Bookmark - Old Style Bathtub

Taken on the 2008 Girl Scout trip to Galveston, on a tour of one of the mansions.  This was in August of that year, before Ike hit...

Bookmark - Water Beads on Emerald Boa

Captured at the Houston Zoo on my first trip there with the Bigger Cahoona.  Guess they have a nozzle somewhere in the cage that squirts water now and then.

Of all the boas this one is my favorite.  I'd love to have owned one as a younger lad, but they were too expensive, and a bit cranky.  Sure are beautiful, though...

Bookmark - Water Beads on Banana Leaf

There's something about water beads.  Photographers will actually bring misting bottles on shoots to create this effect on various objects, such as flowers and spider webs.  Can't say I'll go that far, but feel fortunate whenever I chance upon the opportunity to get a shot like this.  More water beads tomorrow on something else that's green...

Bookmark - Pool Water Background

Continuing with the randomness...

This one barely made the cut for a bookmark, but I decided to keep it in because its abstract nature makes up for its technical deficits.  It was shot with my first digital, the 3MP Fujifilm Finepix 3800, and fairly cropped in.  Having seen this I'll be looking for opportunities to duplicate with either the Big or Bigger Cahoona some day.

Bookmark - Rustic Fenceline / The Rural Roads of East Texas

Being totally random here...

I was out doing site visits in Austin County here in Texas during winter (my favorite time to shoot) and saw this weathered fence as an opportunity.

This is the reason that since childhood one of my favorite things to do is aimlessly drive country roads to take in the beautiful rustic scenery of rural America.  I guess that the family Sunday afternoon drive is a ritual for the same reason.  It's just fun going to as-yet-undiscovered places and enjoying scenes like this.

I went crazy my second year of college at SFA, when I owned my first car, a 1968 Rambler American named Old Blue.  Many hours were spent meandering through the red dirt roads of East Texas, stopping now and then to look at a shed or moo at a cow.  And, though the road was paved, my best time in Nacogdoches was while living out on a farm-to-market road (1275) because it was windy and rural, and any detour took me (or us, if with a friend) down some of those dirt roads.  Some days, just to explore, I would drive outbound until 1275 evolved into a logging road full of ruts and vegetation.  This was out in the sticks enough to do a little target shooting with my .22 revolver.

Then there are the people that live way out there.  Occasionally I'd have the opportunity to interact with someone living in a big house or mansion with acreage out in the boonies.  Other times I'd end up discovering a small community occupying a crossroad or river bottom flat.  All of it beautiful in its own way.

Bookmark - Cloud-to-Cloud Rain (maybe)

Caught this on our way to church one day with the Fuji 7000; a silhouette of the tree in the foreground with the unusual phenomenon of one rain cloud appearing to rain onto another. (though I'm not sure that's actually the case)

Clouds are and do very, very interesting things.  First is their weight...many, many tons of water floating around up there in the sky.  Then the behavior.  With the Big Cahoona, my Nikon D300s, a scene was captured in which rivulets of clouds came flowing off a distant mountain range as if a waterfall (look to the right of the pic posted here).

Then one time, from an airplane, I saw two types of clouds interacting in a similar way.  We were above an overcast of cumulus clouds, and a layer of some wispier clouds was flowing through the valleys in between their tops.  I learned that some pilots carry a DSLR in their cockpits, capturing these kinds of things from their front-row seats.

Bookmark - Oranges

Food probably will one day end up being a category of its own as well.  This was captured at a friend's house with the Fuji 7000 as we were celebrating the Chinese New Year.

Bookmark - Galveston Dockside Shops

While in Galveston may as well post this dockside scene, perfectly manicured for the tourist trade.  This photo was unique in that I was able to actually get a series of three bookmarks from it; the other two are below, in order of how they appear in the picture:

 

Some lettering opportunities in this last one.  Once I figure out exactly what kind of messages I'm going to include, will copy bookmarks like these in a separate folder as a category of its own to work on as time permits.

Bookmark - Galveston Dock Reflection

Don't think this one ended up being posted earlier, so am glad to have the opportunity to make a bookmark out of it.  Smooth water, nice reflection with angles, etc...ticks several boxes this one.

My dad kept boats most of my growing-up years, and scenes like this remind me of the time we spent on the water and walking up and down docks.  When I was five years old I fell off of a dock, and some very interesting things happened on my way to the depths, as I was yet unable to swim.  Then someone plucked me out of the water and that was that.

