Blue Skimmer at Da Farm

Photo Information

Taken:	6 October 2008 11:07 near Yorktown, Texas
Camera:	Canon Rebel XT / Cannon 18-55mm
Exposure:	ISO 400
	54mm, 0 EV
	f/10
	1/200

Backstory

I usually see these dragonflies near water, but this one wasn’t afraid to venture out into the fields and pastures. Just out taking a walk, burning digital film.

–18 June 2013

Grasses

Photo Information

Taken:	6 October 2008 11:02 near Yorktown, Texas
Camera:	Canon Rebel XT / Cannon 18-55mm
Exposure:	ISO 400
	53mm, 0 EV
	f/11
	1/250

Backstory

Every now and then Nature presents you with ready-made composition complete with symbolism. Here three stages of life overlap in three strands of grass. Make of it what you will.

–19 June 2013

Black Swallowtail on Creeping Oxeye

Photo Information

Taken:	6 October 2005 10:59 near Yorktown, Texas
Camera:	Canon Rebel XT / Cannon 18-55mm
Exposure:	ISO 400
	55mm, 0 EV
	f/14
	1/500

Backstory

It was a good walk. As you can see from the number of pictures I’m posting, the farm is a very interesting place. All you have to do is walk around and open your eyes in the country, and Nature will astound you with wondrous bounty.

I’m always amazed at how cooperative Nature’s creatures are when they aren’t being deadly violent. Here a Hairy Wedelia—I also love the name Texas creeping-oxeye—(Wedelia texans) feeds a Black Swallowtail (Papillo polyxenes) in return for the butterfly’s work as a pollinator.

–20 June 2013

Tropical Checkered Skipper

Photo Information

Taken:	6 October 10:57 near Yorktown, Texas
Camera:	Canon Rebel XT / Cannon 18mm-55mm
Exposure:	ISO 400
	55mm, 0 EV
	f/14
	1/400

Backstory

I believe this little feller is a tropical checkered skipper (Pyrgus oilers), but someone will let me know if I got that wrong. Its little brown and whitish mottling can make it hard to pick out against in the straw of a post-summer paddock. This guy’s wings have seen better days, but he was still flying when he stopped by to pose for me.

–21 May 2013

The House That Was a Barn

Photo Information

Taken:	6 October 2008 10:41 near Yorktown, Texas
Camera:	Canon Rebel XT / Cannon 18-55mm
Exposure:	ISO 400
	22mm, 0 EV
	f/11
	1/400

Backstory

This is another picture of “The House That Was” forming part of an archetypal rural landscape. The shadows from the trees, the overgrown brush blocking the front door, the ancient TV antenna, the rusty fuel tank, and the rust implement in the foreground all provide part of the ambience that screams, “rural” to me. But perhaps that’s because I watched this house’s slow decline from habitable to rubble. At this point, Dad was only using it as an occasional barn.

From a photographic standpoint, I like the way the temperature cools from the blistering sun to the cooler shade under the trees. Rust also seems to be a natural part of the color pallet. It’s a darker hue of the thirsty grass.

–13 May 2013

Grass and Implement

Photo Information

Taken:	6 October 2008 10:41 near Yorktown, Texas
Camera:	Canon Rebel XT / Cannon 18-55mm
Exposure:	ISO 400
	51mm, 0 EV
	f/13
	1/200

Backstory

Farm and ranch equipment is vital and necessary for a few days each year. It often spends the rest of its life weathering in a field waiting to be used.

I love the way the grass seeds washed out in the light to contrast with the rust on this old chisel plow. Even the imprecise focus on the grass, which was dancing in a gusty breeze, adds to the ambiance of this shot.

–13 May 2013

Jazz Cat

Photo Information

Taken:	5 October 2008 21:35 near Yorktown, Texas
Camera:	Canon Rebel XT / Lens not recorded
Exposure:	ISO 400
	21mm, 0 EV
	f/3.35
	1/60 (flash)

Backstory

Dad had already gone to bed, and I was getting ready for bed myself when I noticed Dad’s trumpet laying on the couch by the cat pillows Mom had in place of real cats. Lighting is from a single overhead 60W bulb and the built in flash. The pillow looks as if it could blow that horn better than me. Well, OK. That’s not saying much.

