Ruth M Parker (1921-2012)

We buried my mother yesterday, a beautiful sunny day in north Texas, next to my father. We were surrounded by family - some who flew in from Ohio, Virginia, North Carolina, and even Alaska - and friends, lots of friends. As must be expected, there were missing faces as well. Some were in the hospital or recovering from recent visits to the hospital; some were simply too distant to make the trip; and others, whom we still miss, led the way for Mom months or years ago. Being able to congregate with these wonderful people yesterday in Arlington to celebrate Mom's life, reminded us gently of all those missing faces who would have been with us had they been able.

I started this post several days ago, collecting a few pictures, then decided not to do a post. Then I didn't know whether I wanted to do a post or not, so I just filed it under "draft" and worked around it. When I opened the file this afternoon I just thought, "How could I not post something about Mom and all the thoughts swirling in my head?"

This is Mom's graduation portrait, taken in 1942 when she graduated from Mercy Hospital School of Nursing in Canton, Ohio. She was too young by six months to take the state board exams for her Registered Nurse certification. As soon as she was old enough, she took and passed her state boards; as soon as she received her RN certification, she started the paperwork to join the Navy Nurse Corps.

The picture above, shot by a friend of theirs in 1944 during their "courtship phase", is of Mom and Dad sitting on the steps of the nurses quarters at the Naval Hospital in Pensacola, Florida. It was Mom's first duty station after basic training; Dad had been in the Marine Corps for a few years and was then in flight training. They met in Pensacola when Dad was hospitalized with a broken leg sustained on a training flight - perhaps you saw the movie. . .

Skip ahead 56 years, 20 of which were spent moving from one Naval or Marine Air Station to another while raising a family of nine children - with all that entails. We more or less left the Marine Corps behind in 1963 (there are no ex-Marines), but raising the family simply got more intense. Among our favorite events during this period were camping trips at Inks Lake State Park with as many of the family who could come. Best friends were more than welcome - for Mom and Dad, "the more the merrier" was the Order of the Day. I've posted this picture from 2000 before, but it's one of my favorites. I asked Mom's permission the first time I posted it because I thought she might be concerned about the state of her hair. She wasn't. She just wanted to know how I "did that to the picture" (and perhaps make me feel good about my photography).

The picture above is probably my favorite portrait - of anyone, anytime - taken at Christmas, 2010, in Karen's living room. Mom loved a party, and more than two people usually constituted a party. She delighted in her children, grandchildren, her many friends, and even most people she encountered casually. She loved biographies of pretty much anyone, important or not, always interested in the circumstances that carry people along.

This last shot was taken over 21 years ago, shortly after we buried Dad in 1991. We appear to be a remarkably happy group considering the circumstances, but I think it simply reflects the knowledge each of us had that we were truly blessed. Our patriarch may have passed on but, as we have been reminded regularly over the years, he now resides within each of our hearts. Our matriarch has now passed, but I have no doubt she too will reside within us and continue to bless our lives.

Canyonlands Sunset

There might be a better spot from which to shoot the sunset around here, but it's not accessible. This spot on the side of the road is convenient, a safe place to pull off, and offers the best view I've found in the area.

I'd like to see this one without the backside of the guardrail - or the road for that matter - but from a composition point of view the highlights on the guardrail balance the picture nicely.

Moving the tripod around a little, but basically shooting a bunch of pictures from the same spot doesn't make a lot of sense unless the light is changing. In studio work, it's all about the lighting; with landscapes too, it's mostly about the light (i.e., almost anywhere you can find a decent composition; the composition without good light just doesn't get it).

The bushes in the center of this picture, at the end of the guardrail, were the brightest foliage anywhere around, near or far. They drew my eye every time I turned in that direction, so I took this picture. The thickening stream of cloud to the left balances the guardrail on the right.

As the sun got lower, the clouds above the opposite hill took on a pink cast.

I guess I like this one because the amount of detail in the sky matches the amount of detail in the Ash Juniper and the limestone cut at the bottom right.

The first couple pictures above will have to suffice for the sunset. The sun just kind of disappeared behind the clouds while I had my back turned. But, that's just how it goes sometimes. . .

