Before the summer ends

Texas is hot and humid in summer.  We took a break from the heat and headed a little further east to a SP that promised lots of shade.  The cool water of the lake quenched our bodies, but the silt drove me crazy and all I could think about the smell it would leave on my feet.  It didn't.  After a short swim, we push our aluminum boat into the water and took a leisurely cruise along the bank of the lake.  It was beautiful, serene, except for my son who kept asking if he could get in the water.  We finally let him.  He hung to the back of the boat as our friend and my husband paddled on.  The tugging on the back of the boat took away the serenity, but added a great deal of laughter as the two men struggled to make headway against the tiny urchin dragging through the water added resistance on the boat.  

Here are a few images taken after we docked the boat.


The music is by my dear friend Heather's husband, Alex Campo.  

M.H.

Another shot of M.  She worked for me this time, offering a variety of poses with the slightest move of her hand.  Very comfortable in front of the camera....until I snapped one too many. 

Snow in Texas!!!

I went hiking the day it snowed. On dry days I run this trail that now looks like a shallow creek. It's more scenic now than I've ever seen. I trekked down through the field in hiking boots I haven't worn in a long time to find this wintery spot. The snow was coming down so hard at times it felt like rain. And like rain the snow soaked me. It didn't help when the snow dumped on my head each time I put on my hood, which I had to remove to take pictures. But thanks to the oversized heavy coat I wore I stayed warm. 

The hard part about this hike was the return trip, not the cold. Forgetting that the snow would pull on my feet as I crunched through the snow downhill to the lower part of the land, not to mention I neglected the fact that my tripod and camera combination makes for a heavy outfit, I over did it. Downhill was one thing. Uphill was just plain agony. My calves are sore in places I've never been sore before. 

I'm a summer person. But I was excited to be out in the snow, in Texas no less, taking pictures.

Sisters

Trolley Ride

This picture was taken on the trolley in Dallas on MLK day. It was a beautiful day to get out and ride. We had the trolley all to ourselves until the very end. 

Abstract work.

My main love in photography is people. Faces are so interesting and unique. Lately, I've been shooting abstracts, or items like the lock. Here's one of my abstracts. Enjoy!

Nikki

Here's another lovely girl that I was fortunate to photograph. We were in downtown Dallas on a dreary day. Over cast skies, high humidity and a storm blowing in. We wrapped just before it hit.

The lock.

My family went skiing in Santa Fe over the winter break. At night we drove the maze of downtown desperately searching for food and usually we didn't care what sort, but I wanted more local food as opposed to the chains. One night we were lucking enough to find a parking place on the narrow and confusing roads, which is very difficult to do with the truck we have. There were two restaurants we were aiming for, both on the square: an upscale one with delicious sounding food, and down home place that offered every food for every meal, not unlike a Denny's. 

I wanted to eat at the upscale restaurant, of course. Who wouldn't? We climbed the stairs and at the landing where the restaurant sat was another set of stairs, but a wrought iron door closed off entry. It was locked by this intricately designed lock. I shot a few pictures in the dim lighting and love the results. 

Unfortunately, this was the best element of this upscale restaurant. We sat on the heated balcony that offered a wonderful view of the square. They took our drink order. Being from Texas and with my son suffering headaches from the altitude, we all ordered water. I don't remember ever getting it, but I do remember the table that sat after us did. As we were leaving the waiter wanted to know if we were leaving because we weren't being waiting on. Sharp one, that boy! We went next door, sat and ate in the same amount of time we spent at the nicer location next door. 

Here's the best part of the upscale restaurant.