happy valentine's day

fire hose

 

Brayton Fire Field

Texas A&M

College Station

2.12.2013

firefighting

 

While I'm sitting in a conference room at Disaster City, firefighters from Exxon are getting hands-on experience using dry chemical agents to extinguish liquid fires.

 

Brayton Fire Field

Texas A&M University

College Station, Texas

www.teex.org

black tablecloth dining

 

The Shitake Black Jewel Risotto is amazing.

 

Veritas Bistro

College Station, Texas

www.veritaswineandbistro.com

aggie postcard

 

Texas A&M University

College Station, Texas

silo graphic

303 30

 

If customers have trouble finding your company, paint the address in large letters.  A graphic paint design would help also.

 

303 30th Street

Lubbock, Texas

angel's caballo

 

Angel's horse doesn't get many visitors; he's leery but checks me out in case I brought food.

 

New Deal, Texas

walking the dog

 

Bentley prefers walking on the curb rather than the path.  We're on the jogging trail at Charles Guy Park.  In the 1940s my mother was secretary to Charlie at the Avalanche-Journal.

 

Charles Guy Park, 93rd and Memphis

Lubbock, Texas

 



lightkeeper's fence

 

Actually this fence now encloses park service buildings.  The original lightkeeper's house from the late 1800s is down 308 steps.  Since I could only see about 10 steps in the fog and barely stay upright from the strong winds, I've only seen the Point Reyes Lighthouse on the web.  By the way, I think the National Park Service took those pictures on the only day with sunshine.

 

Point Reyes National Seashore, California

10.28.2012

point reyes path 2

 

This must be a good photograph because when I googled "Point Reyes" about a dozen similar images were on Flickr.  Or, like me, the photographers didn't find much else to shoot.

 

Point Reyes Lighthouse, California

10.28.2012



point reyes path

When I visited the Point Reyes Lighthouse on the northern California coast, I drove 20 miles through empty headlands, walked one-half mile from the parking lot and was rewarded with a view of FOG!
Point Reyes is the windiest place on the Pacific Coast and the second foggiest place on the North American continent.  My recommendation would be to tarry longer at the wineries and visit the lighthouse via the US Park Service website.

Point Reyes Lighthouse
30 miles north of San Francisco
10.28.2012
www.nps.gov/pore/historyculture/people_maritime_lighthouse.htm

South on Slide Road until it actually becomes FM 1730, somewhere between the original village of Slide and the town of New Home, there is a barn with a cross.  Barn statements in our part of the country or usually flags (Old Glory or the Lone Star) or crosses.

FM 1730 around the Lubbbock/Lynn County line
1.16.2010

train art

 

BNSF Railroads

Lubbock, Texas

sheepherder's cabin

 

Tutorial #5 "Adding Sky"

It was a gray, dreary day --spitting snow-- when we visited Las Golondrinas on a photography workshop.  I too a West Texas sky and added it behind the cabin.  Oh, the magic of photoshop!

 

El Rancho de las Golondrinas

Santa Fe, New Mexico

3.9.2012

have a chair

 

Tom Jones Equipment Co.

819 Buddy Holly

Lubbock, Texas

converse all stars

 

Athletic shoes have come a long ways since the black or white models offered by Chuck Taylor in 1917.  Today Converses are available in bright shades, as evidenced by young man pictured in front of the tattoo parlor on Avenue J.  The Buddy Holly Center recently procured a fifty-year old pair of Converse All-Stars (size 11) owned by Buddy.  I spent my entire basketball career at New Deal wearing Converse All-Stars.  Mine were natural white high tops -- too bad they weren't green to match our school colors of green and gold.

 

my basketball all-stars



street musician

 

This afternoon, outside the tattoo shop next door to the AA meeting place, a young man was enjoying the winter sunshine and strumming his guitar.

 

Avenue J and Broadway

Lubbock, Texas

holy reflection

 

If attending a Santa Fe Photographic Workshop, there is an option to stay at the former Carmelite monastery located across the parking lot. If that is your lodging choice, be advised it is not a Holiday Inn.

 

Mt. Carmel Road

Santa Fe, New Mexico

9.16.2006

municipal art

 

If  you are in Anton and want to know what the high school looks like without driving another four blocks, check out the mural on the insurance agency at the end of the main drag.