Happy Thanksgiving.

Taking Your Fall Color Where You Find It

Here in central Texas the yellows and golds of autumn are easy to come by - at least in the late afternoon - the reds, not so much. I remember in the mid-60s, my mother commented on how pretty the fall color was that year. I was still going to school in western North Carolina, and I couldn't see it. That's when I discovered that color is relative.

Scanning the pastoral scene above the thick fence post near the middle of the frame caught my eye and reminded me that a little detail might be interesting in the midst of these sweeping vistas. I have to remind myself of this regularly because of the way I shoot. I don't zoom in as close as I might; I like to leave enough space surrounding the subject that I can use judicious cropping later, when I can evaluate the image properly on my computer.

Here's that fake raincloud again, the one from yesterday's post. After this shot, I continued up to the end of Cow Creek Road, then turned southwest on FM 1174 to the gap where I'd shoot the sunset. I'd neglected to ascertain the time of sunset, so I didn't waste much time. Cow Creek not only wasn't flowing in its upper reaches, it was dry as a bone. The lack of water made it easy to dismiss the countryside, including the balcones for which these canyon lands are named.

As soon as I saw this I liked it. The title of today's post came from this shot. I'd finally captured enough red foliage to comment on, and the sun was picking up the rust colored paint on the steel gate and fence post. The vibrant green of the Ash Juniper - "Cedar" to Central Texans - was nicely scattered, and the westering sun provided enough yellow for that portion of the palette. And, finally, there was plenty of blue sky with a scattered layer of clouds adding detail and its own limited range of colors. It may not be a sugar maple, but it works for me.

As in the previous picture, I like shooting up the hill - especially when I can take advantage of an interesting sky. It probably has more to do with my working at home than any change in the nature of Texas skies, but when I do get out I really appreciate how much interest the clouds can add to an image.

If things go as planned here, you'll see Sunday's sunset tomorrow, while I'm up in Arlington at Angela's and Danny's for Thanksgiving.

Cow Creek Revisited

I've been wrestling recently (it seems like forever) with the results of my hard drive crash last month. I had been remiss in keeping things backed up and I had been remiss for quite some time. I'm now suffering the consequences. Needless to say, I lost a lot of work, photographic and genealogical mostly, but every day it seems I discover something else I'd been saving as a remembrance or a reference for when I finally write that book. You know, the one every blogger has inside.

Anyway, I finally left my cave Sunday afternoon and drove out to take pictures in the Hill Country. I didn't have any new place to go and didn't really feel like exploring, so I went back to survey Cow Creek Road, see whether there was any water flowing (there wasn't), and take a few pictures in the afternoon sun.

This shot is looking south along Cow Creek Road just a couple hundred yards from its start at FM-1431. The greenery belies our lack of rain here in the Hill Country as the drought continues.

This one is looking in the opposite direction from the creek side of the road. There's actually some standing water in the creek bed directly above the storm drains. I love the warmth of the late afternoon sun on the dry grass, but most of all - even though I know it's a lie - I love the promise of rain in the clouds.

These two pictures were shot from the same place; I just took the one shot and swiveled the camera on the tripod a frame or two to the right and took the other. I wanted to get a few back lit shots of the Central Texas Fall Color before Winter comes. The water disappeared around the next bend. I should have expected that since I was moving upstream. I always liked taking pictures along this road because the creek seemed so refreshing. I may have to go find a new favorite haunt for my cameras.

This picture surprised me when I got home and was able to work on it. Standing on the side of the road in the late afternoon it's very hard to see what I've got - especially when I'm looking at an LCD screen instead of a viewfinder. That means I've got to take a lot of pictures, trust my eye, my imagination, and finally, my luck. I seldom know just what I've got till I get home and download my pictures to the computer. The clouds here are not promising any rain, but at least they're promising a good sunset.

No Highlights This Week. . .

. . . not because I was lazy; there WERE NONE.

48-45 Was Exciting. . .

I'd have been happier if the scores were reversed, but the game was very entertaining. The Longhorn offense continues to get better and our defense had clearly improved. It's unfortunate that they can't seem to grasp the concept of staying in their lanes and that the great defensive plays still have to share time with missed tackles. But, as I said, they were better than they were last week.

