Friday, March 29, 2013

66/365: Culvert

Spent two days squeezing myself into this culvert to try and get the shot I wanted for my class project. And ultimately, once I finally got the shot, it didn't live up to my expectations and probably won't be included in my project. But hey, I got this odd self portrait out of it.

Self portrait Jayme Lynn Blaschke, culvert. Lisa On Location photography, San Antonio, Austin, New Braunfels, San Marcos. 365 photo project

Camera: Canon 7D
Lens: Tamron 28-75mm 2.8

Now Playing: The Beatles 1962-1966
Chicken Ranch Central

Friday Night Videos

As I head off to get the final three shots of my photo project--the follow-up to the one my prof dismissed with "didn't look like you put much effort into it"--I take some degree of satisfaction in knowing he won't be able to even think about saying that this time around. Also, one particular song is serving as my theme music for the evening, so it's only apropos I share Lily Allen with you folks on this fine evening.

Previously on Friday Night Videos... Falco.

Now Playing: The Police Message in a Box
Chicken Ranch Central

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

65/365: Note

This somewhat cryptic note showed up unexpectedly in my photo lab locker at the university. Not sure what to think. On one level, it's kinda cool. On another, it's kinda creepy. Or, most likely, whoever put it in there got the wrong locker...

365 photo project. Lisa on Location photography, Austin, San Antonio, New Braunfels, San Marcos

Camera: Canon 7D
Lens: Canon EF 50mm 1.8 mark I

Now Playing: Howard Shore The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Chicken Ranch Central

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

64/365: Cicada shell

Went camping with Bug's Cub Scout troop over the weekend at Canyon of the Eagles Park on Lake Buchanan. The lake was so low all we could see were dried mud flats from the park. And a cold front blew in around 3 a.m. that made sleeping impossible and/or miserable. The observatory was closed and our campsite was tree-bound, so we couldn't do any star gazing. All in all, a very frustrating weekend. But Bug had fun, roasted hot dogs and made smores over the campfire and did all those silly Cub Scout things that make camping trips fun despite the hassles. And I got this nifty shot of an old cicada shell in a tree next to our tent, so I consider that win/win.

macro cicada shell, Lisa on Location Photography, 365 photo project, San Antonio, Austin, New Braunfels

Camera: Canon 7D
Lens: Nikon 50mm AI-S w/ reversing ring and Vivitar 2x teleconverter

Now Playing: Aerosmith Unplugged
Chicken Ranch Central

Monday, March 25, 2013

63/365: Coriander germination

As part of my 35mm film photography class, I'm experimenting a lot with various macro setups and subjects. This is a germinating coriander seed. I'd thought to do an entire series of germinating seeds, but my experience with this one was... challenging to say the least. I'll need to refine my technique as well as studio setup (such as it is) before I try this again.

coriander seed germination, Lisa on Location photography, macro,365 photography project, San Antonio, Austin, New Braunfels

Camera: Canon 7D
Lens: Canon 100mm 2.8 macro

Now Playing: Aerosmith Unplugged
Chicken Ranch Central

62/365: Landa Railroad VII

Sixth in a series featuring the venerable and beloved Landa Park Railroad in New Braunfels.

Landa Park Railroad, New Braunfels. Lisa on Location photography, 365 photo project.

Camera: Canon 7D
Lens: Tamron 28-75mm 2.8

Now Playing: The Kinks Misfits
Chicken Ranch Central

Sunday, March 24, 2013

61/365: Landa Railorad VI

Sixth in a series featuring the venerable and beloved Landa Park Railroad in New Braunfels.

Landa Park Railroad, New Braunfels. Lisa on Location photography, 365 photo project.

Camera: Canon 7D
Lens: Tamron 28-75mm 2.8

Now Playing: The Kinks Schoolboys in Disgrace
Chicken Ranch Central

60/365: Landa Railroad V

Fifth in a series featuring the venerable and beloved Landa Park Railroad in New Braunfels.

Landa Park Railroad, New Braunfels. Lisa on Location photography, 365 photo project.

Camera: Canon 7D
Lens: Tamron 28-75mm 2.8

Now Playing: The Kinks Schoolboys in Disgrace
Chicken Ranch Central

Saturday, March 23, 2013

59/365: Landa Railroad IV

Fourth in a series featuring the venerable and beloved Landa Park Railroad in New Braunfels.

