The End of Summer and Who Knows What Else.

While school started last week here in Dallas, summer is officially over today with Labor Day. It seems that Labor Day is also the kick off of the final run of campaigns leading up to the elections in November. I'm not done eating watermelons yet. Things are just not  working out like they have in the past.  That's not all bad. It also isn't all good, either. I'm working on some things that I hope will have me ready when all that snow comes in February.

It's been a pretty depressing summer for me and I don't get depressed. It was the heat that kept me inside more than I like and I've had three months of  high  Edison bills---high for me. I calculated with the arrival of this months bill that TXU had gotten an extra month out of me this year. An extra month! I have already located the extra blanket that I had stowed away. I'm setting the thermostat at 55 when I flip the switch from cooling to heating and I'm not moving it's time to flip back to cooling in March.

All joking aside, it has been a rough summer. I've never had cabin fever during the summertime, but I sure did this summer. It got hot a month early and even summer got an extra month of hot weather out of me. Then, I noticed that the leaves had flipped a whole month early. Then, the trees started showing signs of color change (usually follows the leaf flip) and then, the tell-tale sure thing that things were running a whole month early, the cattails that normally are harvested here about this time dealt a surprise to those that harvest them for the local florist by shedding their seed pods a whole month early. When they shed their seeds, it destroys the cattails.

So, it's been a strange year in more ways than one. We have lost people that were monuments in music and politics. We've had some really strong earthquakes all over the world that were in the 6.0 to 8.1 range and above. Wildfires and volcanoes going off were noted with unusual patterns. And---outside of the first few tropical depressions and storms that were also a month before Hurricane season started officially, there has not been a single hurricane in the Atlantic. Yes, the eastern Pacific and Central Pacific got a line of them in their neck of the woods but until just this week, there has been nothing in the Atlantic that beelines toward the Texas coast.

Which brings me to the question: What in the world is going on here on Plant Earth?  Yes, I do tend to notice the subtle changes more than most. I always have. My mom and my grandfather taught me a few things that have stuck with me and it has even helped with business over the years. It has paid off watching the weather and paying attention to it. This old world is as regular as clockwork on so many things that we notice with no exception. But, it's the other things that are so subtle that it builds and catches us by surprise. Over the years, I've gotten pretty good at reading the subtle changes and planning along with them.

And yet another sign---the scout American White Pelican is here already. This may be the injured pelican that stayed over, too. Can't id him specifically, however. Someone was telling me that they believe that there are two here. That being the case, then it would account for the injured bird and the early arrival. Usually it's October 12th

Water parks are replacing pools and the trend is that pools are probably a soon to be a dead goose.

This pool has made a start to convert. The city of Dallas opened new Water parks that are  B-I-G a week ago. They construction just completed. They were going to open until Labor Day week end. It's going to rain all Labor Day.

Suprise After The Shoot

Sometimes, you see things before you shoot. Sometimes, its afterwords. I discovered a mother coyote with five pups just at the edge of a grassy area three years after I shot the image. Then, there are times when you discover it on the second or third edits but didn't see it when you shot the image. Such was the case yesterday and it was a double whammy! Both were birds.

The first shot in the field was to check out a light standard over a ball field. If you don't know by now, you will here because falcons and birds of prey like hawks and ospreys and/or owls and eagles like to watch over their territories from the highest vantage point. Light standards are a good place to look for raptors and  I have found pairs of red tail hawks, red shoulder hawks, and kestrel hawks all sitting on light standards. So naturally, that's the first place that I check.

The second shot is usually looking for unusual signs or signs that stand out among the normalcy of everyday life. This second shot was after spotting that unusual display. The low angle level of signs are either super good or just plain dull. No in between. The high angle shots are standouts or super duper jackpots. So you need to look for both. If you see something don't just jump at the shot. Pull back in a parking lot or away for the close up and observe for a bit. You begin to see a pattern of how things fit in with others (businesses in a strip mall) or they stand out and just beg to be shot. Those images are the keepers usually.

