up to the three crosses, I happened upon a guitarist who was playing. I sat for a while and enjoyed, then bought his CD. When I need to feel peace, I find myself pulling up his album on my iPod.

This pano is manually spliced together, unlike the others I've shown you, which were merged automatically in photoshop. There's something nice about a manual splice.

It's in her name

This is Cameo. I take lots of photos of Cameo, I can't help myself. She's real good around my camera. And, I've posted a pic of Cameo to the blog before. She is sweet, sweet. She and I play some serious frisbee together occasionally. Then we follow frisbee time with a treat, which is exactly what she is staring at in this photo. Trust me, those endearing eyes are meant for the cookie, not me.

LOST no more

Meet the LOSTIES. Preston, Kemp (Michael), me, Lyndsay, Brian and Alli. Oh, and Oreo, the cat. This crew has pretty much watched every episode of the series together. And last night was the final episode. It was the end of an era. If you've never seen LOST then I can't explain it to you - it's just too out there to synopsize. The show had a smoke monster, a disappearing island, time travel, electromagnetic pockets, and so forth. Wierd stuff. But, the characters on the show were awesome. They were in constant struggle and always depending on each other. Which is proably what kept me tuning into it.

First Kings Five

Nine years ago this summer I started down the path to architecture. I thought quite a bit about it through my junior year. After researching various kinds of engineering, I began to be drawn to architecture. This made sense because I had a love for both science and art. Choosing a college within the university was a looming decision, which I had toiled with in my head for some time. And, it was going to take no less than divine intervention for my decision to be made. Well, that's exactly what happened.

I remember very vividly the moment I discovered architecture was to be my path. My youth group had gone on a trip to West Virginia to participate in the Appalachia Service Project (ASP), a mission of the United Methodist Church dedicated to helping rebuild homes in need of repair in the Appalachia region. The drive to West Virginia was long so we stopped in Knoxville on Saturday night at Fountain City United Methodist Church. We spent the evening there on cots, then woke up the next morning to attend the church service, before heading on our way. Since we stayed the night at the church we were naturally the first ones to the sanctuary the next morning. To pass the time before the service started, I pulled out the pew bible and started reading whatever I came to. As I was flipping, I remember thinking very clearly to myself how I'd like to read something about the building of a church - half-thinking it was a far-fetched wish that I might happen upon that in that moment.

With architecture on my mind so much around then, I had given ample thought to what type of architecture I would want to be a part of, should I head that direction. Sacred architecture was what stood out to me. Hence my wanting to read something in the bible about the building of a church. Just seconds after I thought that to myself, I flipped to 1 Kings chapter 5. My jaw literally dropped. That chapter is about the building of Solomon's temple. It goes on and on about the dimensions and materials and methods of building the temple. It speaks also to the massive labor it took to accomplish the construction. I was half in shock and half teary-eyed, because I knew I'd just been called. It was the most amazing feeling I have ever had. I wanted to tell someone, anyone. I looked side-to-side considering sharing the moment immediately with a pew mate. But at the same time I knew that only I was going to truly understand and appreciate how powerful an experience I had just had. So instead I began to carefully read the chapters about Solomon's temple, then I jotted on an offering envelope the chapter I had flipped to so I wouldn't forget that moment. I've kept that envelope since then. It's a beautiful reminder of that experience and the beginning of my journey in architecture.

And, the wing nut, well that was part of a devotional later in the week put on by the ASP staffers. The point of the wing nut devotional was that the two wings were symbols; one wing was to represent your experiences on ASP, and the other wing to represent your life at home away from ASP. And the circle between them was a symbol of bringing the two together. It was fun that night during the devotional, because I knew how I was supposed to bring my two wings together.

It's been a long road to becoming an architect - one that isn't over just yet either. Architecture is no cake walk, and I haven't always loved it. Despite the woes I feel every now and then on my road to getting licensed, it's a great profession that I thank God for bringing me into. I just hope I can make an impact within it one day, somehow.