Landa Park Railroad, New Braunfels. Lisa on Location photography, 365 photo project.

Camera: Canon 7D
Lens: Tamron 28-75mm 2.8

Now Playing: The Kinks Preservation Act 1
Chicken Ranch Central

58/365: Landa Railroad III

Third in a series featuring the venerable and beloved Landa Park Railroad in New Braunfels.

Landa Park Railroad, New Braunfels. Lisa on Location photography, 365 photo project.

Camera: Canon 7D
Lens: Tamron 28-75mm 2.8

Now Playing: The Kinks Preservation Act 2
Chicken Ranch Central

Friday, March 22, 2013

57/365: Landa Railroad II

Second in a series featuring the venerable and beloved Landa Park Railroad in New Braunfels.

Landa Park Railroad, New Braunfels. Lisa on Location photography, 365 photo project.

Camera: Canon 7D
Lens: Tamron 28-75mm 2.8

Now Playing: The Kinks Live In London 1973/1977
Chicken Ranch Central

56/365: Landa Railroad I

First in a series featuring the venerable and beloved Landa Park Railroad in New Braunfels.

Landa Park Railroad, New Braunfels. Lisa on Location photography, 365 photo project.

Camera: Canon 7D
Lens: Tamron 28-75mm 2.8

Now Playing: The Kinks Live In London 1973/1977
Chicken Ranch Central

Friday Night Videos

Here's the late, great Falco with his seminal 1980s hit, "Rock Me Amadeus." I actually prefer the extended version with the chronological voice-over, but there doesn't seem to be an official video of that online. "Amadeus" is also a far cry from Falco's best work, but it is his biggest U.S. hit and what he's known for, so what the hell. It does have a goofy charm to it, and Falco knows how to rock a tux.

Previously on Friday Night Videos... Michael Jackson.

Now Playing: The Kinks The Great Lost Kinks Album
Chicken Ranch Central

Thursday, March 21, 2013

55/365: Huisache blossom

Here's the companion piece to that image of a huisache bud I posted a couple of days ago. It's strange, because most of the year huisache seem pretty much the same as mesquite in the Texas countryside, but come spring--BOOM!--they burst out in these incredible displays of yellow-orange flowers. And the flowers themselves are bizarrely intricate puff ball-looking things. I even found a wine recipe online that uses huisache flowers as a main ingredient. Imagine that.

365 photo project, huisache flower macro, Lisa On Location photography, San Antonio, Austin, New Braunfels

Camera: Canon 7D
Lens: Canon EF 100mm 2.8 macro

Now Playing: The Kinks Lola vs. Powerman and the Money-Go-Round, pt. 1
Chicken Ranch Central

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

53/365: Kovar church

More catch-up going on. Remember the other day where I skipped an entry and promised to come back to it later? It's later.

I assisted The Wife in photographing a wedding this past weekend in Smithville. The reception was held at the SPJST Hall in tiny Kovar, Texas. As I finished my second shooting duties and was leaving, I saw the sun hitting the nearby Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church beautifully, and I had to stop and get some shots. I love these small Czech churches that date back to the turn of the previous century, and their painted insides are gorgeous. Unfortunately, I'd forgotten to charge the batteries in my infrared camera (which is what I wanted to shoot the church with) so I managed only three shots before my camera went dead. Even so, I like this angle.

Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church, Kovar, Texas. Infrared. Lisa on Location photography, New Braunfels, Austin, San Antonio, San Marcos. 365 photo project

Camera: Canon XTi/400D 720nm infrared converted
Lens: Canon EF-S 10-22mm

Now Playing: The Kinks Give the People What They Want
Chicken Ranch Central

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

54/365: Huisache bud

I'm skipping an installment for the time being because I haven't had a chance to properly process it because of my busy schedule. Instead, I'm sharing another macro shot as I continue my never-ending efforts to catch up and become current with my 365 project. It's springtime here in south-central Texas, and that means the local huisache are in bloom. Here's a flower bud from the shrubby, thorn-encrusted trees. I'm not very happy with my processing job here--the background is too blue, for starters--but sometimes time constraints don't allow for the pursuit of perfection. I might revisit this one in the future, but it won't likely be any time soon.

huisache flower bud macro, 365 photo project, Lisa On Location photography, San Antonio, New Braunfels, Austin, San Marcos

Camera: Canon 7D
Lens: Canon EF 100mm 2.8 macro

Now Playing: The Kinks Kriminally Rare
Chicken Ranch Central

Monday, March 18, 2013

Sometimes a great notion...

