10 Years Of Christmas Card Photos

2006, the first one. Might as well start with The Alamo, our most famous landmark. Luckily the tree had white lights so it's brightness in relation to the Alamo is as good as it can get. This year's Spurs-themed tree is very dark.

2007, Tower Of The Americas, San Antonio's other iconic landmark. We made a point to come downtown closer to sunset, for more color in the sky.

 2008 San Fernando Cathedral.
This was the only year this photo was possible because sick trees that would have been in the way were removed and not yet replaced. The fountains had just been installed, too.
Probably the best remembered picture, but it set the bar impossibly high. Sold and gifted a lot of 8x10" prints of this.

2009 The Riverwalk.
Right in the heart of downtown. To get our card photo we go all over town looking at decorations in the weeks after Thanksgiving, then return to the best spots at the optimum time to refine the composition and exposure. I put a lot of work into this project, so it's gratifying to hear that most people save the prints every year and look forward to the next one.

2010 Sneaky Santa.
One of our favorite ornaments, posed on the little silver tree in our front window.
I was looking for a change from "downtown SA at night" and having to drag a heavy camera and tripod all over the place. Super easy, and fun.

 2011 The Riverwalk again.
This was the first year the city used LED lights, to mixed reception. Under the impression that they could leave them up all year, the crews went all-out wrapping the trees almost completely. Unfortunately, the color of these first-generation bulbs leaned pretty far to the blue end of the spectrum. Then squirrels ate the wires when the weather warmed up, destroying hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of lights.

2012 St. Vincent De Paul Catholic Church.
Taken a couple of years earlier after Christmas Eve Mass.
I was working 60 hours a week that year, and didn't have time to search out something. Also wanted to go in a religious direction. I also took one where the tree is out of focus but Jesus is sharp, then let Sylvia choose.

2013 Little Church At La Villita.
This pic was maybe 5 years old, and is the only daytime shot.
We weren't finding anything else, then quickly ran out of time.
While printing them, the machine got stuck and wouldn't stop. By the time staff got it shut down there were over 100 extra prints that I still have. This was the year my brother Ken died right before Christmas, and I drew some comfort from this picture.

2014 Blanco County Courthouse, Johnson City Texas.
I had been wanting a shot like this for years, to get a small-town view.
Sylvia left work early so we could make the hour+ drive north in time to catch sunset.


2015....to be continued

Father's Day

My father was an Air Force pilot in the VietNam war. He was shot down over Laos in 1966 a few months before my 4th birthday, and Missing In Action until 1995. Only have a few clear memories of the man, but by all accounts he was a great guy. 
Growing up, I never had a good male role model in my life. Mom's boyfriends were douchbags, cheaters, drunks, and abusers. My uncle Jim was all I had, taking me fishing and hunting for a few weeks here and there. Still miss them both more than I can put into words. 
The result was that when my mother died of cancer (I was 24) there was zero knowledge of how to be a man. Some lost years ensued (decades?) but luckily nothing happened that I truly regret. 
To my great fortune I met Sylvia not long after the dawn of this century, and she helped me start healing. 
On this Father's Day 2015 I want to thanks her dad Jesus Cantu for welcoming me into his family with open arms and teaching me the lessons I sorely needed to learn. How to love and forgive, how to keep priorities straight, to have fun without getting into too much trouble, to teach by example, to accept faults in others and ourselves--there's SO much I've learned from my new DAD. Happy Father's Day, sir.

 

And what are the odds that he's retired Air Force, served in VietNam, and plays guitar, too? 

Sony, Stop Teasing Me

On Thursday I started my morning as usual by pouring a big glass full of caffienated soda and checking out The Online Photographer.
Scrolling down to a previous post about Sony's newest camera with the latest and greatest possible features: a flat compact body with 24 or 36 megapickles for full-frame lenses? WTF?
I started to recall the good old days when my very first digital camera WAS the state-of-the-art, and made by Sony.
Only 5 pickles but a sweet Zeiss lens, and I learned how to make crap and an occasional decent photo with it.
(Back-story is that nobody respected Sony at ALL back then, and for some reason they still don't...)

