Cold Water for Thirsty Souls

Welcome Honey

2012-02-18T09:34:00.000-08:00

my guess is that the BBQ was good because they had Big Red on the menu.

Screen

2012-02-12T19:08:00.001-08:00

No Reason

2012-02-05T17:11:00.000-08:00

to get too far into 2012 without those eyes!

Loop Camp

2012-01-31T18:40:00.000-08:00

is in the Big Bend National Park. The Rio Grande makes a loop that allows you to camp and look over Mexico and back into Texas. Those are the Punta de Sierra mountains and the little almost dry trickle is the Rio Grande. In Mexico its known as el Rio Bravo del Norte. Neither seems to really be appropriate right now.
It was the first time ever, in the 40+ years I've been going out to the Big Bend, that I've successfully overnighted there. And those are a whole set of other stories.
click on picture to enlage it.

Holocaust

2012-01-21T11:39:00.000-08:00

So Hallie wanted to go to the Holocaust Museum in Houston. With reservations- I took her. There is no photography inside and that is really fine. Its hard to imagine ever forgetting many of the things you see. The wire fence around the outside has no barbs.

Hallie, Renee', and many paths into 2012

2012-01-15T16:38:00.000-08:00

A Storm from this past Summer

2012-01-08T15:48:00.000-08:00

but no rain!

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T19:28:00.000-08:00

I waited in line for fourty minutes to have my turn to buy tamales at Rubens in San Antonio last Friday. At least i got mine! On Christmas Eve they sold out ( 3000) by 7:00 AM! Not only is it worth the wait for the tamales but the conversation in line is led by Lee ( the manager who has worked for the family since he was eleven!) He will tell you, among other things, that he is the only black man in the world who makes tamales and that they are the worlds best! After eating a half dozen on the hood of my truck my wife went back inside to buy three dozen more! I wont say how many dozen we bought totally but I'm ready to drive back to San Antonio and wait in line again any time you'd like to go with me! He matters!

I think

2011-12-29T20:45:00.000-08:00

i started this year in color.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T15:48:00.000-08:00

GotCha!

2011-12-22T16:01:00.000-08:00

First Day of Winter for the rest of the world, For Karen and her daughter-- Renee', I and our daughter its the ninth anniversary of the day our daughters were placed in our arms!

Hallies NaNa

2011-12-18T19:18:00.000-08:00

Hallie has two grandmothers- my mother ( MoMo) and Renee's mother (NaNa). Seeing her wrapped in eithers love is so fine. And that works just as well in the other direction!

Yes It Is

2011-12-14T17:55:00.000-08:00

Starting to feel like Christmas, and not just the jolly guy and a decorated tree. But Advent is passing quickly and we await His Birth. I'm sure that's what "they" are waiting for as well!

Hallie

2011-12-08T18:57:00.000-08:00

Thirty Three

2011-12-04T19:54:00.000-08:00

years ago, and two days I married her mother. Before either of us knew there would be a world beyond our love for one another. We didn't really know just how glorious that world would be. We are just beginning to see how even more filled with love that world is with her in it. Thank You Renee'.

Bruce's Cabin and Hay Lot

2011-11-27T19:14:00.000-08:00

Click on picture for larger version.

Happy Thanksgiving!! 2011

2011-11-23T16:10:00.000-08:00

We are so Blessed! There is no doubt we are drawn together as a family by un embrazo de Dios! And we matter.

I Can't

2011-11-20T18:53:00.000-08:00

pass up an old vehicle and certainly not in this wonderful light!

Mesquite Branch and Leaves

2011-11-15T16:53:00.000-08:00

also clouds, setting sun, and a blurry hill in the distance. And what you cant see is the quiet that was so absolute you could hear the wind coming even before it pushed the mesquite leaves to the side. From the Devils River State Natural Area.

Explaining

2011-11-09T19:08:00.001-08:00

All at Once

2011-11-01T18:15:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday Eve

2011-10-24T16:50:00.000-07:00

to my wonderful wife, who is even more beautiful now than she was thirty-seven? years ago- when i first saw her!

