Bookmark - Banana Leaves

Maybe some lettering here...maybe should be left alone.  Captured at the Houston Arboretum in 2008 with the Fuji 7000 point-and-shoot.  One that didn't make the blog but rediscovered when looking for bookmark prospects.

That arboretum is worth visiting, and has been upgraded lately to create an even-more worthwhile experience.

Bookmark - Bovine Behinds

See this post for a full explanation...

Bookmark - Lake District Bovines

...and speaking of bovines, this is one of the most popular of all my bookmarks because of the cattle that are all uniformly brown against the vivid greens.  Of course none of this was entering my mind as I snapped the photo on our Ambleside hike, but was serendipitously pleased during post-capture and consider it a keeper.

Will cap off this three-shot bovine bookmark series with one at the "back end" tomorrow...

Bookmark - Bellville Bovines

In my criminal justice life I sometimes worked with Carolyn Bilski, the Austin County Judge there in Bellville.  She was an amazing person, who was the most hands-on elected official I knew, with perhaps the exception of Nate McDonald in Matagorda County, one of my heroes in life.  It was told that during the tumultuous days when the millions of Houston were being evacuated because of Hurricane Ike, she stood right in the middle of the street guiding traffic around the sometimes-confusing road that encircles the courthouse.  Amazing lady.  And whenever we had our yearly community planning meeting there in the basement of that same courthouse, Judge Bilski would be down there right with me setting up tables and arranging chairs.  I will always admire the selfless energy she expended for her constituency, as well as for the region as a long-standing H-GAC Board member.

Anyway, Judge Bilski invited me to this cattle drive through the center of Bellville, and I was pleased to be able to capture this juxtaposition of the old and the new, with the longhorns and cowboys against a backdrop of modern buildings.

Bookmark - Alyssa in Sepia Tone

Some of my favorite photos are tweaked with just a few of the filters available in Photoshop that I actually know how to use.  This one is a double-dipper; first it was rendered in Found Edges, then sepia was applied in the color dialogue box.  To compare, color saturation was reduced to zero after Found Edges in the bookmark below:

One of my favorite filters in Photoshop is Glowing Edges.  Though it generally lacks color against a black background as sometimes happens using this filter, I decided to go ahead and keep the bookmark below because of the sharp lines and angles:

Bookmark - Allison in Zoo Tube

Anyone who's followed this blog knows that I rarely feature people.  This is a classic exception, as Allison, when she was younger, was so photogenic and cooperative when I wanted to snap one of her.  So, with one of our children as the subject, and having just learned about the hue slider in Photoshop, I went to town on this one.  Selected Allison out and made a layer of just her, then changed the color to the ones I liked.  This was captured at the Houston Zoo back when she was 12.

Bookmark - Vertical Frond

 

Bookmark - Compound Fronds

The location where this one was captured is described here.  One of the more primordial types of plants around...

Tomorrow's post was taken at the same place with a different, and I think better looking, perspective.

Bookmark - Peanuts

With all its colors and variety, food makes a great subject for photos...and bookmarks.

My first voting experience was for a peanut farmer in 1976.  Jimmy Carter was (and is, by all accounts) a good man.  Amazing that he's 96 now and still working hard to do good for his fellow man.

Bookmark - Corpus Christ Bird Silhouette

Like the way this guy's eye stands out even though it's a silhouette.  Captured on the same walk along with the birds featured in yesterday's post.  The noticeable moire between the light and dark areas betrays the fact that it was taken with a point-and-shoot, the Fuji 7000.

Bookmark - Birds on Branches

These kinds of shots are why I like to take pictures in the wintertime.  Captured in Corpus Christi back in February of 2008 while on a business trip, during the evening at best light.  Guess the wind was blowing some, as they are all hunkered down facing the same direction.

Bookmark - Andrew on the Felltop

...and to give equal time, this is probably the best picture I've ever taken of our son Andrew.  But I learned something here.  While it looks fantastic on the screen, with the pixels being lit from behind, it did not turn out well in print.  In fact it was very disappointing.  As a gift I gave him a 16x24 canvas print on a wraparound frame, and it appeared dull and dark. So I took that one back after getting a metal print (from Mpix - highly recommended), on which the colors popped as only they can on aluminum.  This looked much better after mounting on wall in his house that got more light.

So the original canvas print now hangs in my office space here at home, and is a pleasant reminder of not only a learning experience but one of the two best vacations in memory (tied with our Italy trip with Allison).