 

 Texas/West Virginia Highlights

I might add that I feel better about the OU game next week. I think the 'Horns will do alright this year but they'll have to play well each week. Oh. . . and I'm glad that we'll play Kansas State late in the season.

Hook ' Em!

Video? I never thought of that. . . It's easy.

Miss the Oklahoma State game? That's alright. Here ya go.

29 September 2012.       Longhorns 41 - Cowboys 36

Okay, I'll work on the Longhorn D. . . West Virginia Mountaineers are coming to Austin next week and it might be interesting to introduce them to defense. At this point, I'm not sure the 'Horns are the ones to do it but we can hope. At least the offense seems to be coming back after two disappointing years.

Sunrise, Thursday

I had about 24 hours of technical difficulties, trying to add pictures to Saturday's post. I managed to ignore it all for a day then last night, when I was ready to crash, I checked and found everything was working fine.

So, these pictures below were all taken Thursday from downtown Austin on the aforementioned pedestrian bridge. I suppose I could've wandered around and taken more pictures but, having captured the last space shuttle I'm likely ever to see, I was anxious to get home and see exactly what it was I had. 

I moved back to Austin in 1979 to attend the University of Texas. We lived in a small house on the east edge of town and I remember sitting on the back step one afternoon in 1981 and watching the space shuttle Columbia on the back of its 747 carrier aircraft circling to land at Bergstrom Air Force Base southeast of town. It may have been before the first shuttle flight (STS-1) or, since the first several flights landed at Edwards AFB, it could also have been returning from Edwards to Cape Kennedy after one of the first two flight. In either case, I didn't have my camera ready. But here, last week, I got a surprise second chance to shoot it and only had to wait 31 years.

If I'd known ahead of time it was coming, I would have been down on Congress Avenue to get the shot of Endeavor passing over the state capitol. But nooooooo... I just happened to be on the pedestrian bridge to shoot the sunrise. So, you do what you can with what you've got. Above, you can see the glow of the sunrise on Endeavor's tale cone and, below, you can see it and its carrier disappearing into the west. And, just above the bird at the same altitude as the shuttle - is that bird really attacking the pigeons on the left lamppost? - you can just make out the T-38 "chase" aircraft.

With Endeavor now fading into Austin's history, I had time to focus on a small subset of her daily visitors. I already mentioned the joggers, who peacefully coexist with the cyclists - and I try hard to keep both those groups out of my pictures or anonymously small. The ones I planned all along to shoot were the kayakers and those sculling on the river (or Ladybird Lake as it's known locally).

There are far fewer of them, but they're "scenic" and the temporary patterns they leave in their wake add detail to the shots. Oh! And I was a sailor - boats are cool. . .

This last one is about the best view I could get of the Frost Bank building from the bridge. The sunrise is about as big as it can get; part of the foreground's in shadow and part of it's well-lit; and it's got lens flare up the wazoo. It may not be a great picture, but it's definitely Sunrise, Thursday.

Early for Me, But a Good Morning in Austin

I haven't been very active lately with regard to this blog specifically, or even my photography in general. But against all odds, I got up this morning with 4 hours sleep and headed downtown with my cameras to explore the Pfluger Pedestrian Bridge. It was built across Lady Bird Lake in 2001 in response to fatal accidents between pedestrians / cyclists who who regularly lost contests with automobile traffic on the Lamar Boulevard bridge. Clearly, it's a terrific resolution of the problem - the pickup trucks and Audis hardly ever take out a pedestrian or cyclist on this bridge and, as an added benefit, there's room for the occasional photographer to set up a tripod and get a few shots of Austin's growing skyline.

You'll note I'm still enamored with HDR, and it seems likely that I'll continue my experiments with it for a long time to come. The location of this pedestrian bridge is great, though there are a few things I'd change if it were up to me. First, I'd declare the railroad bridge next door to be prime graffiti real estate and require the artists to submit their entries in advance, insisting statements be rational and in correct English - or Spanish for that matter. Oh, and the art or messages should be colorful. (I should mention here that I'm surprised that I don't see any plea to keep Austin weird. That's okay, I'm just sayin'. . .) Next, I'd have them move the power station, or at least find some way to camouflage it. And I'd move the Frost Bank building a block or two in one direction or another - just make sure it can be seen from all the best vistas.