That's my story. Thanks for hearing it.

Simply showing off

The reason for posting this photo is purely to show off the capability of my lens (and, I guess, to continue to promote the awesomeness of Shae's wrangler). A Jeep Wrangler is not a big car, and a normal camera would not be able to capture this much of the car in one shot. But, my new lens is not normal. This lens will be fantastic for shooting landscapes, so I'm anxious to go to a place worth shooting. Landscape opportunities aren't exactly knocking the door down here in Dallas. Road trip?

It's a Jeep thing

If you are in the market for a classic Jeep Wrangler, this one is for sale. This is Shae's Jeep that she is letting go of with some regret. It's a beauty. We went to White Rock with it on Saturday to take some photos for a craigslist listing. This was a fun shoot for me because I was using my new wide angle lens. The photo was taken at 10mm - or super wide - hence the "in your face" nature of the shot. The overcast light was perfect on Saturday afternoon for shooting a white Jeep. If the sun had been out, I would have struggled to get the exposure correct.

Happy Jeeping to whoever becomes the next lucky owner of this ride.

8 track heaven

Speaking of music boxes, how about these classics? I've never owned an 8 track, I'm from the records-forward generation. But, I've heard plenty of stories about these guys. Mainly how the deck would get caught in the player and the tape would string out and lay to rest a good album.

I took this photo several months back when we stumbled upon an exhibit at a small gallery in Deep Ellum. The exhibiting artist was actually presenting his installation when we walked in. Imagine a room lined wall to wall with 8 tracks just like this. This guy was fanatical about his 8 tracks. They were like his babies. I found some I liked and snapped this shot. He had some serious classics in his collection, including as you see in the photo, Bob Dylan. And, in case you're wondering, my favorite Bob Dylan song is "Boots of Spanish Leather". It's a beautiful song and the lyrics are sweet. That song has the sound I hoped his son Jakob Dylan (from one of my favorites, the Wallflowers) could accomplish when he went solo. Unfortunately for Jakob, Bob Dylan is a tough act to follow, even if you have his blood in you.

When in Marfa

Came across some old photos from Marfa last night. I don't believe I have shared too many from the trip to Marfa. The best way I can describe Marfa is it is a twilight zone, a blip in the state of Texas full of a bunch of old hippies and some strange art galleries. Oh, and a liquor store on the edge of town called El Cheapo. Just so you know, should you ever go to Marfa and need to buy cheap liquor, this is not actually a good place to do so. It's a fraud. Very expensive. When in Marfa you have to meet some locals, have them take you on a party bus to see the Marfa lights (pretend to see them, otherwise you're going to feel left out), watch the train fly through town at 70 miles an hour (because why slow down, it's just Marfa), and go to the Judd galleries, just to say that you did. Then get the hell out of there!

Land that I love

Last night I was digging for some stuff I'd been wondering about, and I came across this little music box. I'm not sure it's actually a music box since it doesn't have a box at all, but nonetheless. I can't remember where I got this little guy or when, but I sure did enjoy finding it. It plays "God Bless America". There is definitely something soothing about rotating the lever of a little music box. I think I played this guy at least five times this morning. It makes really good sound, which you wouldn't expect from such a cute, small thing (he's only about 1" x 1.5"). A fun find for sure.

Double feature at the drive in

Ever been to the drive in? I hadn't until Saturday night. A crew of folks went down to Ennis in celebration of Scott's birthday. It was quite the experience. The best way I can describe it is, it was like chilifest but much more chill. There's a big field, everyone slowly piles into the field arranging their cars (trucks) just so, then they set up however they want. In our case we had chairs. Some people, like the folks in this photo, had mattresses on the roof of their car, some had sofas in the bed of their truck. Little speaker boxes were all about the field, and before the movie started they played music over them - classic stuff, which reinforced the notion that you had gone back in time about 50 years.

