BLOG IS MOVING

I am in the process of moving this blog.  Please watch for updates via Facebook and Twitter, or check my web site at: Red Leash Photo

Spring in Texas (cont'd)

I finally bought a Lensbaby Composer Pro after seeing so many wonderful images by photographers Tony Sweet and Kathleen Clemons.  Wow, is it hard to master that little focus point--at least it is for me!  I took it out last week to practice on some of our lovely wildflowers and came away with this one.  I'm happy with it.

It's Wildflower Season in Texas

After a dismal, drought-stricken spring in Texas last year, the spring of 2012 is shaping up to be a beautiful one for wildflowers!  Reports are that some areas of the state, particularly south of San Antonio, are approaching the incredible showing of 2012.  Phlox, groundsel, poppies, coreopsis, and the iconic Texas Bluebonnet are populating fields all over the area.  Here are a couple of offerings from my earliest outings.  Spring is here in South Texas!

Dogs (and more) at Bedlam Farm - Read Jon Katz

Some of the best books I have read in recent years are by Jon Katz, an "old-fashioned" journalist who once worked for CBS and for The Washington Post.  Disenchanted with the traditional news business, he began writing for online magazines.  Deciding to move to the mountains of New York during a mid-life crisis, he began writing books that explored the relationships between people and dogs.  I love the ones I have read:  The Dogs of Bedlam Farm, Soul of a Dog and Running to the Mountain.  If you are looking for a book that will make you laugh and cry and feel good, pick up one of these, or any of his other books. They make great reads when traveling.  You don't have to be a dog lover to love Jon Katz . . . But if you are then you will completely get what he is trying to say!


For a real treat, subscribe to his blog.  You can keep up with the craziness that is Bedlam Farm, without waiting for a new book to be published.  It is one of my favorite online stops each day! 


You can also follow Jon Katz on Facebook and Twitter.

Josie's Bone

For a change of pace, I thought I'd share a recent shot of one of my dogs.  This is Josie, just after finishing a chew bone.  I decided to try a B&W conversion for something different.  She is a yellow dog and so photogenic that I usually keep her shots in color.  Enjoy!

Thank You . . .

. . . to Christina Lawrie for her recent recommendation about this image and about my work on Google+.  Although I enjoy photographing many subjects, I especially enjoy the beauty that can be found in the Texas Hill Country.  I discovered this waterfall through another photographer and made this shot at evening time.  This is, of course, before the worst of the drought and the creek had quite a bit of water running.

I must share a further story about this particular image. Shortly after making it, I ended up in the hospital with pneumonia.  That resulted from an uncommon respiratory infection that the doctor told me came from water's mist.  The only place I had been that had splashing water was this waterfall.  While I am not convinced the falls caused the illness, my family is.  They refer to this as the shot that gave me pneumonia!

This creek is called "Curry Creek" and is a branch of the Guadalupe River.  It is found off an old ranch road between the Texas towns of Boerne and Sisterdale.  Definitely an out-of-the-way location.  I hope you enjoy this glimpse of nature's beauty, Texas-style.

The Traveler

My favorite subject:  roads.  To complement the several autumn road shots I have previously posted here and on Google+, here is a winter road for your contemplation.  In the snowy cold, who else was traveling this road?  Where had they been?  Where were they going?  Only the traveler knows for sure.

Wordless Wednesday

For #wordlesswednesday (Twitter), this one speaks for itself:

A Little Blurb About Trees

I'm preparing for another trip to Maine so have had little time to add to my blog.  I posted this same shot on Google+ and thought I would share it here as well.  Traditionally, I have always looked at trees as living things with trunks and limbs and leaves.  As a kid, I liked to learn about the different species of trees in my area and try to pick them out when I was out walking.  I still love trees and can't imagine ever having a yard without at least two.  But now I also look at trees in terms of making photographs:  what are their shapes, lines and colors?  What does the light surrounding them look like?  Should they be included or excluded from an image?  Should they be the subject of an image?  The most amazing thing to me is how trees can become abstract art.  Thanks to Brenda Tharp and others, I now enjoy creating abstract images from trees.  If you have not tried it, do so--experiment and be creative!  The image below is one of my two favorite shots of tree abstracts.  This one came from, where else, Maine!

Seasonal Changes

As one who prefers cool weather to hot and mountains to beaches, I rarely venture to the tropics.  I would rather head to Alaska or, as I am doing next month, to Maine.  Although I don't like the heat or humidity of the Caribbean, I must admit that it can provide wonderful photographic opportunities.  I caught the beautiful light of sunset with this image a few years ago.  More than just a pretty picture, this shot provides me with wonderful memories of the trip my mother and I made to visit Puerto Rico.  I was born there but had never returned to visit.  As the years go by I can always pull out this image and stir up love and memories.