 In this particular instance, I know that military recruiting offices are rather mundane. And while I'm sitting in a parking lot checking my Gas Buddy app for the lowest prices in the area, I spot a section of the strip mall that sits behind the normal flow of traffic. It's an unusual layout and I go by it time and time again just not paying much attention. In fact, I was there because the app in the past has proven that STORM was the best price in the area for gas. When I got there, all the pumps were being ripped out and the station on the app was showing closed. Across the intersection was a Tom Thumb Grocery and gas station.

Finding the unusual branding of this recruiting office stood out and all but waving to come shoot this as being different. As I started to shoot, a stern looking big built guy in military green and white fatigues came out and just stood looking at me. I put down the window and said to him, Everything looks good but where is the Coast Guard. He did not find that funny at all and got into his Mercedes without saying a word. I wondered what his demeanor was with the young recruit prospects and how many actually signed up at his office. He was that typical "drill sarge" [en persona].

A Kestrel Hawk with Fledgling. It looks like mom brought lunch in for the fledgling.

Do you see it? Look in the bottom portion of the "C"

.

 

A mourning dove sits on a nest.Peace!

As it turns out, long story shorter, It was different and when I got home and was editing it, surprise number two was just awesome to me. I hope you like it as well. 

New Creations and Images

The TRE is a commuter train, not the light rail. It runs between Ft. Worth and Dallas' Union Station.

 

Dart's TRE had to deal with its first double fatality accident today. 12 passengers on board were also taken to the hospital following the accident. The double deck cars appeared to be more safe in this accident than those on the lower deck. A dump truck, was hit  trying to cross the tracks with the on-coming TRE in a section of track that is rated for 79 MPH. The accident investigation will eliminate rumors from fact so with being said, pray for the families of those that lost their life and for those that were aboard as well.

A Great Blue Heron Fishes. He did catch a couple, too.

We have created more file folder sets with our images on them. They seem to be selling well and have expanded them selection. They are available on our site by clicking on the  "Link and Blog tab, then the "GLENDINE" tab that pops up to the right of the link and blog tab after you click it on.

Two Months of Rain in 3 Days

 Yesterday, for the first time in sometime, I was able to be out with the big camera for a bit and regardless of where I was, it rained enough to have the camera stay on the front seat of the car. I do have some rain gear to protect the camera from rain but somehow, it's just not me. Freelance with a rain coat on the camera doesn't sound like the tone of just saying freelance and ending it there. The weight of the extra words just does not sing like the lesser.

Today is also heavy with a 60 percent chance of rain. The one thing that I did notice was that the grasses have turned that lust green of Springtime again. However, there are plenty signs of fall showing up as I wrote about a couple of weeks back. The weathermen, as well as the models where they get their information, are forecasting already another cold front due to move in next week. It will keep the temps back down in the below normal category again.This coming Friday, the 17th, is when our average high temps drop a degree and then drop off more rapidly during the next 45 days. It is a welcomed relief. It has been a long hot summer this year, for sure.

Never-the-less, photography is about timing. Sometimes, the timing is good and sometimes it just is an empty box. Ansel Adams said that a being a good photographer is about where you stand. He has a point there and if you are not standing where the timing is right, then you are in the wrong place. I've had good days. I've have had bad. Over the course of the year, looking back, it boils down to about 1-3 percent of all shots are when the timing is right. There are those that will tell you that I'm wrong. On the flip side of that coin, I can say that they are wrong, too. It isn't about who is right or wrong. It's not about the flip side of the coin. It's about 1-3 percent of all shots are keepers. Technique can only do certain things. Wind can mess up a shot in a hot second. Just like it can bring down a jet liner at DFW, and did, before there was wind shear equipment. It's all relative in some manner.

With this writing, there are now over 7K images on line today under the Dallaspaparazzo tag. Those are with agents from coast to coast, the UK and Germany. And, their agents span markets from China to Australia to Eastern Slavic nations (Russia, Belarus and Ukraine), Western (Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia) and Southern (Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Macedonia and Bulgaria). 

With that said, helping these images find a useful place in someones blog, their web page, their newsletters or advertising piece or just an image you find something special about that is dear to your heart has become a growing challenge with so many cameras out there today. Yet, there are things that over the years have become embedded in my subject matter that is selling more and more each year. 

