one T photography

Viva la libertad -- A Friend.

2009-03-11T09:10:00.000-07:00

Viva la libertad -- A Friend.

563 Blog

2008-03-31T14:12:00.000-07:00

Hey y'all....I've got a new photography blog!

Check it out!

I'll be posting most of my photography work there, but I may post some of my more personal projects back over here....I haven't decided yet.

Kubota Tractor

2008-02-15T16:44:00.000-08:00

Awhile back there were some tractors across the street from us. They were out there because there was a new fence going in next to the railroad tracks. For several days I drove past them and thought, 'How cool would it be to take some pictures of these things?'

Well, finally THAT day came....it had just rained and the clouds were still pretty "moody"....the family and I had just come home from lunch and I said to the wife...."I'm gonna go shoot those tractors."

To that Loo says, "Daddy, can I go out and take pictures of them, too?"

How can I resist that?

I grab my gear and she gets her Fisher Price Digital Camera, as we were ready to walk out the door, Loo saw me putting my ShootSac on and said, "Oh, Dad can I go and get my camera bag too?"

Again, I can't say no....she comes downstairs with this little pink bag that I think is actually for one of her baby dolls, but her camera fits PERFECTLY inside of it....that kid knows how to melt my heart!

Anyway....I start by asking her what we should take pictures of ("Where should we start?")....she said she didn't know. So I started with this shot.

This is what she shot.

It was so awesome to watch her little creative brain working and just snapping away. She would watch me take a picture of something and then she'd take a picture of it (in her own way, of course!).

We fed off of each other and had a lot of fun

She even inspired me!!

How cute is this little girl?!?!

I'll let the rest of these speak for themselves!

Another Loo inspired shot.

I think I may be using that shot as a texture overlay, as soon as Chip teaches me how!

Loo, I had such a great time with you! Thank you for wanting to come with me!

Creative Stuff - Fort Bend County Fair

2008-02-04T08:48:00.000-08:00

If it wasn't already bad enough that I forgot to blog the fair until months after it happened....I TOTALLY forgot to post these images from the fair.

I'm just gonna let the images speak for themselves....

Broken House

2008-01-18T15:00:00.000-08:00

A week or so ago, I shot these pictures of this "Broken House". This house is on a small road that is on the way to the Fort Bend Toll Road. I wanted to make sure that I took pictures before it got bulldozed (they're building a Kroger on that land and have started clearing the land).

I drove past there this past Sunday and it's now gone!

Speed Limit - Part 2

2008-01-15T20:59:00.000-08:00

Chip asked me to do some post-processing on that speed limit sign, so I did....thanks to the Totally Rad Action Mix

Version 2.0

Version 3.0

Version 4.0

ROCK ON!

2008-01-14T10:46:00.000-08:00

Chip over at Studio 563 Houston has spent the last couple of weeks compiling a list of the studio's absolute favorite ring shots from some of the rockinest weddings of 2007, for your viewing (and voting) pleasure.

Craig, Chip, Lindsay, Michael and I have tried very hard to capture some rockin’ ring shots this year, but we want to know your favorite.

Click here to go to Chip's blog. There you will find a collection of fantastic ring shots and their corresponding wedding identifiers. Check 'em out at your leisure and pick your favorite, then leave a comment (on Chip's blog) to let him know which one rocks the most!

Vote early and vote often, as the couple corresponding to the image you choose will receive an 8×10 print of their ring shot to help commemorate their big day!

I have a couple of shots showcased over there, so go and vote for your favorite.

See Chip Shoot

2008-01-12T23:11:00.000-08:00

You'll remember from this post that Chip came over and took pictures of me while I hung up Christmas lights.

So when I downloaded all the pictures from the camera I discovered that when he wasn't shooting pictures of me....he was shooting pictures of HIMSELF.

And with that I present....

See Chip Shoot

See Chip Shoot

See Chip shoot more.

See Chip shoot....Chip.

See Chip....Oh my gosh dude....seriously!

Come on man....Look in the mirror once in awhile.

I am the walrus....Coo Coo Ka Choo

Thanks for the laugh, dude....albeit at your expense!

You know I love you man!

Fort Bend County Fair - Family & Friends

2008-01-05T00:00:00.000-08:00

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away....

We went to the Fort Bend County fair with our Studio 563 family.

Food, Drinks and plenty of fun was had by all.

The Blonde One and Loo are best friends and they had so much fun at the fair.

We started off walking through the Midway....Loo won a panda bear.

Goog had a pretty good time too!

WATCH OUT!! It's the Attack of the 50 Foot Toddler!

Next....it was time for the Dragon Roller Coaster!

Chip brought his camera too! (Check out his shots from the fair here)

Sisters love the Turtle Spin!

We stood in line a few minutes for the Merry-Go-Round....Once we got on we had to wait some more!

Once we got going....the smiles came out.

A little while later Craig stopped by the fair with his family....here he is with the Wee One.

