Engagments

So my little sister got married this past weekend and now I can finally post her engagement pictures. I was under strict orders not to reveal any of this pictures before the wedding, punishable by death. We went to downtown Austin and had a blast. It was rainy and just a lot of fun. We spent plenty of time waiting out the rain in her car and even had to watch people eat what looked to be some really good pizza but it was all worth it in the end.

Emily and RD I am very happy for you and we are so glad to have added such a man as you to our family.

There is a little of everything here, true color, HDR, B&W, and just creative manipulation. Thanks Emily and RD for letting me have so much fun.

Halloween 2011

I love my family. My two little girls and my awesome, beautiful wife are such a gift to me and I thank God everyday for them. This past Halloween we went to Central Baptist in College Station for their Harvest Festival. The girls loved it and we love having a safe environment to allow them to play in. Jadyn dressed up as a Scarecrow Princesses and Jayce was a Black Bird. Ashley made both costumes and did a wonderful job. I love my three girls.

Golden Hour

We had some great skylines over vacation and this was one of them. The whole scene was just really awesome.

The Old Store

Fishing Pole Relived

So we have seen this picture once already but in color and after I looked at again I saw the potential it had in black and white. I really enjoy a good b&w photo. So I guess the question is which one do you like better; b&w or the color version http://burrowsphoto.blogspot.com/2011/07/golden-rod.html? I would love to hear what you think about any of the work you see.

Water Meter

Just a picture I enjoyed taking. Riding around with the little ones and found this set of old builds in a one street downtown city. Those are such fun photo adventures.

Through the Window

Car's Blues

I love old towns. Towns that you just drive through to get to your destination and you only stop in for a quick restroom break or a bite to eat. These are the places where I find those great photos; The photos that wow people. 

This trip was so fun, my daughters and I made a quick drive about an hour and a half north of us to meet up with grandparents and on the way back we explored the little downtown areas and the lesser cared for areas. The girls were great and such a joy to have those times with them. They always want to see the pictures and Jadyn (3) loves to grab the camera and snap a couple of her own. If you get a chance take our kids out and photograph with them; it is a great memory.

Bay Alley Bright

I love the look of bay alley's. All the boat dock's and you can just see the fun families have on the weekends.

Tractor Engine

Tractor

When I was headed out to shoot a location I saw this scene in my neighborhood and decided to forgo the first location and explore the construction zone. Construction areas always interest me because they are always deemed eye sores and the noise early in the morning can be annoying but they create great pictures.

Successful Day Out

For me these fishermen look very triumphant, like Caesar riding into Rome on his chariot.  It is such a great feeling of working so hard for something and at the end of the day you are successful in the challenge.  That is what this picture represents to me.

Bay Side Houses

These were the houses next to the house we stayed in. One of them was occupied for the first couple days, but then it was pretty much empty for the rest of the week. It was nice being able to look out over our balcony and just get a calm peaceful view. I love how HDR photography can really capture how our eyes see the scene. With traditional photography you wouldn't see the detail of the houses and the water.

Waiting In Line

On a scouting adventure I found this run down "water park". There were really only two big slides and two little kid slides so I am not sure how much business it really got considering the beach was just a two minute walk but this is the condition it is in now. I found it interesting that pieces of the slides were missing, umbrellas were turned upside down, and everything was over grown but most of the roping was still up and kept me from falling off the path.

Beach House

       About 2 years ago I found a style of photography called High Dynamic Range, HDR. I fell in love with the images and how it was the digital way of making multiple exposure images. After much research and studying I started going out and trying to create my own images. I ran into many issues but thanks to the extensive knowledge of the pioneer of HDR, Trey Ratcliff, I was able to work through many of the issues I was running into. I read his web-site, http://www.stuckincustoms.com/, many times over and even recently got to show him this blog and ask him questions about what I needed to work on. 

      The process is very simple and complex at the same time, I will give you the short less complex version but if you have questions please ask. When setting up for a picture you must have the camera on a tripod or another steady object. You will set the camera's F/stop and shutter speed for a proper exposure, but that really depends on what you are exposing for. You will then bracket 2 other photos, or 4 or even more if you have the ability to. For me I do three per my equipment. Those three photo's can be see above. Then load the pictures into a HDR program, I use Photomatix and making adjustments and you have your final image (below). Like I said before though it is a lot more complex than just that but that is the beginning.

The best part of HDR is how it is a great representation of what your eye will actually see.

The Ugly Side

My daughter, Jayce, and I got to go out exploring in the bay area neighborhood that we vacationed in. It was 100+ degrees and obviously no cloud cover but it was so much fun. Jayce decided early on in our adventure that she didn't want to walk or even be put down so composing pictures became a challenge. For this picture we had to get as low as we could to the ground, and if you could imagine a grown man holding an 18 month old in his left arm, camera in right hand, almost laying down in the hot sand, and trying to focus you would understand how we looked. I wouldn't trade that hour for anything. We found this old rusted can sitting on...well I am not sure what it is on but it just captured our attention. I do mean our attention because Jayce really wanted to take it home with us.  

Storm's a Coming

A storm was rolling in and my wife was out on a girls only day. Not wanting to be stuck inside all day, the little ones and I jumped in the car and started to scout locations and find something fun to do. Well within 15 minutes Jayce was asleep and it was just me and Jadyn scouting locations. We found this location in a near by bay side neighborhood. Jadyn loved it so much she begged to get out and take a picture. This picture is mine but I will post hers later. 

What's for Dinner?

I never knew how addictive crabbing was. I checked the trap a couple times a day and the coolest part was I got to cook with that fresh crab for the very first time. This was from the first night we were there and it was a great start to a great vacation. 

The Golden Rod

Father-in-law got to spend a lot of time fishing while on vacation and as I passed this fishing pole he had set up I almost missed how the gold rod mimicked the color the setting sun was creating in the sky. After a double take I realized what I almost missed and captured this picture.

Long Day Fishing

This year in Galveston we got a great house on the bay side of the island. Every night there was a beautiful sunset falling over the ocean. The gold lined clouds were so breath taking and peaceful. I got to take this picture with my little girl Jayce sitting on my hip and although it does make it difficult I would never trade those moments.