Old Lens, Young Daughter

2011-10-17T16:58:00.000-07:00

OK, so my daughter is really tired of me taking pictures of her! But thats not what these pictures are about, it's about how much i like the way my 31+ year old 35mm Nikkor lens works in digital. I liked it a lot when i used it with film but put it on a D700 and record to the sensor in that camera and it gives up more than I was ever able to create with it on film. I firmly believe that great photographs are made by photographers-not by cameras or film or lenses but I SURE DO like this combination!

And I love photographing my daughter!

Tide Going Out

2011-10-12T17:42:00.000-07:00

Port Aransas, Texas

Bison

2011-10-05T21:14:00.000-07:00

not buffalo. but then does it matter if its glass & bone?

Just About

2011-10-03T17:07:00.000-07:00

as different as a crowd of people.

A Little Color

2011-09-28T18:19:00.000-07:00

Little Doubt

2011-09-24T11:01:00.000-07:00

I'm stuck on the idea of water.

Hallie and the Double A's

2011-09-21T18:18:00.000-07:00

They matter.

It Rained!

2011-09-17T17:25:00.000-07:00

Not much, just over a quarter-inch. But it was real rain! And there were clouds all day! And small, very small- but puddles!

I Liked It

2011-09-15T17:03:00.000-07:00

best when it was Shirley's Burnt Biscuit and Shirley did the baking! Buy a fried pie, leave it in the brown paper bag overnite and the bottom would fall out of the bag from the lard dripping from the pie. Oh were they ever tasty!

Nine-Eleven

2011-09-11T14:41:00.000-07:00

Our lives go on because so many have stood between us and danger. God Bless Them and give us all His Peace.

Entirely Different

2011-09-08T18:34:00.001-07:00

click on image for a larger view.

I Didn't Write

2011-09-02T19:27:00.000-07:00

on the balloon I released this evening, in honor of what would have been my father-in-law's 80th birthday. I just didnt know what to say. My daughter and his daughter did. Maybe next year I'll have words. Probably next year I wont take a picture. I am so thankful that nearly some fourty tears ago he said yes to that question i asked.And then he took me into his life.

Its A Wrap!

2011-08-31T18:16:00.000-07:00

August 2011 that is. Hottest August on record for Central Texas! Hottest single day temperatures ever. It seems like all the records that get set now-a-days are not what you want to see a new record in!

A Fiddler, Not a Violinist

2011-08-27T08:52:00.000-07:00

and she will be the first to tell you! Of course she would rather be in the water at Schlitterbahn than fiddling!

Happy Birthday Hallie!

2011-08-22T17:40:00.000-07:00

First year for double digits. Her years are passing so quickly for her mother and I. We have to share her with so many more with every passing day, week, month. And not that she showers us with less love, but we just have less and less of her time for us alone.

My Haircut!

2011-08-20T09:55:00.000-07:00

I didnt get this haircut on my birthday, or take these pictures- but it was my birthday month and it only cost two dollars!

My Mother, My Daughter

2011-08-16T17:05:00.000-07:00

They share so much love. I am blessed. They matter.

I Just Spent

2011-08-09T10:33:00.000-07:00

ten days alone in the Chisos Mountains in the company of these two beautiful women. And the are even far more beautiful in their spirit than in this image. They matter!

We sure do need

2011-07-23T12:23:00.000-07:00

more water. This spot on the Llano is dry. Lord let it Rain in Texas!

A Brief Break

2011-07-18T17:56:00.000-07:00

from all that sand.

More Sand

2011-07-15T07:46:00.001-07:00

Great Sand Dunes

2011-07-09T14:21:00.000-07:00

an amazing place. Be warned, I will be posting more of these images.
Here is a photographer who truly does it justice, both in words and images.
John B Weller and his book is "Between Light & Shadow"

They Matter!