Here's another shot of Chip before it got dark.

After dark, the Fun Slide was ROCKIN'

Over on the stage, the performers called a bunch of kids up on the stage to get dressed up and to sing some songs....of course Loo and the Blonde One had to perform!

We all had a great time.

Our Christmas Lights

2007-12-30T22:30:00.000-08:00

I originally wanted to take pictures of our Christmas lights and post them on my blog.

Well, things happen and I didn't get them posted as soon as I wanted to.

What made it worse was that a recent storm blew our lights down!

So last weekend Chip and his family came over to our place. The wives went our shopping and he and I played Xbox and played with our kids AND put the lights back up!

Here are some shots from the day that Chip took with my camera.

The wind got them all tangled up too!

Wendy, Don't Look at these!

OK, don't look at this one either!

YES! DONE!!

Johnny Appleseed Day

2007-12-30T17:31:00.000-08:00

September 26th was Johnny Appleseed Day at Loo's school.

I volunteered to be Johnny Appleseed for the class. I dressed up in jeans and a western style shirt. We rolled up the pants and we cut up some old pajama's to make patches for my clothes. We couldn't find a pot that would fit my head (they were either too small or too big), so we found a colander that sort of fit....as long as I wore a ski cap on my head!!

I also emptied out my ShootSac (my camera bag) and put a ziplock bag with apple seeds in it....man if I was gonna be Johnny Appleseed, I was gonna BE Johnny Appleseed!!

We didn't tell Loo, so it was a complete surprise when the kids came into the classroom to find Johnny Appleseed there.

Loo didn't recognize me at first....who knew that a colander on your head would be a good disguise? (I'll tell you who....Clark Kent that's who!!) All the kids came in and were full of "OOO"s and "WOW"s.

A couple of kids had their doubts...."That's just someones Dad", I heard.

I was there to read a story and to answer questions from the kids and to help with the arts and crafts....I wish I would have known this ahead of time....I would have checked the CLIFFS NOTES!

All the kids sat down in front of me, so I could read the story of Johnny Appleseed. Once Loo sat down, I looked right in her eyes and whispered, "Hi Loo"....her eyes lit up and she turned around to one of her friends and whispered, "That's my Dad!" (Oh man....what a feeling that was....she was so proud of that guy with the colander on his head!)

Once I finish the story, it's time for the crafts....a few of the other kids mom's were there to help out with the projects (including the Wife). As I'm walking around from apple station to apple station, the kids are asking me questions....

Here are some of the best ones
(and my answers):

"What are all those patches for?"
(They're to cover the holes in my clothes.)

"What's that bag for?"
(It holds my apple seeds.)

"I know your real name, It's John Chapman."
(That's right, but I like Johnny Appleseed better, don't you?)

"Why do you have a pot on your head?"
(I put it on my head so I don't have to carry it in my hands.)

"How come your pot has all those holes in it?"
(It's old, I need a new pot, huh?)

"Are these real apple seeds?"
(Yes.)

"Are you really her dad?"
(I'm Johnny Appleseed.)

....and the best one saved for last....

"Our teacher told us you were dead"
(I took some medicine and I feel much better now.)

I had to think quick for that one.

Anyway....I had a really good time and I hope these pictures made you laugh.

Downtown Richmond - Addendum

2007-12-29T00:18:00.000-08:00

One more shot from the "Man-cation"

While I was taking this shot....Craig walked up behind me and said, "You know that's just a telephone poll, don't you?"

Very funny dude....very funny!

Speed Limit

2007-12-26T16:15:00.000-08:00

I've had this shot on my computer for a few months now and just never posted it.

The Wife and I were out walking with the girls and I saw this speed limit sign and the whispy clouds and blue sky and just knew that I could do some cool stuff with this shot in PhotoShop.

As I was taking the shot she says, "You know that's just a speed limit sign, right?"

I just laughed and said, "Yeah, I know. But I have plans for this picture!"

What do you think?

WHAT IS IT? - Contest Results

2007-12-21T09:28:00.000-08:00

Thanks to everyone who entered in answers for the contest.

This was pretty fun, I'll have to do this more often!

So here's what you've all been waiting for....

That's right, rubber from a shoe.

Congratulations to Lynne B. who was the ONLY person to correctly identify it as a shoe. (Lynne email me your contact info, ok?)

Be sure to check out the comments from the last post to see everyone's answers.

CONTEST TIME!

2007-12-18T13:57:00.000-08:00

I'd like to thank all of you for your patience with my lack of blog posts....well at least most of you (Chip, I'm talking to you, here buddy!)

To show my appreciation, I've decided to run a little contest.

What's this?

Please post ONLY ONE ANSWER in the comments. Everyone who answers correctly will be put into a drawing for a $20 Starbucks card!!

I will reveal the answer and the winner on Friday.

