Drowning Worms

We weren't catching fish, but I guess it's still fishing if you're sitting there quietly and your line is wet...


This part of the Guadalupe is gorgeous, and I guess the water was too cold because there were no tubers to disturb us.











The only catch we witnessed was by one of these fly-fisherman in a small inflatable.
It was in the morning, and I was surprised that they landed anything with all the loud talking they were doing, plus their guide kept splashing the water with his oars despite using an anchor.

It provided a clue as to our lack of success, though--we couldn't quite reach the fish from our shoreline.



Google overhead view shows how shallow it is on the left side (that's our cabin a little below and to the left of center) and even casting halfway across the river you aren't anywhere near the fish.

We had zero results after a few hours at Canyon Lake, too, but at least I had a nibble and saw some big ones in the shallows by the shore.

Not complaining--fishing is fun and relaxing whether you land any or not.

Just Learnin'...

Every once in a while I like to try new things, even when they they don't appeal to me at first.
A good example is when I first tried to shoot dripping water into a bucket.
I suppose some day I'll have to try smoke photos (when there aren't fans and AC blowing all over the house).

This time it's drops of food coloring in a vase full of water.
I'm just trying to get a handle on the techniques involved, in case they are someday needed to tell a story or make money.
Plus, it's fun to play around with my cameras and lighting gear.

What I didn't expect was liking the results.

When I see food coloring/smoke photos from other people (and they are usually better-quality than mine) the results just don't do much for me.
I've even questioned people as to the possible audience for them.
Abstract prints? Maybe, I guess.


Perhaps it is the random nature of the results that bothers me?
I'm used to having total control over the scene whenever I set up the lights indoors. (Portraits not included)


On the other hand, a few clicks in PhotoShop and there's all kinds of things you can do should the need arise.
I didn't even begin to explore those possibilities, because for me most of the fun, work, and decision making when taking pictures happens before the shutter button gets pressed.

I guess the main thing is that it didn't feel like a waste of time, because learning is a worthy pursuit even if the possible future application of that knowledge is hazy and undefined.
Maybe that's why I read so much?

2010 Is Here--Nothing Changes

Just like 2009 we went to JIM'S for our 1st breakfast of the year.
I ordered the same exact thing.
It was good, of course.



On the 2nd I went downtown just before sunset to try for the next card picture.
Was hoping the new Museum Reach section would have decorations on par with the old part of the river, but aside from a subtle (to be kind) string of LED lights and a bow on random light poles, it was no different from September.
See if you can spot the Christmas decorations in the pic of SAMA above and the art fish below.

FISH! Since it was too late to abort Plan A, I decided to ride it out and try to have some fun.

This shot was only made because a large group of people had interfered with a previous one by walking into the frame and then milling around (moo-ing, actually) even after noticing that I was waiting on them to move. (Moooove?)
This time they came up the Riverwalk from behind me, so I held out my arm and said "A moment, please".
After chimping, instead of letting them pass I pretended to make adjustments and took this identical one just to have them wait 15 seconds more.
Christmas is over, so I'm back to only being nice to people who aren't rude or stupid.

Reaching the museum again at the end of my trip I found these trees lit with many green floodlights that I had never seen before. I don't know if this is Christmas-related or permanent, but I know it's pretty.
There's the edge of an observation area complete with benches visible on the left.
A nice place for kissing.

I had walked all the way to the Pearl Brewery complex, as you'll see next.

Where Was I?

Oh yeah--at San Pedro Springs Park, waiting for the sun to go down.



This spring-fed pool is enormous, but only 3 feet deep.
No swimming allowed anymore, but it's a nice place to just sit and enjoy the fine weather we're having.

Photos like this remind me of why I like shooting at night.
Need to get off my butt and get back in the game.

San Pedro Springs Park 2

A couple of months ago I couldn't even imagine spring water gushing out of the ground like this.
But after September and October delivered almost an entire year's worth of rain, I'm confident that the drought of 2007-9 can be considered over.
Sadly, our farmers and river outfitters took a big financial hit, as did the fireworks vendors.