If, from a business standpoint every cost factor was weighed in, I am loosing money. But how much weight do you place on a hobby vs. a business. From a business standpoint, the IRS says that I must count it as a business. From a personal standpoint, I'm officially retired and consider it a hobby. But, the bottom line is it cost money to either.  Just to have a camera cleaned professionally today cost $50.00. Any adjustments made are extra. So, take the came in for a cleaning and you can walk out of the camera store with a bill of $150.00 on a good day. 

I have stayed away from advertising. I really don't want to get into that game at this late stage in life. Or, with the haters on social media out there doing their destructive thing to society as a whole. There is no place in my life for those things, today. Absolutely none.

The passion that I have for photography in an urban setting is tops. I love this city, I love the momentum it generates, and I love to see a city that is alive culturally, and still keep nature and  green spaces running like veins throughout itself. Already, looking back at a lot of my shots, those things do not exist today. They are gone, destroyed, lost, decayed, and a lots have been reduced to sawdust or firewood.

Yet, I have seen a couple of species of Raptors excel in their magnificence. I have watched cornfields become homes to not just hundreds, but thousands of individuals in less than 20 years. I want to continue to shoot urban settings. They are the heartbeat of one area of humanity called Dallas, Texas. Growing up watching the Thanksgiving Day parades from Dallas or seeing the Cotton Bowl Football game is part of who I am. Now, being here in Dallas watching the next great adventure take place---the transformation of  Fair Park with its many museums, the Cotton Bowl and Starplex ,the Midway, aquarium, Pan American Arena and the largest collection of Art Decco Buildings assembled in one place in the nation, into the daily park that it should have been years ago, is like an adrenal rush of excitement.  It's like a kid's excitement of something new and exciting. The potential for photography to show off Dallas is at hand. 

The bottom line is that to get those shots--to log a piece of history--is going to take money to keep this blog, these images, etc going. Plus keeping pace with vectors and videos, I must explore a way to do that which will make those creative visions possible.The old clock is ticking faster each and every day. I'm coming to the end of the first ten years of this pacemaker. While the technology is smaller and better for the upcoming number 2 maker or battery change (which every the electrician determines necessary) so, I got to get running (pardon the pun).

This is a writing to let you know that the upcoming changes to this blog and even the website, is rooted in staying on line if at all possible. When changes begin to occur, it will have been the best choice in which to continue this project, to grow it and to enhance it to those what follow us online. 
We thank you for your support. We appreciate your comments when we see you out and about. We believe that with God's help, this project will have opened hearts, minds and spirit through a lens on a camera that has benefited you in some small way; thanks be to God.  

The Horse

The Cows

 

 

The Cowboy, in Dallas

A Sizeable Shift In Format Is In The Works.

An over-the-counter digestive relief with the Walmart brand that was found in a parking lot between both a CVA pharmacy and the pharmacy inside a Walmart Neighborhood Maket next door. I did show these to the pharmacist and she seemed neither concerned from a standpoint  of possible theft, or drug abuse of this type of medication, as a pharmacist,an employee, or otherwise. One thing for sure, these were not destined for a home or office medicine cabinet. There were 9 bottles total in the parking space. It seems to me that social media attacks, in general, has created a numbness today that makes once viewed  civic-mindedness so outdated and unimportant today.          

 

 

Oh! change is good. It also is an alignment of what is happening in the stock photo world around the globe. Every once in a while a course change is needed and such is the case here. The details are a bit fuzzy still so it will still be a bit before you see any changes here. I'm not talking about changing the layout in colors and headings--this will be a pretty big shift in format.

I'll post more later as things get more set on the new tracks. Until then, things will be much the same. 

Arboretum August Days

With the city wanting to turn over the management of Fair Park to the parent of NBC television, I wonder what will really be in store for the public who live here. Tourist will come and go but it is the people in Dallas that may suffer the greatest down side of the overall planned up experience.

