Strand Restaurants #12

This was the last place we visited. Did something here that I would not have with the magazine - cloned out many of the more noticeable spots where the black paint was chipped, as well as cleaned up the sidewalk a bit.

Strand Restaurants #11

This is of the same fountain, from a different angle...

Strand Restaurants #10

The only directive I was given on the day of the shoot was to show the proximity of this particular restaurant (of the 4 covered) to the beach. This was a bit tricky, as Seawall Blvd - with all its traffic - was between the site and the water. I crouched down so the street wouldn't show and waited until there was sufficient time between cars to snap the shot. This was the best of the lot...there was one that showed a person walking the beach, but the perspective would have given away the true distance.

Strand Restaurants #9

...another shot of the wall, using the lamp in the foreground to achieve the proper depth of field.

Strand Restaurants #8

As indicated before, all exteriors were taken with the s7000, which behaved beautifully so long as there was natural light. The 6x optical zoom was enough to play with depth of field, allowing for shots like this of the outside wall of one of the restaurants that we covered.

Strand Restaurants #7

One of the more interesting things about doing this shoot is that we had the run of the joints when they weren't open, which allowed for shots like this to be captured with great care. Being an interior shot, it was taken with the Fujifilm 3800, purchased in 2002.

Strand Restaurants #6

Set the tripod way low for this one, and took about four exposures, this being the best of the lot.

Strand Restaurants #5

Had to use the perspective control in Elements for this one, due to the wide angle of the shot. The idea was to capture the stars on the ceiling, along with the chairs and mirror. The tripod was my constant companion for these dark interiors...

Strand Restaurants #4

Same place, different angle. I was very fortunate during the shoots done with this particular employer, as she set me loose to do whatever seemed right, with very few directions or restrictions.

I knew that for the magazine I would not be doing any alterations or heavy make-overs during post capture, so was careful about anything that appeared in the background...

Strand Restaurants #3

This was captured at another establishment. Though a tad grainy, the pictures from the 3800 did not disappoint, as the white balance did not have to be adjusted at all during post-capture.

Strand Restaurants #2

One of the establishments we covered was a place where you can make your own wine. This is a photo of the bar at that location...

Strand Restaurants #1

On two occasions I was asked to photograph a magazine shoot. The first was for Texas Parks & Wildlife, and the next was for Texas Highways.

For the TP&W shoot we went to the Fort Boggy State Park, about halfway between Houston and Dallas. I loaded the kids in the van, along with the freelance writer and her husband. By the time we got there it was afternoon under a full sun so the shooting was lousy, but it was an interesting excursion nonetheless. Spent a full day in post-capture work, but only one was published - in the November, 2006, issue, under the writer's byline.

The picture posted here is from the Texas Highways shoot, in Galveston. The objective was to cover some restaurant properties on the Strand, so we (just me and the writer this time) went from one place to the next, with her doing the interviews and me running loose to do my thing. I brought along the trusty 'ole Finepix 3800 with a tripod for interiors - due to its great white balance performance in artificial lighting conditions - and the Finepix 7000 for exterior shots. It was going to be a full-spread story with my own byline, but unfortunately Hurricane Ike literally washed it away a couple of weeks before going to press. Such is life and luck sometimes...