Okay, I'll officially admit it: Taking 9 hours this semester at Texas State was a bad idea. No, not just a bad idea, but rather a horrendously disastrous train wreck of an idea that is now and will continue to inflict untold suffering on me for the next two months.

I'm regretting every moment of it.

It wasn't supposed to be this way. Four years ago I took nine hours. Loved it. Pulled a 4.0. Yes, I worked hard and put in long hours, but I came out of classes enthused and inspired. Now, I come out of classes drained, beaten and exhausted. To make matters worse, I'm not learning anything. Well, I'm learning a few things, but nothing of any real value to me. Basic Drawing, one of the fine arts prerequisite courses I have to take, is killing me. I took the other one, 2D design, four years ago and did well. It was fun, if time consuming. Drawing class is not fun. In fact, it sucks all the fun out of art. It is entirely technical, repetitious and utterly non-creative. It exists to instill theory and the use of various media and techniques on art students who will go on to use these in more advanced classes. Which I won't. This class is grinding me down under its relentless onslaught of out-of-class assignments, and in-class assignments are just as demanding. Despite it all, I have a B average in the class, which is okay, I suppose, but my goal is to make an A. That may be out of reach.

The other two classes, Digital Photography and Advanced Traditional Photography, are significant disappointments as well. We're not learning any new skills. The prof in digital seems intent on training everyone in the class to become photographers in the mold of William Eggleston, whose work I absolutely loathe. And the assignments and grading thereof are growing increasingly vague and arbitrary. The advanced traditional course is little better, with vague and ill-defined assignments being the norm, but with a heavy dose of fortune-cookie philosophy thrown in and repeated every time a significant question is raised. I'm carrying Bs in both of those, despite spending hours in the development lab and in Photoshop to get the prints perfect, only to be dismissed by the prof saying, "It doesn't look like this took much effort."

I didn't need these classes. I wanted them. I wanted to learn, and become a better photographer. That's not happening. The only growth I'm making as a photographer is coming from within, forcing myself to experiment and try new things on my own. Which, you know, I was doing already before I took these classes. I'm taking 9 hours, which are making me miserable, while maintaining a 40 hour work week. I did that four years ago, but the classes made it worth it. Not this time. My kids are four years older, and all are involved in extra-curricular activities. So there's much rushing and racing to get them where they need to be after school. And The Wife's photography business was just a crazy idea four years ago, whereas now it's one of the busiest photography studios in the tri-county area with her working more than full time and needing me more and more to second shoot as the busy wedding season kicks up. Hell, I'm so pressed for time with classes that I'm missing the George R.R. Martin "Deeper Than Swords" shindig at A&M this week--and that's something I'd normally have a front-row seat for ordinarily. And then there's the whole guardianship issues with my grandmother who's suffering from late-onset Alzheimer's and has been robbed blind by one particularly sleazy con artist. So I've had to deal with those legal issues--which decided to come to a head this semester--whilst simultaneously having all parties bitch at me about all the mistakes I've made and how I'm doing it wrong.

Remember my writing? Yeah, me neither. First reader feedback has come back on the Chicken Ranch book, but I haven't had time to do more than cursory edits on chapter 1. Forget about any fiction, or magazine article proposals. I'm in a state of continual physical and mental exhaustion. My back and shoulders are in a perpetual state of knotted constrictions, so much so I expect my bones to begin crumbling any day.

So, yeah. Big mistake, these classes. The sad thing is, the courses I took four years ago were not only fun, they taught me a lot and made me a better photographer. Somewhere along the line, I outstripped what the university offered. Wish I'd known then what I know now. If I survive these next two months, rest assured I won't make this mistake again.

Now Playing: The Kinks Kinda Kinks
Chicken Ranch Central

Friday, March 15, 2013

24/365: Zeiss/Plenachrome

Okay, finally got a print made and scanned of the missing photo of the day, no. 24. This is the Zeiss Ikonta camera we picked up last spring, along with the roll of 50-plus-year-old Plenachrome discovered inside it. I got some Kodak HC-110 low-fog developer and went into the darkroom at the university to attempt to get some prints out of this very old 110 film, but alas, every frame was hopelessly fogged. One or two had faint impressions, but nothing distinct enough to tell if it was a person, building, tree or chemical distortion from being stored in a hot attic for five decades. Ah, well, maybe next time.

