A Future Counter Top?

Photo Information

Taken:	16 December 2007 12:22 Enchanted Rock State Natural Area
Camera:	Canon PowerShot A550
Exposure:	ISO 80
	23.2mm, 0 EV
	f/5.5
	1/800

Backstory

Ever wonder why people in Central Texas have so many granite counter tops. It’s just laying around on the ground. In fact, Enchanted Rock is one huge hunk of granite that just popped up out of the earth.

Clean it, polish it, shape it, and you have a lovely counter top.

–4 June 2012

Suna in a Tree

Photo Information

Taken:	16 December 2007 13:55 at Enchanted Rock State Natural Area
Camera:	Canon PowerShot A550
Exposure:	ISO 80
	5.8mm, 0 EV
	f/7.1
	1/160

Backstory

This is the last picture I’ll post from this trip to Enchanted Rock. It kicks off my portrait series, “People in Trees” with my favorite people.

–10 June 2010

Dog in the Rocks

Photo Information

Taken:	16 December 2005 12:36 at Enchanted Rock State Natural Area
Camera:	Canon PowerShot A550
Exposure:	ISO 80
	5.8mm, 0 EV
	f/7.1
	1/250

Backstory

We were still circling to the outside of the big rock when we stumbled upon this formation. The natural symmetry, the light on the rocks contrasting with the dark green of the oaks, the dog in the rocks…. Can you see the dog watching over the cactus?

I love the way the brain picks out recognizable patterns even when they don’t exist. (I won’t dwell on the philosophic or metaphysical implications of this trait here.) 

–8 June 2007

A Rock with a View

Photo Information

Taken:	16 December 2007 12:29 at Enchanted Rock State Natural Area
Camera:	Canon PowerShot A550
Exposure:	ISO 80
	23.2mm, 0 EV
	f/5.5
	1/400

Backstory

This picture is a closer look at the rocky outcropping in the Old West Landscape. It looked so small standing behind the dead tree in that picture.

To give you a sense of scale, look for the little pinkish-red blur on top of the rock. A darker blob stands beside it just above a vertical yellow streak.

Those are people.

And this isn’t even the big rock….

–6 June 2012

The Big Rock

Photo Information

Taken:	16 December 2007 12:45 at Enchanted Rock State Natural Area
Camera:	Canon PowerShot A550
Exposure:	ISO 80
	5.8mm, 0 EV
	f/7.1
	1/250

Backstory

This is the big rock. At this resolution, which pixels are people?

–9 June 2007

Strange Fruit

Photo Information

Taken:	16 December 2007 12:05 Enchanted Rock State Natural Area
Camera:	Canon PowerShot A550
Exposure:	ISO 80
	23.2mm, 0 EV
	f/5.5
	1/400

Backstory

I’m not really sure what this is. It looks like a cactus growing out of a mesquite branch. You never know what you’ll find when you look.

–29 May 2012

Old West Landscape

Photo Information

Taken:	16 December 2007 12:24 at Enchanted Rock State Natural Area
Camera:	Canon PowerShot A550
Exposure:	ISO 80
	9.8mm, 0 EV
	f/8
	1/200

Backstory

All we need is a vulture sitting on the barren tree to make this a stereotypical Old West picture. Look at the play of shadow on the left side of the tree.

I love the starkness of the landscape around Enchanted Rock. It’s so dry and karsty. It makes you understand the type of people who settled this land and made it support them. It makes you glad they did and you don’t have to.

–5 June 2012

Tug of War

Photo Information

Taken:	23 September 2007 08:59 Brushy Creek, Texas
Camera:	Cannon PowerShot A550
Exposure:	ISO 200
	5.8mm, 0 EV
	f/2.6
	1/60 flash

Backstory

This picture illustrates one of the reasons Rose survived despite her puppyish preference for chewing antiques. She is the sweetest!

When Suna took this picture, Gwenyth (the corgi) had been blind for more than a year. Rose (the black pup) would find the tug rope for her and take it to Gwen. Gwen loved to play tug of war, even though she couldn’t find the rope. She and Rose would play until Gwen was tuckered.