–15 April 2013

[Monarch] Butterfly

Photo Information

Taken:	21 September 2008 09:23 Live Oak Unitarian Universalist Church
Camera:	Canon PowerShot A550
Exposure:	ISO 125
	23.2mm, 0 EV
	f/5.5
	1/160

Backstory

I’ve said before that the gardens at Live Oak are one of my favorite places. Master gardener Hella does a wonderful job providing beauty and habitat for humans and butterflies to enjoy. I snapped the monarch enjoying the gardens when I stepped out for a breath of fresh air between rehearsal and performance.

Various types of butterflies, bees, and other pollinators visit Live Oak throughout the year.

–2 November 2012

For the Record

Photo Information

Taken:	5 September 2008 20:10
Camera:	Canon PowerShot A550
Exposure:	ISO 200
	5.8mm, 0 EV
	f/2.6
	1/60

Backstory

For the record, this is what you saw reflecting in Brass Sunset. Oh, and it proves football was played, if not paid attention to.

The picture is a little grainy, but not that bad for a point-and-shoot.

–15 October 2008

Brass Sunset

Photo Information

Taken:	5 September 2008 20:08
Camera:	Canon PowerShot A550
Exposure:	ISO 200
	5.8mm, 0 EV
	f/2.6
	1/60 with flash

Backstory

This is one of my favorite shots of the McNeil Band ever. I love the way the sky blackens out even though the sun had not set yet. Look at the contrast how the flash reflects in the slides versus how the sunset reflects in the bells, especially the pattern formed by the right-most three.

And the middle of a song is the only time you can photograph a group of teenagers this large and have all of them candid to the lens!

Suna and I always sat next to the trombones under the Friday night lights. Even in October, the game—for what it was worth—was well underway before sunset, but we were there for the band kids.

Something about sitting next to the low brass changes how you listen to marching band music. It never sounds right from any other position. But then I say the same about the bass line in rock music.

–14 October 2012

What I Miss About Band

Photo Information

Taken:	5 September 2008 17:41 Avery Ranch, Texas
Camera:	Canon PowerShot A550
Exposure:	ISO 200
	5.8mm, 0 EV
	f/2.6
	1/60

Backstory

This is what I miss most about the kids graduating from high school: band trips. Just look at all those faces: happy, confident, shy…Declan wanting everyone to look up his nostrils.

This is what irritates me when Republicans say we don’t need band or music programs in our public schools. This is a diverse group of kids from different ethnic and economic backgrounds (diversity) that learned to work together (team work) and work hard (work ethic) on their own time (dedication) for a long period of time (persistence) to accomplish a difficult goal. Seems to me that is exactly what we should expect our schools to teach if we want our economy to survive and thrive. I say we can’t afford not to teach these lessons.

In the four years I served as a bus parent, I learned to love each of these kids for who they are. Today they are all young adults. Most of them are in college learning how to run our world when we’re gone. They made me proud to know them then and continue to make me proud.

Really! It’s just allergies making my eyes so moist.

–12 October 2012

I Wanna Be Elected

Photo Information

Taken:	4 September 2008 10:59 Yorktown, Texas
Camera:	Canon PowerShot A550
Exposure:	ISO 80
	13.7mm, 0 EV
	f/10
	1/250

Backstory

This picture says a lot about life in Small Town, Texas: the election apathy (the flags are part of a gas station promotion), the percentage of trucks in front of the lumber yard, the lack of traffic….

I wonder if the producers of The Daily Show ever figured out that one of their own was running for county commissioner in DeWitt County.

–11 October 2012

Attitude Dancing

Photo Information

Taken:	2 August 2008 19:30 The Meadows at Brushy Creek
Camera:	Canon PowerShot A550
Exposure:	ISO 200
	5.8mm, 0 EV
	f/2.6
	1/60

Backstory

Dec sure has that rock ’n’ roll attitude. Except for the small detail of his left hand, he looks like he just picked up his brother’s starter mando and is wailing away.

But that’s OK. Attitude has always been a big part of rock music. After all, it carried Dec to the point where he’s now a much better guitarist and all-around musician than I ever had the patience (practice ethic) to become. Now if he could just land some gigs…

–10 October 2012

Madam Butterfly

Photo Information

Taken:	30 June 2008 13:06 The Meadows at Brushy Creek
Camera:	Canon PowerShot A550
Exposure:	ISO 80
	5.8mm, 0 EV
	f/2.6
	1/500

Backstory

I haven’t posted a picture of Suna in a long time. Coming across this one gave me the excuse. Isn’t she (and her hand knitted shawl) lovely?

