Oh! 2014. . . I Guess I'd Better Get With It.

Back in October I posted a photograph on Facebook that I'd taken on a ranch south of Kerrville. I'd gone down there to meet my brother, Stephen, who was participating in an en plein air "paint out" with other artists from central and south Texas. I posted the shot on FB because I was excited about what I'd seen and couldn't wait to do several pictures and the copy for my typical Blog post. I must have gotten side-tracked soon after that because I don't think I revisited those images since. . . until last night

This is another view of the buildings in the FB shot. The weathered wood adds great interest to the shot and the dead or dying oak tree (and all others like it) sends a shudder down my spine and  brings to mind a great 1959 Gary Cooper movie called The Hanging Tree. If you listen closely, you may hear Marty Robbins singing the title song from the soundtrack.

Shortly before I left to drive back to Austin I drove over and took a few shots amid the owner's collection of weathered and weathering hardware. Of course, that reminded me of something too. I'd just returned from my trip to Ohio and the east coast and this display reminded me that I never got any shots in my cousins' junkyard. And that was one of the things I'd really been looking forward to on the trip. Eh. You get busy and not everything gets done. But I'm retired, and promptly told myself "it's alright."

This had to have been a beautiful house back in the day. To me, it's beautiful now. Don't be surprised if this place shows up again in another incarnation somewhere down the line. As I discover and play with different Photoshop techniques, I often go back to my archives for the raw materials.

When I arrived that morning, Stephen was already setting up his easel and getting ready to start his first painting of the day. As soon as I walked over, he pointed over his shoulder with a thumb and said, "Check out that gas pump!" So much color concentrated in this one spot. I figured he'd want to paint it at some stage, so I shot it from several vantage points. The older I get, the more I like old. I guess that's a good thing.