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