–9 October 2012

Cicada Killer

Photo Information

Taken:	30 June 2008 13:08 in The Meadows at Brushy Creek, Texas
Camera:	Canon PowerShot A550
Exposure:	ISO 100
	23.2mm, 0 EV
	f/5.5
	1/160

Backstory

Suna and I originally though this beastie was a hornet and we were afraid to get close enough to it to get a good close-up with the trusty point-and-shoot Cannon. Turns out that it is a cicada killer wasp, which is somewhat aggressive but unlikely to sting large animals like humans. The males are unable to sting at all.

Cicada killers only come out when local cicadas are active. They live in the ground, like cicada, and have been known to decapitate the chirpier insects. It seems a lot of things find cicadas annoying.

From accounts on the Web, I’m guessing they lay their eggs in the cicada’s body.

Looking at this picture, I wish I had one of my more powerful cameras and lenses then. Since one person said cicada killers are active about every four years, I may have missed my opportunity for a reshoot, but I’ll keep my eyes open.

–4 October 2012

New Guinea Impatiens

Photo Information

Taken:	26 June 2008 12:07 The Meadows at Brushy Creek
Camera:	Canon PowerShot A550
Exposure:	ISO 80
	5.8mm, 0 EV
	f/2.6
	1/100

Backstory

OK. This isn’t a really great picture. I just wanted to talk about the subject matter.

I’ve always loved New Guinea impatiens. Their foliage is almost as pretty as their flower, and they stand up to Central Texas summer a little better than other varieties. Then there is the bonus (especially to the vendors) that they are not invasive since they do not reproduce here and must be repurchased every year. Must be lacking a crucial pollinator or something.

When I first expanded the bed in our front garden, they were one of the anchor annuals. You can see old barrier just behind the NGI. Today added soil and annual automatic leaf mulch has raised the soil level behind the stone wall and completely buried the steel barrier that never kept anything in or out of the area it supposedly defined. Because I added soil slowly, it did no damage to the other perennials, including the big oak tree, that also live in that part of the garden.

–8 October 2012

Bisons and Rust

Photo Information

Taken:	15 June 2008 11:14 Lake Limestone Texas
Camera:	Canon PowerShot A550
Exposure:	ISO 80
	11.8mm, 0 EV
	f/9
	1/160

Backstory

We were looking for “a place on the lake” and wandered up to Lake Limestone, which is near Groesbeck, Texas. We didn’t find what we were looking for, but we did find these bison.

Nothing says “Texas” like bison.<eyeroll/>

I love the way their hides have the same colors as the rusty fence posts, and the barbed wire almost disappears against them.

–3 October 2012

Old Wood and Flowers

Photo Information

Taken:	25 May 2008 13:20 at Brushy Creek, Texas
Camera:	Canon PowerShot A550
Exposure:	ISO 200
	18.4mm, 0 EV
	f/5
	1/60

Backstory

I can’t believe our back yard used to look like this before the drought and me not having enough time to keep the front and back yard done for a couple of years. I love the textures of the wood of various ages and the potted plants. 

• We picked up a set of the chairs at an estate sale.
• The whiskey barrel came from a home center, as did the plants.
• A friend made the glider in the background.
• The BBQ photobombing on the left just adds a touch of urbanity.

The drawback to wooden patio furniture (even though I love it): it composts.

—3 October 2012

Diamonds and Embers

Photo Information

Taken:	25 May 2008 10:53 near Brushy Creek, Texas
Camera:	Canon PowerShot A550
Exposure:	ISO 80
	13.7mm, 0 EV
	f/4
	1/125

Backstory

You’ll need to view the full-sized version to make out the “string of diamonds” around the bloom. The dark red of the flower reminds me of the embers in a camp fire. All of this is set against the green of the lawn that will soon turn to brown, even with watering and water rationing.

–2 October 2012

Pink Hotness

Photo Information

Taken:	25 May 2008 10:49 near Brushy Creek, Texas
Camera:	Canon PowerShot A550
Exposure:	ISO 160
	5.8mm, 0 EV
	f/2.6
	1/60

Backstory

I can’t believe I didn’t post a picture of this lovely “annual” when I first potted it. Here it is in all its splendor after overwintering on the back porch. As of this posting, it is still doing well, but now it lives by the front door.

I love the soft delicacy of its feathery pink blooms and the toughness of its leaves. I had lost the name tag, but found an old blog entry that identifies this lovely as a variety of Jacobi.

