I’ll be trekking through Colorado and New Mexico for the next few days. As usual, I’ll post photos when possible. It will be a driving trip this time which feels good. I’m ready for a break from airports, baggage weight restrictions, and cramped seating. Gas around here has even dropped below $3 so it’s all good. I love driving, too. Seeing the gradual changes in landscape and having a real feeling of distance is much preferable in my mind to being plopped down in a new place with no bearings or feeling of relationship between where you came from and where you find yourself. No, a long drive can be a very good thing.

Oh, and this shot is from a trip I made to the Four Corners area last year with my Photodudes buddies. Guys — we need to hit the road again together soon!

Since getting back from Texas earlier this week, I’ve been trying to get caught up from my backlog of post-processing. I usually try to be no more than one trip behind (finish processing one trip before leaving on another) but with the move this summer, I’ve fallen uncomfortably behind. Thus I have just finished going through my Arkansas shoot from May, including this shot from Eureka Springs. If you’ve never been, this is a crazy neat little town. I’ll be happily revisiting it in November so you can expect to see moreHopefully I’ll have that trip — and all my 2008 travels — processed before New Years. It’s good to have goals.

I spent yesterday morning exploring the Trois Estate near Fredericksburg, TX. I’m not even sure what to call the place. Part private home, part B&B, part restaurant, part museum — it’s truly amazing. The architecture utilizes everything from weathered doors salvaged from around the world to wine bottles to create a surreal Spanish-esque village. I hope to get a chance to see this place again when it’s completed. I can’t even imagine what surprises are still in store.

I’m back from Michigan and, after just over 24 hours at home, I’m now in Fredericksburg, Texas for the rest of the week.

The bottles above were set in mortar above the door to a log bed & breakfast guest cabin making an informal stained glass transom. These Texans are an inventive bunch. More to come…

Stremel (streh’ mull) - To “Stremel”, it’s been “Stremelled”, I’ve been “Stremelling”.

Definition - the act of making an image largely through the use of luck. Term coined in reference to one Doug Stremel - the luckiest shooter on earth (although one Bruce Snell has also been instrumental in the development of the technique).

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These blown-glass bird baths were on display outside of a garden shop. I went wide with my 17-35mm Nikkor and blindly held the camera underneath them pointing up to the overcast sky. It was all luck from there — no careful framing or focus point selection — just hoping for the best.

I’ve seen both my brother, Bruce, and Doug using this technique and I have to say that they look a little odd doing it. Or maybe they just look a little odd. I don’t know. Anyway, I’ve found myself following their lead on several occasions lately — recklessly abandoning the use of the viewfinder — and it’s almost always worked out well. Go figure.

A flower from the stunning gardens at the Cherry Republic, Glen Arbor, Michigan.

Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Michigan.

In no particular order:

Bruce L. Snell — Yeah, he’s my brother. But he’s a darned talented photographer, too. Mostly portrait and wedding work but I think he can shoot pretty much anything he sets his mind to.

Doug Stremel — I’ve known and worked with Doug for quite a few years now but he’s just recently rediscovered his love for photography. You’d never know it looking at his work. The guy’s got a great eye and makes it look like he’s been shooting for a lifetime.

Montreal Photo — The photo blog of Julien Roumagnac. I’ve been following this one for awhile. Stunning images and a really great presentation as well.

Daily Walks — Diane Varner’s photo blog is an inspiration. She has a way of taking the most ordinary objects and making them art. I love her color sense as well.

One Floor Up — I guess I’d call this an industrial design blog but it’s filled chock full of beautiful, modern stuff. Stuff I want.

Drawn — Tons of great illustration related posts. Makes me wish I could draw. (Okay, maybe everyone can draw… to some degree. It makes me wish I could draw better.)

Jonny Crossbones — If you’ve been reading my blog for awhile, you’ll know that I’m a big fan of the old Tintin comics. Jonny Crossbones is a strip created by cartoonist Les McClaine in a similar style.

Design Sponge — Tons of cool design and decor stuff here.

There are many more blogs that give me inspiration but that’ll have to do for now. I still need to pack since I’m leaving early tomorrow morning for the first of two back-to-back shoots. In case I don’t have time — or a connection — to post while I’m away, here’s an oldie from my South Korea trip to tide you over. I’ve been pulling images for an upcoming story and hope that the photo editor will agree that this could make a great cover shot. The contrast of the old and new? You can never go wrong with that. Or, as another stock shooter once told me, any shot with a flag in it. Two flags are even better. Maybe I can Photoshop one into this shot…

I know. “Not another cat photo!” I can hear you from here. Tough.

When we moved the office back into the house, I knew I wanted to separate the two spaces. The four-legged furballs were among the main factors in that decision. So, we added a door to a hallway in the new house that defines “office” from “house”. We chose a ridged glass door to let light through and keep the back hall from getting dark and dreary. An added benefit is that I can see who is lying in wait outside when I go to get a snack from the fridge. The distortion of the glass makes for interesting patterns and I’ve been thinking about working on a series of shots of the cats through the glass in various stages of recognizability. Here’s the first — our calico, Eclair.

I’ll see if I can’t get an actual travel shot up tomorrow and then it’s back on the road on Sunday. I’ll post if I have access. See ya there.

A great, foggy morning to get out and explore the new neighborhood.

Since we’ve moved into the new house, I’ve been noticing some interesting behavior in one of our cats, Nacho. This funky area rug used to be in the office so the cats have never seen it before. Now that we’ve reintegrated the office into the house, it has found its way into the new living room. Mostly the cats pay no attention — they have plenty of other new things to explore — but a few days ago I found Nacho sitting exactly in the center of the black circle (seen in the bottom left here). Thought nothing of it. A day or so later, there he was again. Smack dab in the circle. Now I’m finding his toys left in the other circles on the rug (as seen above, top right). Is he placing them there purposefully? I think I’m going to start logging my findings in case this turns out to be some major discovery.

See? Even while I was taking the photo above, he comes over and sits on his black circle. He’s a little off center this time but we’ll give him a break since I was distracting him.

There’s definitely something going on here. This cat seems to have some sort of design sense that forces him to place his toys — and his butt — within a composition. I’ll keep you posted on my findings as I am sure you are as amazed as I am.

Oh, and that yellow arc at the bottom of the second photo? It drives him NUTS!. He attacks it like his life is in the balance.

Maybe he’s just strange…