Andrew and Ellen's Wedding - Sunlit Chairs

Turning the camera the other way, captured this and used Photoshop to brighten just the sunlit chairs for better contrast.

Andrew and Ellen's Wedding - Chairback Pattern

As stated yesterday, there was a pattern here to be explored.  And since most of the lines are sharp, decided to try the Glowing Edges effect in Photoshop:

Andrew and Ellen's Wedding - Venue from Outside #2

This is where the wedding itself took place.  Really a beautiful scene, and fortunately the weather cooperated...sometimes a tall order in Houston.

As you'll see tomorrow, I zeroed in on a pattern that makes up part of this frame.

Andrew and Ellen's Wedding - Venue from Outside #1

All agreed that the venue for our son's wedding was fantastic, with the ceremony itself taking place in an outdoor courtyard area.  Naturally, as parents of the groom, we had to get there early, providing plenty of time to scout good photo opportunities such as this.

Just for grins, decided to see what it looked like with only the windows against a black background...as if they appeared from nowhere with a view to what's inside:

 

Andrew and Ellen's Wedding - Rose Shadow Box / Being a Pseudo-Wedding Photographer

Ah, so now I've found another cache of untapped photographs, many of which were taken with the blog in mind.  Always a good moment when discovering something heretofore neglected, these being captured when our son Andrew married his good wife Ellen.

I've learned to be careful, though, when lugging either the Big or Bigger Cahoonas around during a wedding, as there is a risk of either  a) getting in the way of the real photographers, or  b) being mistaken for one of the real photographers (though one time it was sort of fun).  As can be collectively seen from the pics in this blog, I generally don't like to take pictures of people, and at a wedding that's just a part of it.

Actually, I was asked once by a good friend to photograph his wedding, to which I agreed since he's a good friend and since he really likes my photography.  I was so nervous about it, however, that I called another friend - a photographer experienced in doing weddings - to meet me at the church the night before for some tips and to teach me how to work a new flash unit I'd just bought for the Big Cahoona, the D300s.  After that I felt a little less nervous.  But imagine when, the next day, the pastor told me I couldn't use flash during the ceremony!  My gosh, what a disaster.  The lighting inside the chapel was hideous and I didn't have enough experience to adjust to a plan B.  Needless to say, the bride and groom were less than pleased.  I vowed never to photograph another wedding, and have not since.

So now I wander about on a wedding day, capturing subjects such as this as unobtrusively as possible, offering anything the family likes for free.  It's almost people-less, with no obligation or time constraint, and a joy to capture and share.

Texas Visitor Center in Orange - Dead Trees Against the Sky

Always liked pics like this, with the decaying trees against a blue sky...especially when a heron is involved.

Another view below, with a comment about hanging moss in these posts:

Texas Visitor Center in Orange - Licks from Mr. Hoke

Another vivid memory I have of Mr. Hoke (and he was a Mr. then, because he was in his first year of teaching and nowhere near obtaining his doctorate) is when he gave me licks...that is, a paddling.  This was in a time when paddlings were routine punishment for transgressions in school.  Mr. Hoke was greatly respected among all his students because, while he was great fun as a teacher, he spared no strength when using this method, and was perfectly fair and impartial in its administration.

One day he announced that later in the week he'd be absent, and we'd have a substitute in his place.  He also sternly warned us that if the sub wrote anyone's name down for misbehavior we'd get the fabled paddle upon his return.  You'd think that would instill enough fear in all to ensure a well-behaved class on the appointed day.

But not in my case.  On that day the class started out quietly enough, but after about 20 minutes one could sense a restlessness in the air.  A murmur of whispers was soon heard as several attempted to communicate important messages to their neighbors.  Then I saw it...a spitball.  Well, you heard it first - a pffftt sound as the paper bullet made its way through and exited the barrel crafted from a Bic pen with its insides removed.  We all had those pens in case it became necessary to use them for such a purpose during class.

Soon enough the air was lightly sprinkled by those brave enough to defy Mr. Hoke's threat of the day before.  The sub caught on, and whenever he looked up all weapons were silenced.  It was about then that I severely miscalculated.  My pen was loaded with a particularly large and appropriately heavy wad, at the ready to be discharged in a final blow to an offender who sent one my way a few minutes earlier.  He was not going to get away without retribution.  Thus, at the exact moment the sub decided to look up, I actually stood up and with all the breath I could muster delivered my vengeance on the adversary.  Imagine the muffled laughter of the class upon witnessing that stupidity, and the fact that I'd made the list to get the paddle when Mr. Hoke returned.

A good teacher always does what he says he's going to do, so those of us who'd made the list that day came to class with great fear of the certainty that we were in for some hurt.  And as expected, Mr. Hoke gave the class an assignment and called us one by one to walk with him to the office for the consequences - three licks with the paddle.  And yes, it hurt plenty.  And yes, we all had an even greater respect for the man that day, and worked harder in class as a result.

