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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It’s been way too long since I’ve been here. It’s good to be back!

Today’s photo is from a gig I did in the metropolis of Waring Texas. A few weeks ago I was contracted to videotape an event at the Waring General Store and really had no idea what to expect. After spending a few hours at the store having fun, eating great food and listening to live Texas music, I have to say; if you ever find yourself in the neighborhood on a Wednesday night, stop by the Waring General Store for Steak Night. Waring TX is really just a crossroads in the Texas Hill country between Welfare & Comfort Texas (come to think of it, I’ve spent a lot of time somewhere between welfare & comfort).  Every Wednesday night Don Strange of Texas hosts a feast complete with lots of great food, live music and an atmosphere that can’t be beat.

One evening before dinner at the Mogotlho Lodge in Botswana I set my camera up on the deck for a long star trail exposure. Since the deck faces almost due south I thought it might make a nice shot. I used my portable flashlight to paint the tree for the first twenty seconds or so in the distance and then sat down for a wonderful dinner. Behind the camera was a fire pit which is providing the reddish orange illumination you see in the foreground.
Unfortunately my battery died during the exposure so the trails are not as long as I intended and the camera was not able to do it’s automatic noise reduction, nonetheless I believe it was a worthwhile exercise.

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”
This is actually a crop of the full image. Since panoramic images end up so tiny here I thought I’d do a square crop for the blog.  Click here to see the full un-cropped version.