Day 304. October 30. Countdown 62 Days.

Day Three Hundred Four. October 30. Countdown 62 Days. Picture # 304. "Stormy Weather". I have family and friends who were in the path of hurricane "Sandy". They have all checked in and everyone is doing okey. Some are without power but they all have safe roofs over their heads. This barometer hung on the wall of my parents house for over forty years. It signaled many changes in the weather. Here's hoping for a change to fair weather for everyone who has had their life disrupted by the storm. Canon Rebel T3i, handheld. Canon 28-135mm lens. Focal length 135mm. f/5.6. ISO 1600. Exposure 1/60 second.

Day 303. October 29. Countdown 63 Days.

Day Three Hundred Three. October 29. Countdown 63 Days. Picture # 303. "Untitled". A lone rider's reflection in Bull Creek, Austin, Texas. Canon T3i, on tripod. Canon 75-300mm lens. Focal length 75mm. f/9. ISO 400. Exposure 1/250 second.

Day 302. October 28. Countdown 64 Days.

Day Three Hundred Two. October 28. Countdown 64 Days. Picture # 64. "Last Light". Bull Creek has been one of my favorite shooting spots for the 366 Project. It is near by where I live but more important, it is a beautiful creek. Canon Rebel T3i, on tripod. Canon 28-135mm lens. Focal length 28mm. f/22. ISO 200. Multiple exposures 15-25 seconds.

Day 301. October 27. Countdown 65 Days.

Day Three Hundred One. October 27. Countdown 65 Days. Picture # 301. "By the Sea". This abandoned house and tractor sits right on the edge of the Gulf of Mexico. Only a thin stretch of beach  serves as the dividing line between land and sea. This scene is outside of Port Lavaca, Texas. http://www.portlavaca.org/ . I wanted to shoot the marine enviroment as a change in pace from my central Texas shooting. So I visited Port Lavaca, Point Comfort and the beach community of Indianola. When you run out of road you know you have found Indianola. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indianola,_Texas . Lucky for me there was a fish camp and marina at the end of the road with friendly owners that grilled me up a wonderful hamburger and served it to me on their deck overlooking the Gulf of Mexico. A very nice day for me. I took a lot of pictures. I found a lot of good subjects but this house and tractor ended up as my favorite. I am still editing the days shooting but I am posting a album named "Port Lavaca" on Facebook with more pictures. Canon Rebel T3i, handheld. Canon 28-135mm lens. Focal length 65mm. f/20. ISO 400. Exposure 1/250 second. 

Day 300. October 26. Countdown 66 Days.

Day Three Hundred. October 26. Countdown 66 Days. Picture # 300. "More Friday Night Lights". A beautiful cold fall evening for high school football. The Westwood Warriors (in orange) makes a third down defensive stop against the Stony Point Tigers. Westwood eventually went on to win the defense dominated game 7-3. Canon Rebel T3i, handheld. Canon 75-300mm lens. Focal length 75mm. f/4. ISO 800. Exposure 1/160 second.

Day 299. October 25. Countdown 67 Days.

Day 299. October 25. Countdown 67 Days. Picture # 299. "Untitled". Stopped by Bull Creek again on my way home. I captured some decent pictures of a butterfly and some dragonflies. But this simple leaf is the picture for today. I am not sure why. I think it is because it is flawed and not perfect. Some how that resonates with me. Canon Rebel T3i, on tripod. Canon 75-300mm lens. Focal length 210mm. f/5. ISO 400. Exposure 1/640 second.

Day 298. October 24. Countdown 68 Days.

Day Two Hundred Ninety Eight. October 24. Countdown 68 Days. Picture # 298. "Broken Glass & Coffee". The following paragraph contains graphic descriptions concerning harm to animals. This is not a joke. I try to share stories of my photo trips to give insight into my 366 Project journey. Todays journey was not fun.                