2011-07-02T11:05:00.000-07:00

They were waiting for their mother to get off work and pick them up. In the shade on a hot Texas afternoon in a small town. If I hadn't had my daughter with me I dont think I would have dared photograph them, let alone talk to them. The world would be a better place for them, and all of us, if I could have offered to buy them a cold drink.

Actually

2011-06-28T19:08:00.000-07:00

even more comfortable than the bed Antonio Banderas once slept in!

She's A Pepper!

2011-06-18T20:22:00.000-07:00

My daughter's fourth grade teacher. She matters.

Lily Pads & Lily

2011-06-10T09:01:00.001-07:00

after a rain

Arch & Mirror, with Hat

2011-05-31T17:14:00.001-07:00

On Guale Mesa

2011-05-22T18:08:00.001-07:00

Still

2011-05-15T11:39:00.001-07:00

not looking!

Not In Bed

2011-05-09T17:33:00.000-07:00

but still pretending to be asleep!

Pretending to be asleep!

2011-05-04T11:10:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure when my daughter has a friend to our house for a sleep-over that they ever go to sleep, at least not while my wife and I are awake! Their best fun is convincing us that they are sound asleep when not! I oblige as often and for as long as I can stay awake!

Mr Gallegos

2011-04-28T21:26:00.000-07:00

I don't know how many times I've stopped on my way to the Big Bend to buy tamales from him over the last thirty-five years. The Comanche Tortilliaria in Fort Stockton. And had him let me in early in the morning to buy them, just coming out of the steamer- even before his workers had arrived. A dozen to go and a dozen to eat sitting on the sidewalk in front of his shop while the sun came up!

He gave me a key chain i carried until i lost it, very regretfully. I will Never forget what it said

You can make it, If you try!

He matters.

Everybody Loves a Parade!

2011-04-25T17:58:00.000-07:00

click on image for larger size

Tomorrow

2011-04-21T15:04:00.000-07:00

is Good Friday. But then isn't tomorrow always Good Friday? Don't we always turn away?

From the Depths

2011-04-13T16:52:00.000-07:00

of a swimming pool.

Why do we?

2011-04-09T12:18:00.000-07:00

build with such straight lines when everything in nature, including our bodies, is so full of curves?

Three

2011-03-30T17:30:00.000-07:00

of Hallie's cousins. They matter.

River Otter

2011-03-26T13:54:00.000-07:00

GoodBye Winter!

2011-03-19T10:53:00.000-07:00

Hello Spring!!

Unmade Bed

2011-03-12T18:11:00.000-08:00

also arranged by time.

Still Life

2011-03-10T17:03:00.001-08:00

arranged by time in abandoned house.

Soccer Practice

2011-03-05T07:50:00.000-08:00

My daughters second practice ever....that look of determination was replaced only by huge grins and laughter! That is great. Our idea of sports is give a hundred percent but have fun!! It's a game. Now today is the first game, its 40 degrees outside, windy, and raining off and on,,,, For those of you who have endured my rants about the idiocy of soccer games on Sunday morning and the criminal behaviour of expecting kids to play in nasty weather conditions you can appreciate the position i find myself in today-- a couple of hours away from Hallies first soccer game!! Oh Well, at least it's Saturday morning- not Sunday!

Clouds

2011-02-26T15:12:00.000-08:00

in Texas skies, out over the Black Gap

Sunrise through fog

2011-02-21T17:38:00.001-08:00

Mother & Daughter

2011-02-15T18:47:00.001-08:00

Open Air Meeting Hall

2011-02-13T15:29:00.000-08:00

Clouds

2011-02-09T12:46:00.001-08:00

Another Motel Room

2011-02-04T08:27:00.001-08:00

Here Goes January!

2011-01-30T18:46:00.000-08:00

and we are still in color! Yes its a real picture, no colors were changed/enhanced but I did mess with the pixels to create the "look". and no i didnt use a preset filter! I make it all up on my own!

