...Did that building just move?

Have I ever mentioned that I LOVE awesome guerilla marketing? Samsung got it right with this one! Imagine walking down the street and seeing this. (If the video seems a bit slow at first, just wait until about half a minute into it, it gets way better from there.)

Tiffany's Senior Portraits

Just a few of many senior portrait shots I took for my friend Tiffany. She graduates in August... congrats, Tiff!

Wandering mind: keep off grass!

This has by far been the most absurdly busy semester I've ever had. I worked myself to the point that, as what I believe is a Texan saying puts it, "Every time I stand up my mind sits down." The obvious solution to this was to stay standing up so my mind could sit down. So I went for a walk to to take some photos of this beautiful spring day. My mind did roam around a bit after I had walked around for a while... (see last photo).

Lone Safety Cone implores you to stay away from this wide, rolling field! (I suppose " Please Keep Off Grass" wasn't urgent enough?)

No Dead Pigeons, No Problem

I don’t know what it is, but I seem to have an uncanny ability to gain access to the bell tower, the only limited-access area on campus, through amicable meetings with strangers. Technically, the underground steam tunnels that run from one side of campus to the other are restriced-access too, but I have no desire to walk from one side of campus to the other in a steam tunnel. I prefer the view from above, which is why I’m so psyched that I somehow managed my way up into the bell tower again, thanks to the graciousness of several High Riders, a the female answer to the guy’s spirit group which let me into the tower the first time, the Saddle Tramps.

So here’s how my climbing up the bell tower came about:

I’m on campus over the weekend scouting locations for some senior portraits I’m taking this weekend (future blog post? Heck yes...) when I hear a girl from behind say something about “calling the po-po.” Now, imagine yourself in my situation: enjoying the first clear day of spring in over a week, minding your own business, camera up to your face when you suddenly hear mention of the cops being on their way. This is when you 1) awkwardly hesitate to remove the camera hiding your face and 2) quickly survey the situation to decide if you should listen to your wholesome, tiny portrait photographer sitting on one shoulder or the tiny, slightly deviant photojournalist on your other shoulder. After surveying the situation and finding no sign of excitement, my deviant shoulder buddy was sorely disappointed but consoled when the High Rider who had called the “po-po” invited me to join them. Deviant shoulder buddy then got her hopes up again, but they were quickly let down again when one of the High Riders explained the police have to open the restricted-access bell tower in order for them to ring the victory bells.

Meanwhile, tiny portrait photographer jumped for joy at the unexpected and innocent turn of events. As for myself, I’ve never felt so lucky to have a spur-of-the moment trip up 170 stairs to a confined space surrounded by dead pigeons. (This has happened twice, mind you). The view was great, and in the face of defeat my deviant side did not pursue photos of the dead pigeons (you’re welcome).

So, here they are: photos from the best view on the Texas Tech University campus, taken as the victory bells rang.

I froze, and it was worth it!

It's official: the hardest thing about being a photographer is picking a favorite from a really, really big set of photographs. Especially when you're trying to be objective but all you can think about is how much energy went into taking the endless pile of photos in front of you and yet... I somehow remember taking each and every one. Can someone please explain why I can't remember what acronyms greater than three letters stand for and yet I can recall what I was thinking when I took each and everyone of my vacation photos? And when I headed up to Rocky Mountain National Park for spring break, you bet I took a ridiculous number of photos! But here it is. My favorite. Of ALL the breathtaking scenery... I chose.... a night shot. Not what I would have initially guessed, but I love this picture because, well... exactly because it's not what I had in mind when I set out to take photos of the rockies. The best kind of shot is the one you're not expecting.

I promise there are plenty more beautiful Colorado pictures to come. And just so I can end this post in a way that makes me sound awesome, this is a bulb exposure taken in 20 degree weather at 2 A.M. Boo-yah!

Begging for lame pun: Ponies for Nay-bors

Ah, the low intelligence-level humor that is the pun...heh... heh.... nay-bors.... Sorry. But I do think it's pretty sweet that I live a block away from a miniature pony farm... I mean, how many people can claim that? A perk of West Texas living. Downside: it explains the smell on windy mornings. In these little guys' defense, they were relatively odorless, but luckily cute photographs make it easy to forget olfactory associations anyways.

I should note that isn't a warning sign (BEWARE OF PONY) haha. It actually says "Welcome to pet the horses: Do not enter" (which I didn't, tempting as it was). His nose is exaggerated juuust enough because of my wide-angle lens.

I included this one because it reminds of going to petting zoos when I was little. One huge, wet nose shoved into my face. I made sure his eyes were nice and sharp and his nose was out of focus.

Sweet and mellow.

So true...

Living in a smaller city, I’ve seen and heard some really, really awful, low-budget commercials. Few small advertisers seem to catch on to the idea that if your budget is low you should either A) create a really, really simple to execute idea with a kick butt concept or B) find a way to embrace your low budget and small town/city persona with a kick butt concept. Most local ads here opt for one of these two options minus the “kick butt concept” clause. BUT I was listening to the radio the other day and heard a catchy jingle, sung with a serious tone by several men and women who were just barely out of key. “Troy’s Ski Appareeeel…. Cuz you can’t skiiii naaakeed!” I think this fits the latter option perfectly. Troy’s is a local shop with little competition around here and knew touting their apparel brands and specs of their gear wouldn’t do much good. After all, how many West Texans would intently listen to a ski apparel commercial? But, we do go skiing every now and then. Great ads usually have a truth behind them, and I dare you to disprove Troy’s reasoning. So touché Troy’s Ski Apparel, touché.