Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve - California

First time to California, and had to see me some red woods. You don't actually have to pay, you can park at the front and just walk the paths. The walk is really worth it, we decided to pay after the fact since we were tired. Since the walking around is about 2 miles round trip. But come to find out there wasn't much more so the driving in isn't really worth it at all.

Hot Air Balloon Festival - Horseshoe Bay Resort 2016

Took a weekend trip to Austin as a mini vacation. While there they had a hot air balloon festival about an hour an half outside of Austin at the Horsehoe Bay Resort. Loads of people were there, here are a few photos I captured.

Grapevine Mills Aquarium - SEA LIFE Grapevine Aquarium

The Aquarium was pretty small and geared toward mostly really small kids. As an adult you had to bend over to look into some of the water containers. So unless you are 3 feet tall you will have to squat some of the time to get the best viewing angle. Using a camera and squatting was even harder.

If you decide to go buy your tickets online it's going to save you $5. In my opinion it's not worth the door price of $20 and not even the online ticket prices at $15. I found a coupon in a coupon pack for $12 which is why I was willing to give it a try. Having low expectations, I would say it pretty much met my low expectations. But surely not worth $20!

Tickets online sold here.

Travel Guide - South Padre Island

South Padre Island is a pretty nice place. It was actually smaller than expected. Being in Dallas and it being driving distance decided to road trip it and drive down. The drive was pretty long, but not too bad after you get out of San Antonio. There is some border patrol you have to pass through once you get close to the island. 

All and all it seemed like a party destination. Lots of 20 somethings hanging out on the beach getting drunk and acting stupid. Which left me feeling a little out of place. The lodging wasn't too expensive and the beach was free! Actually since you are on a narrow island the beach runs up the whole place. So no matter where you are at you can pull over to a beach area and just hang out on the beach. There were a couple "hot" destinations, Clayton Beach Bar seem to be the place to go. Live music and fireworks on the weekends. Claiming to be the biggest beach bar in Texas! It was packed in the evening! And full of those 20 something drunk people. 

There is one paid area close to the bridge when entering the island. I think it's a state park, I would recommend you don't waste your money. There isn't much there and it's just a beach area, where you can access from the whole island for free!

Our adventure to Brownsville. 

We decided to hit up Brownsville since we were close. It was about a 45min drive. The downtown area looked almost like you were already in Mexico. Strange how being close to another country takes on the shape and fell of it while still being in the US. On our way back we decided to hit up the Boca Chica State Park. Thinking it would be some paid park like most Texas State parks. Driving down this winding road which felt like forever (30 mins or so) there were just a couple Historical markers and a fence that separated Mexico from Texas. Once we finally got to the end thinking we would hit a stand and need to buy a ticket or pay to get it, the road just dead ended into a beach. And there were tons of people there. The weird part is we only passed like 4 cars the whole time yet at the end was a big wide open beach and tons of people fishing, swimming and cooking. It was literally the tip of Texas.

Organic Dog Biscuts

Client photo shoot for a company called Boo and Neo Barkery. Shot their product and built them a website to sell their product online.

Jewelry Photography Styles

The question, is the current trend of jewelry photography on white really the way to go?
I will admit done right the white background does like very clean. As long as there is a shadow and it doesn't look like the piece of jewelry is just floating in space. But you lose the impact and contrast that shooting with a darker background brings to jewelry. Especially if it is silver. Below is a ring shot on white.

 

Now the exact same piece of jewelry with a black background. Notice the contrast! The darker background gives the jewelry photograph a chiaroscuro quality. Chiaroscuro is an art term, which is a visual pattern of light on dark. Creating contrast and visual interest.

In my opinion the dark background makes the over all shot. It has contrast and makes the color and silver really pop. The biggest problem with shooting on white is you lose all contrast. Plus there is a lot more post production involved. You think that the pure white background was achieved in camera? Nope! Silver is reflective so you have to keep the exposure so the silver doesn't blow out, therefore leaving a greyish background that has to get retouched in Photoshop.

View my other jewelry photography.

Zombie Retarded

2011 Dallas Zombie Walk

You know it is Fall when zombies take over the city. 2011 Dallas Zombie Walk