Zeiss Ikonta and Plenachrome 110 film, Lisa On Location photography, 365, New Braunfels, San Antonio, Austin

Camera: Canon 7ne
Lens: Tamron 28-75mm 2.8

Now Playing: Art Tatum The Best of Art Tatum
Chicken Ranch Central

Friday Night Videos

Since "OZ: The Great and Powerful" seems to be raking in the box office... er, emeralds, I figured it was only appropriate to choose a video today that reflected the long history of cinematic adaptation of L. Frank Baum's work. So here's Michael Jackson singing "Ease on Down the Road." Didn't see that coming, did you?

Previously on Friday Night Videos... Leif Garrett.

Now Playing: Pink Floyd Delicate Sound of Thunder
Chicken Ranch Central

Thursday, March 14, 2013

52/365: Pinhole Mesquite

Doing a bit of experimentation today, trying to find some inspiration for my film photography class. So, having done well with macro on the last assignment, what other off-the-beaten-path approach is there for me to tackle? How about going retro with pinhole photography? I took and old pinhole "lens" I'd made out of a Canon body cap and took a few test shots with it yesterday. Sure enough, the images captured by my 7D were as crummy as I remembered--certainly not as coherent as those I've seen online. So I reworked it, replacing the foil and making an effort to get the pinhole centered exactly. The results of the revised lens are much better, but still a bit lacking. Still, this is giving me a starting point. Will see how the test shots with the Elan 7ne come out when I develop the film next week.

mesquite trees digital pinhole photography, Lisa On Location, San Antonio, New Braunfels, Austin

Camera: Canon 7D
Lens: pinhole

Now Playing: Pink Floyd Atom Heart Mother
Chicken Ranch Central

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

51/365: Lutea seed

Back in October, we made our annual family pilgrimage to the Texas Renaissance Festival. Near the end of the day, near the Wharfside Music Gazebo on the west end of the grounds, I noticed a vine growing up the side of a tree that looked very familiar. After a bit of memory searching, I realized that the small, lobed leaves had an uncanny resemblance to the affinis passion flower vine I used to have (which sadly died during the drought two years back). But it couldn't be affinis, because that's a species native to the Texas Hill Country, and doesn't grow this far east. Then it struck me--affinis was so named because of its very similar appearance to another, much more widespread, North American passion flower, lutea! I looked a little closer, and discovered many, many tiny blue-black fruit. Score me! I gathered a bunch and then placed them in my refrigerator once I got home for several months of cold stratification. I potted them up yesterday, so hopefully within a month I'll have baby lutea plants to plant out. And they're Texas native, too! (I had only one lutea plant before, one with nifty silver variegated leaves, but I managed to kill that one as well).

I've added lutea to my series of passiflora macro seed shots. Firstly, the lutea seed is about half the size of an incarnata or foetida seed, but that's not much of a surprise, as the passion flowers in subgenus decaloba tend to be smaller plants, with small leaves, flowers and fruit. If anything, I was surprise at how much bigger the seeds were than I expected. The seed roughly followed the traditional passiflora seed shape, but unlike other passion flower seeds I've photographed, the lutea seed does not show a dimpled, golf ball-like surface pattern, but rather a grooved one. Curious. I wonder if this is a common trait among decalobas? If I could only get my tenuiloba to fruit...

passiflora lutea seed macro, 365, lisa on location photography, New Braunfels, San Antonio, Austin

Now Playing: Pink Floyd Staying Home to Watch the Rain
Chicken Ranch Central

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

50/365: Foetida var. gossypiifolia seed

So, I'm returning to my macro passiflora seed project. I'm a big fan of passion flowers, and have killed far more than my share of plants in my time. The seeds are small, but fascinating. I expect I'll continue to add to this collection as I get my hands on more species. For now, here's a seed from passiflora foetida var. gossypiifolia, a native Texas passion flower also known as the "Cotton leaf" passion flower or "Corona de Cristo." I've seen some of the vines sprouting in the back yard, so hopefully I'll have some good shots of their complex bracts and flowers to share within a month or so. For now, we've got the seed, which is more angular and coarse than many other passiflora types. If dragons were real, I'd expect a dragon scale to look like this.

