Here Comes Matilda

I’m kind of a fan of old street cars.  I don’t know why since I grew up in the 80s long, long after the streetcars in America all but died.  Maybe it has something to do with fond memories of the little trolley from Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood.  I don’t know, but I like them.

Flower Friday

There are two kinds of photography that interest me… wide open landscape and cityscape pictures taken with a wide-angle lens that seems to capture everything for miles and miles, and then macro photography which makes the tiniest objects look big.  It’s a particularly nice way to photograph flowers so as to show off all of the amazing detail that the naked eye really doesn’t appreciate.

Swan Boats Are Stupid

I spent about half an hour one evening watching the swan boats at Fair Park.  I guess I was trying to figure out the appeal of getting in a boat shaped like a giant bird and peddling around a pond for a while.  I never got the appeal but the setting sun afforded me some decent opportunities to snap a few pics of these giant jackasses of the water.

A Beautiful July Day

“Beautiful”, “July” and “Dallas” are three words that don’t often find themselves sharing the same sentence.  July afternoons around here are usually spent indoors, in a pool or running from shade to shade but every now and then mother nature forgets which month it is and just throws something pleasantly random at us.

Death Stops For A Burger

Am I the only one who grew up watching Ghostbusters and dreamed of growing up to drive a sweet hearse?  It was probably a dumb dream and it’s most certainly a dumber dream now as an adult, but I can’t help but see an old hearse now days and think about how cool it would be to trick one out and cruise around town.  Now this is a chick magnet…

Texas Bluebonnets

So many times in life the destination is not the true prize, but rather the journey to get there.  And then there are other times when the journey sucks but the destination makes it all worthwhile.  My journey to photograph bluebonnets this past Spring was the latter.

(Little) Lady In Red

I was blessed to have some great friends growing up and I am fortunate to still call many friends to this day even though the time and distance of the real world has come between many of us.  It was a particular pleasure when two of those friends married each other some years ago and as married people often do, their two became three.  Even though they live close by, too much time passes between our visits.  So when I was asked to take a few pre-birthday pictures of the soon-to be two-year old, I jumped at the chance.  Aside from the fact that I have never really photographed people and wanted that experience, it gave me the chance to see two friends I see far too little.

A Gritty Night

On occasion I have been walking around taking pictures of this or that and after snapping an image I look at the LCD screen and smile because I’m convinced the image I captured does a good job of conveying the reality of the moment.  But on even rarer occasions I leave with that impression only to get home, upload the images and see that the picture I took conveys something entirely different  Sometimes, something better.

Alone On The Water

I’m a lover of solitude and silence.  I find myself drawn to pockets of peace in an otherwise chaotic world and I enjoy being alone with my thoughts, watching the world pass by.  Sounds wash over me and get lost in the distance and all that remains is the beating of your own heart and the wandering of your own mind.  It is at that moment that the world slows down, the colors become more vivid and the smells more intense.  All of creation unfolds before you and you can only stand in awe as your senses become lost in the beauty.  And then it ends.  It has to end.  Just as a star cannot shine without the darkness, the sound of silence can only be appreciated amid the noise.  But for that brief moment when the chaos is overtaken by the peace, the world is truly yours to enjoy.

Chapter Two: The Inspiration

“Every artist was first an amateur.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

I’ve drawn inspiration and encouragement in my life from a multitude of people.  People to whom I am forever indebted, but a few years ago, though sheer happenstance really, I came across the work of two photographers that I suspect have done more than any to open my eyes to what photography is and could be.