There was one time, though, when he went a little soft.  A classmate named Dwayne Brown cut up a little during a lab assignment.  Sometimes Mr. Hoke, for the sake of immediacy, administered his licks in the storage closet right there in the back of the room.  He'd take the student in and, without closing the door so that it could be heard better by all, would use the paddle to administer one, two or three licks.  But this was behind the wall so no one could actually turn around and see it.  On that day Dwayne got his licks back there.  We all heard it and felt for poor Dwayne, who had the highest grades in the class and was a bit of a nerd.

Later, however, Dwayne told me the whole story.  When they got back into the storage closet, Mr. Hoke pulled out a big fat wallet from his back pocket and told Dwayne to put it in his back pocket.  This greatly lessened the pain while still producing enough noise to calm the flock.

One would think that, based on the two incidences above, Mr. Hoke was a mean, dictatorial teacher...but such was not the case at all.  Even under threat of sure punishment for misbehavior, his students all had an awesome time in his classes, because he never lost his sense of humor, was terrific at his job, and had us laughing more than not.  What an awesome teacher.  Sadly, in this day and age a teacher's hands are tied to such an extent that those types are fewer and further between.

Texas Visitor Center in Orange - Raccoon / An Adventure with Mr. Hoke

After yesterday's post got to thinking about an adventure we had with Michael Hoke.  When I was in 7th grade he conducted a field trip to the Anahuac Wildlife Refuge, and I was among the four students selected to go...four probably because that was all of the students that could fit into his old junker college car.  At the appointed time on that Saturday morning I waited in front of my house at 1512 Chapman, and along he comes to pick me up.  Wasn't so easy to get in the car, though, because as soon as I reached for the handle he sped off for a few feet, kidding around.  Somehow he could get away with that kind of stuff because of his personality, and because it was just a different time then.  Another time he was on the North Junior High faculty team when they played the Orange Police Department in a charity basketball game, and, not-surprisingly to us, picked 98.6 as his number.  He was all about science, but was also very civic-minded.

Back to the adventure.  We got to the Refuge, where he drove us around pointing out this or that about the wildlife.  It was fun, and at one point he had some of us sitting on the hood of the car so we could see better.  As mentioned above, it was just a different time then.  I was positioned behind the passenger-side wheel when Guess what happened - he (non-intentionally, I think) ran over a fresh cow patty, which sprayed all over my left pants leg!  Yep, and there it stayed because Lord knows we were in the middle of nowhere and had no way of washing it off.  And taking off my pants was not exactly an option for the hour-drive home.  So on the way back I sat in the front seat in order to maximize the distance between me and anyone else in the car.

That incident sort of sticks out in my mind when thinking about those days with Mr. Hoke.  He was truly an unforgettable character.

Texas Visitor Center in Orange - Heron on Branch / Dr. Hoke and Shangri-La

This type of wildlife is one of the reasons the Texas Visitor Center in Orange is one of my go-to places to take pictures.  I'd love to rent a 500mm lens one day and come back here - and to Shangri-La, also in Orange - to capture these guys up close during nesting season.

Speaking of Shangri-La, it still surprises me at how far it's come in contributing to the economy, culture and education of the communities in Orange County and beyond.  Its founder and first administrator was Michael Hoke, who in 1971 was my 7th-grade science teacher...his first year teaching and probably the best school year of my young life.  His talent, ingenuity and influence eventually landed him in the Bush-41 White House to receive an honor in the Rose Garden.  Quite the individual.  While I was living in Nacogdoches, when he learned that I'd become certified to teach 7th-grade earth-life science and high school biology, he invited me to join him as staff during his summer program, Bios, which was basically a field trip on steroids.  Reluctantly I had to decline.

But that's not what surprises me.  It is a strange feeling to go into the place and wander freely, because as kids my friend Brent and I used to have to sneak through a fence and trespass to walk (or run, as was sometimes necessary) along its pathways, always on the alert for the tight security placed to catch folks like us.  The Stark family was notorious for their zero-tolerance stance on anyone caught in such a transgression.  Now, thanks to Dr. Hoke, all you have to do is fork over a little cash to go inside.

After all of that, what surprises me most was his sudden and unexpected death in 2016.  His obituary is easy to find on Legacy.com, but does not mention the cause of death at the relatively young age of 67.  Surely he is still sorely missed by the community and all who knew him...

Louisiana Visitor's Center - Swamp Reflection Shot

This was the only other blogworthy photo that resulted from our visit to the Louisiana Visitor's Center.  Next we headed back to Texas and stopped at one of my stand-by and favorite shooting locations, the TEXAS Visitor Center...