More Carter

It seems that almost all of Carter’s pictures I put here are of this same side with that same canter. It just works out like that. We get him running but he gets on his own pace. My camera has video so maybe next time I will shoot him running and post that here. The weather doesn’t help. The temperature needs to be cooler and this makes for a very energetic horse who loves to show off. For now, we are still in the 90′s.

I think I’m going to ride some next week.

 

North Texas Desert

There is no such thing–the North Texas desert. Yet it seems like it when you glance across the dry roasted pastures where nothing grows. What is green? The cedar trees. Even the oak trees have burned up leaves. The beautiful fall colors of this area won’t be apparent. Rain is not in the forecast for ten days. At least that is what the Weather Channel says today.

The cost of hay has sky rocketed. Most everything else has as well. My Arabian has always carried a few extra pounds and I still don’t quite understand how he maintains his roundness with nothing to graze on and my well measured feed and hay.

We took a walk to the pond. For those of you who have kept up with this blog, you may recall the pond pictures I’ve shared in the past. We’ve never seen the pond this low before. The advantage though is that we can have all that sediment scraped out. The tempertures remain in the mid to upper 90′s. Those activities that we share in each year are not even being planned for, at least not now.

We expect a long dry winter.

 

Josephine, Texas

With a population of 984 in 2009 I call it a town but they call it a city: City of Josephine. It’s along a route I sometimes take when making my rounds to visit clients each month. And as you can guess, it’s named after somebody’s sweet daughter and there was probably a train and some cotton involved. That’s how it is in these parts.

This Methodist church is situated across the street from the Baptist church. Now I didn’t stop in to talk to anyone but there was a suspicious neighbor who came out to see why I drove by and circled in the Baptist parking lot several times. In fact, I used that parking lot to make calls to the office and do some of the usual business I do for seniors. I should have gotten out and gathered information. As my devoted readers always know….the clock ticks.

Josephine United Methodist church has its own facebook page so I got to see some “inside” pictures. The front of the building as seen in the above photo led me to beleive that this structure was not being used.

 

Lake Lavon, Texas

About two weeks ago I drove to Farmersville to see a client. The 380 route is quite pleasant once you pass through very congested McKinney and Princeton. Once in the country plenty of development can be seen but there are areas of open fields and there is Lake Lavon.

It was quite startling to see the result of the 2011 drought has taken on this reservoir. Water is normally seen over this entire area in the image above. Traffic was at a minimum on the four lane highway and I was able to pull off onto the shoulder and quickly take a picture of the drought stricken shore.

 

Ticking Clocks

Last night I completed the design for my name/logo for Anita’s Focus. There remains work on the gallery page for I think there is just too much stuff but it is much of my work over the past 5 years. So what if much of the road side scenes were taken from my car window. It’s my collection of forgotten moments; images I receive comments that say, “it’s gone now”. Maybe, but I still have the image, something to stir your mind, your heart.

My goal is almost met and I’m running right on schedule. By October 1, 2011, I will be working professionally specializing in product photography but will be scheduling family portrait sessions mostly outdoors. Weddings don’t interest me, but I am getting calls for them. With that, the challenge of the price sheet remains.

It has changed my vision. For several years I lost that connection I had looking at my subject through a lens, any lens. Maybe it is the season, a new camera, software, but that daydreaming through the lens has returned. This time it’s different for I’m much more serious about the quality of the image and need to create something unexpected.

Many times when looking on previous images, I can recall my emotions at that time. Here is something from those days. White Sands. The Snow Cat was with me. It was a hot afternoon and I could not leave her in the car while exploring the dunes. I remember almost everything about time there, who I called, what I had to drink, and the direction of the wind.

White Sands, New Mexico 2003