 

 I stopped at an vacant lot on my way home from work to look for a picture for today. Grabbing my gear I stepped down from the truck, that is when my day took a somewhat macabre turn. The smell of death hung on the still air. There was a cardboard box sitting half open a little ways into the lot. As I approached it a wave of flies flew up. It was then that I saw the leg of a goat and what appeared to be a bloody headless white dove laying on the ground. The box itself was full of more death. A dead red rooster. A dead guinea fowl and something else. I took a couple of pictures of the scene then walked further into the lot to see if there was anything else that had been left there. I walked back over to the truck and and called 311. I described to the 311 operator what I was seeing at the scene and the operator transfered me to a 911 operator. I retold my story and the operator took my information and told me a officer was on the way. I described the location and the operator asked if I would mind them calling if they could not find the site. I did not receive a call.

Day 297. October 23. Countdown 69 Days.

Day Two Hundred Ninety Seven. October 23. Countdown 69 Days. Picture # 297. "Fall". Color does not seem to want to come to central Texas this year. I keep hoping that there will be an explosion of color but it seems that the leaves are tired this year. They do not have the energy for a show of fanciful colors. I believe they will just fade away. Canon Rebel T3i, on tripod. Canon 28-135mm lens. Focal length 135mm. f/36. ISO 100. Exposure 1/4 second.

Day 296. October 22. Countdown 70 Days.

Day Two Hundred Ninety Six. October 22. Countdown 70 Days. Picture # 296. "Untitled". Canon Rebel T3i, on tripod. Canon 28-135mm lens. Focal length 33mm. f/5.6. ISO 400. Exposure 5 seconds.

Day 295. October 21. Countdown 71 Days.

Day Two Hundred Ninety Five. October 21. Countdown 71 Days. Picture # 295. "Untitled". The end of the day. The sun sets over the Hill Country of central Texas. Cut it a little close today. I fell asleep this evening in the "Devil's Chair" or as most people call them, my recliner. I have to be careful if I am at all tired and sit down in my, sinfully comfortable chair, that is it I am done for the day. I woke up with just enough time to run out and grab some sunset pictures. I climbed up on top of my truck and hurriedly set up the camera and tripod. I took 24 exposures in about six minutes. Then my day was also done. Canon Rebel T3i, on tripod. Canon 75-300mm lens. Focal length 300mm. f/5.6. ISO 800. Exposure 1/640 second.

Day 294. October 20. Countdown 72 Days.

Day 294. October 20. Countdown 72 Days. Picture # 294. "Black & White". Today's post is about a pair of dogs who are best friends. The dog pictured above is CoBo Joe. His best friend is a vizsla named Pie. In their simple black & white world there are no politics, they are not concerned about the price of gas. What is important in their world is things like a frisbee. Critical matters like who chases and who gets chased. It's as simple as black and white, they are friends. CoBo Joe's human is Tracy Jackson. Pie's human is Cindy Thoreson. Canon Rebel T3i, handheld. Canon 75-300mm. f/5.6. ISO 800. Exposure 1/200second.

Day 293. October 19. Countdown 73 Days.

Day Two Hundred Ninety Three. October 19. Countdown 73 Days. Picture # 293. "New Ride, Old Car". I was getting into my truck when I noticed the shadows on the road. I was thinking it would be neat setting to take a picture of some interesting car. The only trouble is the road I was on is Old Lampasas Trail which is both a dead end and lightly traveled. While shooting earlier I had heard a car drive by. I had not paid enough attention to even know whether it was coming or going, much less what kind of car it was. With a potential future picture in mind, I looked at the road scene through the viewfinder of the camera trying to think who I knew that had some classic car . . . About this time I started hearing the deep throaty rumble of a big V8 engine somewhere near by. As the sound became louder, I was quite surprised to see an Cadillac convertible from the late 1970s driving toward the very spot I wanted to take a picture. It kept getting better. The top was down with four men as passengers and the car had the Continental package with it's trademark rear mounted spare tire. I had the opportunity to grab one picture. I had been wishing for a classic car and one appeared. I now know, I would have set my sights a little higher if I had known one wish would be granted for me today. . . Oh well, still a fun picture. Canon Rebel T3i, handheld. Canon 75-300 lens. Focal length 75mm. f/8. ISO 400. Exposure 1/800 second.

Day 292. October 18. Countdown 74 Days.