The devil was beating his wife

Last night I was studying at the coffeeshop (surprise, surprise) and it was raining out. After awhile I noticed that the sun started peaking through quite a bit so I decided to enjoy it for a moment on the porch. Turns out it was still raining even though it was sunny - which made me smile. When I was little I learned that when it's raining oustide and the sun is still shining that the "devil is beating his wife". Odd, right? Well, it's a common phase. It's a crazy phrase, but it's common, or atleast it's common to people from Louisiana. Ask a cajun if they've ever heard that phrase and they will say, "yup." Ask a non-cajun, and chances are you will get a funny look. Then you'll try to explain the phrase to the non-cajun, and you'll realize as you are explaining it how very crazy the phrase actually is.

Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me at the coffeeshop so when I wanted to document the whole devil/wife situation I had to resort to my iphone camera and the best I could get was this little puddle shot. About the time I was taking this photo, I realized there were two very prominent rainbows in the sky. Naturally I tried to document that too. The iphone doesn't capture nearly as strong a shot as my Nikon, but hey, it's still a memory. As I was taking photos on the porch, the one other guy out there started taking photos too. It didn't take too long before several other folks joined us on the porch gazing at the phenomenon. People really love rainbows. The two rainbows stuck around for awhile, well after I decided to get back to studying. Lucky for me though, I had a window view of the rainbows from my chair. Once the sun finally went down and the rainbows bowed out I decided to log on to facebook to see how many rainbow photos had been posted - as I suspected, there were more than I could count on my fingers and toes. And, honestly, most of them were far superior to my little shot here. Anyways, the whole thing was fun and a very welcome study break.

Skylines

Turns out I have a pretty stellar view of downtown from the roof of my garage. This photo was taken from the opposite direction that you typically see on a postcard. I think Dallas' skyline is best viewed from the southwest, across the Trinity River.

Skylines are great. I remember driving back from College Station and always getting excited as I was approaching Dallas. Then eventually the skyline would appear and I would stare it down endearingly for a while, until it was time to start throwing bows in the traffic congestion. At my last apartment I was too close to the skyline for my taste. To me, they are more impressive from further away. Not every big city has a great skyline either. Dallas certainly has a good skyline. Chicago, Seattle, New York all have good skylines. I'm sure there are more, but that's all I can come up with at the moment. Just might have to travel to find some more.

Sprouting Grass Moon

Thanks to a tip from Scott I was able to take this photo of last night's full moon. I had no clue we were even near a full moon. So I clipped in my big kuhuna lens (the 70 - 300mm) and grabbed my tripod. This shot was taken at 300mm, or super-zoomed in. And, I'll be honest with you, I cropped it just a tad to get some of the black dead space out of the shot, but really not much at all.

After a little wikipedia-ing, I discovered that each full moon has a name, and there are right about 12 full moons a year, because they are 29.53 days apart. This months moon is named the "Egg Moon" in english. Other common names for this month's full moon are Sprouting Grass Moon, Fish Moon, Seed Moon, Waking Moon. Sprouting Grass Moon is by far the best name for this moon, if you ask me.

It seems each months names are associated with the season. April's names are all about renewal it seems. September's full moon name is Harvest Moon, and one of December's names is Frost Moon. July just might be my favorite of them all though, Thunder Moon.

Connected

First of all, I can't take credit for this beautiful photograph. This photo was taken by Adrian while on his trip to Niger a couple weeks ago. He showed it to me when he got back and I was consumed by it immediately. Occasionally a photo will burn its way into my memory. This one did. I love it. I'll have to tell the story secondhand since I was not there taking the photo. Adrian said these girls came up and asked to have their picture taken. After he took the shot he said they looked at it on the screen and then ran off giggling "like little girls do".

My favorite part of the photo is each of their unique expressions (click to see it larger). I'm sure each girl's expression is a small glimpse into her personality. And, there is a beautiful bond in this photo. If you look close you'll notice that each girl is holding onto one of her friend's next to her. They are literally all connected to each other. I hope they continue to hold tight to one another as they grow up, because they will need each other. True friends are a gift.

