Striving to take a better photo than I did last week.
May 21, 2013 Leave a Comment
Wandering through the Ruby M. Mize Azalea Garden in Nacogdoches, you come across a tree lined path that leads to a wooden bridge over a waterway. The path returns back to the college campus, away from the quiet solitude of the gardens. These gardens are a great place to stroll and think, especially early in the morning when few are around.
May 3, 2013 Leave a Comment
It was a breezy day in February and a morning shoot had been scrubbed. I had my calendar mixed up and the event I planned to shoot was another week away. So my friend and I drove west of downtown Houston and walked around Allen Parkway.
I had driven down this stretch many times over the years, but never parked and explored on foot. We found the pedestrian bridge where many people have taken this view of the skyline. If fact, there is a small hole in the fencing, just large enough to fit a lens through. Just a short walk to the left is a skateboard park and Buffalo Bayou. Houston was founded on the bank of the bayou, not too far from this spot.
May 2, 2013 Leave a Comment
Many colleges or universities have a namesake and a statue of that person somewhere on their campus. Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas is no exception.
On the day my family was there, we must have saw dozens of people getting their photos taken in front of the large statue. Of course, my girls thought it too silly or touristy to do the same. So, I present Mr. Austin, sans kids.
April 26, 2013 Leave a Comment
When you have kids, you think they are going to stay small forever. You blink and all of a sudden they’re grown and you realize you only have a little time left before they leave the nest. Our family has been visiting a few colleges to help our girls decide where they might decide to go after high school. Each school has been great for different reasons, but like most choices, you have to narrow them down to one or two.
Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas is not the biggest in the state, nor the smallest. But it does have a charm all it’s own. The surrounding trees, beautiful azaleas and small town feel add to its attraction. This is the Baker Pattillo Student Center with ballrooms, food courts, movie theater and more. Will either of my kids go there? Decisions, decisions.
April 24, 2013 Leave a Comment
For some reason, I’ve never been attracted specifically to nature photography. Sure, things like flowers and trees are part of landscapes, but it takes a deliberate thought process to isolate and capture the smaller items. On a visit to Stephen F. Austin State Uninversity in Nacogdoches, Texas, we ended our stay with a walk through the Ruby M. Mize Azalea Garden. It was a pretty spring Sunday morning and we had the place to ourselves. Many of the azaleas were still in bloom, but there were some unexpected surprises.
This flower is from the Chinese Snowball tree. The large flower heads start out lime-green before they change to white and they get 6 to 8 inches across. This tree was about twenty feet tall and full of these beautiful snowballs.
March 27, 2013 Leave a Comment
A night at Constellation Field watching a baseball game is a fun night for everyone. Like any good baseball stadium, there is great food and beverages, and plenty of fans rooting for the hometeam. Being a minor league staduim, everything is a bit more relaxed, especially down in the outfield. The prices are cheaper, but if it rained during the day, you better bring your own chair or a tarp to sit on, or else your pants might get wet.
March 23, 2013 Leave a Comment
Everyone once in a while I run across a bridge that has character. For instance, the Le Pont de Normandie and the Fred Hartman Bridge are two good examples of really unique bridges. The Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge in Dallas, Texas is another one to add to the list.
If time allowed, I’d like to travel around these bridges and shoot some nice profiles and various angles. But I always seem to be on a schedule and not able to take the time to look around when I find them. So I take the angle of the driver, since this is how most of us would view them too.
March 22, 2013 Leave a Comment
Though I’m not any kind of collector, western art might be one of those items to consider if both money and space were abundant. Maybe it’s the realism of the subjects that I like so much, or it is artwork you don’t find oversees. Whatever the case, it has an attraction all its own.
This statue of a cowboy and pony preparing to lasso something (a steer I’m guessing) was found in front of the Bass Pro Outdoor World in Pearland, TX.
March 19, 2013 Leave a Comment
Zoos have been the traditional places to see animals not indigenous to your area. But more and more, new types of attractions are appearing where you can see animals in a more natural state. Dallas, Texas has the World Aquarium right in the heart of downtown. With the tropical rain forest and aquariums, you get experience the animals in a unique complex that feels more natural than a typical zoo. Birds flying about, sloths sleeping in trees and monkeys swinging about add to the three ring circus.
These flamingos were just a small sampling of the larger group that were close by at the base of the rain forest. I’m wondering if their little friends watching are hoping for some dinner crumbs or if they’re enjoying the beauty of these fine birds also.
March 11, 2013 Leave a Comment
If you ever get a chance to see any of the exhibits from King Tut, it is worth your time and trouble. My family and I had that opportunity a few years ago on a trip to Dallas. Outside of the museum was a rather large statue of Anubis, the jackal-headed god associated with mummification and theafterlife in ancient Egyptian religion. This guy was rather large standing two or three stories tall. His size and presence set the tone for the entire exhibit. It was an unusual site to see among the buildings of downtown Dallas.