Day Two Hundred Ninety Two. October 18. Countdown 74 Days. Picture # 292. "Lines, Angles & Curves". Had very little time to get a picture today. Used some of my lunch break to walk out into our company parking lot and shoot this picture of some wires, a street light and a church steeple. Canon Rebel T3i, handheld. Canon 75-300mm lens. Focal length 300mm. f/29. ISO 400. Exposure 1/320 second.

Day 291. October 17. Countdown 75 Days.

Day Two Hundred Ninety One. October 17. Countdown 75 Days. Picture # 291. "Lonely Sunset". I love the big skies out here, but sometimes they can make one feel small and very alone. Canon Rebel T3i, on tripod. Canon 28-135mm lens. Focal length 80mm. f/32. ISO 400. Exposure 8/10 second.

Day 290. October 16. Countdown 76 Days.

Day Two Hundred Ninety. October 16. Countdown 76 Days. Picture # 290. "Bits & Pieces". I had an idea for todays picture. There is a vacant lot on a dead end road near where I live. I sometimes shoot flowers and butterflies there. The lot is pretty clean, but there is evidence that some illegal dumping has occured in the not so distant past. My idea was to go study the tiny pieces of detritus on the lot and find my picture within the broken things that that covered the ground. There are pieces of shattered bottles, smashed TV sets and regular litter side by side, with barbed wire so old that seems to have been strung when the earth was created. On the edge of the lot, a small hill of caliche has eroded and partially covered some trash. As I scanned the area for picture ideas, I saw text down in a crack. Abook had been discarded and had been buried a book. Something had caused the book to split exposing the printing. It was not until I could read the words on the computer screen, that I realized it was open to a page in the book on editing images. Seemed fitting somehow. Canon Rebel T3i, handheld. Canon 75-300mm lens. Focal length 170mm. f/8. ISO 400. Exposure 1/400 second.

Day 289. October 15. Countdown 77 Days.

Day Two Hundred Eighty Nine. October 15. Countdown 77 Days. Picture # 289. "Flower at Dusk". A simple flower and wonderful lighting. Yellow fading to black. Canon Rebel T3i, on monopod. Canon 75-300mm lens. Focal length 210mm. f/8. ISO 800. Exposure 1/640 second.

Day 288. October 14. Countdown 78 Days.

Day Two Hundred Eighty Eight. October 14. Countdown 78 Days. Picture # 288. Picture above "Stranger". Pictures below are "Untitled".In the dictionary, the second definition of the word muse is; "2. a source of an artist's inspiration." I never much thought about the source of inspiration, or even ever needing to be inspired to be creative. But that was before this project and my desire to find an interesting picture each day. Luckly my life is full of creative thoughtful people. My friends call, text and email me ideas and tips for pictures. They sometime request certain type shots. The idea and location for today's pictures came from a brochure that my friend Cassie Jackson gave me for an event called "Photofest" in Smithville, Texas. She read the information and realized I might be interested, so she grabbed a brochure for me. I guess everyone that helps keep me focused with fresh ideas and inspiration is part of my ever growing family of muses? Is there a plural form of muse? Can an artist have more than one at a time? Does the muse have to just inspire or can they point and say aim your camera over there? I have always imagined the creative inspiration from a muse would be ephemeral ideas that float round the muse much like a butterfly around a flower. As the idea lightly touches down in your subconcious and  becomes "your thought" you do not even feel the light touch or hear the flutter of the butterfly's wings. Well the butterfly idea sounds nice . . . Then there is my friend and "muse" Gary Cross. He is more like a swarm of angry bees. He is very creative and full of ideas for pictures. What he does for me, is that he gives me constant "encouragement" to shoot outside my comfort zone. People ! Take some pictures of people often tells me. He suggested shooting the Austin City Limits music festival. Which would have been a good idea except I am not comfortable taking pictures of strangers. So back to the butterfly and the bee and their assigned task as my sources for inspiration. The Photofest in Smithville is an event where the organizers close the historic section of town and set up scenes and props with models in various costumes. It is understood by all participants that everyone in the closed area has agreed to be photographed. Perfect I can practice taking some portraits without feeling like I am intruding on someones privacy. Cassie & Gary, thank you for today. I had fun shooting and I realized there is much to learn about portrait photgraphy. First lesson I learned today, it is a whole lot easier to get good useable shots of rough looking men than pretty ladies. Just saying. 2nd lesson the camera loves children. Scroll down to the bottom for a couple of cute kid pics. All in all, a good day. Canon Rebel T3i, handheld. Canon 73-300mm lens, f/5.6. ISO 200. Exposure 1/800 second.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 287. October 13. Countdown 79 Days.