passiflora foetida var. gossypiifolio seed, Corona de Cristo, macro, passion flower seed, Lisa on Location photography, San Antonio, New Braunfels, Austin, 365

Now Playing: Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon
Chicken Ranch Central

49/365: Mexican fritillary

I'm struggling to find macro inspiration for my film photography class, so I decided to try my hand at insects yesterday before the sun went down. Great in theory, disastrous in practice. Some interesting wasps and flies seemed promising at first, but I couldn't even get a good shot of them with the 7D, much less the much-slower-process involved with the film-only Elan 7ne. So I ratcheted back my expectations and looked through some of the Incense passion vines that survived our weak excuse for winter and found this Mexican fritillary caterpillar munching on some leaves. Mexican and Gulf fritillary caterpillars look almost identical, but the Mexicans have a white stripe running lengthwise down their bodies amidst the orange and black, whereas Gulf fritillaries are strictly orange and black. What made this guy stand out is that he's getting ready to molt, and you can see his skin has turned grey where it's detached from the body underneath and nearly ready to shed.

Mexican fritillary caterpillar on Incense passion vine, 365 photo project, macro, Lisa on Location photography, San Antonio, New Braunfels, Austin

Here's a second, bonus shot I took, simply to give a better view of the fleeting grey coloration. By the time you read this, I'm sure it's already shed its skin is once again sporting its regular orange-black-white color scheme.

Mexican fritillary caterpillar on Incense passion vine, 365 photo project, macro, Lisa on Location photography, San Antonio, New Braunfels, Austin

Camera: Canon 7D
Lens: Canon EF 100mm 2.8 macro with Vivitar 2x telextender

Now Playing: London Philharmonic Orchestra Us and Them: Symphonic Pink Floyd
Chicken Ranch Central

Monday, March 11, 2013

48/365: Sundew

We had a big project due in Traditional Photography II Thursday. Inspired by the images of Karl Blossfeldt, I decided to try my hand at fine art-style macro images with my Elan 7ne. Since it was a film class, it was quite challenging. I'm happy to report that my set of images received positive reviews from all concerned, which is the first good thing that's happened to me this week. So, yay.

I did take test shots with my Canon 7D digital SLR. I'm sharing those outtakes here. This one is a macro shot of an Asian sundew. The film shot I turned in was quite dramatic, with strong directional lighting creating an alien, high-contrast image. It was seriously cool. The color version doesn't quite stack up, but does have the advantage of revealing the red tips to the tentacle appendages, which aren't visible to the human eye. Really, macro is cool. This little leaf was maybe half an inch long in real life...

Asian sundew macro, Karl Blossfledt, Lisa on Location Photography, New Braunfels, San Antonio, Austin

Camera: Canon 7D
Lens: Canon EF 100mm 2.8 macro with Vivitar 2x telextender

Now Playing: Pink Floyd A Saucerful of Secrets
Chicken Ranch Central

Saturday, March 09, 2013

47/365: Pitcher plant

We had a big project due in Traditional Photography II Thursday. Inspired by the images of Karl Blossfeldt, I decided to try my hand at fine art-style macro images with my Elan 7ne. Since it was a film class, it was quite challenging. I'm happy to report that my set of images received positive reviews from all concerned, which is the first good thing that's happened to me this week. So, yay.

I did take test shots with my Canon 7D digital SLR. I'm sharing those outtakes here. This one is a macro shot of an Asian pitcher plant. This one turned out strong both on black and white film as well as digital. The B&W print has nice tonality and fine detail, but I have to say I prefer the rich colors here. This was by far my largest subject for this project--the pitcher, one of the smaller on my plant--measured roughly 1.5 inches long, more than twice the length of the flytrap and way bigger than the 1/8-inch passion flower seed. Macro comes in all sizes.

Venus flytrap macro, Karl Blossfledt, Lisa on Location Photography, New Braunfels, San Antonio, Austin

Camera: Canon 7D
Lens: Canon EF 100mm 2.8 macro with Vivitar 2x telextender

Now Playing: Ray Charles and the Count Basie Orchestra Ray Sings, Basie Swings
Chicken Ranch Central

46/365: Flytrap

We had a big project due in Traditional Photography II Thursday. Inspired by the images of Karl Blossfeldt, I decided to try my hand at fine art-style macro images with my Elan 7ne. Since it was a film class, it was quite challenging. I'm happy to report that my set of images received positive reviews from all concerned, which is the first good thing that's happened to me this week. So, yay.

