slip and slide

I love these shots of the boys. Every summer there's this unofficial ushering in of the season when we turn on the sprinklers, or break out the slip and slide, or whatever, and just let the kids do what they do best, which is have fun. I take pictures like this every time, but every time they're great. In just one frame of the boys I capture everything summer is supposed to feel like: being outside, the hot weather, cooling off, relaxing or playing... Well, everything that Old Navy commercials tell you what summer's supposed to feel like.

summer storms

One crazy storm blew through town yesterday, bringing wind, rain, hail, and an awesome light show.
oh, geez. wow. that's a small image. well, hopefully you can click on it to see it close up.

crawfish boil

Sorry for my absence everyone, been busy working and working towards certain projects. But, thought I'd do my thing here and bring a little bit of Louisiana back to Texas with this shot of a big ol' pile of crawfish just waiting to be de-tailed, peeled, and eatin'. Man, dat's good stuff!

suburban school

So, went walking through the neighborhood the other day, and just happened upon a vintage school desk just sittin' out in somebody's yard. So, what does a school desk need? A school boy. Ewan was just the right size.

masquerade

Another cool shot taken at the prom.

Lately I've been getting a bug in me to emphasis the 'art' in artbrandphoto and come up with more 'fine art' photographs. These will be displayed soon enough. It involves things I love such as: post cards, Polaroids, coffee, crayons, etc. And maybe a weird black thing...more later.

at the prom

I photographed these calla lilies at a prom last Saturday night. The event was held at the Waxahatchie Civic Center and in the main foyer was this huge arrangement of calla lilies front and center. I had crouched down beside the arrangement to get a low angle shot of the kids walking down the hallway when I look up to see these flowers just begging to be photographed. The light and tone of the shot was quite unexpected, and I'm not so sure about the white orb in the background. Without knowing the back story of the photo, does that look like a moon-or a light? But the flowers are beautiful-and I don't even know if they are real.

book review

I don't usually use this blog to advertise or promote things, but I just finished reading Annie Leibovitz's new book "Annie Leibovitz At Work" and I need everyone to pick it up. I say 'reading' because the photographs in it are not at all the focus of the book, but rather the purpose of the book. It's a collection of the behind the scenes essays that explain or describe what went into taking the photograph, or what was happening during them, that make the book such an interesting read. Also the last two chapters of the book Annie reveals her thoughts and/or opinions about cameras, film vs. digital, tripods, etc.-things that I, as a photographer, am interested in. She also answers the 10 most asked questions she gets asked such as: How many photos does she usually take? How does she set people at ease? Again, things that interest me more as a photographer than a bookworm. Anyway, whether you're one or the other, or both, you need to leave now and go pick up her book, it's always interesting to hear the thoughts of someone who's looking through the lens instead of standing in front of it. Trust me on this one.

main street arts festival

Every year Main Street hosts this big huge arts festival for local and traveling artists. Tents are raised and the street is blocked off in it's entirety to make room for the festivities. Bands play. There are street performers. A kid's section for face painting (as you'll see). Here are a few fun shots from there.

Cool shot of the street view.

The greatest kids there! Forrest Gump once said, "You can learn a lot by looking at a person's shoes. Where they goin'. Where they been..." Well, I had to edit this shot a bit so as not to offend anyone, but these shoes say a lot.

rallycats (warehouse)

After we took the rallycats' promo pictures, we decided to take them to this old warehouse that's literally about to crumble to pieces and do a few photos there that had more of a fashion edge and feel to them (although most of the pictures I posted here are more three quarter and close ups, and have that portrait feel).

This last pic I intentionally left a bit dark...I thought it helped the mood and the tone of the photo.

the birds

So I dug these up from a trip to Dallas to see the band Ludo play a little while back. Forgot all about these and once I viewed them on the big screen (not the back of my camera) I thought these were pretty cool. I played with the colors in photoshop a little bit to give them an extra something.