Bookmark - Coca-Cola Sign

Took this one in Galveston...2008.

Bookmark - Estes Restaurant Flower

While talking about Colorado may as well post one of my all-time flower pics, posted here in its larger extent.  Was sitting on the patio of a restaurant in the town of Estes Park and saw this guy between the rails of the fence.

This was in the middle of town with pedestrians, street traffic, etc., none of which stopped a small herd of elk from charging through, stopping to take a dip in the restaurant's pond...

Bookmark - Horsetooth Dandelion

Being totally random here...pic of a dandelion captured while on a hike at the Horsetooth Reservoir just outside of Fort Collins, CO.  Had an aunt there, and we used their home as a base from which to travel to Estes and other parts of the Mountain State.  Taken with the D300s and zoomed way in, which acceptably improved the bokeh.

Been to Colorado three times now on what could be called vacations (one was a tagalong with Chenjean on a business trip).  Nothing like it...would move there in a sec.  Once in Fort Collins we went to the only Asian grocery store around, and the owners - who were about to retire - tried to talk us into buying the store and settle there.  Chenjean, knowing that I'm no business man, politely declined.

Bookmark - Sailboat Silhouette

Had a hankering to post this one for a while now.  A little touch-up to blacken the ship turned the pic into a passable silhouette.  Captured off the Florida keys on a cruise to the Bahamas.

I miss cruises, with the pandemic and all.  They are the perfect vacation - you get to travel to exotic places while being fed and cared for by professionals whose job it is to make sure you're having fun.  And - just as traveling by 747 - the price is worth it just for the ride.

Bookmark - Galveston Church Steeple

Was on the roof of some building in Galveston with the Girl Scouts (2008) when the steeple here caught my eye.  One of those pleasant surprises when a pic turns out a little better than expected during post-capture.  Funnel of a Carnival cruise ship in the background not even noticed until posting time.

Spent some time working in Galveston while in the field of Criminal Justice.  Took note that, as the saying went, the culture of the island is noticeably different from that of the mainland...which I found to be true.  Think I would have fit better on the island had I lived in these parts.

Bookmark - Snow-dusted Bird

Some potential for lettering here...

Captured with the Nikon D300s in Big Bend of all places, where they had a freak snowfall in mid March.  Was with my friend Michael Whitworth, one of the best photographers around, and we were both surprised and delighted at the unusual opportunities it presented.

Bookmark - Westheimer Tulips

One of my favorite flower shots - this one was captured from the car window as we were waiting for a traffic light with the Finepix 7000 on the way to work.

Was fortunate that we happened to be stopped when this caught my eye, but can't say how many times we've passed something on the road while on the move and I've said to myself, "Gotta capture that some day."  Thing is, you can't just stop on the road, especially a highway, and any place else would be at a different angle which might not work.

There is a potential shot that will make me stop one day even on the highway, however.  Ten miles south of Waco on SH 6 - the route we take to visit our daughter Allison in Dallas - there is a colorful shed with a small tree right next to it that's had my eye for a couple of years now.  Hopefully not too much changes by the time I get around to it...

Bookmark - Bird on a Stick

One of my (former) co-workers stated that this one makes her laugh.  Must say it's a popular one when the recipients of my bookmarks are given a choice.

Gotta say that Animals are about the most interesting thing to capture, in general.  They have life, behavior patterns that can be captured even in stills, and many times are downright funny.  A zoo in Lincolnshire, England, acquired an African gray that said curse words.  They put him with some other African grays, so he taught them to curse.  The keepers naively thought that once they were on display for the public they would pipe down...but quite the opposite happened.  The public was so taken by this behavior that the reaction spurred all five of them to curse up a storm, sometimes in unison.  Finally, because of the children, they had to remove the wayward birds from the exhibit.

Bookmark - Orangutan on Pole

Probably my favorite primate pic of all time...captured at the New Orleans Audubon Zoo with the Finepix 3800.  Even though it was only 3MP, the design of its proprietary sensor rendered awesome photos.

That trip to New Orleans was my first out-of-town jaunt with a digital camera.  Discovered that it really made a huge difference in how I handle such places, where there are a lot of people.  Discovered that focusing on what to capture and what to do with the camera is a great screen, behind which I can be less inhibited.  The icing on the cake is a good keeper now and then.