 

Day Two Hundred Eighty Seven. October 13. Countdown 79 Days. Pictures # 287 A,B,C,B. (Pictured above) "Standing Before the Court". Dennis Rust, A friend and fellow photo enthusiast sent me an email about public tours of the Williamson County Courthouse that were being offered today. http://www.williamson-county-historical-commission.org/Courthouse/Williamson_County_Texas_Courthouse.htm . Robert Payne (photographer & historian) was conducting the one hour tours. Photography was not only allowed but actively encouraged. Mr Payne and everyone involved with the tour were friendly and knowledgeable. I was anticipating mostly shooting architectural details and and abstracts. But as we were inspecting one of the court rooms, I saw this shot setting up. This gentleman was there with what appeared to be his girlfriend who was helping with the tours. Court rooms are intimidating places. As the scene unfolded, I could imagine a real court room scene with this young man standing before the judge with his hands restrained behind his back. My camera is resting on the floor for this shot. I wanted to capture the vastness of the space juxtaposed by how small and lonely it must feel to stand before the justice system awaiting judgement. Truth be told both he and his girlfriend were very polite outgoing people. I do not believe he will ever be in this situation. The courthouse is beautifully restored and I did find some of the pictures I was expecting. Additional pictures appear below. Canon Rebel T3i, handheld. Bower Fisheye lens. ISO 800. Exposure 1/40 second.

 

 

 

 

 



Day 286. October 12. Countdown 80 Days.

Day Two Hundred Eighty Six. October 12. Countdown 80 Days. Picture # 286. "Untitled". Just another butterfly in an already amazing year for butterflies in central Texas. Canon Rebel T3i, handheld. Canon 75-300mm lens. Focal length 230mm. f/5. ISO 400. Exposure 1/2000 second.

Day 285. October 11. Countdown 81 Days.

Day Two Hundred Eighty Five. October 11. Countdown 81 Days. Picture # 285. "Untitled". This is a glass fish that was given to me years ago. It is unusual in that the glass glows in the dark. To set up the shot, I put the fish on the table and the camera on the tripod. I manually focused and set the camera to "bulb" to allow me to control the long exposures. I set my lens cap on the table in front of the fish as a target. I would hold the fish up to the light then sit it by the target when it was ready. Then move the target and turn off the lights, and I was then ready for some long exposures. Canon Rebel T3i, on tripod. Canon 75-300mm lens. Focal length 100mm. f/8. ISO 200. Exposure 31 seconds.

Day 284. October 10. Countdown 82 Days.

Day Two Hundred Eighty Four. October 10. Countdown 82 Days. Picture # 284. "Untitled". Water from an early morning rain shower paints a spider web along side of Bull Creek in Austin, Texas. Canon Rebel T3i, on tripod. 75-300mm lens. Focal length 210mm. f/14. ISO 200. Exposure 1/30 second.

Day 283. October 9. Countdown 83 Days.

Day Two Hundred Eighty Three. October 9. Countdown 83 Days. Picture # 283. "Yellow". These yellow daisys seem to be blooming everywhere right now in Austin, Texas. This particular field of flowers can be found along Spicewood Springs road, close to Saint Edwards Park. Canon Rebel T3i, on tripod. 75-300mm lens. Focal length 300mm. f/5.6. ISO 400. Exposure 1/640 second.

Day 282. October 8. Countdown 84 Days.

Day Two Hundred Eighty Two. October 8. Countdown 84 Days. Picture # 282. "Shadow Play". The bright lights of the tennis courts casts competing shadows at the country club near my apartment. Canon Rebel T3i, on tripod. Bower Fisheye lens. ISO 400. Multiple exposures 2 1/2 - 5 seconds.

Day 281. October 7. Countdown 85 Days.