I should mention I was nervous this morning as I took these shots. As soon as I set up my tripod a lady jogger stopped and asked me if I was setting up to take a shot of the shuttle. I'd heard last night that the shuttle would leave Houston piggybacked on its 747 en route to LA, but I didn't hear anything about there being a flyby in Austin. So now I had to keep my head on a swivel lest I miss my last chance to catch a shuttle flyby. One more thing to remember. . .

Above is the very pleasant-to-the-eye and much safer Lamar bridge with traffic picking up as the sun climbs higher. It'll be a full-fledged rush-hour in a while, when the sun clears the skyline.

While on the west side of the bridge, I thought I'd get a shot across the bridge towards the city to catch the raised flower beds in the foreground. A nice touch.

Back to the west, I wasn't sure how the HDR would play with movement in the frame. The traffic on the Lamar bridge is blurred but there are enough other points of interest in the picture that the blurring doesn't seem to distract too much. The HDR program I use actually handled the shell, approaching the bridge from upstream, very well.

Here's the "money shot" for the morning. . . the NASA 747 and the piggybacking shuttle arriving with the sunrise. I have to admit there's a lot to be said for getting up early. . . if you don't overdo it.

A Rainy Afternoon in Austin

It's August 18th, 3 o'clock in the afternoon, in Texas. But this August 18th is different. You see, it's raining! Now, I saw rain in Ohio last month, and in Mississippi we even got to drive in it for a while. But this rain is in Texas - in central Texas. (Think "Oliver" for a second.) "Rain, glorious rain. . . "

I love rain - and not just because we need it so badly here. Smart enough to come in out of the rain? Probably, but think about that for a moment; when was the last time you walked in the rain - or ran - more than the few steps from your doorway to your car. When I was in high school in Asheville, we used to make our way about the city on "shank's mare" and, more than once, we were surprised by a sudden downpour with no place to run for cover. Years later, with the Roosevelt lying at anchor in some Mediterranean port and her crew ashore on liberty, we weren't necessarily surprised by the downpours - we were simply not concerned about them. (When your primary objective is drinking, it doesn't really matter whether you're wet or dry.) The point is, when you accept the circumstances, you don't need to dodge them. I've been wet before; I got better. The fact that it's raining shouldn't keep you from enjoying a walk.

Rain - the circumstance of rain - can add so much interest to a picture. It sets the mood, clears the air, sharpens the color. . . Now, don't get me wrong. I can't very well take my camera out and play in the rain. That would be silly. but I can shoot from my patio and appreciate the circumstances.

I've found that as a photographer, conforming to circumstances requires adjusting one's way of looking at his or her surroundings. Yesterday, the same cars were parked in the same spots; the oak tree has been there forever (more or less). I didn't see anything "worth shooting" from my patio yesterday. Perhaps, when the weather blows out of here tomorrow or the next day, I'll take another look. Maybe I can adjust my way of looking at the parking lot in the sunshine.

Meanwhile, I need to work out how shoot the odd rainy day from somewhere other than my patio without ruining my cameras. After all, there are only so many compositions you can come up with when constrained by such a small patio. We'll see how this goes and I'll get back to you.

Mississippi HDR

So. Did anyone guess Vicksburg MS? After all those years I spent going back and forth from Marietta GA to Fort Worth, Grand Prairie, and Austin TX, The Mississippi Visitor's Center at Vicksburg - overlooking Old Man River as you can see - easily became my favorite rest stop. . . and some trips it was the only one! With my Suburban's 600 mile range I could drive from Marietta to Shreveport in one stretch. So, if I was going for a personal best I could fill up the tank (42 gal) and take a couple of turns around the Visitor's Center in Vicksburg and get back on the road with a minimal delay. Anyway, comin' or goin' I always stop in Vicksburg.

