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