I’m sure this exercise helped keep Gwen alive and happy a little longer.

–29 May 2012

A Rose That Rocks

Photo Information

Taken:	9 September 2007 12:10 at Live Oak Unitarian Universalist Church, Cedar Park, Texas
Camera:	Cannon PowerShot A550
Exposure:	ISO 80
	15.8mm, 0 EV
	f4.5
	1/500

Backstory

Live Oak is lucky enough to have a certified master gardener who volunteers to oversee its grounds. She works long, hard hours and beautiful flowers like this rock rose are the result. She focuses on native plants.

–7 May 2007

Miracles at Church

Photo Information

Taken:	9 September 2007 14:21 at Live Oak Unitarian Universalist Church, Cedar Park, Texas
Camera:	Unknown

Backstory

For some reason, none of the photo information is saved with this file. The picture is in the middle of a group of flower garden pictures I took at Live Oak, so I’m making some assumptions here, but…


The landscaping is one of my favorite things about Live Oak. Hella and her volunteers do such wonderful things with native plants. And we all know native plants are important for attracting butterflies. This one looks like a mourning cloak, but I’ll defer to any real lepidopterist who wants to leave a correcting comment.

–29 May 2012

Mantis at Prayer

Photo Information

Taken:	1 September 2007 16:13 Granger, Texas
Camera:	Canon PowerShot A550
Exposure:	ISO 80
	15.8mm, 0 EV
	f4.5
	1/160

Backstory

I was at the Granger house to do a little to get ready to sell it when I noticed this lovely climbing the chain link fence. He was wary of me but totally unafraid. I was too big to eat and I tried not to be threatening, so I wasn’t very interesting to him.

As I recall, the day was hot and sunny, as befits the first of September in Central Texas. Sweltering is another word for it with lots of flying insects around—perfect conditions for mantises to hunt. This one seems to have been pretty successful.

–6 April 2012

Dad Shares His Wisdom

Photo Information

Taken:	14 August 2007 11:06 near Yorktown, Texas
Camera:	Olympus C200Z
Exposure:	ISO 100
	6.4mm, 0 EV
	f/3
	1/125

Backstory

I know pictures like this are the real reason most of my family ever looks at this blog. I love taking pictures of Dad not only because he’s my dad, but also because completely ignores the camera. Because of this seeming unawareness, he always looks natural. Even shots I compose look like candids.

This one was a candid. He was lost in thought talking about something, and I was able to get him with his trailer, truck, and tractor as a backdrop. This is who he is, and he makes no bones about it.

–25 May 2012

Almost Everything’s Bigger in Texas

Photo Information

Taken:	14 August 2007 11:15 Yorktown, Texas
Camera:	Olympus C200Z
Exposure:	ISO 100
	8.7mm, 0 EV
	f7.2
	1/400

Backstory

Suna stands among the sunflowers that are taller than her. This just can’t have been taken at the farm. It must be somewhere near there because Dad hates sunflowers and would never let them get this big!

Too bad there was no GPS in this old camera.

–6 May 2012

Spider Skull

Photo Information

Taken:	14 August 2007 09:45 near Yorktown, Texas
Camera:	Olympus C200Z
Exposure:	ISO 100
	8.7mm, 0 EV
	f/3.6
	1/100

Backstory

The yellow garden spider is harmless to humans even though her cephalothorax looks very much like a human skull—at least in this picture. I’ve never known anyone to be bitten by one, but I have known lots of people to get freaked out by them. They’re big, fast, and voracious.

There are a lot of bugs to eat on a farm, and I’ve seen one of these babies catch and subdue a full grown gecko that had to outweigh her several times over. She made quick work of it, too.

Garden spiders were thick when I took this picture, which I’m posting even though it’s a little blurry. They were all over the farm, hanging anywhere there was an open space between two solid objects.