 

Downtown Mural

Anton, Texas

linny

 

Named after Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778), Linny is the newest staff member of the Texas Tech Horticultural Greenhouse.  His compensation includes plenty of mice, a warm bed and lots of attention.  He also assisted in review of the emergency plan.  The original Linnaeus is remembered as the "Father of Taxonomy" for developing the botanical system of classifying plants.

 

Texas Tech Horticultural Greenhouse

Lubbock, Texas

hog pen

 

When Texas Tech was established in 1923, the College of Agriculture was one of the four schools.  Today while doing a site visit at the former Animal Sciences building, built about 1951,  I discovered something I never knew existed.  Behind the building, known now as the Annex, still remain animal pens.  The juxtaposition of the pens with the tower of the English building show how far the university has come.  What's sad it that these artifacts of Tech's history may soon be lost.

 

CASNR Annex (College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources)

Texas Tech University

Lubbock, Texas

a classic in the barn

 

Pickup drivers argue over the virtues of Ford versus Chevrolet, but this owner has kept his vintage Studebaker pickup in the barn.  Who knew Studebaker made pickup trucks?

 

South Lubbock County, Texas

1.29.2011

leader of the pack

 

This month's issue of Popular Photography had a black-and-white photo of a gorilla.  That prompted me to look at my gorilla images.  Nothing jumped out from the Kansas City zoo but I found a possibility from the Albuquerque Bio-Park.  The conversion of this color image made an interesting photo.  I like the suspicious look and that the backlighting underscores the "silverback" of the gorilla.

 

Albuquerque, New Mexico

8.15.2009

plantation oaks

 

This original image was taken on a foggy morning in Louisiana.  The oaks are what is left of the Oakland Plantation -- now part of the LSU campus in Alexandria.  I was attempting a tutorial on infrared conversions.  This effect used solarization -- not quite infrared but still an eerie, ghostly feel. (To compare with the original, go to www.sjfimages2011.blogspot.com on October 26).

 

Alexandia, Louisiana

10.26.2011

abandon all hope

When the congregation of the New Hope Baptist Church moved to their new building in Shallowater, the former church building was abandoned.  Time and elements work on the structure -- the roof sags, windows are missing and an electric fence keeps people out and cows in.  I first photographed New Hope in 2010.  Soon only the tree will remain.

no hope at new hope

 

The former New Hope Baptist Church

FM 1294 west of Shallowater

Lubbock County, Texas



skoal

 

Never, in my annual Memorial Day trips to Raton, have I visited Schwede's.  "Skoal" here is probably the chewing tobacco, not the Swedish toast.  There's not much nightlife here-- just acouple of bars that are usually just open on weekends.  Maybe next time I'll be more adventurous  and buy a beer from Schwede.

 

Schwede's Saloon

US Route 64

Raton, New Mexico

5.30.2010

the facilities

 

When the Lynn County Court House was built in 1916, jail cells were constructed on the third floor.  Modern amenities included plumbing, but no privacy.  The jail was handily connected via a hallway to the courtroom.  Upon hearing the jailbreak story, and if one looks closely, a blood stain may be seen on the marble wall.  During a jail escape in 1936, a prisoner wrested a gun from the deputy and fatally shot him.  The escapee was soon caught several miles away but the event is part of Lynn County history.  If you're in Tahoka, visit this building on the National Register of Historical Places and ask for a tour.

 

Lynn County Court House

Tahoka, Texas

3.17.2009



professional gear

 

Today I visited Texas Tech's New Deal Farm, a 900-acre agricultural learning site consisting of  swine, beef cattle, dairy calves, sheep and goat units.  I even saw a llama.  If you visit the hog pens, or even the farrowing nursery with the upteen piglets, you might avail yourself of the rubber boots hanging on the wall outside the door.  The pigs were ankle-deep in muck after the recent rains.

 

Texas Tech New Deal Farm 

Lubbock County, Texas

New Deal Farm, consisting of over 900 acres, a swine unit, beef cattle unit, dairy calf unit, sheep and goat unit, a feed mill, and the Burnett Center (research feedlot)

rusty hulk

 

The rusting grain elevator is the largest structure in town. It reminds me of the prow of an ancient battleship sailing westward. And like antiquated battleships, grain elevators are in mothballs -- sidelined and empty -- victims of technology and economy.

 

Nazareth, Texas

11.20.2011

ferris wheel

 

Tutorial #4 "Radial Blur"

I took the ferris wheel image from my "Carnival" series and applied the radial blur filter to add a circular motion effect.

