Hunting in Texas

Always wondered how hard it is to hunt in TX. But, apparently you just go to any gated community and wait for them to lay down in your driveway. Not hard at all! 

Test Poster

Again, just messing around in PhotoShop and came up with this poster. A little late, but oh well. 

You get the point!

Now, this is the hard one to keep in focus. After trampling the kid he decided that the big ol' camera man made a nice target! 

HotShot of the Day

The hotshot of the day is actually a series of photos. I had to post them backwards so you could see them forward. Having the full weight of a bucking longhorn can't be any fun for this kid. Watch the action of the bull-fighter (white shirt) and the judge (wine shirt). This rodeo was the benefit for the judge's medical bills from the last rodeo....where he had 5 metal plates implanted to hold his cheek/jaw together. 

Deflection

Here the Bull-fighter (they don't like to be called Rodeo Clowns anymore and after this sequence of photos I think they deserve that) rushes in and prepares to deflect more kicks of the hooves. 

The Cowboy Way

This is where training becomes 2nd nature. Notice the Bull-fighter doesn't hesitate to put his body over that of the fallen rider and in between the bucking steer. I was really impressed when this happened and am even more amazed after seeing the photos. Just amazing stuff. 

Another photo by my wife shot at Seaworld. 

Another photo by Shelley taken at Seaworld San Antonio. Just added some framing and texture. 

Whale Ho!

Yep....these Orca's ho themselves out for buckets of fish. Worse than working for peanuts. Photo taken by my wife, Shelley. Seaworld San Antonio, TX 

American HotRod

Just fooling around in PhotoShop I came up with this. One of the best ways to learn a new program is to 1) work with a copy of your original so you aren't afraid of ruining it, and 2) doodle....just go through everything and fiddle with different settings. Don't be scared....you can't hurt anything. 

On Gossamer Wings

A photo I took at WestCave Preserve, added some framing, soft edges, and a poem about butterflies. 

WestCave Preserve

This is a photo taken by either my wife or my son. We aren't sure which one took it since they were passing the 300D Rebel backand forth. It was taken at WestCave Preserve (http://www.westcave.org) just a little southeast of Marble Falls (go to Round Mountain and turn East).

Anyways, they both ended up taking better photos than me. They were using the Rebel with the cheapie 18-55mm lens, and I set it on 400iso before I handed it to them. I on the other hand was using the 20D with a Sigma 20mm f1.8 lens set on 100iso. This might have had a lot to do with it but not sure. That lens also might have had a smudge on it causing the soft focus effect in the highlights. Regardless, they ended up with the better photos :) 

Show N Shine

Saturday was the 4th Annual Show n Shine for the local Hot Rod club. They close down about 5 blocks of Main St. for the day and it draws quite a crowd. There were at least 50 cars there.....probably much more. This year I organized our photo club to go as a group and we ended up shooting some great photos. You can look at the gallery here: http://www.dailyhotshot.com/shownshine/ 

Fire

Just getting around to posting this photo of a fire last Sat nite. We were on our way out of town when this call came thru and we had to turn around. The neighbours discovered it and knew the owners were out for the night. Ouch. And out where the nearest hydrant was 1/4 mile away at least. 

This is our younger kitty Spooky. Certainly named correctly, she spooks at the drop of a pin. She didn't act very cat-like for the first few years...other than the meowing, she didn't sit like a cat, or sleep like a cat, or snuggle like a cat. We had her neutered a few months ago because her 'heat' cycles were driving us absolutely batty....like the Cartman's kitty-in-heat episode of the South Park. Strangely she's started acting more like a cat now. We never really trained her....we think she learned right from wrong from our older cat who was trained with squirt bottles....now SHE was a rascal when she was a kitty!
©2005 HotShots Photo

This is the second in a series of Texas Folkart. I made this photo yesterday while geocaching. I actually think it would make a good virtual cache. When I emailed it to my mom, she replied, 'I suppose it tinkles when the wind blows'.
©2005 HotShots Photo

Birdhouses we saw in someone's yard in Spicewood, TX. while we out geocaching today. There must have been about 30 of these hanging from the tree.
©2005 HotShots Photo

Believe it or not, this is a good representation of my Dad. Yeah, it's a photo of him on some Hallowe'en years ago. He was never afraid of dressing up or acting kookie...especially for Hallowe'en. Which reminds me....one Hallowe'en I spent 6 hours carving out intricate designs in pumpkins. I think I have a picture of a couple of them somewhere. There were about 10 pumpkins lit up in front of our house....the kids were all awestruck when they saw them. Of course, that was just part of the display.
©2005 HotShots Photo

Infrared Photo of Hurricane Rita at Cat 4 about a day before it's due to hit the Gulf Coast of Texas near Galveston Houston.
©2005 HotShots Photo

This is a photo my cousin Robert took of my brother Tracy. He was using his new digital back for his Lieca camera body. My brother looks alot like my dad nowadays....not sure if he wants to hear that or not.
©2005 HotShots Photo