What's been weird is seeing the vegetation act like it's Springtime this late in the year.
Flowers and peppers and vines are exploding all over the place.
Usually I'm done with the lawnmower by now, but cutting grass was something I've really missed so weekly sessions are most welcome.
Good exercise!

Tomorrow is Halloween!
I had to work last year (and needed a break anyway) so I'm rested and fired-up to put on a good show for '09.
As I was gathering up my stuff for inventory/inspection, the accidental placement of 2 items sparked an idea for a new centerpiece element.
Three days of sawing and drilling and electrical work later, it's ready to go.
Benefitting from aquisitions/modifications made for the band, I've combined several pieces into a single scene that's pretty cool, with the bonus of eliminating all cables from the porch and through an open window.
Remotes rule!

A bunch of new people are coming over thinking "party", but it's all work.
The goal (as always) is to hear someone confess that they pissed their pants.

San Pedro Springs Park

Some of us in my photography club had a meet and shoot yesterday at the title location.
Those of us with flashes and umbrellas/softboxes were passing along our knowledge and techniques to the others, while shooting the breeze and meeting new folks and just plain having fun taking pictures.
Chrissy had to work, and Sylvia wasn't interested in modeling, so I spent the last hour of daylight shooting infrared with my F828 (The Toronto Special).

Should have shot this one 5 minutes sooner--the shadows were creeping upwards fast.

This photo is growing on me. At first I didn't like the shadows but now I think they enhance a mood.
Professional photographer and all-around fun guy Chris Pichado said of these:"Keith - your infrared shots never fail to amaze me. You've got such a wicked eye for great compositions already, throwing a curveball to what the nekkid eye can see just adds so dang much to it. :-) LOVE em!"
Chris's energy and talent helped push our little party into high gear, once he finally got there. I was a guest at a wedding he was shooting and got jealous of his skills at directing models as well as his excellent results.

For example, this photo of me is a Pichado:
Within seconds of seeing what my hand was doing he got Sylvia to shoot me from the left and Juan (the organizer of the event and owner of the gallery where I have shows) to do the same from the right.
Boom, done, next! And he managed to make it fun for me, which is amazing.

Speaking of Juan, he suggested we meet at La Tuna afterwards and within 30 minutes we had stopped allowing the staff to pick up our empties so he could take this pic for fun, using my flash.

We had a great time all day!

And I nailed down some wall space for my next gallery show.
The First Friday of December, 7-10+pm, 121 Blue Star #5.
Preview Thursday Night and Post-View Saturday not yet confirmed.
My theme will be "Christmas In San Antonio" so you've already seen some of the prints I'll be hanging.
This is my first showing since May '08, and I'm excited to be doing it again.

More from the shoot coming soon

My Photo-Ops Are Drying Up

After I was finished working at SalsaFest in HemisFair Park I shot this at one of my favorite locations.
Stage II (III? I can't remember) means that all city fountains go dry, as well as any private ones that don't recirculate the same water over and over.

It's too hot to go out taking pictures for the hell of it anyway (even at night) but we probably won't have enough rain for the restrictions to lift anytime soon.
Looks like my love of shooting fountains at night will have to wait indefinitely, instead of being able to count on October.


It would be a good time to fix all the blown underwater lighting.

The San Antonio Museum Of Art...

...is going to display this photo of mine at a special exhibition during the last weekend of August--Friday the 28th through Sunday the 30th.


SAMA is making a museum-quality 11x14" print and putting it in a museum-quality frame. No doubt using museum-quality glass.
I can't wait to see it!

I've been sitting on this since last Tuesday and it's been difficult keeping it to myself, but the official announcement will be later today so I'm only breaking the news a few hours early.

The photo shows a submerged dam from the 1800's that was rediscovered during construction of the new section of our RiverWalk.
Alamo Mills used a waterwheel to grind grain into flour for early residents of San Antonio.
My photo was one of 12 (out of over 1500) that were carefully selected by museum staff to showcase the best features along the "Museum Reach" RiverWalk extension.