So, I'm reminded that I ought to check the battery level on cam #1 and see if it's still okay as spare power for another one in my stable despite the fact that the camera itself stopped working over 5 years ago.

Flicked the 'On' lever and got a good power-up, then spent two minutes setting the date/time. Got a reading in the high-90% range for the battery. Can someone tell me why I took the lens cap off at this point?

When a camera decides to suddenly work again after 5+ years, you hit the shutter button as fast as you can!

As I made my way through layers of home security to our backyard, I noted how quickly my fingers remembered all the buttons and settings to get a decent macro photo, since that is where the F717 truly excelled for me.
On auto-pilot I shoved that delightful lens up against one of my hanging plants and hit the shutter once more, and got a lucky 2nd picture before the camera gave up and stopped playing nice again:

That's the look and quality I remember!
My eyes rolled back 72 degrees for a few seconds, then I started gathering tools and organizational stuff to try and fix my old jacked camera.

Got about 30% of the way in and cleaned/reinserted the ribbon cables.
Also poked at stuff with my finger.
Didn't fix it, but also didn't make it any worse--all functions still work and no parts left over after reassembly.
A good practice run for going deeper in a few days.

Views Of Texas

A pair of infrared photos using the Sony F828 that Matthew kindly gave me after my F717 died a few years ago:




While cameras are just tools, sometimes they can mean a lot more. Every time I use it, I still re-experience the surprise, gratitude, and elation I felt when opening this unexpected gift.



On the dry side of Canyon Dam:
The story goes that my father took us here to watch construction in progress. I'm sure he was looking forward to fishing the new lake, but never got the chance.

I have a great story about the parking area above the dam, but there's no way I can share it on the internet.

Sadly, with normal lake levels this year there will be a lot of drownings.
People need to realize that being able to swim across a pool don't mean shit when you're in a lake on a hot summer day, and full of beer. Add to that the submerged trees that are full of fishing line and nets and anchor ropes, and it's a recipe for disaster.
If your buddy wants to swim out to an island, distract him however you can.
I have been in serious trouble all alone in the middle of deep water and it's about the worst feeling in the world.



More Views:

See the tiny people on top of the dam?
Unlike Medina and I guess Hoover, Canyon is made of earth and is gigantic.



I got in trouble for leaving out the urinal photo:
I went back and forth while we were there, and at this moment wish I had used it at least once. But to be honest, urinals suck.
Women think they are so convenient and that men are lucky to be able to pee standing up, but like anything in life there are compromises.
I'm going to leave it at that--if you want to know more, ask a man who really cares about hygiene and grooming. If you don't know any, ask your husband.

Random Stuff

Sylvia has a new office at work, so naturally she needs some of my prints hanging on the walls. A mini-gallery that'll hopefully result in some sales.
We're thinking 3 frames with a rotating group of themes.
Summer means my best beach sunsets and waterfalls, autumn is good for landscapes and night shots, winter gets our Christmas card pictures and then some infrareds, and for spring I'm leaning towards bugs and critters and flowers.

Unfortunately, my last 2 harddrive failures wiped out almost all of my final print files, so I've been going through all the backup CDs to grab the originals.
This is tedious, but I'm looking forward to PhotoShopping them again with a few more years of experience and hopefully more mature tastes.

One cool thing is that I'm finding treasures--long forgotten photos and alternate versions that I like better.

These two have never been seen by anyone but me before now:





And Now For Something Completely Different:
I don't remember where I heard about this movie, but after Googling "black dynamite trailer" I knew I had to have it.
In fact, this is the first time I have ever paid $20 for a DVD.
(BestBuy)

If you liked Shaft and the later "Blaxploitation" flicks, or enjoyed I'm Gonna Get You Sucka, you'll LOVE Black Dynamite!


It's a spoof of that whole genre from the late '60s through the '70s, which were notable for saving the film industry from collapse long before Star Wars and Jaws were incorrectly given credit for that feat.