Turtle, turtle

Turtles are great. Seeing a turtle usually makes my day. I actually have a little stone turtle on my night stand. They can teach us a thing or two about pacing ourselves and taking life in stride. However, these guys you're looking at were actually really fast swimmers. I kept trying to compose a shot with both of them together, but they were all over the place. Finally I got this one, but barely, because as you can see, the little dude is about to swim offscreen. I found this to be a new lesson - one will thrive when in the right environment.

Algae-bra

Last night I was trying to study at the coffee shop and it was a lost cause. It was so loud and chaotic in there. It's not typically that bad, but last night it was apparently the place to be. Usually I would push through because the chances of me studying at home are slim to none. But, I did have to leave last night because I was unable to get through the mathematical junk I was trying to read. So, where is the best place to study mathy-stuff? I'm thinking that this Japanese Garden would be a perfect place. I like math, but math requires peace to process, and this garden was definitely peaceful.

One Mississippi

This sort of shot has been a goal of mine for some time. I have always loved the milkiness of water when a camera's shutter speed is slowed down. The water begins to sheet over rocks like a blanket. This one comes from the Japanese Gardens in Houston. The conditions were right, I had a makeshift tripod (the rails of a wooden bridge) and good light, but not too much. The shutter was open for 1 second on this shot. I hope to take more like it, and maybe for a little longer shutter time and with deep blue water.

Where no man has gone before (without a car)

This one is also a little older. I'm playing a little catch up these last couple posts on some photos that have good stories. If you can't tell, Preston is laying in the middle of Woodall Rogers Freeway in this shot. One weekend they shut the freeway down completely, so we casually wandered out to the middle of it by way of the Field Street exit. It was a little odd to be playing around in the middle of a dead six lane highway, and even more strange to lay down on it. At one point we thought we were going to get kicked out by a cop who drove up, but after some friendly conversation we were allowed to hang around a little longer.

Long live the Radio Flyer

It's been awhile since I took this photo. I was volunteer shooting at an event for a local hospital when I captured it. This photo really makes me smile. Maybe because it is the epitome of a Radio Flyer. What is it about a red wagon that gets kids so excited? I remember playing in Radio Flyers as a kid, and I'm sure most people have a memory or two that involves one. The classic red wagon has been around since 1917, the first steel one, named the Radio Flyer, was born in 1930. Apparently, thanks to wikipedia for all of this information, Antonio Pasin the inventor of the Radio Flyer named it based on his fascination with the invention of radio and flight. Pasin probably had no clue when he created the wagon what a phenomenon it would become. These days you see all kinds of Radio Flyer wagons, but they still make the classic metal one, and if you're in the market it's Model 18. It is, without a doubt, a staple of American history.

Adios Texas Stadium

We went out to the Texas Stadium implosion this morning at 7am. There were tons of people there, many more than I had expected would come. But, it was dubbed the Last Tail Gate Party, so plenty were there to honor the stadium the same way they had over the last 39 years. With the help of some nice guys/photography enthusiasts we met, were scoped out the best place to view and photograph the implosion. We had an outstanding place on the bridge over 183, but apparently we were in the "blast zone" so we were megaphoned away. We re-found a previous spot and set up just in time to watch it tumble down. Just before the implosion there was a short fireworks show, so they had some decent fanfare out there for the event. Here is a series of shots from the 60 seconds worth of implosion-action.

Coffee time

If you know me, then you know I love my coffee. And, I don't drink it just to avoid a morning headache. I actually love to brew it, smell it, and drink it. The whole experience is great. But, in keeping with my personal philosophy of sharing makes things better, it is most definitely enjoyed most when shared. Some of the best memories take place over a cup of coffee. There is something about coffee that makes a conversation more genuine and a moment more endearing. Here are just a few of my more memorable coffee experiences.