My thinking is that I have watched the Zoo and the Dallas Arboretum grow and draw in the people, but the cost of an average person going was never more obvious as to what really is happening this past Thursday. What I mean by that is the the membership has shot up into the $90 bracket, which is steep. August was always a fun time to go when the crowds were less and admission during August was $1. Well, scratch that, too, because the August admission is now $2.00 and that of course does not include parking. Parking in Dallas is almost as bad as New York, though not quite, yet, but it's coming. Keeping in mind that Ft. Worth's gardens are free. Albeit that even Cow town is talking about charging admissions as this is being written if they haven't done it already.

The Pavilion is behind what you see here from the lower level. It's air conditioned and a tasting demo was going on. The chilled frozen sorbet/sherbet from orange peppers was out of this world. The planted vegetable garden was ideal  (after all, it is at the Arboretum). Orange pepper arrangements were also displayed on the outdoor patio settings overlooking this new water Lilly pond

The new bridge is where the old privacy fence once stood as you walked up to the terrace where the restaurant order window remains and with an expanded terrace. 

The view of the dam is awesome from this viewpoint. I have watched this during the construction and wondered what the view would be like. It is yet another gem of White Rock Lake being on the eastern edge of the Arboretum.

I was talking to a gentlemen who lives in Allen, that said he had, 'stopped coming on the weekends',  during the spring and fall because of the crowds--which also includes my thinking, as well. Gardens such as the Arboretum throughout the country have always demanded respect at the ticket booth, but these are elective visits and people with some degree of caution, are beginning to see their electives going to different things more useful than just entertainment wise. My thoughts have echoed that more than once or twice of late. Never-the-less, I found myself wanting to see the finished product of the new Pavilion that sits down new steps from the old ones that went toward the Asian gardens, but that entire hillside that overlooks the lake is new and it adds great value to the Arboretum as a whole. For that alone, I'm glad I went.

There Is A Change In The Air

It might sound a bit premature to some, but for an old man like me who has observed the change of seasons for well more than 60 found many in the past week. These are not just a change in temps or things like that...they are age-old signs that Native Americans taught my grandfathers and they in-turn taught me as a young boy. And yes, they are most accurate for the long term.

Early last week, I was somewhat shocked to see the leaves flipped. Some of you have heard me talk about the flipping of leaves but it is one of the early signs that fall is just around the corner. There were a stand of sycamore trees that all had leaves flipped. Flipping of leaves is when the bottom of the leaf is on top and facing upwards and not in their traditional downward position. When I see leaves flipped like that big weather changes are not far away. This strong cold front that is hitting tonight was a taste of that this morning as recorded gust of over 50 MPH were the result of thunderstorms in Oklahoma last night that  sent that burst of cool refreshing air blowing over the porch early this morning as I sipped my first cup of morning coffee. It has not been in the 70s and 80s for a full morning and part of the afternoon since June 19th. And while we have had 17 days of 100 degrees plus this month, the 100s will return next week as the first two weeks of August are considered the  most hot of the season.

A couple of Mary Kay Seminar Participants ride one of the new electric scooter rentals.

The Statler Hotel Gets A Second Life. This hotel was famous for Sinatra and his crew that stayed here and played here any time that he was in Dallas. The grand old hotel lives once more, but like all things--it now has a combo of apartments, hotel rooms and offices, too.

This is the dream of Ross Perot as the family foundation donated millions to get it built in down town. It is the Perot Museuam of Nature and Science. For our Ohio readers, it's every bit as good as COSI. It truely is a hands on learning museum. The blue glass is the escalator! Fun! Plants and native grasses grow on the roofs.

With cool and comfortable temps and sprinkles falling, I took a walk through the compound today for the first time in many years. A tulip tree had already changed to some solid yellows and dropped a lot of those leaves onto the grass, sidewalk and parking lot. It is yet, another sign, that big changes are coming sooner than we think. In reality, it's been hot since early May, or a month early. Spring came early, too. It was popping out swelled buds and new tender grown  in February this year. So, while most will be looking for fall in this part of the country around October to November, they will be a bit surprised when September will spring a little surprise on them. Nature always has a way of balancing things out in the end. I have a strong feeling that this year will not be any different for her.