Continuity errors, the same stuntman getting killed 6 times, mic booms intruding on the frame, bad dialog, it's all there for you and your friends to try and spot.
They used stock footage from Charlie's Angels and SWAT, etc, for car chase and helicopter scenes.
The music by Adrian Younge is new and all original, but recorded using strictly period instruments and studio gear--it's funky!
Characters include Creamed Corn, Captain Kangaroo Pimp, and Pat & Richard Nixon.

The kung fu is awesome.
Stars Michael Jai White and Byron Minns are great, but Tommy Davidson almost steals the show.

This movie is so intentionally bad, it's hilarious.
Best watched with a couple 40s of malt liquor.

Thank You, Veterans

Taken in 2004 at the Korean War Memorial in Washington DC.

Friday Favorite--Rails Around The World

From April 16, 2005.
I was just one of several hundred photographers who participated in "Rails Around The World" on that date.
Everyone uploaded a train-related photo taken on 4/16/05 in their country, state, city--it was a lot of fun and kind of historic.

I remember shooting an event downtown for several hours (Accordian Festival?) and hoping all the while that I might catch a train before sunset so I could participate in RATW 2005.
To get a CPS coal train was pure good luck, as it was not only my first one but also gave me an educational post here at Views of Texas.

You might notice that the photo above wasn't in my original blog post.
That's because until now it was only shown on the website that sponsored RATW, despite being my most popular train photo up to that point in the strange online world of railfans.
The power of this coal train leaning into a curve really made an impact, and in later voting I received eight 9s and a 10, for a 9.11 on a 10 scale.

Within a year or so I grew tired of constantly driving around haunting the rails and trying to please such a small audience. Photo-blogging about many different subjects had become much more satisfying and helped me branch out into more advanced styles and techniques, although I learned a lot from the railfan photographers early in my career.
I'm still active on a limited basis at the same site where RATW happened, but only when I stumble upon something that might interest them.


In other news: Loud Nine will NOT be performing this Saturday, and I'm pissed-off about it.
The final version of The Hitmen will be winging-it at Oasis.
I'll be running sound for Bliss at Hooligan's.
CRAP

Friday Favorites #3

Bee on cape honeysuckle at the SA Zoo.

Copyright Violation--Resolved?

You might remember how I was a bit pissed over a popular photo of mine being found attached to a semi-commercial website without permission, compensation, or a photo credit in early July:



I decided to start out gently with a comment on their blog hoping for a response of some kind, and had no choice but to follow-up a few weeks later stating my case explicitly:

I thought I was being cool about the whole thing.

Never got a response despite the following proof that my messages were received:

They completely folded without a fight or response even though a simple photo credit might have been easier than finding and posting a new picture.

It makes me wonder who took the new photo, and whether or not they know about it being used on this website.

Friday Favorites #1

A new feature to help fight stagnation, "Friday Favorites" will showcase old photos from my archives that (in my opinion) still hold up after all these years.

A viper at the San Antonio Zoo, from Feb. 2005.

I Had The Most Amazing Day

One year and 3 days ago my first digital camera died for the last time.
I was heartbroken, panicked, sick to my stomach, devastated, etc.

As usual, Sylvia came to my rescue and within two weeks I had my beloved Sony Alpha300. It's a great camera, and is so much more advanced than the Sony F717 I was using that it took over a month to feel comfortable taking pictures again--so much to learn!

But my Alpha300 is a fairly standard consumer-grade camera, while my late F717 was state-of-the-art when it was introduced and had some features that aren't popular enough today to have been retained.
Mainly, the ability to take photos in the infrared spectrum instead of visible light with the addition of a few filters that screw onto the end of the lens.
I was just getting good at IR photography when my F717 crapped-out, and it was a major blow to my mood and sales.

For some strange reason I woke up at 9am (noon is more my style) and it's a good thing I did!
The US Postal Service truck in the street convinced me to put on pants and answer the doorbell.
I signed for a box from Toronto

On the right is my dead-meat F717.
On the left is it's improved successor, the F828, sent to me by my internet friend Matthew Robertson.

In addition to being able to shoot IR (again) this camera also takes much higher quality video, has a wider range of lens focal lengths, is built studlier than my older version. It's been improved in many areas and was pretty much the best digital camera in 2003.