I did take test shots with my Canon 7D digital SLR. I'm sharing those outtakes here. This one is a macro shot of a Venus flytrap. I expected this to be the primary image in my project, but the black and white film images came out with disappointingly low contrast. They were dull, very very dull. I was able to boost the contrast in Photoshop with the digital files, and the color helped differentiate the flytrap as well. It's still not the dramatic image I'd envisioned, but it's much closer than what I was able to capture on film.

Venus flytrap macro, Karl Blossfledt, Lisa on Location Photography, New Braunfels, San Antonio, Austin

Camera: Canon 7D
Lens: Canon EF 100mm 2.8 macro with Vivitar 2x telextender

Now Playing: Ray Charles and the Count Basie Orchestra Ray Sings, Basie Swings
Chicken Ranch Central

Friday, March 08, 2013

Friday Night Videos

Oh, dear lord. I hadn't heard or thought about Lief Garrett or his mindless disco hit "I Was Made for Dancing" in years, if not decades. Yet I've heard it twice in recent days and expect it will start stalking me like a crazed ex-girlfriend. The only thing I really remember about this song from back in the day was that they based an entire third-season Wonder Woman episode around it, and had Garrett play twins in a convoluted prince/pauper abduction plot. It was very silly. But you know what? That episode isn't nearly as silly as Garrett's pants in this video. So just remember, no matter how bad a state you think our country may be in today, this once passed for entertainment.

Previously on Friday Night Videos... Peter Gabriel.

Now Playing: Jimmy Buffett Banana Wind
Chicken Ranch Central

Thursday, March 07, 2013

45/365: Thorns

We had a big project due in Traditional Photography II today. Inspired by the images of Karl Blossfeldt, I decided to try my hand at fine art-style macro images with my Elan 7ne. Since it was a film class, it was quite challenging. I'm happy to report that my set of images received positive reviews from all concerned, which is the first good thing that's happened to me this week. So, yay.

I did take test shots with my Canon 7D digital SLR. I'm sharing those outtakes here. This one is a macro shot of a Mexican fan palm thorns. It didn't make the cut because of some technical issues, but it cleaned up nicely in Photoshop for my 365 photo project.

365 photo project, Mexican fan palm thorns, macro, Lisa On Location photography, New Braunfels, San Antonio, Austin

Camera: Canon 7D
Lens: Canon EF 100mm 2.8 macro with Vivitar 2x telextender

Now Playing: Various artists Asian Groove
Chicken Ranch Central

44/365: Incarnata seed

We had a big project due in Traditional Photography II today. Inspired by the images of Karl Blossfeldt, I decided to try my hand at fine art-style macro images with my Elan 7ne. Since it was a film class, it was quite challenging. I'm happy to report that my set of images received positive reviews from all concerned, which is the first good thing that's happened to me this week. So, yay.

I did take test shots with my Canon 7D digital SLR. I'm sharing some outtakes here. This first one is a macro shot of a passiflora incarnata seed. I had a nice black and white print for my project, but the print suffered from my botched attempt at hand spotting. I like processing in Photoshop much better. Also, the rich colors are quite nice. Someday, I plan on doing an entire series of passiflora seed, because the variation from species to species is really quite remarkable.

365 photo project, passiflora incarnata seed, macro, Lisa On Location photography, New Braunfels, San Antonio, Austin

Camera: Canon 7D
Lens: Canon EF 100mm 2.8 macro with Vivitar 2x telextender

Now Playing: Various artists Asian Groove
Chicken Ranch Central

Monday, March 04, 2013

43/365: Bull

Today was a day to be endured. Nothing pleasant about it, even though things went as best they could. The legal equivalent of lancing a boil, as it were. I'm a ragged mess. The only good thing about today was my getting some good shots of buffalo in a pasture beside the highway. This big bull was kind enough to put on a show and bellow for me before moseying on over to look for a handout. I missed a potentially great shot of a crested caracara earlier when I couldn't get my camera up before it flew away. And so it goes...

buffalo, 365 photo project, Lisa On Location photography, New Braunfels, San Antonio, Austin

