Maxfield Parrish Sky

8 October 2007 A friend of mine, Bill, is an artist. He's also an art lover and never fails to show off his amazing knowledge with bits of trivia. I love it. One of his favourite artists his Maxfield Parrish. I thought of Bill when I snapped this shot on Monday evening immediately after a thunderous downpour in our area. As Bill would say, "Maxfield Parrish couldn't have done better, that's beautiful!" I would concur. Cheers. ~KR (8 October 2007) Listening to: Jesus Christ by U2 on Folkways: A Vision Shared Camera: Canon PowerShot S1 IS Exposure: 0.008 sec (1/125) Aperture: f/3.1 Focal Length: 14.5 mm Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV Flash: Flash did not fire, auto mode

Fence at Fanthorp

7 October 2007
Sunday at TRF. It was hot & muggy and I was having none of it. I slept in a little, enjoying what I could from the weak A/C we have upstairs in the booth. But, then the phone call came. Seems the young lady that Marita Beth hired on Friday to work, suddenly caught ill and was at home. She wouldn't be in. So, I got up, begrudgingly, threw some clothes on and some coffee in, and did a wee bit of work. I wasn't much help, but I did manage to get Marita Beth's music organised so that the "booth music" is a little more pleasant. I then took a stroll to say hello to folks that I wanted to see but was unable to on Saturday. By the time I got back to the shop, I was hot, tired & cranky. Time to go. So I did. I stopped in Anderson again on the way home. I took more photos of the Grimes County courthouse and some photos of a dilapidated building that has intrigued me for years. But, what I chose to comment on was this photo of a fence:
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This hand-made fence constrains the grounds of the Fanthorp Historic Inn. Apparently, Anderson was a stagecoach stop. The building was erected in 1834 and was alternately a mercantile establishment, the first post office in the region and latterly a hotel. Kenneth Lewis Anderson, the Vice-President of the Republic of Texas and, apparently, the namesake of the town took his final breath in the Fanthorp Inn. All of this information is on a stone tablet in front of the inn. I arrived during their one hour lunch break and was unable to actually visit the inn. I must remember to return. Anyway, I liked the way the wood grain works against the green grass and the distant trees. The sky got washed out, but in the insanely harsh sunlight that doesn't really suprise nor distress me.
Cheers.

~KR (7 October 2007)

Listening to:
Kykeon by Love Spirals Downwards
on Ardor

Camera: Canon PowerShot S1 IS
Exposure: 0.001 sec (1/1000)
Aperture: f/3.2
Focal Length: 5.8 mm
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire, auto mode

Tags: TRF, FANTHORP+INN, ANDERSON, GRIMES+COUNTY, TEXAS, LOVE+SPIRALS+DOWNWARDS, HISTORY

Field O' Green

6 October 2007
The Texas Renaissance Festival officially has begun. Day one of many, and the crowds just aren't here. At least that's the story the picture tells. The reality is that just over 26 thousand folks paid their way into the faire grounds on opening day. That's not a record, but it sure is impressive.


This photo was taken at nearly 18:30 so I'm guessing that the majority of the folk are either at the excellent Christophe the Insultor show, or finding a seat for the marvelous fireworks display. Either way, the photo doesn't really show the sheer numbers of folk that came to play on this grossly hot & humid day. One down, many more to go.
Cheers.

~KR (6 October 2007)

Listening to:
I Know It's Over by The Smiths
on Rank

Camera: Canon PowerShot S1 IS
Exposure: 0.033 sec (1/30)
Aperture: f/4
Focal Length: 5.8 mm
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire

Tags: TRF, TEXAS+RENAISSANCE+FESTIVAL, PHOTOBLOG, PHOTO, CANON, CHRISTOPHE+THE+INSULTOR, TEXAS, FIREWORKS

Grimes County Courthouse in Anderson

5 October 2007
The first Friday in October. Always a day to look forward to because it's the day before TRF starts. Most years I really do look forward to it. This year, not so much. In fact, the only reason I went is because my darling wife was already there as were a bunch of my friends. With the astronomical (some might say criminal) cost of petrol, the rising, nearly ludicrous cost of boarding my two border collies, I very seriously contemplated not going. But, as I mentioned I missed my wife and she, in turn, needed me for work duties. She'd been unsuccessful in finding quality help before the show started, so I had to go down to TRF in full-on work mode. Not fun. So, after a day at work trying to suss out some pretty serious show-stopping issues, I took the long drive down listening to my XM radio. I've talked for years about stopping and taking photos on the drive. I didn't except for one brief stop just outside Madisonville, TX and another in Anderson, TX. This photo was taken in Anderson.

It's of the County Courthouse as seen at night (I should mention here that Anderson is not the County Seat of Anderson; it is, instead, the County Seat of Grimes County) The composition is a little wonky because I was sans tripod. Therefore, the road became my steady hand resulting in the photo you see.
Cheers.

~KR (5 October 2007)

Listening to:
Today by The Smashing Pumpkins
on Siamese Dream

Camera: Canon PowerShot S1 IS
Exposure: 1 sec (1)
Aperture: f/3.1
Focal Length: 12.3 mm
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire

Tags: SMASHING+PUMPKINS, GRIMES+COUNTY, COURTHOUSE, ANDERSON, PHOTOBLOG, PHOTO, NIGHT

The Green Paper

4 October 2007
Some times the days just get away from you. You struggle through the day, barely making progress in the necessary manners. You forget things. Simple things. Stumbling to bed, alone, I remembered that again I had taken no photo. Nearly a year into this experiment you'd think that it would come to the forefront of my thoughts more often than it does. But, no. Perhaps when I get a new camera that I can slip into my pocket alongside my cellphone, things may change. One can hope. In the meantime, we have a green-tinted photo of the wallpaper in my livingroom. Marita Beth has mood lights scattered throughout the house in various colours. The green from this light illuminated the wallpaper behind the large mirror and caught my eye. I took the photo.

Cheers.

~KR (4 October 2007)

Listening to:
Don't Cry by Gun's N' Roses
on Live Era '87-'93

Camera: Canon PowerShot S1 IS
Exposure: 0.2 sec (1/5)
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 5.8 mm
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire

Tags: WALLPAPER, GREEN+PHOTOBLOG, PHOTO, TEXTURE, GUNS+N'+ROSES