It was a long awaited trip back to Hillcrest Avenue, the retail side of S.M.U.west campus. Since selling my car, it was one of just a very few spokes of my Wagon Wheel Route through the Metroplex photographing most things Urban that I discovered could not be reached via bus or rail. It was a void that drew us in that lane some 20 plus years ago when we discovered a few things that were being missed in stock photography in the Dallas Metroplex. One, things where we live. Two, things that are above our heads because we all (well most all) have their noses buried in their phones. And three, as the Big Tuna, Bill Parcells, one said, about football, "the circus doesn't stay in town forever". And how true that is. Just this week I counted over 50 images in our portfolio that are not even there any longer. Bulldozed right out of history for the most part--- except for old men that have captured it with a camera in days gone by.
One young man ask me today what I was taking pictures of. "Chimneys", I said. He came back out of the store that he had entered and said, "forgot my wallet". A few minutes later, he was back and said, "You got me thinking about chimneys now, I counted three around the corner." Not only did he have a great personality but one that will do him justice in whatever field he enters. As Author Gordon wrote in his book, A Touch of Wonder, on rare occasions on a chance meeting, a spark jumps between two people. Usually, the person is older but age has little to do with it. The spark either jumped or it didn't, but when it did, it left them changed. That encounter today, left me changed.
As I sat on the sidewalk bench outside the 7-Eleven a bit longer, I got up to start heading toward Daniels St. When I looked up and saw something I have never witnessed in my 69 years looking through the eye piece of a camera. Five parallel contrails from high altitude jets going east with the FAA 5- mile separation between each of them. It just goes to prove that people just do not look up to see what is above their heads. Not a clue to their surrounds which includes the up-slope side of the universe, too. That stopped me in my tracks. After getting a shot or two, I realized that I had not had lunch and went down Asbury St. to New York Sub, where I had the best brisket/pastrami sub since I left behind the three week long junkets up an down the eastern seaboard from Florida to Main I did yearly. I once recall thinking as I looked out the window of my flight and saw the sunlight gleaming on every swimming pool below. "That's my steel in those pools" And it was, and a lot of other places like the end of Long Island or Boston or Maryland, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, and 3-mile Island after the melt down. I've had a pretty amazing life overall. But in retirement, that capture of any of my images that people buy over and over again is one of the most rewarding in life overall.
KP and I had plans to open a gallery, but his life was cut short way to soon. In his poem, I wrote," I knew I had to release you to fulfill your better dreams." His graduation from Ohio State made me so proud. He worked hard; did every thing right. Now, after all the years of grieving, I now celebrate his life each and every day, seeing him but only in a glimpse in others as they pass buy. I know that sounds strange to some. That's another reason that I continue to flip the shutter on my camera daily. It's for my Sanity Health. It keeps me in the realm of reality and grounded not only as a human being, but in my faith as well. No father could ask for a better son and what he accomplished in 27 shorts years. While my other two make me equally proud, loosing a first born son is more difficult in life than anyone who has not experienced that, knows.
So, this beautiful fall day was a delight on a lot of fronts. And I need to get some things done with my editors in that I had to remove the 10,000 plus images from my webpage portfolios because someone hacked into my system using one of the direct links. Still, my customers and editors have been good to me and I will continue to keep them in mind as I shoot my wagon wheel route covering the Metroplex. Postings to the blog will begin to pick up again. I think I have two upcoming doctor's appointment at the beginning of each of the next two months. That will slow me down some, but I'm not concerned about that downtime.
For those that are still interested in our portfolios, you can go to each of their websites and search for our images at Alamy (4400) in the UK; Getty/i-stock(482); Dreamstimes (2097); Adobe813; Big Stock(1102); and of course out curio outlet, Zazzle under Glendines Design Fashion Works, Moontripper, or Blue Wind Designs. That's how the media buyers do it anyway. (for those that are bean counters, the numbers don't add up to 10K you say. And, you be right. That is because I don't count the ones in the Vault that will never be divulged.) They are counted as assets that won't be released until long after I am pushing up daisies. Some of them, go back to the beginning days of dallaspaparazzo, even before the dotcom was added to the name.
Light. It is the morning sunlight that stuns the architecture here
The image below was posted last night and this morning, someone had hacked "STOLE" the image. I have alerted those that publish images including others that have a bit more power to trace the IP that downloaded from the image. This is exactly why some of my images are stored in the vault and have never been published on the internet.
My chimney collection contains some 50 plus chimneys
