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

Merry Christmas

I really wanted to have a religious photo for our Christmas cards this year, but with my work and band schedules gone all crazy we just didn't have the time to go 'in search of' besides the one trip downtown mentioned in the previous post.
So I rooted around in my big external drive for stuff from years past, knowing that there are more than a few really good ones that have never been shown to anyone.

Lo and behold, the shot I intended to make this year was already in the bag--I had forgotten it. There are two versions from right after Christmas Eve Mass 2011--the other one had the forcus point shifted to the giant crucifix at St. Vincent DePaul Catholic Church, with the tree being blurry. I let Sylvia pick which to use and am very happy with the result.


It's been an amazing year for me.
Never in a million years would I have thought that I would be in a position to gift a 47" Vizio TV. (We had decided on 42" but they were all gone, and the bigger one was only $30 more...)
OMG it's HUGE and the most amazing picture anyone has ever seen!
All our friends and family went HD years ago, but since this TV is new and has all the best specs (like 120hz refresh rate) it's picture quality is insane.

When I enable 1080HD on the cable box, we were both stunned. "Look at the blades of grass! Look at the beads of sweat! It's so pretty!"

Sylvia loves it and was completely surprised (she said "What the crap?") but make no mistake--in this house the living room TV is ALL hers until late at night. I didn't buy it for me at all.
Sadly, it's so big that the giant lazy susan I built for our last set doesn't work cuz it can only be rotated a little before hitting a wall, meaning I can't turn it towards the kitchen during dinner or when I'm camped out at the counter fixing stuff or stringing a bass or tuning a trigger.
Looks like I need a smaller flat screen in the dinette running off the splitter I put in the cable (after our DVR so there's no time delay in the sound).
Oh darn! I think a 26" ought to be about right.


This Holiday Season has been such a joy, not stressing about money for gifts and supplies. Despite my hectic schedule I was (mostly) calm and relaxed.
The best part was all the pleasure I got from giving to charity and helping folks spontaneously.

I hope y'all have had a joyous holiday season, too.

Happy Easter!

This door stays open



Mission Concepcion
San Antonio Texas
April 3, 2010

Something Strange At SAMA

Time for some New World art.

Ever meet someone who personifies the old saying "Couldn't find his own ass using both hands"?
Now you know what that looks like.


Another Robertson-inspired composition. This style is growing on me. Did I do it right?
BTW, the shadow behind the man's ear is actually a reflection of my ear.
Clever?
Accident?
So what?
Thought so.

It was in this next room, where I remarked "It looks like they looted a Mexican church", that the weirdness began.
Mexican folk art and religious art appeal to be in a big way, from the Day of the Dead to Catholicism to altars and even tourist junk. At first I was really enjoying myself.

Right around this part of the exhibit I started getting a feeling I know all too well. My heart started racing, my scalp tingled, my stomach dropped out my ass and ran away...
(BTW--while Photoshopping this photo the eye moved while I was looking right at it!)

It didn't take long to figure out (as I almost ran past it) that this big and complicated altar was the source of my discomfort.
In fact, I had to wait a few minutes before returning to get the picture, and I'll be damned if it didn't start all over again.

Say what you will about the supernatural, especially the concepts of ghosts and haunted places.
Can't be proven, agreed. (Yet! Never seen a radio wave but I have enough proof to admit they exist).
But why is it that a large percentage of people from every known civilization since the dawn of time believe?
Coincidence? Don't be foolish. Statistically impossible.
It's because they have experienced very strange things, as have I for most of my life.
Always associated with very specific locations.
Always seen/heard/felt by others.

The place I lived before moving here was haunted as hell, and I have plenty of witnesses. Impossible things happened late at night, and we could actually bring them on by talking about ghosts after 3am.
I would get smacked in the face while sleeping and awake to find my arms were under the covers, so it wasn't me thrashing around hitting myself. A quick run to the mirror would allow me to see the marks before blood started to flow.
As the paint on my walls faded I discovered bullet holes, and asked a neighbor about the deaths in my place. He confirmed.
I'm a rational and intelligent man who could have lived quite happily NOT believing in this stuff, but an open mind and careful examination of the evidence leaves no other explanation.
And like I said, I've got LOTS of witnesses.
(Some of whom would rather not talk about it while others think I should write a book).

So trust me when I tell you that there is a haunted room at the San Antonio Museum of Art. Whether it's connected to the objects displayed within or from something that happened in the building's previous life as a brewery I can't tell you.
I just know what side of which room I'm going to be careful about visiting.

And I fully intend to return, because it's also my favorite exhibit.
I'll just have to work quickly.