Typical beach house construction about 10-20 mins southwest of Galveston. Lowtide.
©2005 HotShots Photo

hehehe...whenever my wife bugs me about going back to Canada, I just show her this photo. This was actually just a few days before she moved to Colorado. We were picking up TJ from a weekend scout camp. Having just come from TX a few short months earlier I don't think she was quite acclimatized yet.
©2005 HotShots Photo

This is an edited shot taken at the San Antonio Riverwalk. Originally in shot in color, I used Picasa2 to add Sepia toning, then added some Film Grain, and some Soft Focus on the edges. I was trying to imitate the 'Holga' look. Holga's are a cheap bakelite toy camera from years ago. They have a cheap plastic lens which causes abberations on the photo....really soft focus and grainy.
©2005 HotShots Photo

Sometimes shooting football isn't all about capturing the action. There are a lot of good shots 'away from the ball'. I really like when a picture speaks for itself, but I feel this one needed a bit of background info. This team, the visitors, apparently sing the school song after each game....they sing to the stands and the stands singalong. In this case, they had just lost 21-20 after coming back from a 21-0 deficit in the first half. They lost on the last play when they failed to convert for a two-point attempt after a touchdown with three seconds left on the clock.
©2005 HotShots Photo

This is a photo of my uncle. Yep, I have to admit it, but it's my uncle. Now my father had three brothers. This one is Gerald. Of the four, my father and uncle Mack were the most compatible. Both worked hard for a living....slow and steady wins the race. Mack got rich working smarter not harder. My father made a good living and was a good provider by working harder. The both supported each other in different ways. Dad would fix Mack's boats, cars, etc. Every once in awhile Mack would toss him a Jaguar or use of the yacht, or summer home, etc.

Now the uncle above, he was more aligned with the 'get-rich-quick' line of thinking of my other uncle Jack. That's not saying that they were always like this. Jack was at one time one of the top advertising salesman in Atlantic Canada...and even in Montreal. I've heard this from many people who has known him. His problem? Probably alcohol. But I won't judge that. Gerald at one time owned his own Plumbing and Heating company. In fact, my father used to work for him. He, I believe suffered from a midlife crisis, divorced his wife, mother of 3 daughters, and married a girl the same age as me and now has a 2nd family...daughter and son almost teenagers. Since then he's gone a little 'conspiracy theory', the 'government is out to screw me' ....you know the type of guy.

For years, my rich uncle supplemented these two with various jobs in advertising, heating/oil sales from the company he has owned. NOTE: My father always refused to work for Mack because of what he saw these two do. My uncle/aunt died a few years back in an auto accident. And of course, my Dad died almost 2 yrs ago. So now it's jus the eccentric uncles.

I wouldn't say these guys are the 'bad'...far from it. They were very supportive and helpful during my father's funeral arrangements and stuff. But let's just say, it doesn't surprise my sister, brother, or I to see this picture in the local paper today.

This is the foyer of the St. Anthony Hotel where we stayed in San Antonio for one night. It's classic historic hotel thru and thru. We loved the ambiance...our windows faced the park across the street, and we were only two blocks from the Riverwalk. The bathroom had a huge tub, and a seperate shower with glass door, big enough to two. The bed was a four poster, although a modern knockoff, it was still kingsize and comfy!
©2005 HotShots Photo

Saturday we stayed overnight in San Antonio. Sunday I had 5 hours to kill so I walked around the Riverwalk and took some photos. It was drizzling all day which made it great for taking photos since it kept the shoulder-to-shoulder tourists away and the air was humid, but not blistering HOT as usual for TX. If you're going to San Antonio the one must-see place is the Riverwalk.....which is right next to the Alamo. Remember the Alamo?
©2005 HotShots Photo

This is a sunset I captured during the Friday Night football game. Just a quick snap with a 70-200mm.....sharpened a bit in Picasa and a bit of a crop...but what you see is what you get.
©2005 HotShots Photo

This is a mockup of TIME magazine. The photo was taken by Sigmund Solares. You can find the original photo on this blog: http://mgno.com
©2005 HotShots Photo

This is a composite of a photo I took during preseason high school football here in Marble Falls, Texas. I hope to sell a few of these with proper names/stats.
©2005 HotShots Photo

This is a new photo technique I'm trying on some portraits. It's called 'one-photo-collage'. Wife and son taken about a year ago just after she got back from Kuwait.
©2005 HotShots Photo

The good stuff
©2005 HotShots Photo

You figure out a caption for this one. There's a lot going on in this photo.
©2005 HotShots Photo

Thursday Night Lights - The traditional thursday night preseason scrimmage marks the start of the season for Texas High School Football. Next week it's Friday under the lights made so famous by the movie 'Friday Night Lights'. Texans take their high school football seriously. The head coach/athletic director can make upwards of $60,000.
©2005 HotShots Photo

Photo taken at the Marble Falls Youth Rodeo 2005. Desaturated the background the 'revealed' the color of the horse and boy.
©2005 HotShots Photo

Some of you have seen this before. It's a photo of our kitty Spooky (thanx to S&P) I submitted to www.mycathatesyou.com this morning. Hopefully they'll add it to their collection. And sorry to spool the illusion, but she was only yawning.
©2005 HotShots Photo