Thursday, May 26, 2011

we interrupt your regularly scheduled programming...

Two days ago, and for the past three weeks in other parts of the country, storms have swept through, bringing high winds, hail, rain, floods, you name it. Two days ago rain and hail fell on my neck of the woods, but luckily no damage was done. It seems like we were just on the edge of brunt of it. Being on the edge you get to watch the clouds layered one on top of the other, on top of another. They would change dramatically in the matter of minutes from dark and brooding to light and fluffy, often colorful, then back to dark grey and blue. It was awesome to watch.




Monday, May 23, 2011

krista and ano-teaser

Currently working on Krista and Ano's wedding which took place at the A&M Gardens in Azle, Tx. Full post coming soon, but I just couldn't wait to post this image.


Wednesday, May 18, 2011

enter livingston parish

I picked up the last official roll of film that was devoted to the Livingston project today from the lab. As I held the negatives up to the light in the foyer anticipating what I'd seen, Steven, the guy I've been handing film to and picking film up from for years at Barron Photografix said, "You're the last of the medium format shooters." I laughed to myself thinking that I, oh me of so little, can't be the last. In fact I know I'm not the last by just flipping through a couple of photography magazines you will find another shooter or two still using film, but maybe rare is a more accurate statement. Many of the images are shot digitally, but after I got deep into the project and had a bit more of an idea of the direction I was headed, it was film all the way. Anyway, these two shots aren't my favorites, so who knows if they'll make into the book or not, but I thought they'd be a good send off image to commemorate the end of a personal project that took me so far into the woods, the eyes, and the beauty that south Louisiana is. Even though the image making process is over, I still look forward toward the next step, knowing the final chapter will only be closed after the book hits the shelves. Who knows then what other stories may be told after mine is done. I'd rather think of my story just as one of many others-like a puzzle piece fitting in with the rest of what makes the parish the place that it is, the people that live there, and the feeling of home.


Monday, May 16, 2011

posted

There aren't many billboards down the back roads of rural south Louisiana. What there is a lot of are posted signs. Most everywhere people are marking off their territory and their land to let you know these woods are not to be trespassed upon, hunted within, or explored throughout, for any means necessary. The problem with the message they send out is that no one listens to them. And that old adage about being "prosecuted on site"-in Livingston Parish you'll more likely be invited in for a pot of coffee. Reasons why I love the place.

Friday, May 13, 2011

train cars

The difference between Texas backroads and Louisiana ones are most evident in a shot like this. Taking road trips down and around rural south Louisiana the view of the sky is often crowded out by tall pines that line the road on either side. You can see blue sky above the road, but look to the left or the right, and it's tall thin bark and underbrush, palmettos and thickets. In Texas, it's all open sky. Along side the railroad tracks this road was taking me home one day, picked out by my GPS, which at times is wrong and it sends me down these untraveled back roads thinking it can get me to my destination even faster. Once I learn the road I'm on is the wrong one though, I can't get angry, because although I may not be headed directly toward my destination, it's what you find on the road to getting there.

Monday, May 9, 2011

keely and patrick-egagements

...finally, the rest of the story. Keely and Patrick's full engagement post!



Friday, May 6, 2011

keely and patrick-teaser

It was a dark and stormy morning, frigid winds blew out of the North and while the rest of North Texas were inside their houses, huddling underneath blankets and scratching their heads why it was 40 degrees in Texas in May...Keely, her fiance' Patrick and I were out in the midst of it all taking photographs! Melodrama aside, this past Sunday I spent the morning with a wonderful couple traipsing through Trinity Park and photographing an awesome couple. It was cold, but they were troopers throughout. Below is a sneak peak, more are soon to follow.

windblown

Now that the image-taking process has come to a close on the Louisiana project, is it time yet to begin a series focused on Texas? As I shift my focus from the great parish I was born in and now begin the process of organizing my images and stalking publishers the actual capture part of that project has ended. A photographer's got to shoot though, right? A while back I began thinking of a photography series set in and around Fort Worth, more of a city to me than where I grew up, and having the two books published back to back: one about Livingston Parish, Louisiana. The other about Fort Worth, Texas, and then marketing the two books as a county/city series. The idea still resonates with me and one never knows how these things will turn out. But, as I go through daily life, there are images of Texas that may not be iconic to Texans, but they are iconic to me and what I love about the this area. This photo, taken on the side of the interstate struck me in it's simplicity but notice the grass all laying violently to one side as if they were collectively laying down in the shade, like a day worker on a lunch break. Tell-tale to the high winds that make Fort Worth a permanant home during the spring. This image speaks to me, and reminds me of a Texas I've come to call home. Hopefully it does the same for you.




Thursday, May 5, 2011

morning light




This shot was taken the same morning as the previous post, it's also of the same thing: my parents' driveway, but this shot is a more intimate portrait of the morning and the beauty one can find in it. My buddy Jared says he'd rather see this shot in color, but he's wrong. It's perfect as it is, it doesn't exist in color anyway so if you side with him you're still out of luck.