Imagine

 

Imagine

 

Imagine: to think of or create (something that is not real) in your mind

to form a picture or idea in your mind of (something that is not real or present)

 

 

 

A frosty morning and a well trodden path.  The more prosaic out there would say "just a deer path".  Where is the fun in that?  What about the trolls and faerie and little folk that need to reach the river as well?  The enchanted ones that make their way by starlight and the liminal light of dawn and dusk?  See there tiny feet barely stirring the frozen blades?  Hear their work songs as they haul the steaming water back to hearth and home.  If you stay quiet and out of the way you can watch them work until the golden hour passes and the doors between our worlds ease shut once more.

 

Go ahead, imagine.





Cypress trees...I just love them.  Part of it has to do with where they hang out.  That would be all along the lovely river banks in the surrounding area.  They provide lovely color for us in the Fall, a handy roost for buzzards (see black spots at the top of this one),debris catchers for flash floods, jumping off points for imagination.   In the image below a fallen bit is suspended above the colored stones of the Comal river in New Braunfels.  The water was soon clear and beautiful it reminded of stained glass.

According to Texas Parks and Wildlife, the Bald Cypress that grows along fresh water rivers in my neck of the woods only grow in the United States now.  The Sabinal river takes its name from the Spanish word sabino which means cypress. 

This image The Cypress Sirens was captured along that river.

So you can see why these are some of my favorite subjects.  It doesn't matter if they are viewed from the bank, or a tube but they really shouldn't be viewed from a speeding car.  Next time you see them, stop and say Hello.  They'll have a story to tell if you listen. 

    


We lost a member of our family last night.  Ransom was a husband, father, friend and neighbor and will be sorely missed.  I can remember him more or less setting me on my photography path.  When I got my first digital camera I would take a photograph of a flower in my yard every Sunday and share it in an email with family and friends.  Ransom always had the most to say about them and how much he enjoyed them.  I began to work each week to capture an image I was sure he would think was great.  It helped train my eye and helped me look outside the box to try to keep it fresh each week.  I had never realized just how much that influenced me until now as I sit, trying to honor a friend who has passed. 

Here are some of those Sunday flowers for you Ransom. You will be missed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back road gem

 

Little Joshua Creek

I've been running the roads again and there is no better time than October to do that in my neck of the woods.  At this time of year we've gotten some rain.  The humidity has dropped.  I like nothing better than driving slow with my windows down listening to bird song and looking for what's around the next bend in the road.  This bend showed me a low water crossing at Little Joshua Creek in the Texas Hill Country.  I pulled off the road and just stood there with my camera.  Several farm and ranch trucks passed as I stood and each driver waved with a smile.  They knew they had it good out here.

Guardians

Rear Guard

Donkeys as a herd or flock guards are fairly common in my area.  Along with being incredibly picturesque they are diligent in keeping an eye on who is driving up and what they might be selling.  I was all set to catch some sheep doing, you know, sheep things when the three amigos here decided it was time to visit another field.

 

Here is a link to a little guy I know personally showing off- Buddy, my folks miniature donkey, doing his thang. -Cheryl captured this just the other day.  Go Buddy GO! Guarding the home place.

2013 World Wide Photo Walk

The World Wide Photo Walk happened Saturday and San Antonio was full of stories waiting to be captured. Here are a few.
On the town

 

 

 

 

 

One of my favorite things to do is to go on a shooting "go and see" with my photo buds.  This world wide event was a perfect excuse for us to hit down town San Antonio and see what we could see.  It is a great way to share our work, keep each other out of trouble and talk shop.  

 

Look what I can do! (insert Stuart jump kick)

Three Kings

 

 

 

Ok-maybe it is more aptly said. Look what I can use!  I've been searching for a while for something that would enable me to show the scale of a photography in a room.  I used all kinds of search terms in online searches and finally came across the term Wall Guide and found this wonderful site by Ariana Falerni where you can place your photos in groupings or individually within a room to give a client an idea of how the art the purchase might look in their home.  I've known since I started that I'm not an instinctive photoshop user and that is what made finding someone that does speak the language such treat.  The program was easy to use and adapt and I'll be exploring further in the future. 