 

Day Two Hundred Eighty One. October 7. Countdown 85 Days. Picture # 281. "Collection of Collections". I do not smoke cigars. But I am fascinated by the boxes. These boxes, long emptied of cigars sits on a bookshelf in my home. Though emptied of cigars, the boxes are all full. Within this collection of boxes rest other collections; fossils, shells, pottery shards, etc. Years ago I was a department manager at Huckins Yacht Corporation a builder and servicer of yachts. http://www.huckinsyacht.com/index.php . Yachting is broken into different categories, with more divisions within each category. First division motor yachts VS sailboats.We were a motor yacht yard with many of the old timers derisively referring to sailboats as "blow boats". Motor yachting was then split into "cruiser" and "sportfish" classes. The cigar boxes come from the sportfishing boats. Sportfishing is a rich man's sport and a study in excess. These multi-million dollar boats are built solely to persue big game fish and in between fishing keep their owners in luxury. It is a strange competitive world of oneupmanship. Bigger, the more expensive the better. They need these giant floating mansions and the great expanses of ocean to contain the owners egos. But that being said, some of these guys were fun to be around. As part of my duties, I would hang around after work and socialize and talk business with the owners. They were very generous with their food and very good spirits. Scotch and microbrew whiskeys were my first choices. Sometimes these owners would hand me boxes of cigars to share with the yard owners and other managers. Cohíba Espléndidos a fine Cuban cigar currently sales for around $38 US apiece. I was handed full boxes of Cohíba Espléndidos a couple of times. I would give the cigars away, sometimes to the lowest paid guys in the yard, but I would keep the boxes. The boxes have traveled from Florida to Texas with me. They traveled with me when my marriage ended. They have come to represent the "boatyard years" to me. Many of my most entertaining stories are from that time of my life. I guess the boxes not only hold collections, they also contain memories. Canon Rebel T3i, on tripod. Canon 28-135mm lens. Focal length 28mm. f/4.5. ISO 400. Exposure 1/6 second.

Day 280. October 6. Countdown 86 Days.

Day Two Hundred Eighty. October 6. Countdown 86 Days. Picture # 280. "Sunset at Granger". This scene is at the dam that forms Granger Lake just outside of Granger, Texas. http://www.swf-wc.usace.army.mil/granger/ . The horizon line to the audience right of of the picture is the top of the earthen dam. A cold front blowing in has brought winter skies that really adds interest to a picture. So I went in search of foregrounds to put in front of the sky. It took me until about sunset to find a shot I liked. Canon Rebel T3i on tripod. Bower Fisheye lens. ISO 400. Multiple exposures 1/2500 -1/250 second. Edited with Photshop CS5 and ACDSee Pro 5.

Day 279. October 5. Countdown 87 Days.

 

Day Two Hundred Seventy Nine. October 5. Countdown 87 Days. Picture # 279. "Night of the Show". It was a good night. The opening of the "Gathering of Photographers Fall Show" took place at the Flatbed Press Gallery this evening. I was happy to have my picture from Day # 8 hanging in the show. I personally had a good show in that my picture won best in the "Made by Man" category. A photo workshop at Lost Maples State Park was awarded to the category winners. I would like to thank my friend Tracy Jackson and her daughter Cassie for making time on a very busy night to attend the show. Also thank you to everyone who could not attend for their encouraging words and support. After the awards were presented Tracy and Cassie had to leave. As I walked them out to their car, it was obvious that they had found well lit parking close to the gallery. Others were not so lucky. Those that arrived later had to find on street parking on the adjoining blocks. The show opening was at 7:00 PM on the outskirts of downtown Austin. The gallery is located in an industrialized area which can seem pretty dark and lonely at night. As I was leaving, I noticed a lone visitor to the show reluctantly walking into the darkness at the edge of the parking lot. I asked her if she was parked near by. She answered that she was parked a block away at the other end of the next alleyway. I walked her to her car, and then I walked back through the alley. About halfway back through the alley, as I was admiring the lighting on the decrepit fence, I had a "duh" moment. I had forgotten about todays picture. There would be an absurd irony in, that after 278 straight days of taking pictures, I would forget to take a picture because one of the pictures was in a show. Once again quoting an unknown photgrapher, "your best camera is the one you have with you". So out came the iPhone, the camera of last resort. And speaking of iPhones, I would like thank Tracy Jackson for taking the iPhone picture of me at the show, displayed below. Today's picture captured with my iPhone using the Pro HDR app. Finish editing on computer with ACDSee Pro 5.