(The only person who is ineligible for this contest is my mother, because she was there when I took this picture and I told her what I was going to be doing with it....sorry Mom)

Stay Tuned....

2007-12-14T12:43:00.000-08:00

I know I'm behind on blog posts....I apologize for that.

You can look forward to these posts:

1) Johnny Appleseed Day
2) Fort Bend County Fair
3) Neon Project
4) Insert a Random Post Here
5) 2007 Year in Review

Hopefully coming soon.

Thanksgiving

2007-11-23T20:25:00.001-08:00

This Thanksgiving, I have many things to be thankful for.

I am most thankful for my wife....I mean she did say, "yes" and that got the whole thing going. Not only is she my wife and best friend, but a terrific mother to our two beautiful daughters.

Of course I would have never even gotten to that point if it weren't for my parents. (Don't worry, I won't go into the birds and the bees part). My parents divorced very early on in my life....but that's ok, because it brings in the next two people that I'm thankful for.

My grandparents. I give most of the credit to them for molding me into the person that I am today. Thank you for that....plus now that I can share "the beautiful game" with my grandpa.

I am also thankful for family. My Aunt Flo and Uncle Mike have been such a great help to us here in Houston. They've really helped to make our transition here a smooth one.

And I can't forget friends. Especially our new friends from Studio 563. Craig, April, Chip & Jeanette. They are now a part of our family and I'm so proud and honored to be a part of the 563 family and also to call them friends.

Lastly I want to say thanks to my friend Kyle in NYC. Even though we're far away and "talk" via email....I value your friendship and I want to say thanks for keeping in touch.

I hope everyone has a good Thanksgiving.

Downtown Richmond: Part Three

2007-10-13T14:43:00.001-07:00

Here's Part Three of the Downtown Richmond shoot.

If you'd like to know more about Richmond, Texas, check out this article from wikipedia.org

This barbershop was right next to the door handle and the not for rent sign from the last post.

Here's another shot of the ON/OFF switch from the last post....just in black & white.

I'm not sure about this shot of the water tower....what do you think?

Last up for this post is this ONE WAY sign near the train tracks.

Downtown Richmond: Part Two

2007-10-04T16:26:00.000-07:00

More shots from Richmond

This door handle was actually the first picture I took in Richmond.

Right next to the door was a window with this sign.

This rope was for a flag pole nestled in between 2 buildings.

I like this arch and also the empty boxes in the doorway.

On/Off

More to come....

Downtown Richmond: Part One

2007-09-27T13:38:00.000-07:00

The 563 guys and I went shooting in downtown Richmond a few weeks ago....Chip has already posted three different blog posts of pictures (One, Two, Three).

I've been calling this outing a "Man-cation". Chip's been saying "Free Shoot"....whatever we call it, it was a blast and I had a great time hanging out with both of you.

I don't know when Craig is gonna post his shots....Craig bought this super expensive high tech camera....called a....HOLGA or something....it was a bit too technical for Chip and I....so we shot digital! (HAHAHA....just kidding man! I have a Holga too, and love it!!)

I figured I'd take my time....do some research on Richmond and post pictures along with the info I gathered.

That's taking waaaaaay too long.

So here's a few shots to hold you over.

More MB Aquarium

2007-08-29T22:16:00.000-07:00

A couple more....(these are straight out of the camera)

The aquarium has such a beautiful jellyfish exhibit....easily the best on the west coast, and the best jellyfish exhibit that I've seen.

Monterey Bay Aquarium

2007-08-29T22:00:00.000-07:00

I've been trying to organize some of my almost 40 gigs of pictures on my hard drive....(I'm running out of space)....while moving things around, I found these two shots from the Monterey Bay Aquarium that I took in November of 2005.

I ran them through Photoshop giving them a little Totally Rad Actions love and this is how they came out.

All Photographers Meeting

2007-08-28T19:40:00.000-07:00

I had my first meeting with all the photographers at Studio 563 (Houston) on Friday night.

Craig & his wife April hosted our meeting in their beautiful home! (They fed us too!!)

So all the Studio 563 (Houston) photographers were there:

Craig
Chip
Michael
Lindsey
and Me

April runs the show @ Studio 563 (Houston)....come on Craig you know she does (LOL)....April, YOU ROCK! It was great to finally meet you (and the "Wee One").

I think the best part of the night (honestly) was really seeing Craig's passion when we talking about "seeing shots", etc.

It was really great to meet everyone and I can't wait to work with y'all.

Chip and I stayed a little later, hung out and talked about ShootSac's, ceiling fans, TV shows, Xbox 360....general guy stuff.

Thanks for making me feel like I've been working with you guys forever!

One last thing....The funniest thing about last night was....a photographers meeting, where at least 3 of us have blogs and NO ONE TOOK ANY PICTURES!!!

New Posts Soon

2007-08-16T12:34:00.000-07:00

I'm still trying to get my work flow perfected and should have some new photos up soon.