some clasping leaf coneflowers...


My first PX70 color protection film in quite a while. These flowers are all over the highways in East Texas. Oh, how I have missed this film...

enjoyed...


An old sign in front of a store that I used to go to when I was growing up in Childress, TX. All that is left is the sign and an empty building...

mum...


These mums are in front of our house next to the street. They have been there for years and they just keep withstanding the harsh seasons and coming back stronger...

nternational...


Got my composition just slightly off. Now it is an nternational. The "I" is missing and silent...

morning pods...


Noticed these flowers against the clouds on the side of the road on my way to work a few days ago. This is why I try to keep a camera in my car...

a milestone for Stratton...




Went to Childress, Tx over the weekend to celebrate another milestone in our family. Stratton (top & middle photo) was graduating high school. I got a big shot photo of him and one of him with mom and dad right before he was leaving for the ceremony. Sawyer didn't make the photo so I grabbed one of him on Sunday before we left...

just like finding gold...


Every chance I get, I jump at the opportunity to take pictures of Sherri. Got a near-mint Polaroid OneStep Red Stripe over the weekend at a flea market and talked Sherri into letting me try it out. Popped in my last pack of Gold Frame Impossible film to celebrate the occasion...

old glory...


Flags can be one of my favorite things to photograph. Especially when you find something other than a flag flying on a flag pole. Saw this one and had to turn around and stop to take a photo.

Gorgeous colors, even on the long-ago-expired Polaroid 669.

May God bless the USA...

minnie maci...


Maci bought a new pair of sunglasses yesterday. Seemed like a perfect fit for a photo using the expired Polaroid 669 film...

Sadi - Instant Prom 2013...




A few instant photos of Sadi before heading to her prom. These are always fun! Bet I was the only dad taking pictures with a Polaroid...

little princess...


A cloudy morning, but the perfect day to play outside in your pajamas (not me, but Pyper :))...

8x10 Color Test Film - Take Four...


Took the picture of these textile spools using available afternoon light coming through the window. A little bit over-exposed in the highlights, but still very colorful and super sharp. Large format cameras rock when it comes to nailing the focus exactly as you want.

morning light...


Morning light is always the best. Saw this outside our back door right after I got up this morning. The film captured it exactly as I saw it. Love the colors of PX70 cool film...

instant therapy...

Needed some time away from "real life" and work today. As part of the time away, I was able to take quite a few photos with my SX70, Leica M8 and iPhone. Here are a few of instant shots...




dinner with Pyper...


Sherri and I had dinner with little miss Pyper tonight. She was so excited to go. So excited that she wanted me to take her picture. I absolutely love those eyes...

pictures of me...


Had a great time over at the Makeshift Studio in Deep Ellum. The main purpose of the meetup was to judge the entries in the Instant Film Society scavenger hunt. Lots of great entries definitely made it hard to pick. Justin will be posting all the winners on the IFS website here.

Afterwards, Justin asked if I wanted to play around with some double exposures on Impossible 8x10 film. Justin had the idea of taking a picture of a person taking a picture of themself. I had my camera and some film with me, so we started the process... 

We discussed and tried to incorporate as many details as possible. The camera that I was using was actually my camera mounted on my tripod. The bellows are the right length to provide proper focus on my face at that distance. I intentionally smiled as the photographer and had a straight face as the subject. I made sure that my eyes were focused on my "other" face. Lastly, we positioned the cable release on my camera facing Justin's camera so that it was obvious that I was taking a picture. One item to note; I am taller as the photographer. I had the stand on a stool to see the ground glass so we felt like I should be that high in the photo.

The outcome was a incredibly neat photo! Thanks Justin for working on this with me...

after the rain...


Sometimes in this life, the greatest beauty can be found after the rain...

vintage Pyper...



Spent a short time with Pyper this afternoon while Maci ran some errands. Will always cherish these short times together. Even better when I capture such memories on film...

raising a daughter...


