Pooch Modeling

Some good friends took a trip to Disneyland and asked if we would keep an eye on their dog. She is very high strung...a furniture climber, urrrggh, but also very loveable. She doesn't know any strangers and is always looking to spend time with you.

Anyway, I decided to dognapp her and took her into the studio for a shoot... a very brief shoot. I think bright lights and shutters clicking is not her idea of fun. Anyway, how often can you do a shoot without needing a model release form? Here's a pic of this terrific little dog.

Some friends of mine and I went out last night to get some lightning shots. It really was a poor night, as there was lots of cloud cover and strikes that were often hidden behind the mountain or in the clouds. The weather though was one of those spectacular West Texas evenings. Cooling down to probably the 70's with a light wind. These mountains are at a Texas state park. They are known as the Hueco's (HWay-cohs) and are known for their hieroglyphics and great rock climbing. They really are more like hills than mountains, but must be challenging, because rock climbers from all over the world come to give them a workout. A shout out to Jeff, Ginger, George, Jean and the boys -- I had a great time gang.

Moonlight Shoot Folo-Up

This is the folo up to yesterdays blog about a late night shoot...

We had a great moon last night. Almost like a harvest. Anyway, was out for about 2 hrs and only snapped 19 pics total... most as repeats. I couldn't drop the exposure on the moon for the life of me. I've not had this problem, but then again the shots are usually much tighter. I'm also wondering if a harvest kind of moon produces greater illuminance?

I almost popped on a couple of ND filters, but in the first locale was in the middle of the desert with no light other than a flashlight and with a very quick rising moon. This shot was about a :20 exposure at f/11 or 16 if I remember. Even though I didn't touch the shutter, I still had to clone out some ghosting where the movement of the moon occured... it was that fast!!



For those of you who have heard but not seen of the Rio Grande River, pic 2 is a shot of it going by a small peak called Cristo Rey. The location I'm in is Sunland Park, NM, directly ahead with lights in the background is El Paso, Texas and the backside of Cristo Rey is Anapra, Mexico. Here on the borderlands we say we live where 3 states and 2 nations come together. The river for the most part of its 1400 mile run (3rd longest in the U.S.) is pretty narrow and not to daunting. Much of the riverbed in El Paso dries out in the Winter. However, down in Big Bend National Park the Rio becomes quite an amazing tributary with rapids that formed the Canyon walls of Santa Elena.

Moonlight Shoot

I belong to a photography group here in El Paso called Megapixels. We decided at last minute to do a late night shoot tonight. We have been having a large spectacular summer moon this week. Our hope is that we can do some slow exposure shooting to get cloud drifts and some good detail of our local mountains with the moonlight reflecting light. If anything pics are worth posting, I'll get some up tomorrow. The mountains we are looking at are the Hueco's and the Franklin's. The Franklin mountain range is the southernmost tip of the Rocky Mountains, located here in El Paso. It is also the oldest formations of that chain.

Desperate Times Call for Desperate Pictures

Well here goes, my first official blog post. I guess I should start with maybe a brief bio.

My name is Brent and I'm a photographer. I spent nearly 25 years in Broadcasting and had an amazing time doing so. For all that is wrong with this profession, there is also all that is right. I got a front row seat on witnessing life like few others ever will. I also worked with some amazingly talented and terrific folks.

I've always had a passion for photography, which I got to do a lot of when in college. I was fortunate to take some of that formal instruction and apply it during the first 12 yrs of my career as a News Photographer. Now I get a chance to do it for a living, which means meeting new and interesting people and spending time with them. This is what was best in journalism and I'm excited about doing it on my own.

This past weekend was a little slow, so I took the opportunity to go to the El Paso (My Hometown) Rose Garden to shoot some flowers. I'm working on several projects and needed the material. Unfortunately, the roses were not at their best. It may be due to the recent heat wave we've had... our temps have been in triple digits for nearly 3 weeks now.

Anyway, here are several shots that I did save. If you get a chance, leave a comment and please visit my website too. I'd love to have your visit.

http://highnoonphoto.smugmug.com