Siblings I

It's been hot here in central Texas and four days since I've posted anything, but I haven't been dogging it. I've been going through my old color slides, hoping to glean a few new fruits from my past labors. The first problem is that the slides are so small that I may be able to identify them and even assess their composition, but I can't tell till I scan them whether or not they'll be usable. So, I scanned hundreds of slides that showed some potential. Of those, a large percentage turned out to be basically useless because of two things: (1) my Minolta didn't have autofocus and (2) my eyes had started giving out long before I was aware of it. Anyway, much of that job has been completed. Now, because the slides are old and haven't been particularly well taken care of, I have to clean up the scans, removing dust, lint, and hair - and, of course, attempt to address any number of technical issues that I either neglected or botched when I was taking the pictures.

So I have plenty to do, but I thought I'd post these pictures of Siblings - some mine and some not. And while I'm working on the old stuff, we can all be thankful for autofocus, high-resolution images, image stabilization, and indeed, all the benefits of digital photography.


My siblings and I don't often have the opportunity to pose en masse. This was a good attempt in 2004 at our formerly biennial Rendezvous at Crooked Hole Ranch in Utopia, west of San Antonio. Above, 89% of us are entertaining much of the extended Parker family with a rousing rendition of "Chantilly Lace". The Big Bopper was probably turning over in his grave. From left to right are: Mary, Paul, Stephen, Bill, Angela, Karen, Michael, and Ellen.


This picture is of Drew and Lauren on the patio of grandmother's house in Grand Prairie in 2002. I was on my way to Karen's for the Fourth of July and had gone via the Metroplex so I could see as many family and friends as possible on my trip.


This one of Angela and Andrew sitting on the hearth in Ellen's living room. We were gathered in San Antonio in October 2007 to celebrate Grandmother's birthday. An added benefit for me and the other photographers was that several of the kids were prepared to show off their Halloween costumes.


I have a couple of good pictures of Stephen and Ellen together. This one is at Karen's house over Labor Day weekend in 2004. It would have been nicer if I had moved to the side a bit to avoid the glare of the flash. Ah, well.


This one was taken in the breakfast nook at Angela's during a break in the action the night before Thanksgiving 2003. Mary had been baking pies with Lauren while Stephen peeled new potatoes for the morrow.