 

What else did I learn?  I live in a teensy cottage but some folks have large blank walls needing art.  I need to expand my scope.  This photograph Three Kings was from my last trip to Scotland and taken from the top of Duart Castle.  This was also my first really large print sale.  The customer that ordered this got it in a 36x48.  While I had trouble finding a space big enough to view the whole thing in my little place, this really is a piece worthy of a grand scale and is most striking when shown large.  So I need to think outside my cottage dimensions and make a point of letting folks know that the photographs can "go big".  With this handy new program I'll be able to help you decide what size image would work best in your space.  I want you to love the art you receive from me, big or small.

 

Now, let's go make some pictures!



 

 

That's it!  I'm diving in head first folks.

I've quit my day job and am going to explore my photography to my heart's content.  What exactly that means will be determined along the way.  I will continue to have my work available in a variety of venues online.  I hope to have a presence in select local galleries and shops as well.  Now that I have weekends free for the first time in almost 30 years I'll be taking part in local art shows and sales as well so I hope to meet you person one day.  Stay tuned and follow my photo adventures big and small. I've got a trip to Italy and Scotland (of course) in the works for the coming year and who knows where else I'll find myself.  I've made a start on the dance hall project I've been dreaming about and my "to do and to see" list has grown gleefully.  Thank you for your continued support and encouragement.  Vacilando baby!! 

Vacilando

 

I'm in the process of reading Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck.  I can't tell you what a chord this has struck with me.  Perhaps it reminds me of my young life living in Alaska and camping out most weekends during the summer.  Maybe he is capturing they same feelings I'm having now when I MUST "go and see".  For whatever reason I am thoroughly enjoying it.  About 22% in (thank you Kindle for the lack of page numbers) he describes the word vacilando.  Its a Spanish word that doesn't really have an English equivalent.  He says, "if one is vacilando, he is going somewhere but doesn't greatly care whether or not he gets there, although he has direction.  This so closely describes my "go and see" trips that I actually said "exactly!" out loud when I read it.

I'm on an Easter egg hunt, a visual troll using my imagination as bait. I hit the high planes west of San Antonio last weekend and came across cows in the winter scrub brush, empty houses with stories still to tell and a new word that just might make a great tattoo.



Wellspring

Wellspring: a noun.
An orginal and bountiful source

Did the tree grow out of a well or was the young tree walled up to keep it from wandering off?

The Loom and Freethinkers

I got to spend some time yesterday in the lovely little hill country town of Comfort, TX.  Just northwest of San Antonio and just off Ih 10, this small community was formed by Freethinkers back in the mid eighteen hundreds.  I found this information about them online.

 

"Freethinkers" Of the Early Texas Hill Country

By Edwin E. Scharf

Between the years 1845 and 1860, a large contingent of German Freethinkers immigrated to the Texas Hill Country. Unlike the thousands of Adelsverein-sponsored German farmers immigrating to the United States and Texas to escape overpopulation and economic problems, the Freethinkers, being ardent advocates of democracy and freedom from religion, were fleeing primarily from political and religious tyranny. They came to the United States seeking freedom from dictatorial monarchies and clerics.

The Freethinkers refused to accept political absolutism and the authority of a church, religion, or its supposedly inspired scripture. They insisted on the freedom to form religious opinions on the basis of intellectual reasoning powers and not on blind, unquestioned faith. Freethinking became fashionable in the German state of Prussia during the reign of Frederick the Great, who ruled from 1740-53, within a period known as the "Age of Reason."

The town now is a lovely mixture of art and culture.  Lovely cafes and restaurants and eclectic shops full of antiques and Texas hill country flair. Where handmade and unique are appreciated and the artist is celebrated. 

A lovely little stone house or maybe a shop on High Street with an apartment above would be a lovely way to spend my days.  I'd have a tin ceiling and lovely old wood floors.  The front door would be a little narrow like they always are and it would open into the store instead of opening out. (I never seem to remember that, no matter howmany of those doors I open) I'd have lots of old wood furniture with the edges worn to rounded silk from years of use.  There would be a shop cat that would be sublimely oblivious of all her admirers.  And all the time in the world to make photographs and knit and create and drink tea with friends and ..... Comfort, you are well named.