The Japanese Maple Garden, Nacogdoches TX This section of the SFA Arboretum is called the Japanese Maple Garden, which is a subset of shade garden. In this little area there are at least 10 Japanese Maples clustered together. There are probably 50 more Japanese maples scattered throughout the arboretum and Azalea Garden. I'm infatuated with them because until walking through this Arboretum I had only seen a handful of Japanese Maples in my lifetime. I'll be back at the Arboretum shooting what's left of the colors today. This is a single 1/6th of a second exposure. There was a little wind so some of the leaves were blurred. Critiques are always welcome. Daily photo: December 9, 2012, taken December 2, 2012

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Arboretum on Fire, Nacogdoches TX

Magical light in the SFA Arboretum. This is the Japanese Maple garden within the shade garden section of the arboretum. If I were just there to hangout, I'd definitely be sitting on that bench. The red things are pretty cool added artwork. They are metal cut to look like flowers, painted red and stuck in the ground with a piece of quarter inch rebar. They definitely add to the color of the scene. I tried to compose this shot to get as many of them in the frame as possible, and got four of them.

This is a single exposure. I wish I would have taken a few shots with a faster shutter because the leaves were really blowing around and came out really blurry. Sometimes I like motion blur in the leaves, but not really in this case. But the sky was cloudy and the sun kept coming and going so eventually I got bored and recomposed. It's really overwhelming in the arboretum and I always struggle to compose, but I like this one and will have to try it again next year!

Critiques are always welcome.

Daily photo: December 15, 2012, taken December 1, 2012

Tree Hallway, Nacogdoches TX

This is a shot of Nini and Cheech walking through what we call "Tree Hallway," part of the path that connects the SFA Arboretum with the SFA Azalea Garden. They made the frame for this hallway out of rebar and then binder the trees to the rebar until they grew into this arch shape. I guess it's kind of like tree torture, but it looks cool and is fun to walk through. The only downside is the really huge power lines that go over the top of it, and split the two gardens. It's kind of sad that such a beautiful set of gardens are divided in such an unseemly way by huge powers lines and drainage ditch/creek that has pipes running over it.

This is a single exposure taken handheld with my new 24mm lens. Art will be happy to see that I used ISO 320 to get a decent exposure.

Critiques are always welcome.

Daily photo: December 14, 2012, taken November 21, 2012

Downtown Lights, Nacogdoches TX

This is the other side of our downtown square here in Nac. The white lights are up all year around, but the red ones and the holiday wreathes are here just for the holidays. The downtown square is pretty, but there isn't much to do there. I have gone downtown looking for photos before, but have always came up empty handed.

This is a single 1/80th of a second exposure taken hand held with my new 24mm lens during the blue hour right after sunset.

Critiques are always welcome.

Daily photo: December 13, 2012, taken December 2, 2012

Taylor and the Lights, Nacogdoches TX

I was in my office grading final exams yesterday when I got a knock on the door. I shouted "come in" and to my great surprise my little sister Taylor popped open the door and shouted "surprise!" My mom and stepdad were there too! It was an awesome birthday present for my 30th! I'm so lucky to have such an amazing family! Taylor and Bruce helped me put up some Christmas lights in our bedroom window. We don't really decorate for the holidays but we do have a big pile of lights and usually put them all in one window. After we were done Taylor posed for a few quick shots.

Thanks Mom, Bruce and Taylor for making my 30th birthday awesome!

Daily photo: December 11, 2012, taken December 10, 2012

The Japanese Maple Garden, Nacogdoches TX

This section of the SFA Arboretum is called the Japanese Maple Garden, which is a subset of shade garden. In this little area there are at least 10 Japanese Maples clustered together. There are probably 50 more Japanese maples scattered throughout the arboretum and Azalea Garden. I'm infatuated with them because until walking through this Arboretum I had only seen a handful of Japanese Maples in my lifetime. I'll be back at the Arboretum shooting what's left of the colors today.

This is a single 1/6th of a second exposure. There was a little wind so some of the leaves were blurred.

Critiques are always welcome.

Daily photo: December 9, 2012, taken December 2, 2012

Irby Engagement, Conway AR

An Irby couple, my friends Don and Peyton are tying the knot. Don went to Arkansas State in political science housed in Irby Hall. Peyton currently teaches political science in Irby. So a few quick shots in front of Irby Hall seemed fitting for their engagement session. Don is an old grad school buddy of mine, so this was a fun shoot.

This shot was not hard to pose, they were ready to kiss so I just asked Petyon to raise her left foot off the ground. That's it! Without the left foot I don't think the photo would have the same engagement type of excitement. Funny how such a small change makes a big difference.

Critiques are always welcome.

Daily photo: December 8, 2012, taken October 21, 2012

Red Maple, Nacogdoches TX

Nini and I spotted this red maple basked in late afternoon sunlight right away as we entered the SFA Arboretum. I spent about 10 minutes shooting this tree, struggling with the composition. To get really low and bring the foreground in the shot I had to crouch down in a dry ditch. Usually that's no big deal for me, I don't mind getting dirty. But on this occasion I swore I saw a snake just before I figured out that I needed to get really low to get the shot. For those who don't know, I have a crazy fear of snakes. Thankfully Nini watched my back while I got down low to compose this and I quickly took a few exposures and got out of there! So far I have not definitively seen a snake since we've moved to Texas, and this was the first time where I even thought I've seen them.

I have a crazy fear of snakes, and a very normal fear of bears. When push comes to shove, I prefer bear country than snake country (because I like mountains and that's where bears usually live). I also have a borderline crazy fear of heights, but heights also excite me. I'm more scared on the top of a building than on the edge of a cliff. What about you? What fears does photography make you face?

This is a single exposure.

Critiques are always welcome.

Daily photo: December 7, 2012, taken December 1, 2012

Sala Sleep, Nacogdoches TX

The newest member of the Bellinger family gets his beauty rest in the sun on the couch. No one ever claimed Sala Kala Muh Bagh, so we decided to keep that damned black face tiger (translation of his name). We took him to the vet and got him all up to date on his shots. He's about 3.5 months old, so he's been a handful. Cheech is his new best friend, but big daddy Big Red hasn't really warmed up to the youngster yet. He's never liked puppies and he's getting grouchier by the day. We still don't know much about Sala's breed. The vet thought Catahoula mix, but I've looked online and have not seen many brindle colored Catahoulas out there. From google images the closest breed still seems to be Plott Hound to me, so maybe a Plott Hound Catahoula mix?

This is a shot with my Canon EF 135mm f/2 L series lens. I don't have a telephoto zoom so this is my longest lens. On my 7D the 135mm is actually cropped to 215mm, so it's long enough for me. I like this lens because it's super sharp. Even here at f/2.8 it's really sharp. But it does not have IS, so I like to use a really fast shutter speed if possible.

Critiques are always welcome.

Daily photo: December 6, 2012, taken November 27, 2012

The Japanese Maple Garden, Nacogdoches TX

This section of the SFA Arboretum is called the Japanese Maple Garden, which is a subset of shade garden. In this little area there are at least 10 Japanese Maples clustered together. There are probably 50 more Japanese maples scattered throughout the arboretum and Azalea Garden. I'm infatuated with them because until walking through this Arboretum I had only seen a handful of Japanese Maples in my lifetime. I'll be back at the Arboretum shooting what's left of the colors today.

This is a single 1/6th of a second exposure. There was a little wind so some of the leaves were blurred.

Critiques are always welcome.

Daily photo: December 9, 2012, taken December 2, 2012