Bookmark - Crested Crane

Captured at the Taipei Zoo from afar, zoomed way in with the Bigger Cahoona.  Odd species, and very tameable, as I've seen keepers walk the grounds of a zoo with one of these, as described here.

Bookmark - A Man and His Dog

A man's dog is so important to him...so much a part of his life.

Many if not most people have wondered whether dogs have souls.  Doubt if they have a soul per se like the ones people have, but do believe that all life returns from whence it came once it's done with here.

By the time you read this we've had a dog for a couple of months now (Lord willing).  A mini Australian shepherd.  Yes it's a lively breed, but we needed something to get us out of the house and away from screens as we approach retirement age.  And this one providentially fell into place, as our son and his wife got one, and ours is its sibling - good for play dates, petsitting, etc.

Bookmark - Corpus Heron (I think)

Captured in Corpus Christi while on a business trip to get some law enforcement training in my Criminal Justice days.

Move the bird to the left and there's potential for some text here...

Bookmark - Longbeak Bird

My gosh, what variety there is among birds! So beautiful, yet so ugly when undressed...

Don't think I've given this one to anybody yet, but it has potential.  Captured at the Cincinnati Zoo.

Bookmark - Colorful Strands

Another favorite of those who receive these bookmarks, a prime example of how a simple photo can become something quite different when playing with color.  The subject is a stand of reeds at the Houston Zoo, with the original color - albeit greatly saturated - being at the very bottom.  From here it was easy playing with the color slider in Photoshop, then copy/pasting the hues that were more interesting.

Goes to show that what seems mundane may have potential that just has to be extracted with the time it takes in a creative effort.  This one took about an hour.

Bookmark - Cheyenne Buzzard

This guy was easily my favorite character at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs (series here).  He (?) was quiet, introspective, slow to move, and exuded a sinister - if not malevolent - personality.  And those striking eyes, contrasting perfectly against the creature's blue face, conveyed intelligence.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Made a promotional card from another shot captured during the visit back in 2011:

Bookmark - Galveston Gull Feeder

Allison feeding seagulls from the back of a Bolivar ferry while on a Girl Scout trip in Galveston.  Wanted to keep both gulls in the photo, but was at the expense of making the pic level (see waterline and building to the right).

Bookmark - Stanley Daisies

Taken next to the famous Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado, had to capture these since daisies are Chenjean's favorite flower.  Entire pic posted here as part of the 2011 vacation series.

Bookmark - Holly Leaves

Captured in England, thought this would make a good background pattern, or as a standalone bookmark.

Bookmark - Bahama Sunrise

Was on a cruise to the Bahamas one day and rousted onto the deck at sunrise to capture it with the Big Cahoona*.  Was very fortunate to be greeted with this.  Naturally I, along with a few other early-risers, went bonkers, snapping away with our DSLR's to capture the moment.  It was my first try with bracketing for exposure compensation, and was lucky enough to walk away with this one.

* the D300s; my D850 is affectionately known as the Bigger Cahoona.

Bookmark - Lit Flowers at Bayou Bend

...another flower captured with the Fuji 7000 at Bayou Bend.

Bookmark - Bayou Bend Flower with Color Effects

Decided to play with color effects while creating bookmarks from the Bayou Bend shoot, and ended up with these three.  The effects are (from left to right) Cyanotype, Old Style and Red Boost...all presets under the Hue/Saturation dialogue box in Photoshop.

Bookmark - Pink Blossom at Bayou Bend

Probably one of my all-time favorite flower pics, this was captured using the awesome Fujifilm Finepix 7000 at Bayou Bend here in Houston.

Interesting how acquiring the 7000 came about.  At the time a 6MP DSLR was a heavy-hitter, and the major camera makers were touting their latest models featuring this resolution.  I was at Wolf Camera in Meyerland asking about them.  After the guy behind the counter extolled the virtues of the DSLR's they had in stock, he shrugged his shoulders and said, "or you could just buy this one, which is just as good if not better, and spend a lot less money", pointing at the Fuji.

Didn't buy it that day, but was intrigued since I'd already owned the 3800 and was happy with it.  The family got the hints that I strategically dropped, and gave it to me as a Father's Day gift.  Never looked back or regretted the decision, as many of the images captured in those days rival even what I can get out of the D850 today.