Abby

I figured I'd take a break from the graveyard stuff and post some pics from a recent shoot.

This is Abby and she didn't know she was getting her picture taken this day. Mom didn't know either...they were visiting and knew I was going to do some pictures soon, but we hadn't "officially" set a date. Surprise! They walk in and I have the studio set up. Abby had some stains on her clothes from breakfast but I took care of that in Photoshop.

I definitely like the expression and I have to give credit for this pose to Abby. She came up with this position mostly on her own...I only suggested moving her head slightly. Mom was a little annoyed about her peeling nail polish but I think it adds spontaneity to the portrait.

Galen McKinney

All we can tell about Galen McKinney is that he departed this life on September 5th. The headstone was split right over the year so we don't know when. I also couldn't locate the bottom of the headstone which is probably still in the ground somewhere near the tree this part was propped up against.

I thought it was also interesting that the headstone reads "in memory of..." Maybe they didn't have a body to bury?

Infant Son

Another child...this one was a boy who only lived 20 days and was never given a proper name. Son of J.P. and Mattie M. Nenny, 1871.

Obviously after the headstone broke, someone propped it up on the piece that was still in the ground.

Although no one is posting comments, I've been getting an earful about the toppled headstones...

"..very sad."
"...that's terrible"
"..eerie"
"....why would you take pictures of that??"

To me, walking through a cemetery is like walking through an art museum. Once you get past the whole "final resting place" idea, you can spot art everywhere you look. To some, the headstones that have fallen over seem to conjure up images of the forgotten. But just because a headstone over 100 years old has fallen over doesn't mean that person is forgotten or nobody cares. Nothing lasts forever...not even grave markers.

So, is it not art because they mark where dead people are buried? It's not the actual dead person, after all. It's just a slab of cement that marks where they are buried. Some were created to be works of art to be looked at. Let enough time pass and eventually the Earth reclaims them.

Willie E. Bailey

This one is from Pecan Grove Cemetary, also in McKinney. This is also another young child who died about 2 weeks before his 8th birthday.

It appears that the stone wasn't mounted to the base that well and eventually became detached.

James H. Huey

I started a new project recently photographing toppled or broken headstones. Originally I intended to photograph grave plots decorated with the American flag on the 4th of July, but I didn't see that many. I did see many old, toppled headstones and thought they were more interesting.

By "toppled" I really mean they've fallen over or have broken due to age. Several were forced up by the roots of a nearby tree and eventually fell over. All of them are old, and you have to wonder about the history of these plots and the people buried there.

This one is from Williams Cemetery in McKinney. This grave belongs to a young boy who died less than a week before his 5th birthday, probably due to disease or an illness which was usually the case in 1887.

Canon 5D Mark II (finally!)

About two weeks ago I collected all of my pennies, sold some prized possessions and donated a kidney, but finally managed to buy my Canon 5D Mark II. Since I've always been a Nikon user, I had to buy the lens, memory cards, UV filter etc. So this was not a small purchase. I bought the lens it came bundled with, which was a 24-105mm f4. Good enough for most situations and fine for doing portrait work. I haven't even bought a flash yet.

The main reason I bought this camera was it's ability to photograph in low light with little or no noise. My Nikon D80 couldn't be pushed much over an ISO of 400. My experiments with the 5D Mark II so far have been very good with an ISO up to 2000. I've tried some some shots over 3000 but the noise was fairly easy to see, but nothing like the D80. So far I'm pleased with the results.

At 21 MP it's almost a megapixel overkill. 15 MP would have been plenty and the 5D Mark II allows you to dial it down to 9.9 MP or 5.2 MP while still shooting in RAW. I haven't experimented with comparing the image quality to the 21 MP yet.

This camera is also one of the first to have the ability to shoot HD video. However, this is NOT a reason to buy the camera. It's a nice feature and the videos are beautiful, but it's not so easy to use. There's no autofocus for one thing, and the internal microphone pics up a lot of noise coming from inside the camera. I'll definitely need an external mic if I'm going to use it. It DOES give you the ability to shoot with a blurred background as long as your subject isn't moving around to much. That's something your average camcorder can't do.

Overall, I'm very pleased with the camera although I've barely scratched the surface of all this camera can do. Next purchase will definitely be a flash, probably the 580 EX II, and eventually my dream lens, the 50mm f1.2.

A Living Piece of Poly-Pop History

You can almost tell just by looking at the Mai Kai sign what you're in for when you walk through the front door.

Talk about escapism....why is it that most restaurants (including my local Trader Vic's) are too busy trying to be all things to all people rather than being what they are? There's no TV's blaring sports in the Mai Kai. The music you hear is appropriate to the venue....classic Hawaiian and Exotica. Would you walk into a place like this and expect to find beer swizzling sports fans yelling at the TV? Certainly not here. You can get that just about anywhere so why spoil the experience?

Hear that Dallas Trader Vic's??

Tiki in the Mai Kai Garden

Another from the Mai Kai garden. Also a 3 second exposure. I wrapped my gorilla pod around the bridge railing to make the shot.

No info on this carving, but it's definitely old.

Exotica

This beautiful woman is Julie, my good friend, fellow tiki enthusiast and also a photographer.. This was taken when it was still light out in the Mai Kai garden and we wanted to get a shot with the PNG tiki in the background.

This shot sort of reminds me of an old Exotica album cover.