Bookmark - Allison in Maui / The Beach

There is nothing like seeing joy in your children.  Here is Allison on her college graduation trip to Maui.  She, like her paternal grandfather, is a beach person and happiest near the ocean.  Unfortunately for her, she's the only one in our nuclear family, as neither Chenjean, Andrew nor I care much for it at all.  Thus our family vacations have focused on more inland destinations...with the exception of cruises, of course.  Even then our excursions leaned toward activities that took us away from the beach, as seen if you've following this blog from years past.

And why don't I like the beach? I'm asked occasionally.  The answer is very simple and three-fold:  I don't like sand, I don't like constant wind, and I don't like to swim in a place where creatures bump into your legs.  The most miserable vacation endured as a child was when my dad - very much a beach person as stated above - took the family to camp out on Padre Island for an entire week.  He and Mom stayed in one of those pop-up trailer campers, but the four of us boys got to sleep in some tents on loan from our Boy Scout troop.  This was in the days when they didn't have floors, I think acquired from military surplus stores that were common in the day.  I was constantly miserable.

There are memories left over from that time, however.  It was interesting to watch sand crabs run sideways into our nightly fire; climbing the big sand dunes was good exercise; and we rented a dune buggy, which we used to climb those same dunes.  Think my brothers enjoyed that.

The beach pictured in the bookmark above was something of an exception in that the wind wasn't bad, there was no sand, and the rocks prevented us from going into the water.  So we all enjoyed this trip.

Bookmarks - Vertical Lettering Collage

 

Bookmark - New Taipei Planter with Lettering

As can be seen above, there's more room for verbiage in the horizontal bookmarks.  This was one I made for a friend sick with cancer.  Really like this guy...captured it while on a solo hike up a tall hill (mountain by Houston standards) in New Taipei, Taiwan.

Boy, the apartment we were in was in a fantastic location, with a university, a beautifully maintained peace garden (for lack of a better term), and the "mountain" hike just steps from our door.  Plus, the very convenient public transit system from there couldn't be beat.  The place belongs to my sister-in-law and was mostly unoccupied, thus available for our use whenever we were in the city.  Very unfortunately, however, they've - understandably - begun to rent it out, as they live in the U.S. and are never there.  So next time we go we'll have to stay in a hotel or B&B.  I'll greatly miss the freedom and convenience (not to mention price) of staying in that place.

Made another bookmark from the same shot, sans the extra space at the top, made possible by the very high resolution of the Bigger Cahoona:

Bookmark - Yellow Flower with Yellow Lettering

And here we go - same as yesterday's bookmark, but with lettering that can inspire or bless.  Doable.  Possibly the birth of a series featuring vertical bookmarks with one or two words that point to verses in the Bible.  Hmmm...

Bookmark - Yellow Flower with Bark Background

Applying lettering to a bookmark in horizontal orientation is not much of a problem, but here's a vertical one on which there's space at the top that can be utilized.  Writing a meaningful message using just a couple of words is possible, but with these the question is, How small can you practically go? (with reference to font size)  Think I'll give it a try and post the results tomorrow...

Bookmark - Estes Paper Flower

Call this the paper flower because the petals are so white, thin and delicate.  Shot in Estes Park, Colorado, back in 2011 with the Nikon D300s.

Bookmark - Galveston Gull-on-Gull

Back to Galveston now, from the Girl Scout trip of 2008.  Knew this was a keeper when it snapped, but had no idea that it would one day turn into a bookmark...with lettering potential no less!  Captured with the Fujifilm 7000 point-and-shoot.

Bookmark - Capitol Lamp Post

This one kept catching my eye while choosing from among the 500+ bookmarks available for post.  Captured at the entrance of the state capitol building in Austin.

Does it cheapen the experience because they contain LED lights instead of the traditional gas lamps?  Possibly, but the design is still reminiscent of days gone by...

Bookmark - Christ in Colroado County Graveyard / The Magic of Cemeteries

There is such a great variety of potential subject matter that photographers - if they stick to it long enough - inevitably settle into a niche, a genre if you will.  I've always been fascinated with old, abandoned houses and buildings, and was delighted upon discovering that there is an entire culture of photographers dedicated to capturing just those things...even going so far as to break the law, trespassing onto properties that hold these nuggets.  One time here in Houston I ran into a series of beautiful prints of staircases, of all things (mentioned also in this post).  The photographer that focused on these demonstrated incredible creativity in capturing stairways in all sorts of surroundings and lighting environments.

