I'm Back!

I took a break from blogging and posting my images, now I'm back and it feels good so let's get right to it.  

I recently had the privilege of attending the 100th Cass family reunion.  Yes, 100th.  They're a great bunch of folks and I'm proud to have married into the family almost 20 years ago.  So of course, Auntie Fran asks if I would take pictures.  How could I refuse?  I gladly started taking candids here and there as the festivities were going on.  Maggie called the meeting to order and read off the treasurer's report and some meeting minutes and whathaveyou.  Did I mention that this was their 100th reunion?  They are serious about this stuff.  And I was glad I traveled across the country to be here.  Anyway, I'm talking to cousin Denny, whom I had just met, finally, for the first time after emailing back and forth with him for about a decade.  I had no sooner finished introducing myself and shaking his hand that I heard Maggie say "…and next Alex Suarez is going to take our group picture."  

I had a brief flash of panic, as this was the first I'd heard of this and I had a crowd of about 200 suddenly looking at me.  "Denny I gotta go" I said as I let go of his hand.  My head spun on a swivel as I looked for a place to take a cozy picture of 200 of my closest relatives.  We were at a wonderful park and I ran out into the open field.  I had no ladder on which to gain a bird's eye view of the crowd.  I looked to my right and saw a curved sloping hillside facing into the sunlight.  That'll do!  I ran back and switched to my ultra-wide 11-16mm lens, grabbed my tripod and ran back out to the field.  I set up my tripod and pointed my camera at the middle of the hillside.  Relatives started streaming out into the the field and stopped in front of the camera.  So now I had a group forming starting in the middle of where I had envisioned and flowing off to my right.  I asked folks to come around, but there was no directing this crowd and I was going to lose them if I didn't act fast.  I picked up my tripod and moved it to the middle of the crowd that had just formed.  I convinced some folks to fill in the front and got folks in the back to scrunch forward and get closer.  "Like you know each other" I explained.  That got a chuckle or two.  All along, I had been firing off shots to look at the histogram and make sure I was going to get a good exposure.  Right before I was to make the final shots, I shouted out "if you can't see the camera, the camera can't see you!"  Immediately, I saw a few more heads pop up and I began taking a series of exposures.  I had a few other photographers with cameras in tow flanking me.  I directed the crowd to look to my right pointing to one photographer, then to my left.  When they got their shots, I asked them to jump into the scene and I fired off another series of images.  This is what I got.

Photograph ©2011 Alex Suárez. All rights reserved. Click image for larger version.

There were all sorts of festivities horseback riding, volleyball, horseshoes, a bonfire, you name it.  One thing that caught my eye was the hayrides.  There was a beautifully restored bright red tractor pulling a trailer with hay bails loaded up with kids and parents.  The red tractor against the blue sky really caught my eye.  I hope you enjoy the images I made of the tractor.

Photograph ©2011 Alex Suárez. All rights reserved. Click image for larger version.Photograph ©2011 Alex Suárez. All rights reserved. Click image for larger version.Photograph ©2011 Alex Suárez. All rights reserved. Click image for larger version.

Out the Window

I love to fly.  For the past several years, whenever I've gotten a window seat, I've felt compelled to photograph what I see out the window. Recently, while over the North Atlantic on my flight back from London, I saw this contrail when I pulled up the shade.  It looked like pin striping on the sky.  ;-)

Photograph ©2010 Alex Suárez. All rights reserved. Click image for larger view.Earlier in the flight, I had noticed a rainbow colored spot down below.  I used my sleeve to wipe the window, but it was still there.  I looked through the next window and could still see the spot.  I pulled my iPhone out of my pocket and took a picture and the spot was there.  When I saw that, I pulled out my trusty Nikon DSLR and took the picture you see below.  That rainbow colored spot, it's called a "glory." If you plotted a line from the spot to my lens to the sun, it would be a straight line.  What's the coolest thing you've seen out the window of an airplane?

Photograph ©2010 Alex Suárez. All rights reserved.

Laura and Bob

Photograph ©2010 Alex Suárez. All rights reserved.

Right after she got engaged, my friend Laura asked me if I would take a photo for their “save the date” cards.

We shot this in the shadow of the Stevie Ray Vaughn statue at Auditorium Shores by Ladybird Lake (aka Town Lake) near downtown Austin, Texas at sunrise.

Storbist info: SB-600 in TTL mode, camera left, bounced into a foam core card.

Congratulations to Laura and Bob.

El Malecón

Photograph ©2010 Alex Suárez. All rights reserved.

Under the shade of a Flamboyan tree, I stopped to take in the scenery of the crystal clear waters from El Malecón, a mini boardwalk.  On this side to the street is a wide sidewalk with incredible views of the Caribbean Sea. On the opposite side is a row restaurants, bars and a museum.  

Drawing in the Sand

Photograph ©2010 Alex Suárez. All rights reserved.

One of life’s small pleasures. A boy draws in the sand with a stick.

Notice the hoof prints in the sand in front of the boy.  Those are from paso fino horses that roam freely over the island.