sjfphotography: *fine art images *natural light portraits *greeting cards


Wednesday, September 30, 2015


My first afternoon in Jackson, Wyoming we walked around downtown and I shot the sign at the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar. I hoped to get back at night to photograph the neon sign which happened a few nights later.

 
Our second goal was to go in, sit at the bar on the saddle bar stools and enjoy a beverage.  This part of the plan was doomed.  First, they wanted a cover charge at the door for the band (and you know I'm cheap) and secondly there were no vacant saddles.  So we took a quick gander and left.  But I have a neon memory.
 
Million Dollar Cowboy Bar
Jackson, Wyoming
9.15.2015

Monday, September 28, 2015



Chuck wagons usually carry grub.  This one at the National Cowboy Symposium had a box of explosives and a jug of hooch.  Love the hat.

National Cowboy Symposium
Lubbock, Texas
9.11.2015

Sunday, September 27, 2015

 
through the aspens
 
Fall was a wonderful season in which to visit Grand Teton National Park.  The aspens were golden, the sky blue -- a perfect day.
 
Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
 


Saturday, September 26, 2015

how great thou art
 
The Chapel of the Transfiguration has no need for a stained glass window.  The window behind the altar frames God's creation.
 
Chapel of the Transfiguration
Moose, Junction, Wyoming
9.14.2015

Friday, September 25, 2015


chapel of the transfiguration

Framed by the Grand Tetons, the Chapel of the Transfiguration is a functioning Episcopal church with seasonal services.  The tiny chapel was built in 1925 on land donated by Maud Noble and was constructed so that the early settlers would not have to make the long buckboard ride into Jackson for Sunday services.

Grand Teton National Park
Moose Junction, Wyoming
9.14.2015

Thursday, September 24, 2015

 
 
 
After class today I had a brief hour to explore the historic downtown district of Joplin.  I ventured upon the George A. Spiva Center for the Arts . Around since 1947 it is currently housed in the  historic Cosgrove Building.  The turn of the century (20th) building features bold graphics.  I especially like the bicycle rack on the sidewalk juxtapositioned by the building.
 
George A. Spiva Center for the Arts
3rd and Wall Street
Joplin, Missouri

Wednesday, September 23, 2015


roll presses
 
Although idle, the presses at the Joplin Globe newspaper were impressive.  The line of six presses was visible through the large street-level windows across from the Red Onion where we had dinner. The first issue of The Globe was published on August 9, 1896. In 1933 The Joplin Globe had a country-wide scoop, obtaining the camera left behind by Bonnie and Clyde after a deadly confrontation with local police, developing and publishing the rolls of film in it, including the now-legendary photos of Bonnie holding Clyde at mock gunpoint and of Bonnie with her foot on a fender, pistol in her hand, and cigar in her mouth

 The Globe
117 E. Fourth St
Joplin, Missouri

Tuesday, September 22, 2015


you are here
 
Back to the world of work -- in Joplin, Missouri!  The Mother Road goes through Joplin and is immortalized with a park beside the Pearl Brothers Hardware Store.  The park includes half of a red Corvette and a stylized record of "Get Your Kicks."  I think my daddy had that 1948 Buick.

Route 66 Mural Park
Joplin, Missouri

Monday, September 21, 2015

aspens
 
After several gloomy days, our last day in Wyoming was magnificent .  Gray skies gave way to brilliant blue with white clouds -- the better to showcase the glowing aspens.
 
Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
9.18.2015

Sunday, September 20, 2015

midway geyser basin
 
On a bright, frosty morning the colors of the pools in the Midway Geyser Basin were obscured by steam from the hot springs.  However the red tones of the bacteria mats were vivid and the blue sky shimmered on the reflections.
 
Midway Geyser Basin
Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
9.18.2015
 


Saturday, September 19, 2015

Yellowstone elk
 
All visitors to Yellowstone are on the lookout for wildlife sightings.  We saw bear, elk, pronghorn and bison but unfortunately no moose.  This guy watched us as the tourists photographed. 
 
Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
9.15.2015

Friday, September 18, 2015

snow on the mountains
 
After three days in Yellowstone (no wifi!) seeing the sights and experiencing rain, snow and hail, we returned to Jackson on a glorious day with new snow on the Grand Tetons.

Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming


Monday, September 14, 2015

sunrise at oxbow


A great first day photographing in Wyoming!  Getting up at 5:00 a.m. was worth it. 

Oxbow Bend
Grand Teton National Park
Wyoming

Sunday, September 13, 2015

welcome to Jackson
 
There was just enough time before the tour orientation for a quick walk around the square.  I want to go back to the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar to see if the sign is lit up at night.
 