More Leaves and Grass

2011-01-27T17:28:00.000-08:00

still in color.

Regency, Texas Suspension Bridge

2011-01-22T12:12:00.000-08:00

Leaves, Grasses, & Vines

2011-01-15T10:18:00.000-08:00

some in focus.

Self Portrait in Steel Plate with Muddy Footprint

2011-01-10T13:36:00.000-08:00

Skating

2011-01-06T20:46:00.000-08:00

Seven, no thumbs

2011-01-04T18:43:00.000-08:00

OK so carrying on the series I started in 2010, People Who Matter, here is myself and my wife. Photo taken on Polaroid Film by our daughter and desaturated somewhat by myself. I have titled it cleverly.... Seven, no thumbs. Of course I have not consulted the photographer about any of this. And co-incidently have decided to post only color images here for the month of January.

And further as i was working on this I listened to Van Morrison's- Tupelo Honey. If I could sing I would sing like that to you Renee'. We matter.

Mirror

2011-01-03T08:52:00.000-08:00

Good Bye 2010

2010-12-30T20:56:00.001-08:00

Color

2010-12-28T19:18:00.000-08:00

photograph for a grey day. the days they just roll on regardless.

The Milky Way

2010-12-26T12:49:00.000-08:00

in our frozen bird bath.

December 22

2010-12-21T20:34:00.000-08:00

Halfway around the world eight years ago, on this date- God placed our daughter in our arms. We are so blessed in her. It is The Rest of the Dream.

Christmas Lights

2010-12-16T20:49:00.000-08:00

we still call them that, even though we leave them up ( and turn them on) year round.

Hallie & Two of her Cousins

2010-12-14T19:38:00.000-08:00

left click on image for larger version

They Matter

2010-12-12T17:01:00.000-08:00

Coming Home

2010-12-08T16:19:00.000-08:00

from work yesterday I stopped to take these two photos. The grasses are on our land. I've been waiting for the right light, and hoping I would get it before the color left the grass. I'm happy with this. Left click for larger versions.

Mixed Media

2010-12-06T18:53:00.001-08:00

Sunflowers

2010-12-04T09:25:00.000-08:00

from Renee's birthday in October.

Nearly Sunset

2010-11-29T13:43:00.000-08:00

left click on image for larger size.

Field of Cars

2010-11-22T18:24:00.000-08:00

Scans from negatives shot around 1973. I wish this old field of cars was still there, it would be interesting ( to me) to see how I would photograph it now. Its funny how the scans took on some color tinges in some frames, almost as although they were tinted or photoshopped- but they are not. Left click on images for a larger version.

Mostly Covered Window

2010-11-21T17:43:00.000-08:00

A Small Wave

2010-11-17T18:04:00.000-08:00

goodbye or hello?

Still Can't Hear

2010-11-15T16:47:00.001-08:00

the waterfall, or can you?

Reprise for Our Flag

2010-11-14T16:10:00.000-08:00

In Remembrance

2010-11-10T18:52:00.000-08:00

of those who still stand with us...
of those who have passed...
of those yet to come...
who have bought.. who will buy our freedoms.

“For it has been said so truthfully that it is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us the freedom of the press. It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech. It is the soldier, not the agitator, who has given us the freedom to protest. It is the soldier who salutes the flag, serves beneath the flag, whose coffin is draped by the flag, who gives that protester the freedom to abuse and burn that flag.” Zell Miller

Come to the Meeting

2010-11-08T17:32:00.000-08:00

left click for larger view.

Three Leaves

2010-11-06T17:22:00.000-07:00

and a waterfall you cant see and I didn't hear.

Left Standing

2010-11-03T07:32:00.000-07:00

Like the aftermath of a bad storm, not much left standing- lots of damage.

VOTE!

2010-11-01T18:46:00.000-07:00

I know it's more frightening than Halloween but its the way this country works!

BOO!!

2010-10-31T09:03:00.000-07:00

Are you brave enough to walk through that darkness for a trick or treat?