Over the holidays I love having a cup of joe with the family on the back porch. It's usually cold so we take blankets out there and curl up on the loungers. Eventually everyone goes in for a refill then comes out for just a little longer. Time has a way of stopping when you're drinking coffee, so you always have to get a refill.

One of my more memorable cups came in the mountains of Big Bend National Park. Just before the sun rose over the mountains in the basin, we got up and turned on the stove to heat our water. We realized very soon that we had brought everything we needed to make coffee except something to make it with. We didn't have filters or a press, just coffee, mugs and creamer. It didn't take us long to realize paper towels were very similar in nature to filters, and quickly our dissapointment turned to excitement. We swore it was the best cup we ever had, as it was made with fresh mountain water and pure ingenuity.

Another amazing cup was while kayaking on Lake LBJ. We made our travel mugs to go early in the morning then jumped in our kayaks and set sail. Every now and then putting the paddle down to glide for a while and take a sip.

I remember in Barcelona ordering a cafe con leche from the corner shop near the Sagrada Familia then sitting at an outside table and sketching away. It was my go-to weekend activity if I had a moment to spare.

I've had my fair share of favorite coffeeshops over the years too. In College Station it was a toss up between Sweet Eugene's and Coffee Station. In Seattle, I loved my short drip at 6am by Lighthouse Roasters. And, here in Dallas, I've come to love White Rock Coffee. Coffeeshops are great little joints. They have good music, people coming and going, and the sputter of the espresso machines, all which make a great soundtrack. I do my studying at White Rock Coffee, I suppose because the energy of the place makes the studying semi-bearable. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the Starbucks in the Crescent Hotel where I often walk at lunch just to get out of the office for a bit. These days, the gals working there start pouring my "tall drip with room" before I can say it. It's nice when someone knows your order. I think I started ordering my coffee as a "drip" about 8 years ago when I heard Dad order his that way.

In graduate school we all learned each others coffee orders pretty fast. We'd make a coffee run just before the coffeeshops would close. Sometimes we'd all go, sometimes we'd take turns going to get it for everyone. One night I walked up to the roof of Langford with Alejandro and we enoyed a few sips looking out over the College Station horizon.

Some recently memorable cups have been from the deck of the cabin in Ruidoso, with my brother in his new apartment, on the campus of Rice University after a tour of Houston, with a friend on a beautiful Saturday morning, and just the other evening while on the phone catching up.

All that being said, know that when I have coffee with you, I'm truly enjoying myself, and it's not really about the coffee.

The world is still not flat

Check out the curvature in the photo. That is part of what I love about panoramic photographs, if they capture enough of the horizon you can see the slight curving of the earth. This particular pano is from a look out coming down the mountain in Ruidoso. It looks like a beautiful spring time shot, and from the looks of it you'd wonder if we had enough snow to ski on. Trust me we did, but you'd have to look the opposite direction from this to see it.

The synonym of God

Since I brought up the subject of Ralph Waldo Emerson in my last post and with Easter being today, I figured it timely to share with you my absolute favorite quote from his first essays. This one is from the essay titled Love.

"Love is our highest word, and the synonym of God."

I could easily continue to share with you some of these fantastic lines, but I won't. However, I will suggest you read some of his work, as it is beautiful and timeless.

Become the tree

When I look at this photo I'm reminded of Ralph Waldo Emerson. I don't believe I can explain why either. Here's a great quote from one of Emerson's first essays, History:

"A painter told me that nobody could draw a tree without in some sort becoming a tree."

Peek-a-boo, as promised

Yesterday I was talking to mom about some of my trip photos, and discussing what photo might go up next on the blog. And, she called me out and said, "you said today you were going to post the peek-a-boo photo tomorrow." She's right, I did. So, as promised, here is that shot.