It'll take some creative scheduling since I work weekends, but we plan to attend the opening night festivities, and probably spend some time there on Sunday as well.

Not a bad entry for my resume.

*****UPDATE*****
The official announcement is here.
I like how my name is first.

Jack's Generic Triathlon

Sylvia made me get up after only an hour or two of sleep to watch her compete again.
Sunday morning's event was at the Texas Ski Ranch in New Braunfels, as usual.



Distances were greater than the other two I've attended, but thanfully it was cloudy and reasonably cool this time. I didn't need a hat or a sweat-towel at all, but I was ready just in case.

Eye Of The Tiger!

I went with higher iso than usual due to the early hour and overcast skies.
I wanted to use very fast shutter speeds, so went with aperture-priority mode (wide open) and iso400-800.
Worked well, and there was no noise in the results.

As with any event, I can't resist shots like this.

Another reminder of the drought.


Stay tuned for more

Where Was I?

Ten minutes after I made the previous post our internet shut off.
It's been 8.5 days with no webbage, and that wasn't cool at all.
Rene just drove off in his ATT truck, and I'm finally online again.

Here's the rest of my Museum Reach photos, which would have been available here last Saturday had ATT not screwed my pooch so hard:

A neat little footbridge across the river, just around the bend from the Museum.

San Antonio Museum of Art.

SAMA again.

While working on this project an old forgotten dam was discovered.
Archaologists dug around and did the research, and their findings are on a historical marker nearby--I'm just glad they added underwater lights or it wouldn't be noticed.

Museum Reach

Museum Reach is what the newly-opened section of the RiverWalk is called.
It connects the older parts to the San Antonio Museum Of Art, and beyond to the Pearl Brewery and maybe even Brackenridge Park and the Witte Museum--we turned back to save some for another day.

Everything is clean and new and modern and cohesive compared to the rest of the RiverWalk, since it was designed and built all at once.
I can't begin to convey how much we love it.
It's wonderful, beautiful, whimsical, convenient, fun...I could go on and on.

What struck me was that unless you read the newspaper very carefully (or read Dave's blog) you wouldn't even know that all this beauty was being built! It's below street level, so miles of construction was hidden from view for years unless you knew where to look.
Then suddenly it's there, and it's great.


We got to watch several barges use the new locks.
When Lila Cockrell was mayor, she suggested that people get out of their barge and walk past the dam, then board another.
This is SO much better in every way.

I have four more photos and some stuff to tell you next time.

Drip...Drip...Drip...Bang...Bang

I never had any interest in water drop photos before.
Didn't see the point--good ones are cool and all, but does anyone buy prints of them to hang on their walls?
Can they be used to report an event of some kind?

All that changed when I actually tried it myself, due to seeing a good tutorial on how it's done at The Strobist blog.

The Strobist has taught me and a few million other people how to use flash units in the quickest and most effective way, and what I've learned there over the years has really taken my photography to another level.


I think this one should be called Balanced


Kangaroo


Crater

It took more time to fill my bucket than it did to take the pictures, even though for stuff like this you have to "spray and pray"--I took 85 shots in a few minutes to get these three.
And it turns out that I really enjoyed the process and the results.
It was fun, and I like looking at them.
Pics like this make nice desktop wallpapers.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Speaking of the Strobist, David Hobby: As a mentor to millions around the world, he's a pretty famous guy in photography.
Making DVDs on how to light, flying to Dubai and Seattle and Paris etc to give hands-on workshops, and just operating his incredible blog, this fellow is busy!.
So it's always a thrill when he takes the time to personally comment on photos of mine over at Flickr.
Apparently he's a fan of my pictures of guns and katydids, with the bugs having the edge since he actually added them to his "Favorites" listing.
With the guns, I get the impression he likes the guns themselves more than my photos.



Here's the full photo of my brother's hunting pistol:

It was my favorite photo from our second session shooting pics for his website, ZZakk's Lab.
(Link on the right side of this page)