Just down the road from Waring Texas you will find the Don Strange Ranch. When you close your eyes and imagine a Texas Ranch complete with Longhorn Cattle the picture in your mind is probably pretty close to what you see with your eyes wide open here on the ranch; Old Chuck Wagons, Longhorn Cattle & this very cool little cabin are just a few of the sights. Although I confess I’m a bit skeptical about the “Fallout Shelter” sign on the cabin. Then again, I suppose if you need a fallout shelter it probably doesn’t matter…
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Last week we took a trip to Las Vegas to celebrate our daughters 21st birthday. We all had a great time. We saw a couple of shows (“Love” and “The Mac King Show”) “Love” was very good, although acrobatically not on a par with the other Cirque shows we have seen. So far “O” is my favorite. “The Mac King Show” was a last minute addition to our trip and a very pleasant surprise. He was quite entertaining & easily worth the inexpensive (for Las Vegas) $35.00 cover.
The above shot was taken from our daughters suite at the Bellagio. A couple of months ago I booked a couple of rooms at a cheapo rate through Hotels.com. I was rather surprised when we checked in and the front desk clerk notified me we actually had a suite and a standard room. Since it was Audrea’s birthday, we gave her the suite. A few hours later we were notified that there was an error & the suite was actually reserved for another John Rogers, however we were welcome to stay in the suite for the previously paid rate. Sweeet! (Or should I say Suite!?) Later that evening the four of us watched the amazing choreographed fountains perform their magic to the music of “Chorus Line”
Ok, I know its not Valentine’s Day, but looking at Jena in her red dress just sorta makes you feel like it should be. This is another portrait from her last session here. I love it when I have the opportunity to get some totally different looks in a two hour session. This one more fun & the last one I posted was a much more classic look. (You can see the previous post here.)
This pose would also make a great Christmas card!
This cute guy’s (or girl, it’s difficult to tell from this angle…) ancestors were no doubt partially to credit for us having National Parks. Theodore Roosevelt visited this area to hunt buffalo (bison actually,) when he was young and fell in love with nature. Later during his presidency he created the first National Parks to help protect and prevent development of our unspoiled lands. It was quite a new and controversial concept.
We recently attended a wedding in North Dakota. As first time visitors we really had no idea what to expect. We were quite pleasantly surprised by beauty of the badlands. We stayed in Medora which happens to be the location of the South Unit of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. This guy (and many of his cousins) greeted us as we made a morning drive through the park.
I had the opportunity to photograph these adorable cousins a couple of days ago. He is eight months old & she is six months. I’m not sure exactly what he is telling her but she was smiling!
It’s amazing how fast a 6 month old can move. With infants this age it’s great to have pro studio lights (in this case I setup in their home) that allow me to shoot really fast because every second these two had a different adorable expression.
As a side note; I’m actually doing this post from 38,000 feet flying to Seattle on our way to Fairbanks. Pretty cool technology!
Katz’s New York style deli has been a fixture in Austin for over 30 years. For many in Austin Katz’s was the ‘go to’ place after closing down the bars on Austin’s 6th Street or Warehouse district. With it’s parent company recently filing for bankruptcy protection & rumors that they may be looking to move from their iconic 6th street Austin location, I thought I’d better grab a photo of this long time Austin landmark before it disappears like so many others.
I was quite pleased to be able to spend a bit more time working on Jena’s portfolio before she heads off to LA at the end of this week. (You can see images from her last session here & here.) This time I brought her inside & put her under the studio lights for a slightly more “classic” look. We did several different setups & we got a number of great images from each. It was tough deciding which image to post today. I guess I was just in the mood for a bit of purple.
Here is yet another view of the Austin Skyline from the Long Center for the Performing Arts. (Can you tell I like this view of Austin?) This photograph was made the same evening the I shot the Austin Skyline Panorama. (You can see that photo here.) When I photograph I virtually always do multiple angles and perspectives of my subject matter. Due to time constraints, I generally only retouch one of the images immediately to post. Later it’s always fun to go back through my files after some time has past to mine another photograph. It’s interesting how an image that did not jump out at me during the first pass will really stand out during a second look. This image was like that. When I was browsing through my photographs for my (sometimes) daily posting I found this shot of the Long Center. It’s hard to say, but I may like it better than the original Panorama.
In the pans of Botswana there is a somewhat surreal place called Kudu Island. If there is a destination that is truly in the middle of nowhere, this is it. It’s as though your 5 hour drive in what absolutely must be a four wheel vehicle has transported you to another planet. From the top of this rock outcrop you look beyond the alien looking Baobob trees to see miles of pure white pans as flat as a slab. If you ever have the opportunity, it’s worth the trip.
Wow, what a smile! Actually, with Jena to title this post “Jena’s Smile” is somewhat redundant. Jena is pretty much always smiling. She tends to brighten any room with her infectious smile. This is another photo of Jena from the portrait shoot we did when the classic cars were in town. I am trying to arrange time to do another session with Jena and her roommate Jessica before they leave for the lights of LA at the end of this month. Wish me luck!