Another of these would have to be graveyards.  Nothing like a graveyard to encapsulate a culture in a given period of time.  And - generally - they are places of quiet solitude that will allow the uninterrupted time and reflection necessary for creativity.  Besides that aspect, it must be admitted that, at least in my case, there is a morbid curiosity involved knowing that we all will end up here one day (or scattered to the winds).  In my case, as time marches on and age leaves its marks, there is even a competition with its inhabitants!  I've been known to calculate the age of the deceased to determine whether I've lived longer than they did.  It's a satisfying feeling when the percentages go up...

One time I got into trouble photographing a graveyard.  In Austin I'd just dropped off a colleague at the airport and was on my way back to a meeting when I passed the Texas State Cemetery.  I happened to have the Fujifilm 7000 with me and pulled in, intending to stay just for a bit and snap a few.  But with all the history and beauty that was there I soon forgot all about the meeting and ended up there for almost two hours.  It did cross my mind, but seriously - a boring government meeting or this magical place...are you kidding?  The boss got mad and I ended up having to take a few vacation hours.  Worth it.

Bookmark - Bellville Saddle

Firmly in the Rustic category, this was captured in Bellville, Texas.

Bookmark - Horsetooth Beetle

One of my favorite pictures taken at Horsetooth, next to Fort Collins...

Bookmark - Mexican Flower Shot

Captured on a cruise excursion somewhere in Mexico.  Most of our party was in a tourist trap designed to get folks to buy their tequila - including a giveaway of free samples - thus I wandered around outside looking for my own kind of shots such as this one.

Bookmark - Flower Profile

Early in my digital photography days I went through a phase when I went nowhere without my camera.  The Fuji point-and-shoots were light and easy to carry around.  And you never knew when or where there might be something to capture.

This was taken in the front yard of a friend's house here in Houston as I was dropping my daughter off for a visit.

Bookmark - Cincinnati McCaw / Birdie

How can a person resist making a bookmark out of this guy?  So photogenic...and no doubt the subject of millions of photographs.

I had a bird in Nacogdoches.  Inherited him (?) from an East Main friend who passed away, a white cockatiel.  For having such a small bird brain the little guy was sure interactive.  Loved it when I got home every day after work and let him fly around in my little cottage out in the country.  When his energy was spent he'd land in front of my hand on the arm of the couch while I was watching TV and coax me into petting his pretty little head.  And - just like a cat - he would turn and move it to a position where he wanted most to be scratched.

Bookmark - Bahamian Birdwalk

Sometimes you get lucky...

HOWEVER - as stated before - life has nothing to do with luck.  Every event, every interaction, every moment captured is part of a larger purpose.  Covered this thought in the coincidence series.

Bookmark - Byland Tower #2

Got a lot of bookmarks out of the Byland shoot, due to the many towers left standing and the general structure of the original buildings.  Having the Bigger Cahoona helped, as the high resolution gave room for a good bit of cropping when needed.

Suppose it's no surprise that the quantity and quality of pictures that came out of our trip to the Lake District in the UK coincides with this being one of my two favorite vacations (the other one being our trip to Italy with Allison).  A photographer can only capture beauty if he sees it, and a good time with family opens the way to this kind of creativity.

Bookmark - Byland Tower

One of my favorite shoots - and experiences - of all time was running into the Byland Abbey, totally void of people and tourists, in North Yorkshire with my son Andrew.  Right up there with our hike on the shores of Lake Como in Italy with Allison.

Check out the series on Byland here.

Bookmark - Minute Maid Window Shot

Created as part of the "Astros with Kevin" series...zoomed way, way in - plus cropped in a little - with the 6MP Fuji 7000.

Captured inside the lodge of a place close to Houston called "Chain-O-Lakes", near Cleveland, with the Fujifilm Finepix 3800.

That place is where one of the scariest moments of my parenthood took place.  My son and I were in a kayak early one morning when we spotted an alligator in the water.  No surprise; the place was chock full of them, and the strategy was always to keep your distance and they'd leave you alone.  But this time something happened that could have made that impossible.

We were respectfully keeping our distance just watching the gator when some teens in a nearby canoe approached and started throwing rocks and sticks at him.  As I was witnessing this it dawned on me that Andrew was between me and the beast, and if he got mad and went after somebody there was no time for me to do anything about it.  Real fear!  All I could do about it was say a silent prayer, which must have worked because the gator didn't do anything but cast a lazy eye at the teens before slipping closer to shore...