–1 October 2012

Rust and Snow

Photo Information

Taken:	30 March 2008 11:53 near Yorktown, Texas
Camera:	Canon PowerShot A550
Exposure:	ISO 80
	5.8mm, 0 EV
	f/2.5
	1/500

Backstory

I tried several settings, but these thistle flowers are so white, they always appear to be ripped out of the page.

Each of the full blooms has at least one insect crawling around in the pollen.

—13 August 2012

Dad at Sunset

Photo Information

Taken:	29 March 2008 19:56 near Yorktown, Texas
Camera:	Canon PowerShot A550
Exposure:	ISO 200
	5.8mm, 0 EV
	f/2.6
	1/60

Backstory

This is pretty much the same shot of Dad as the one of Suna posted earlier. But Dad’s face is less washed out in the flash.

Sunset and Suna

Photo Information

Taken:	29 March 2008 19:56 near Yorktown, Texas
Camera:	Canon PowerShot A550
Exposure:	ISO 200
	5.8mm, 0 EV
	f/2.6
	1/60 flash

Backstory

The flash kinda washes out the highlights of Suna’s face, giving the foreground an almost poster-ish quality. It also, flattens the background into almost a grayscale. I think the overall effect is really cool—especially since I got it with a point-and-shoot camera.

—10 August 2012

Demon’s Eyes and Oil

Photo Information

Taken:	29 March 2008 19:55 near Yorktown, Texas
Camera:	Canon PowerShot A550
Exposure:	ISO 250
	5.8mm, 0 EV
	f/2.6
	1/60

Backstory

Do you ever get the feeling someone or something is watching you?

I love the way the sunset through the clouds looks like eyes—maybe demon’s eyes, maybe a space alien’s.

The short white phallus in the middle is the first oil well drilled around the farm. We were all so excited, filled with anticipation about what it would mean for the Yorktown, for the farm, for us. That was back before we even knew what the Eagleford Shale was.

—9 August 2012

It’s a Dog’s Life

Photo Information

Taken:	25 March 2008 18:39 The Meadows at Brushy Creek
Camera:	Canon PowerShot A550
Exposure:	ISO 200
	5.8mm, 0 EV
	f/2.6
	1/50

Backstory

Rose isn’t allowed on the indoor furniture without explicit invitation. Even then she can be a little shy about it—but not out here. She’s giving me a look like, “I ordered a margarita. That looks more like a daiquiri.” Or I guess, “Whaat?!” would be more age appropriate.

—30 July 2012

Dragon’s Flame

Photo Information

Taken:	25 March 2008 18:59 The Meadows at Brushy Creek
Camera:	Canon PowerShot A550
Exposure:	ISO 100
	5.8mm, 0 EV
	f/2.6
	1/60

Backstory

I love the way the color of this flower pops against the siding and brick of the house. I no longer remember the name of it. I want to call it “dragon’s flame” or something equally Asiatic, but who knows. If you know, please comment.

I thought I had blogged about it at The Hermitage, but no. At least, I couldn’t find anything.

This was just me wandering around with Suna’s camera taking pictures around the house. The siding is a little washed out in the direct sunlight, but that’s a tradeoff for the way the sunlight reflects from the water drops on the leaves.

—5 August 2012

Retaining Wall

Photo Information

Taken:	22 March 2008 19:05 The Meadows at Brushy Creek
Camera:	Canon PowerShot A550
Exposure:	ISO <#ISO#>
	5.8mm, 0 EV
	f/2.6
	1/160

Backstory

This was the first retaining wall project I built around the house. I guess I got a little carried away, but I sure wish I had time for projects like this again. It’s just not as satisfying to pay someone else to do the work.

Suna took the picture.

—9 August 2012

Orange Pixie

Photo Information

Taken:	20 March 2008 15:23 in The Meadows at Brushy Creek
Camera:	Canon PowerShot A550
Exposure:	ISO 80
	5.8mm, 0 EV
	f/7.1
	1/100

Backstory

I love this lilly. I even used a seriously cropped version of this picture to illustrate a “Friday’s Feast” on The Hermitage.

It’s an asiatic lilly of some variety identified only as “Orange Pixie,” although I see more red than orange. Suna and Declan can probably see the color distinction, but….

Here it is adding a pop of brightness in the front flowerbed when nothing else is really awake yet. The sun plays with its foliage and its flower.

Epilog

This beauty was another victim of last year’s drought. For three years it brought new happiness in Spring as it and its children arrived and bloomed while the rest of the flower bed was wiping the sleep out of its eyes.