–23 May 2012

Behold My Plumage

Photo Information

Taken:	16 July 2007 12:13 near Ponder, Texas
Camera:	Olympus C200Z
Exposure:	ISO 100
	5.6mm, 0 EV
	f5.6
	1/250

Backstory

I believe the peacock probably inspired the Beholder in the original Dungeons and Dragons role playing game a million years ago when I was young. I mean…look at all those eyes! For a nonviolent fowl, all those eyes make an intimidating display. And its cry! Just what I always imagined the Beholder would sound like as it called hordes of ravenous monsters to devour the party invading its dungeon.


Back in this reality, some of the tail feathers that graced the altar when Suna and I got married may have come from this very bird. Thanks, G.

–23 May 2012

Cannon Over Chattanooga

Photo Information

Taken:	4 July 2007 14:17 Lookout Mountain near Chattanooga, TN
Camera:	Cannon C200Z
Exposure:	ISO 100
	5.6mm, 0 EV
	f5.6
	1/500

Backstory

I love this picture. Adding the sepia tone to the process really makes it seem as if you were at the Battle Above the Clouds—well if you ignore the freeway, business parks, speedboats, and other intrusions of modern Chattanooga. It’s painful to imagine this idyllic site playing host to war, but the cannon reminds us of that inescapable fact.

Since much of her family hails from Chattanooga, Suna has many photos of her growing up next to this cannon. A friend’s family once owned much of the land on which the Battle Above the Clouds took place. So the picture has many personal connections beyond the esthetic ones that also draw me to it.

–26 April 2012

Deep Purple

Photo Information

Taken:	28 June 2007 15:33 High Point, NC
Camera:	Canon PowerShot A550
Exposure:	ISO 80
	5.8mm, 0 EV
	f/2.6
	1/400

Backstory

This may look like flower arrangement, but it’s not. It’s really the top of a single floral stalk in Prince and Flo’s amazing garden. And again, I don’t know what kind of flower it is because I’ve never seen its like before.

–22 May 2012

Purple Bells

Photo Information

Taken:	28 June 2007 15:32 High Point, NC
Camera:	Canon PowerShot A550
Exposure:	ISO 80
	5.8mm, 0 EV
	2.6
	1/160

Backstory

This was taken when Suna introduced me to her parents. Poppy Prince and Flo had such a lovely garden! I could (and did) spend hours just admiring the plants they were able to grow there, including this unnamed lovely. I don’t know what most of them were because they don’t grow in Central Texas. Not much does.

–21 May 2012

Tiffany Party Hat

Photo Information

Taken:	13 June 2007 17:21 Brushy Creek, Texas
Camera:	Cannon PowerShot A550
Exposure:	ISO 80
	5.8mm, 0 EV
	f/2.6
	1/60 autoflash

Backstory

Of course Suna took this picture, but how else could I get into my own photo blog?

To say “thanks” for painting the room over the garage, Suna secretly ordered a Tiffany-style pole lamp with a shade done in complementary colors. When I first saw it, I had to try it on in honor of my friend Matt. Suna tells me her dad also had a designated lamp shade.

I’m not sure if I’m supposed to be a wizard in a conical hat or a colorful tin man. I guess you get to choose.

–17 May 2007

Spidey Sense

Photo Information

Taken:	12 May 2007, 16:43 at Inks Lake State Park
Camera:	FinePix V10
Exposure:	ISO 200
	13.6mm, 0 EV
	f4.2
	1/350

Backstory

Suna and I were hiking with some friends at Inks Lake State Park near Burnet, Texas (pronounced “Burn it,”  dern it) when we came across this lovely tarantula. It was a tad shy and retreated into its home. I love the structure of the web, but I wouldn’t want get caught in it. Look how it forms a tunnel back into the shelter of the plants against the karst.

I wish I knew more about arachnids. Perhaps someone can identify this lovely for me.

I think Suna took this photo. At least, it was taken with her camera.

–24 April 2012

Who’s Studying Whom?