 

carnival by night

2004



herb garden

 

Do  dreary days of sub-freezing temperatures make you dream of spring gardens?  Sit by the fireside pondering seed catalogs?  Sometimes the anticipation is better than the actual work.

 

Desert Ridge Resort

Scottsdale, Arizona

10.8.2012

 A-1 on Avenue A

 

The neglected building with its peeling red paint, broken windows and graffiti always catches my eye as I speed by on the interstate.  Today I visited A-1 Clutch & Brake up close.  Now the graffiti was readable, the strown empty spray cans visible and the air of abandonment evident.  A closer look on the door found advertising for automotive parts long gone.

 



choice of ampions

 

A-1 Clutch & Brake

Avenue A and 8th

Lubbock, Texas





true love

 

Is the affection Pedro the donkey shows really for Don or for that sack of feed behind him?  Poor Pedro's fence has a "do not feed" sign otherwise everyone would get donkey kisses.

 

 

Gold King Mine and Ghost Town

Jerome, Arizona

10.12.2012

http://www.sedona-verdevalley.com/jerome/goldkingminejerome.html

lunch stop

 

If you plan a wine tour in the Alexander Valley, lunch spots are limited.  Stop by the Jimtown Store to grab a sandwich, browse the tchotchkes and rest your feet.

 

Jimtown Store

Sonoma County, California

10.28.2012

www.jimtown.com



seed pod

 

Assignment in the backyard with the macro lens:  If, according to Internet articles, crape myrtles can be grown from seed -- then why don't I have myriads of volunteer seedlings around my crape myrtle trees?

winter tech-scape

 

The Tech campus is deserted.  No hurrying students scurry across the courtyard toward the Education Building as a cold rain blows in.  If classes were in session,the sidewalks will be filled with umbrella-carrying students wearing Uggs and flipflops.

 

Texas Tech University

Lubbock, Texas

chuckwagon cowboy

 

Tutorial #3 "Adding Background to a Portrait"  in improving my photoshop skills. This image of the Block Y Chuckwagon cowboy had a washed out sky and with a few detractors.  Erase the telephone poles, add a background texture and the focal point is now the weathered face.

 



Cowboy Symposium
Lubbock, Texas
9.9.2011

shadow the spotted owl

 

South Plains Wildlife Rehabilition Center

3308 95th

Lubbock, Texas

12.22.2012

standing on the promises

 

The Saint Teresa of Avila Church is a  Catholic church that sits on a hilltop above the small, rural town of Bodega in Northern California. It was built by shipbuilders in 1859 and is the oldest church still in continuous use in Sonoma County.

This is the product of Tutorial #2 "Adding Layers to an Image."  Scan a hymn from the Broadway Hymnal (you do have one, don't you?) to use as background.  Experiment with overlays, masks and brush selections.

Saint Teresa of Avila Church
Bodega, California
10.27.2012

straw hat still life  2

with shadows

 

Photo ops are found in strange places.  I suppose straw hats were on my mind because this scene caught my eye as I drove by the bar Taboo on my way to the post office.  Of course I had to shoot through the the gate bars.  This is actually an idyllic composition for the Depot bar scene. 

 

Taboo Bar

1717 Crickets Avenue

Lubbock, Texas

for sale

Looking for an entrepreneurial enterprise?  This hamburger  joint is for sale.  According to the flyer, the price has been reduced $5,000; for $45,000 you can own this place --and that includes the equipment.  I thought the condition of the building lent itself to my new skill of texture layers and to grunge photography.  The grunge movement came out of Seattle and, in photography, refers to rough, gritty images in earth tones which often feature destroyed or gloomy subjects.

Hamburger Joint
1103 E. 50th
Lubbock, Texas

vintage columbine

 

New Year resolutions include adding new skills.  This photo is Tutorial #1 "Applying Texture to Images" and exposed me to layers, place, blend, overlay in Photoshop.  For the purists, the original image is included.

Columbine
Fort Bend, Colorado
5.22.2009

straw hat still life

 

Jordan Winery

Healdsburg, California

10.28.2012

north pole

 

I found the North Pole today while driving south in Hockley County.  It was there alongside the railroad track in a muddy cotton field.  Quite a town with the Elf House, Santa's Workshop, a church and assorted houses.  I suppose in the dark -- from a train -- it would appear magical, especially when the Polar Express stops for Santa.  However, the place was deserted.  I suppose Santa and the elves take the first of the year off and bask in the Bahamas.

 

Hockley County, Texas

(between Wolfforth and Ropesville)