Having raised two daughters, this is a moment that I can relate to... 
Tyler and Pyper winding down watching some television in the hotel room after a long day of driving to be able to celebrate a friend's birthday in Big Spring, Texas.

There will never be enough of these moments...

too good to pass up...


There were several rose bushes at our hotel that we stayed at this weekend. That being said, I have to be honest. I hate that I can't walk by things without wanting to stop and take a picture. One part of me says "keep going man, don't even think about it" and the other part says "c'mon what's one more picture". 

The second voice wins again...

the orient express...


Took this photo of a mural on the side of a building in downtown Sweetwater, Texas. Man, I sure love the unique photos that you can get in a small town. Unfortunately, a little bit of bad framing on my part led to the "ORI" getting cut off. It is supposed to read "ORIENT EXPRESS"...

the Palmer House...


The Palmer House was was located downtown Bid Spring, Texas. Unfortunately the ornate entrance led you to a building that was vacated and all boarded up...

the republic of tea...


Taken inside a coffee shop/hotdog bar in Stephenville, TX. Only used available light coming from the front window (sidelighting the cans). As always, the workers couldn't believe I was taking the photo with a Polaroid camera (and that you could buy Impossible film)...

happy birthday Sadi...


Yesterday was Sadi's 17th birthday. Can't believe my little girl is 17 years old and heading off to college this fall. I have so many precious memories of both of my girls growing up. Taking pictures of them blowing out the candles has been a birthday tradition. Love it even more that I caught it this year on Impossible film...

a state of awareness...


Some of the more creepy graffiti in the Bishop Arts District...

8x10 Color Test Film - Take Three...


Wanted to see how the film handles highlights and shadows. I metered on the actual sunlight coming in. The film definitely has a very narrow exposure (as it said in the instructions). I nailed the exposure on the side of my face with the sun. Any more (trying to get details in the shadows) and it would have blown out the highlights.

Overall, I think this is a great image. You could say that my flaws are somewhat hidden by the shadows. This film is great stuff!

And yet still more to come...

8x10 Color Test Film - Take Two...


Ok, this is actually take three. For the real take two, I put the negative in the holder backwards. That is what I get for trying to hurry a shot today at lunch. Came home this afternoon from work and re-shot this one and also a self-portrait in the back yard (will post it later).

Have to admit, I edited the image by reversing it in Aperture. I couldn't get past the word TAXI being backwards (IXAT). Other than that, it is exactly like the original.

The detail in this image is INCREDIBLE. Click on the image to enlarge and see the detail that I am talking about.

Still more to come...

before i die...


took this one at the beginning of the Bishop Arts District polawalk. 

oh how long my list really is...

handle with care...


another image from the Bishop Arts District polawalk. over exposed this one a little bit, but it makes the image really stand out...

gallery faces...

A couple more shots that I took during our Feruary gallery show at A Space in Commerce...

Aggie

Elijah

the dragonfly...


Took this one of a dragonfly on the side of a U-Haul truck. I underexposed it a little, but the image is incredibly sharp. The PX70 Cool Film is still producing amazing images...

dorothy...


Dorothy came over today to have a color 8x10 taken. I forgot to pull the negative sleeve and didn't notice until later in the day when I went to process the image. At least I got this Fuji test shot while evaluating the lighting/shadows. Will conquer the color 8x10 on another day...

emulsion lift - sophi...


So many ways to create art...

This was an Impossible PX680 image that I took of Sophi. Knowing that I wanted to do an emulsion lift when I took the picture, I softened the image by taking it through a window on an overcast day in the shade. For some time I have wanted to see what an image would look like when it was transferred onto aluminum sheet. I would have to say that I am not disappointed. I really like the sheen and the smoothness of the final product. Already looking for another image to create...

8x10 Color Test Film - Take One...


Impossible Color Protection 8x10 Test Film...

Only my 2nd photo taken by me with an 8x10 camera... Ever...

THIS is the reason that I bought an 8x10 camera...

Click on the image to enlarge and see the details...

More to come...