Photo Information

Taken:	22 May 2007 12:23 at the family farm near Yorktown, Texas
Camera:	Olympus C200Z
Exposure:	ISO 100
	9.1mm, 0 EV
	f3.7
	1/650

Backstory

I think this may have been Kynan’s first exposure to cattle. I know it was the first time these cows ever saw him. Makes you wonder who’s studying whom. I also like how the dark brown cow is watching me.

In the background you can see Dad’s old fuel tank and the house that was.

–26 April 2012

Suna’s Red Shawl

Photo Information

Taken:	21 May 2007 16:46 Brushy Creek, Texas
Camera:	Olympus C200Z
Exposure:	ISO 200
	8.5mm, 0 EV
	f3.6
	1/50 (indoor, auto flash)

Backstory

Suna is wearing a red shawl she just finished knitting. The image is a bit flatter than I had hoped. The flash didn’t help much here.

The original picture features Dec’s unkempt (and mostly unused) project table in the background—something I thought detracted from the artistic merit of the shawl. I removed the background by hyper blurring it with Pixelmator.

Pixelmator is a Photoshop equivalent available for a fraction of the cost on the Mac App store. It does almost everything Photoshop does, but the selection tools are not as robust as you can tell by some of the hard edges on the shawl. I guess you do have to lose some functionality when you use a $39 app instead of a $800 one. That just means I’ll have to be more careful in selecting the edges next time.

–16 May 2012

That’s Why Perhaps They All Wear Chaps…

Photo Information

Taken:	12 May 2007 17:12 at Inks Lake State Park
Camera:	FinePix V10
Exposure:	ISO 64
	6.3mm, 0 EV
	f2.8
	1/450

Backstory

While I’m not a big fan of the prickly pear cactus—I much prefer the ones I call “prickless pears” because of their lack of thorns—I do admire its lush flowers. They are large, abundant, and bright yellow. They are also a micro-ecosystem, full of various life forms. You can see a larger bug of some kind in the topmost flower of this bouquet. Smaller bugs adorn some of the other blooms.

–25 April 2012

What’s Black and White and Red, Just Not All Over

Photo Information

Taken:	12 May 2007 15:34 on a Hiking Trail at Inks Lake State Park
Camera:	Cannon Rebel XT / EF-S 18-55mm lens
Exposure:	ISO 100
	6.3mm, 0 EV
	f2.8
	1/240

Backstory

I spotted this little feller while hiking at Inks Lake State Park. It was making good time across the rocks of the hiking path.

I’m not sure what kind of caterpillar it is. The closest picture I could find wash’t an exact match and was asking for help identifying the critter. The closest identified match was a Black Swallowtail butterfly caterpillar, but that guy has yellow spots, not red.

Some caterpillars change colors at pupation. Individual differences? A space caterpillar from another planet? If you have a clue, please leave a comment.

–1 April 2012

Springtime in Texas

Photo Information

Taken:	21 March 2007 09:47 at the farm near Cottonpatch, Texas
Camera:	Olympus C200Z
Exposure:	ISO 100
	8.2mm, 0 EV
	f7
	1/320

Backstory

Wouldn’t it be nice if rural life were really like this? Standing around watching the cows eat and the grass grow? <sigh/> It’s really a lot of work.

Nevertheless, I like the dream expressed in this picture. Suna is wearing one of her hand-knitted sweaters. The cows are grazing. The grass is green. All is right with the world.

–20 April 2012

From a Tiny Acorn…

Photo Information

Taken:	20 March 2007 17:01 St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Yorktown, Texas
Camera:	Olympus C200Z
Exposure:	ISO 100
	5.6mm, 0 EV
	f5.6
	1/400

Backstory

This tree should give us some perspective. Not only does it dwarf us physically, baring vandalism as befell the Treaty Oak or acts of God, this tree will out live us all. If we were lucky and lived in a different time, we could feed its roots when we died.

Local tradition has it this oak is more than 2,000 years old. As the church members put it, “It was around when Jesus walked the earth.”

–19 April 2012