These guys were too fun. They would walk a few steps then look at you. Slowly making their way to the corn. Very cautious and patient little things. I can't say I'd be the same way if I was a deer. If there was corn all over the ground, it would take major amounts of discipline for me to not just go get it. None of this peek-a-boo, take it slow stuff.

Hey Bambi

Look at this little guy, he (or she probably) is so cute. These deer came out of the wood work when the corn got put out. I really wanted to pet one of them, but they wouldn't have it. They were very skidish if you would approach them, yet they would allow us to still be near them. I'll show you a photo tomorrow of one playing peek-a-boo.

Star trails, New Mexico style

If you haven't noticed yet, I love to take star trails photographs. To me, it's a great way to remember a place. And, if you are able to take a star trails photograph where you are, then chances are that place is worth remembering - one of those places that makes you breathe a little deeper.

That is absolutely the case for this photograph. This star trails shot was born in Ruidoso, New Mexico at the Hensley cabin. A crew of us went up there to ski and relax (which we did quite well, I might add). Our last night was fairly clear, so I set up my camera on a tree stump behind the cabin and let the shot run for 26 minutes, facing straight up to the sky. I joked with Shae that this was the most comfortable star trails shot I have ever taken. After opening the shutter I went back inside the cabin and enjoyed the fire and good company (Usually, for a shot like this, I'm huddled up next to the camera in the dark and cold air.)

The trees in the foreground are a nice treat, and it's almost as if that tree stump was meant to be the tripod to this shot. I'm guessing that is a cloud in the right side of the shot, which I didn't see before starting the shot, since it was so dark out. Or, it could have been several small, light clouds, or simply too much light pollution coming from the moon that was off to the right. The moon was approaching its first quarter and put out a fair amount of light pollution that was captured in the shot - which I was thankfully able to reduce in photoshop. This one turned out pretty good considering the moon and cloud influences. However, we've already determined another one worth trying - off the deck looking to the north.

It was an awesome trip and I have more than a handful of photos and stories to share.

In your face

It is almost inevitable that any "photographer" with a DSLR will take a photo of themselves shooting with it in the mirror. I have a two, and this is one of them. I turned this one into a black and white photo just for kicks. So this is what I look like when I'm taking your photo I guess. Intense, huh?

More new photos forthcoming next week. Get excited.

Let your air stream

About a year or so ago Kate and Brian got married in Marble Falls in the country amid a bunch of airstream trailors. I showed you an HDR photo I took of this very airstream trailor soon after their wedding. Well, I've been doing some digging in the photo vault lately, since I haven't been getting many new shots to share. And, I came across this one. I'm probably going to very soon have it framed and at my desk because I really enjoy the color and light in it.

Airstream trailors are beautiful in a rugid sort of way. Some of them travel, some don't, but they are all classic. I remember this one airstream I always meant to go get a photo of in Bryan. I would go for long rides out on highway 47 and right as you made the turn from 60 onto 47 there was an airstream in someone's yard. It was a nice one, too nice almost, like it could stand a few more miles on its rubber. I never got a photo of it, but I imagine if I go for a football game next season it might still be there. In my mind I'd like the photo to be taken as the sun is going down, almost set, when the light will make the metal real blue and crisp.

So there you go, one airstream photo, and dreams of another.

Uncropped stove top

It is highly unlikely that I will ever have a stove top like this again. These guys are slowly becoming a thing of the past. I guess I got bored one night in my old apartment and started taking photos of the burners with my macro lens. I actually like this photo quite a bit. It turned out to be pretty well-composed, and it is completely uncropped.

I'm not sure I've mentioned this before, but I do not like to crop photos. To me, being able to capture a shot in the frame is part of being a strong photographer. Not everyone will agree with me - some might say that we shouldn't let the frame dictate a shot or something to that effect, especially since we have the ability to easily manipulate photographs these days. But, that's part of the challenge in my opinion, creating a nice composition with what you are given. That's not saying I haven't cropped my fair share of photos, I just prefer not to.

Who knew a burner could inspire such photographic philosophy and opinion?