This lovely weather was the day after we did a good stretch of the Natches Trace Parkway in a driving thunderstorm then, after abandoning the Trace in Tupelo, ran out of gas coming into Oxford MS. The rain quit when I called USAA - I'm not sure how they managed that, but I appreciate it - and it was replaced by a great rainbow to boot! I guess that was the Cosmic Joker's way of saying, "Aw, shucks. I was just pullin' your leg."

The white bridge is the 4 lane I-20/US80 Vicksburg Bridge, which opened in 1973. The black one is the Old Vicksburg Bridge, a combination auto/railway bridge built in 1929, which continued to carry auto traffic across the river until 1998. Now, it carries the Kansas City Southern Railway and only maintenance vehicular traffic. I remember it as narrow lanes surrounded by a steel skeleton. But, since I don't have to use it anymore and it looks terrific (the American Flag is a nice touch), I hope it continues to serve as long as I'm around.

In this shot, I had noticed the flag standing out perfectly and zoomed in a bit to emphasize it. It may not be the best of the shots, but I love the detail of the bridge itself - as well as the flag. I took all these shots from the comfort of the Welcome Center veranda. I only moved the tripod once, a couple of feet, for the image below. I had just told Mom that I usually saw barge traffic on the river when I stopped and, lo and behold, a barge appeared, making its way upstream.

Oh. The Rangers lost last night (2-1), but beat the Red Sox tonight (5-3) to take the 3 game series.

OHIO HDR

You didn't think I'd forgotten about High Dynamic Range (HDR) photography, did you? Gotta keep practicin'. I had visions of spending a day in the junkyard with my camera, but it didn't happen. . . this time. For some reason, the eerie surrealistic qualities that HDR sometimes emphasize works very well with vehicles that have seen better days, be they cars, trucks, or planes.

I can't remember what this building used to be - a shed or a small barn. Don said they kept a few cows over here for awhile, but it must have been during the years I was absent. In any case, the weathered wood and the junk in the shed called me over to try my techniques at this site. So, without the cows, one might wonder about the rolls of hay in the first three pictures below. I guess it's just a case of, "You never know when someone will need some hay."

From the porch of Charles' house, where everyone sits and enjoys the early summer evenings - none of us wonders any longer why Uncle Louis always seemed so happy sitting there - that bare, well-lit remnant of a tree in the darkest section of the woods stood screaming at me to break out my camera. By the time I finally succumbed to its cries the light had turned orange (Hook 'em Horns) - just right for an old Longhorn.

This is my Lexus RX350 brochure shot, with the house in the background. I didn't notice I'd left the hatchback up until I started working on the post-processing when I got home. The car is Mary's; she loaned it to us for the road trip to Ohio and it served us well. (It wasn't the car's fault it ran out of gas east of Oxford Mississippi.) The skies look pretty intimidating but there were no tornadoes and precious little rain. This picture was taken in the early afternoon and we did get about 20 minutes of very refreshing rain about 6PM.

This was taken from near the same spot, the point of interest just shifted a bit to the upper right. The middle car at the edge of the yard is a tricked out Jeep Cherokee with a stick shift. It's hard to find a stick when you need one but John came up with this one. Lisa and Amy felt the need to practice driving with a standard transmission. Good for them.

This is the treat I got for wandering around with my camera all afternoon looking for targets of opportunity. Most all of the reunion attendees had gone home - those still in the area had turned their attention to other things. The late rain and its attendant rainbow had disappeared, leaving cool, clear skies.

Walking back across the pasture I just stopped every now and then and shot another set for my HDR practice. The house on the left is the Furey homestead. That on the right has some new residents: Austin and his wife Anna had started moving in a few days previously - nice neighbors.

I didn't know whether these two would work out or not, since they had people in them. I usually have to warn them to be still for a few moments lest their movement in the 3-shot HDR set make them appear to be apparitions or doppelgängers of Cathie and Charles. Even the petunias sat there quietly. No fuss; a sense of calm rules Grant Street.

A few more in my next post taken on the road home. Gillian and David may be able to guess where I stopped for pictures. I was very pleased. They turned out really well and took only a few minutes to shoot. So this post is done and I can move to my recliner and give the Rangers the attention they deserve. . . tied 1-1 just now with the Red Sox at the top of the 7th.