Camera: Canon 7D
Lens: Canon FD 500mm f/8 reflex

Now Playing: Genesis And Then There Were Three...
Chicken Ranch Central

Sunday, March 03, 2013

42/365: Ghosts of the Chicken Ranch

Today's 365 image is one from my black and white film class, and one that I'm particularly pleased with. Last month I went to the Chicken Ranch ruins in La Grange to assist with filming a documentary TV show about the place for Expedition Texas. The session was a lot of fun, I assure you. But after the film crew packed up, I stuck around for a while to do some shooting of my own, specifically with my Canon Elan 7ne--a film camera, which I don't often use outside of class assignments. I took a print of one of the images I'd shot in January of Seraphina Song and aged it with some judicious folds, scuffs and other abuse. Since it already had a vintage look, it wasn't too difficult to pass it off as a forgotten memento of one of the long-gone "employees" of the famed brothel. I'm pleased to report this print got rave reviews from the class (and the prof). I've given it a duotone treatment here, and like it even more than the original monochrome print.

Ghosts of the Chicken Ranch, La Grange, Texas. Lisa on Location photography. 365 photo project

Camera: Canon Elan 7ne
Lens: Tamron 28-75mm 2.8

Now Playing:
Chicken Ranch Central

Saturday, March 02, 2013

41/365: Sock monkey mania!

Okay, I give up the effort of making any pretense of keeping my 365 photos in order as I struggle to catch up after falling more than a week behind. Images get shot on different cards, I do this, I do that, some get downloaded, some don't, and the end result is utter confusion on my end. So be it.

This one is apropos for today, however. It's Bug proudly showing off his sock monkey collection. He had his birthday party today at Laser Legends, a laser tag place down in the Schertz/Universal City area. The party was, naturally enough, sock monkey themed. And he had a sock monkey cake (which I got a shot of, but can't seem to find at the moment).

I'd also like to point out this is image no. 41, which officially makes this 365 photography project more successful than my previous effort, which made it only 40 days. Now I've got only 325 days to go...

Sock monkey collection, 365 photo project, Lisa On Location photography

Camera: Canon 7D
Lens: Tamron 28-75mm 2.8

Now Playing: Lorin Maazel: Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Wagner: The Ring Without Words
Chicken Ranch Central

40/365: Compass

In a few weeks, I'm taking Bug on his first Cub Scout campout. When I was in Cub Scouts, we weren't allowed to go on campouts. Needless to say, he's very excited. And even more excited to learn that I own an actual working compass. Ah, the miracle of magnetism!

compass, 365 photo project, Lisa On Location photography

Camera: Canon 7D
Lens: Nikon 50mm 1.8 AI-S w/ reversing ring

Now Playing: Georg Solti: Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra Wagner: Orchestral Favourites
Chicken Ranch Central

Friday, March 01, 2013

39/365: Hint of spring

I'm not doing a very good job on my catch-up efforts here. In fact, I'm starting to lose track of downloaded images and what came before what, so if the sequence appears somewhat muddled at times, that's why. Here's a shot from earlier this week, when the buds on my plum trees were just breaking out of their winter dormancy. They're fully blooming now. But I'm disappointed with the image quality here, as the wind was seriously fierce and still moments were few and far between. Ergo, the image softness--the limb just shook too much for a clearer shot, and I didn't realize this until several days later when I couldn't take an alternative photo for the day's installment. Ah well, that'll teach me.

plum bud, 365 photo project, Lisa On Location, New Braunfels, San Antonio and Austin photography

Camera: Canon 7D
Lens: Canon EF 100mm 2.8 macro

Now Playing: Altan The Best of Altan
Chicken Ranch Central

38/365: Statue

Interesting statue out in front of Cabela's. Not a very inspired shot, and the sun backlighting the scene didn't help any. I do like the framing, however.

Statue in front of Cabelas. 365 photo project. Lisa On Location, New Braunfels, San Antonio and Austin photography

Camera: Canon 7D
Lens: Tamron 28-75mm 2.8

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Friday Night Videos

Since everyone seems to be going nuts over David Bowie's new album today, I'm going to be contrarian by going with a different British rock pioneer who reinvented himself multiple times with engrossing yet often inscrutable music. And his videos, wow. Yes, it's time for Peter Gabriel's "Games Without Frontiers."

Previously on Friday Night Videos... INXS.

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