 

 

Day 278. October 4. Countdown 88 Days.

Day Two Hundred Seventy Eight. October 4. Countdown 88 Days. Picture # 278. "Untitled". Some evenings I get in the truck and drive around the city after dark looking for interesting lighting. The trick is to wait until companies close for the night. I am looking for empty parking lots and low lighting. A lot of companies turn off some of their bright parking lot lights at closing time. but leave on the decorative ones, This is a hair salon on Burnett road in Austin. Canon Rebel T3i, on tripod. Canon 28-135mm lens. Focal length 120mm. f/5.6. ISO 200. Exposure 8/10 second.

Day 277. October 3. Countdown 89 Days.

 

Day Two Hundred Seventy Seven. October 3. Countdown 89 Days. Picture # 277. "Corks & Crown tops". There is a one gallon decorative glass jar sitting on a shelf just outside of my kitchen. One day for no reason that I can think off, I dropped a bottle cap in the jar. Then another and another . . . Corks got added to the mix, sometime along the way. I do not drink much, so the jar is only half full after four years. Or for you optimists, only half empty. Crown tops were invented around 1890. The earliest crown top bottle necks were still hand finished after the body of the bottle was blown in a mold. I have a few early examples in my bottle collection. Another memory of mine from childhood was "curb markets", the forerunner to the modern convenience store. The stores were all the same. They were not very big and they had a large garage door that opened all the way across the front of the building. There was a side walk that extended about 8-10 feet in front of the store that formed the "curb" for parking. Hence the name "curb market". Now back to bottle caps. The parking lots for the stores usually were topped with a coating that everyone called blacktop. It's surface would get soft during hot weather. In the 1960s before enviromental awareness became the norm, people would toss their caps on the ground and some store owners just emptied the cap catchers off of the top loading drink boxes on the parking lots. So over time the caps would get pressed into the soft black top. Some older stores lots were virtually paved with crown tops. Same as now, I was always fascinated by the colors and patterns. Canon Rebel T3i, handheld. Canon 28-135mm lens. Focal length 100mm. f/5.6. ISO 800. Exposure 1/200 second. Flash +1 with a sheet of paper handheld as a diffuser.

Day 276. October 2. Countdown 90 Days.

 

Day Two Hundred Seventy Six. October 2. Countdown 90 Days. Picture # 276. "Untitled". This water is coming over the top of an old stone dam located in Saint Edwards Park along Bull Creek in Austin, Texas. I took a variety of pictures of this scene from many different angles. There was even some shots that required me to balance on the rock in the foreground and reach the camera in behind the water. I would aim by guessing and shoot a quick burst out through the falling water. The behind the waterfall pictures were not as interesting as I would have hoped, but you can see one of them below. Canon Rebel T3i, handheld. Bower Fisheye lens. ISO 400. Exposure 1/320 second.

 



Day 275. October 1. Countdown 91 Days.

 

Day Two Hundred Seventy Five. October 1. Countdown 91 Days. Picture # 91. "Untitled". I was sitting in front of my computer editing the days shooting, when my iPhone's creepy sci/fi ringtone went off. It was my friend Tracy with a picture suggestion. She and her daughters had turned a corner while driving and had a view of an orange moon covered in clouds. Tracy and her daughters Jill & Cassie have all given me other good photo op tips in the past, so I grabbed the gear and headed out the door. By the time I found a dark parking lot with a view of the moon, the orange color had faded but the clouds remained. As I was setting up the long lens and camera, a pair of intoxicated homeless guys rushed towards me wildly waving their arms above their heads and loudly proclaiming that they were crazy. I just answered, "well that makes three of us". I am not sure what response they were expecting, but my statement quieted them down and gave them pause. After answering a few questions from them, they told me that "the moon was sure beautiful tonight" and told me to have a nice evening. Canon Rebel T3i, on tripod. Phoenix 1100mm lens. Focal length 1100mm. f/8. ISO 800. Exposure 1/60 second.