May/December Romance

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While shooting this photo in Port Isabel, I had the added pressure of trying to hurry because I was obviously pissing-off the old man seen here enjoying a romantic sunset with a woman 30-40 years his junior.
I wonder why he was so upset?
Unless he's cheating on his wife or had paid for this
evening's company, why would an amateur photographer
deserve so many dirty looks and hostile comments?
It's not like I was going to post a photo of him on the
internet or anything...until he gave me attitude that is.
Lucky for him nobody visits this site.

The two young girlfriends who arrived while all of this
drama was unfolding also added to my problems.
The 'driver' walked boldly in front of my lens while
her companion proved she was still a true lady by
waiting for me to finish.
This didn't sit well with any of us judging by the earful
of total bitch we received, so rather than stand in the way of
true love I bagged my shots as fast as I could and retreated.

Romance, no matter how unconventional, needs to be respected.
I'm cool like that, but only because I got the photo that I
really wanted in spite of all of the unnecessary bullshit
and 'hatred of all middle-aged white men' I had to deal with.

Fishing Or Drugs?

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Have you ever been behind a 20 year old car
full of shady-looking characters that's weaving through
traffic at ten mph below the limit, and then laughed when
you noticed the bumper sticker imploring you to
"Support Your Local Police Department"??
This is the nautical equivalent.

Trust me, there are plenty of drugs being used on the
open waters and piers and beaches and rivers of the world.

"Honey, me and the guys are going fishing. Be back in
a few days."
They really ARE fishing, but a good percentage of them
are also snorting speed to stay awake all night when the
fish are biting.
Or smoking weed to help them 'enjoy the beauty of nature'
as well as deal with the boredom between strikes.

I'm not saying the percentage of stoned fishermen exceeds
that of the general population, and I'm much more worried
about the percentage of alcoholic speedfreak rapist cops.
What I'm saying is that I used to fish a lot as a teenager
and it was the perfect excuse for going out and getting high
with your friends, so this sticker made me laugh.

Trash In Infrared

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A paintbucket in the woods, captured
in the infrared spectrum using a Sony F717.

Rainwater

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The drought may be over across much
of the state, but in my area we're still several
inches of rain below where we are supposed to be.
Last week it rained a lot one night.
I don't know exactly how much because we don't
have a rain gauge, but it was a lot.
I had left this trash barrel in my back yard by
accident, at the perfect spot to catch the water
running off our roof.
Didn't notice it until the next night, so when I
went to drag it onto the patio it almost pulled
my arm out of the socket because instead of
a pound or two it must have weighed 270+.
(30-something gallons at 8lbs/gal.)
Should have had my flashlight with me, messing around
outside in the dark.
I siphoned-off the water onto the dry patches of
our lawn, which was decent compensation for my
sore shoulder.

Night Shift

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Location: The alley behind some random nightclub
Time: 3:29am
Subject: Having a smoke while waiting to get paid
Camera: Sony F717 f2 .5sec ISO100 handheld
Fast-Edited with: IrfanView and NeatImage
Inspired By: mrobertson

I Like Surprises

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While prowling around the repair facilities
just northeast of downtown I found this short string
of bad-ordered (broken) railcars.
Having never looked inside a gondola car before, I stood
on my tiptoes on the rail and set my lens on the top edge,
twisted the F717's body down so I could see the LCD screen,
and fired-off a few exposures.
Imagine my surprise when I got home and uploaded the day's
results and found a choice bit of editorial brilliance
scrawled on the inside wall.
For the normal people who read this blog: CSX is one of a
handful of mega-railroads that merged-with and bought-out
most of the popular and romantic and historical lines,
creating oversized behemoths with lousy service and
zero personality.
In these parts, Union Pacific is the only game in town.
Fuck them, too.