How do you thank someone for sending you an awesome camera that gets you back in the infrared game?

Might as well send the flash, too?
You can see that the flash for my old camera had but a single power switch, while the HVL-F32X flash Matthew sent me has an LCD sceen and lots of buttons for more control.
I missed being able to shoot flashed macros of small animals (my Alpha300 system won't support this unless I buy an expensive new macro lens) so I'm also excited to renew this ability!

This level of kindness is not unknown to me, but is the exception rather than the rule for so-called 'internet friends', meaning people you have never met but get along with on the www.
My IR filter was a gift from Bruce, and my older Sony flash was shipped down to Texas from WA by C.Moore--also gratis.

The only way I know how to thank such kind people is to make the best use of their gifts as possible.
Let them see that what they gave to me is being used to produce better photos.
It's a challenge, but I'm ready to accept it.

Thank You, Matthew!!!

Flattery Or Theft?

Sylvia was taking a little quiz on Facebook tonight, and while showing me the results I spotted something:

She didn't believe me at first when I said "That's MY f-ing picture! I took that! What the hell is it doing there?"
She said "show me" and I did, and after comparing the way the crops and exposures match exactly we are confident that it is indeed my photo.

A little more sleuthing (that's french for Google) and I turned up a likely chain of events.
Whoever picked the pictures for the Facebook quiz probably got mine from this website, which shows up on page 2 of Google Image search for Corpus Christi:

In this one you can even see that the meager clouds on the left side match, which is as conclusive as it gets.
RockFreakingSolid Proof, my friends.

If you expand the search criteria, my own Flickr page shows up on page 2:


And here is my Flickr page of the photo.
You can see that this photo has been viewed at least 3777 times--it's one of my most popular.
It's in "Explore", meaning it was among the top 500 "most interesting" photos uploaded to Flickr that day, out of literally millions.

The real estate website didn't ask for my permission to use that photo, so they are in violation of my copyright and if I felt like suing I would win.
Since they are using it to sell real estate, the monetary damages might even be worth the effort.
I have the original, plus all the ones taken before and after with minor adjustments. No court could possibly rule against me unless they were crooked or stupid. (I know...)

Whoever put together the Facebook quiz is also stealing from me, but I think they just grabbed it from the first thief.


Will I take any action?
Probably not, beyond a message letting them know what's happening and a request that I receive a photo credit if they want to keep using it.

But this was the trigger I have been waiting for.
I've always said that when I catch someone stealing a photo of mine for commercial purposes is the day I start putting a very visible copyright tag on all of my uploads--I already do with my band shots, but now I'm afraid that everything I blog will have a bit of ugly in one corner.

I hope you can forgive me.

Views Of Texas #601: Tom & Kenny

Had I known what I was doing back in November 2004 this moment might have been captured better, but I still LOVE this picture of my brother inside the Jefferson Memorial, Washington DC.

Got my first digital camera (Sony F717!) two weeks later because I suddenly got physically ill for the whole time at the thought of having a borrowed camera taken away for good.
Lost 5 pounds and discovered that NO photography wasn't an option.

Kind of like how I feel about not being able to shoot in infrared.

...Who Answered The Call

I Got Teased

On a whim, I just powered-up my dead Sony F717.
To my astonishment, it worked!
Knowing I was on borrowed time, I ran outside and shot one of our late-season serrano peppers.

And then my old camera died again.

It was a magic moment, and a bit strange.
Definitely have to get it fixed, since macros and IRs are styles that the new camera doesn't handle as well as the old.

From The Archives

Another week with no new photos.
This is over a year old, from a camera club meeting at Starbucks.
Always liked this picture.

I would like to mention here that I loathe the smell of coffee, and therefore buying books is torture because every bookstore has a Starbucks or in the case of Half-Price brews their own stinky mud.
When we held our meetings in the coffee shops it wasn't pleasant for me and I would edit what I said just to save time and get out of there as soon as I could.

A quick visit to Austin is happening soon, so I should be able to bring home something good for y'all to see.
Maybe I'll get to kick a dirty hippie or two.