Case Study - The Boydston's

Here's a new section to the blog - The Case Study.

Periodically, I'll post an assignment and articulate how the shoot was accomplished in an attempt to educate and stimulate discussion about the images.

In this very first case study, I was assigned to photograph and write a magazine article about a couple who are ardent conservationists and was recently awarded a statewide honor for their work.

The turn around had to be quick. I was in town for a week and the deadline for the images and article were the end of June. So in mid-June I headed to Olney, Texas for a morning visit, an interview, and photo shoot. I had just a few hours to bring everything together.

On the way down, I was concerned that with our late start (8:00am) the "good light" would fade quick because between introductions, exchanging pleasantries, and scouting a location, it would be mid-morning before we were afield.

However, on this morning luck was on my side as a thunderstorm brewed just to the east of their ranch and left the sky in a deep overcast.

It was 10:30 before I shot the lead photo for the story: a simple portrait of the Boydston's. The lack of shadows and soft light made for a good shots of the cattle, plants, and the ponds, I needed to punch a little bit more color into the portrait.

Here's where a some extra gear came in handy.

To add some color to the uninteresting sky, I added a graduated neutral density filter in tobacco color. To add some color to the Boydston's, the Canon wireless flash system came in handy.

I placed a single flash placed on a stand to the camera left and manually opened the flash to throw a 24mm pattern. I then shot the flash on TTL with an initial exposure based ambient light exposure. I then subtracted a bit of light from the flash just to give a punch of color.

This image was shot with a Canon 1D Mark III camera, a Canon 16mm-35mm lens set at 19mm. The composition was shot loose enough to allow an article title and lead text yet still be strong enough to stand alone if no text is laid upon the image.

Manually exposed at 1/160 @ f10 ISO 100, Flash set at -1/3 stop

Home Away From Home Part 2

After a tough week of plumbing and electrical work, the little house on the blackland prairie is starting to take shape.

I can't wait to finish this project.

New Images

Just got through adding about sixty new images to the website - mainly cotton and wheat.

Here are a few previews.

Home Away From Home

I was going to name this post "Blog Cabin" because I thought I would be able to post images as the construction slowly took place.

However, building began while I was away and so my brother Bubba keeps me updated on the swift construction progress.

A few months ago, my wife and I decided it would be a good idea to build a small cabin on our land close to where we both grew up in Northeast Texas some 250 miles from where we live in the Texas Panhandle. Call our pending lifestyle bi-residential if you will.

Anyway, while getting started on the construction was painfully slow, it went blazingly fast once the framing crew began. These two images were taken 24-hours apart and show how fast this thing really went up.

It isn't a big place but big enough for sleeping quarters. If you've ever stayed in a hotel suite at a Residence Inn the place is roughly the size of those room. By no means big enough to make a permanent residence but perfect for sleeping, some light cooking, and hanging out.

We've been inspired to go green as well. The walls are framed with recycled lumber pieces finger-jointed together to make the pieces stronger that first-cut lumber. Ample windows allow plenty of natural light and eliminate the need for using a bunch of electricity during the daylight hours, and the water system will consist of captured rainwater, double osomosis filtered and supply a low-flow shower head, toilet, and kitchen and bathroom faucets.

Furthermore, we're installing a U-panel, Galvalume roof which will direct more heat away from the ventilated attic space. For now, we've wrapped the house in a Tyvek material and will insulate the attic with a cellulose material to further reduce the energy expenditures to heat and cool the place.

The cabin's exterior will be lapped Hardy Plank siding stained with a cedar stain.

Sunday, I arrive to start the interior work so I'll keep you updated on the progress.

Should be a neat place.

Planting Time

It's cotton planting season here in Childress and I was out this evening with my buddy Cade to shoot a few images of him at work.

Cotton farming is tough, demanding work both physically and financially and I commend Cade for his efforts.

New Images

Just posted about 40 new images to the database - a general collection of landscape images from Western Texas.