The drought of 2011 devastated it. By Spring of 2011, there were a half dozen orange pixies greeting visitors coming up the walk. This spring, only one spindly lilly poked its head above the soil. It withered and died back within weeks, not having been able to store enough energy to survive its initial growth spurt.

I’ll miss these guys.

—27 July 2012

Photobombed: The Pug from Space

Photo Information

Taken:	11 March 2008 19:12 The Meadows at Brushy Creek
Camera:	Canon PowerShot A550
Exposure:	ISO 250
	18.4mm, 0 EV
	f/5
	1/60 with flash

Backstory

Sometimes photobombing makes the picture better. Like I have no idea why I wanted a still life of the backyard showing the BBQ grill I was about to clean as it rests in the shaky wooden chair. Then the Android Pug with Laser Eyes materialized in the picture as I snapped. (Why, yes! He is standing on a platform. It’s the remnants of the kids’ old tree house that the HOA made us take down. I installed it by the back door so the old dogs could make it through the dog door.)

On a side note, Urban Dictionary defines “photobomb” as “One of innocent thing you should never say at an airport.” I’d like to know the backstory to that definition.

—8 August 2012

Happy Birthday to Me

Photo Information

Taken:	11 March 2008 19:01 at The Meadows at Brushy Creek
Camera:	Canon PowerShot A550
Exposure:	ISO 200
	5.8mm, 0 EV
	f/2.6
	1/60

Backstory

This is one of my favorite portraits of Suna and me. Just us in the back yard being happy on my birthday taken by Prince.

—25 July 2012

Prince and Me

Photo Information

Taken:	11 March 2008 18:55 The Meadows at Brushy Creek
Camera:	Canon PowerShot A550
Exposure:	ISO 200
	5.8mm, 0 EV
	f/2.6
	1/60

Backstory

Spending time with my dad this week makes me appreciate the time I got to spend with Suna’s dad—like sharing a beer while we bar-b-qued on my birthday in 2008. I think Suna took this one. I’m pretty sure I didn’t.

—4 August 2012

Boys Being Brothers

Photo Information

Taken:	9 March 2008 19:53 The Meadows at Brushy Creek
Camera:	Canon PowerShot A550
Exposure:	ISO 200
	5.8mm, 0 EV
	f/2.6
	1/60 with flash

Backstory

Here are Kynan and Declan being brothers. Notice how even the artist’s model is getting into the attitudinal mix.

I’ve always admired their healthy “attitude” [in the vernacular meaning] and the way they look out for each other. They seldom miss an opportunity for play.

—24 July 2012

Father and Daughter

Photo Information

Taken:	8 March 2008 20:33 in The Meadows at Brushy Creek
Camera:	Canon PowerShot A550
Exposure:	ISO 250
	11.8mm, 0 EV
	f/3.5
	1/60 with flash

Backstory

This is one of my favorite portraits of Suna and Prince, even with the flash reflecting off Prince’s glasses. They are both so happy to be in each other’s company, just hangin’ in the back yard.

—23 July 2012

The Three Caballeros

Photo Information

Taken:	8 March 2008 14:24 at 1890 Ranch Shopping Center
Camera:	Canon PowerShot A550
Exposure:	ISO 80
	5.8mm, 0 EV
	f/7.1
	1/320

Backstory

We were supposed to be posing for a serious group portrait. Instead, Prince started teasing Declan about being “freakishly tall.” I had to join in by crouching and insisting Declan was the tallest of the three of us (which he is, of course—even without me crouching).

I’m glad Sue Ann took this one. I like it much better than the serious version.

—22 July 2012

Redbuds and Steel

Photo Information

Taken:	2 March 2008 14:03 in The Meadows at Brushy Creek
Camera:	Unidentified
Exposure:	Not encoded

Backstory

One of the things I’ve learned going back through time and putting this blog together is that most of the pictures that have special meaning to me are not very interesting to others, at least in the context of a photo blog. I mean, who cares if I installed new landscaping just before I snapped this picture? Well, someone might if I posted it on my regular blog, but it doesn’t really belong here.

Another thing I’ve discovered is that I’m really fond of the chaotic pattern of tree branches against sky. I find it comforting, soothing even. And still, part of my brain wants to find meaning in them. Are humans nothing more than machines for creating metaphor?

But back to the picture… I’m posting this picture on a very hot day in July. It helps to remember the coolness of early March, when the red buds were the first promise of returning foliage. They look warm against the cold gray sky. A cheerful thought when it’s 100°F.

—21 July 2012