Jackson, Wyoming

Saturday, September 12, 2015

skyscrapers
 
This time of year the Lubbock skyline is dotted with chuck wagons and tepees.
 
National Cowboy Symposium
Lubbock, Texas
 
 

Friday, September 11, 2015

9-11 tribute
 
A boy innocently kicks his soccer ball at Miller Park, unaware of the meaning of the flags that surround him.
 
American Tribute
Miller Park
Lubbock, Texas

Wednesday, September 9, 2015

stucco and shadows
 
B&P Oil Services
1101 Seagraves Road
Brownfield, Texas
9.5.2015

Monday, September 7, 2015

birthday greetings
 
Today would have been Buddy Holly's 79th birthday.  The Buddy Holly Center celebrated with live music (playing Buddy tunes of course).  Bundt cake and root beer was available (and real beer at the cash bar).  Lubbockites came out to wish this native son a happy birthday.
 
Buddy Holly Center
Lubbock, Texas

Sunday, September 6, 2015

this way
 
"Follow the Smoke" is a BBQ joint in Brownfield, but don't follow the smoke on a Saturday or Sunday --they're not open.  The sign is neat but it bothers me that the cowboy just has red pegs and no boots.
 
Follow the Smoke
904 Lubbock Street (aka US82)
Brownfield, Texas
9.5.2015

Saturday, September 5, 2015

the other needmore
 
In the early 1900s the Needmore in Terry County had a school, a general store and a cotton gin. The school was incorporated with Meadow in the 1940s.  Today the cotton gin is the only business at the intersection of Farm Road 211 and US 385. Unless you're looking for one of the four Needmores in Texas, you might not have a reason to visit.
 
Needmore, Texas
Terry County

Friday, September 4, 2015


sro
 
The Wallace Theater is Muleshoe is literally "standing room only" because behind the façade is a weed-grown vacant lot -- no seats, no screen.  Built about 1949, the Muleshoe movie house was part of the Wallace Blankenship chain of theaters formed about 1920.  Wallace and his wife Rose built theaters across the area in a 150-mile radius.  The Wallace Theater on Muleshoe's Main Street is a remnant of times past.
 

 
Muleshoe, Texas
8.29.2015

Thursday, September 3, 2015

supplications for the deceased
 
Religious statuary offers prayers of supplication for the deceased.  Family dynamics in the cemetery interest me.  Here grandmother, father and mother gravesites are marked with elaborate stones, yet what could be the only son's grave bears only a small metal marker.  This cemetery in Muleshoe is also called the "Old Cemetery" not to be confused with the newer memorial park on the other side of the highway.  The land was donated in 1918 for burials of victims of the influenza epidemic.  The cemetery was forsaken until acts of vandalism about 20 years ago renewed the cemetery association and interest in upkeep.  Alas, it was too late for the Rosas markers.
 
Old Cemetery
Muleshoe, Texas
8.29.2015


Wednesday, September 2, 2015

needs more everything
 

Needmore was so named because townsite promoters “needed more” settlers. After the town's founding in the 1920s, it never grew significantly.  It is located between Baileyboro and Circleback in Bailey County - neither of which flourished either.  Be sure not to confuse this Needmore with the  other three Needmores in Texas.  The nearest is the Needmore in Terry County 55 miles away-- and it needs more everything too!

Needmore, Texas
Bailey County, Texas
State Highway 214 and Farm Road 298
8.29.2015

Tuesday, September 1, 2015



 church sign 

Circleback, at the junction of Farm roads 298 and 3397, is another candidate for a Texas ghost town.  It was named for a nearby ranch whose brand was a circle on the backs of cattle. From 1918 to the mid-1950s there was a six-grade school and about a dozen houses, a filling station, and a store-post office, which burned in 1954. In 1949 the community had 100 people. By 1980 the population had dwindled to forty-nine, and it is reported that by the mid-1980s only the Baptist minister and his wife and two children remained. The Circleback Baptist Church is still conducting services, although all the other buildings are abandoned.   I was curious to learn more and a google search showed many funerals taking place at the church.  Then I discovered that issues of the "Littlefield News: Lamb County Leader" newspaper were archived online at the Texas Tech Southwest Collection.  I lost part of my afternoon reading news items from times past.  Of interest was this from the August 30, 1923 edition: "A large number of Baileyboro folks attended the all day singing at Circleback Sunday. A sumptious dinner was spread and heartily enjoyed. The Richland, N. Mexico singing class furnished the music Sunday afternoon. Everybody agrees that Richland people know how and what to sing." No matter the size of the villages or the distance in-between, people made their own good times.

Circleback, Texas
Bailey County, Texas
8.29.2015