I’ve encountered some curious critters in my travels over the years.  Recently, though, I discovered a couple of unusual little guys that I thought were especially cool.

Leaf Moth at the Studio

First is this fascinating moth that looks just like a wrinkled, dried leaf.  I couldn’t find an exact match for this little guy, so I don’t know exactly who or what he is.  If you know, send me a message or comment, OK?  I just thought he was very interesting, stuck to the side wall of the entrance to my studio.  No one else had noticed him, and some time later, he had flown away, but at least I documented him when I had the chance.

Praying Mantis on my leg

Even more strange was yesterday’s encounter with a very large Praying Mantis on the back porch at my stepdaughter’s house.  My grandson was fascinated (and a little unsure) of this “spider” that attached itself to grandpa’s watch / leg / etc.  But we both found it especially curious not only due to it’s size, but for it’s metallic silver wings.  Normally, the mantises I’ve seen in the past have been all green.  This one had what looked like a metal, cylindrical body at first glance.  On closer inspection, these turned out to be it’s wings.  Fascinating!

What the...?

Ryan (my grandson) did not quite know what to think about this “spider” attached to my watch.

Keep in mind I’m photographing these myself, while this critter is walking all over me…

It seems, with the explosion of the Internet, and cheap, high quality digital cameras, the whole idea of the inherent value of an image has been diluted considerably over the last several years.

I don’t have a lot of problems with this, but I think it’s worth posting the United States copyright infringement statute contained in Article 17 of the United States Code.

It’s a lot to read, but subsection 504 is probably the most compelling segment of this document, where it discusses remedies, damages and penalties for copyright infringement.

If you have a lot of free time or are particularly interested in (or affected by) this statute, give it a read:

Copyright Infringement and Remedies

You realize, of course, that all images posted on this site are copyrighted…

Double Rainbow

With the latest push of moisture and clashes between cold fronts and masses of wet air coming up from the gulf, our weather has been very interesting – and fortunately providing some beautiful special effects.  This enormous double rainbow was seen and captured by residents of both Frisco and Plano toward sunset on September 1st.

My wife had gone out to the car for something, came back in and told me I had to see the double rainbow outside.  And was she right!  From our vantage point I couldn’t capture the entire 180 degree arc, but I really like the view we had, so here it is!

Rainbow in Plano

I’ve certainly gotten more than my fair share of grief as a result of carrying a camera everywhere I go, but it pays off frequently enough to justify the ridicule.  Yesterday, as I was making my way up the surface streets in Plano (due to being stuck with a rental car and no toll tag) I noticed what I thought was a rainbow off the the east.  I thought “no way” – as there had been no precipitation  and the temperature was 106 degrees…  But as I made my way north on Midway and kept looking between buildings as I passed them, sure enough, there was a freakin’ rainbow!  Hot damn!  So now I had a mission.  Find something interesting to put between myself and this amazing freak of nature.  So off I go, weaving through traffic to try and reach my destination before the clouds to the western horizon can interfere with my target.

Sliding sideways into the gas station off the service road, I jump out of the car with the engine running, adjusting the camera settings as I go, and line up the water tower off Parkwood and Windhaven Pkwy with the rainbow to the northeast.  And this is the result.  Of course I had to find a couple more vantage points to shoot from, but as usual, the first location and composition turned out to be my favorite shot.

So this is why I always carry a camera.  And so should you.

The view out our window

Finally, after all these years (almost three), I have finished sorting, culling and editing my Tuscany collection.  We photographed Tuscany in October of 2007 and I have finally completed the process of getting all the images ready for display.

So if you point your browser to warrens-tuscany.com (or just click on the image to the left) you can peruse the galleries of images from our trip.  There are just over 400 images in the galleries and all are available for purchase in various sizes.

Currently, a sampling of these images are on display at Market Street in Frisco Square, right here in Frisco.

We covered a number of highlight cities on our trip:

• San Gimignano: Lovely walled city on a hill, overlooking verdant, scenic, rolling hills northwest of Siena.  We stayed at an Italian villa just outside the city.
• Volterra: Another walled city on a hill, halfway in between San Gimignano and Siena.
• Perugia: The prime reason for our trip was to attend the Euro Chocolate festival, which is held here every October.  If you love chocolate, this is THE place to be.
• San Lucignano: Off the beaten path is this lovely small walled city on a hill.  We discovered it by simply wandering the countryside in our Smart Car.
• Cortona: Where we had the best meal of the trip.  Lots of photo opportunities in Cortona as well.
• Castellina in Chianti: Gorgeous city, lots to see.
• Radda in Chianti: Also a lovely stop for a few hours.
• Siena: A large city with a lot of history and a breathtaking plaza, great for people-watching.
• Florence: More art per square foot than any other place on earth, this is a dream come true for any art lover.
• Cimque Terra: Arguably the crown jewel of Italy, this cluster of fishing villages on the coast are renowned for their colorful buildings, crystal clear harbors and photo opportunities.

Adjustable lightweight boom stand

Just to share some useful information on getting good deals on studio equipment.  In my search for gear for the studio, I invested in several types of boom stands before I found the ideal stand for the money.  This stand is not only solid, but light weight.  In addition, it comes with the best sandbag for ballast on the market.

I have several of these in my studio and they immediately became my favorite stands after I bought the first one.  Click on the image or the link below to buy this stand from Amazon.com for a heck of a good price.

CowboyStudio Premium Pro Boom Set W501

with Light Stand, Boom & Weight Bag

Today will be a busy day, getting everything ready for tomorrow’s ribbon cutting.

Join me and the Frisco Chamber of Commerce for our Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting tomorrow, July 20th at 10:00 am.   If you can’t make it in time for the ribbon cutting, drop by and visit later on.  I will be in the studio until noon or so. We will have bagels, coffee and the like available for visitors while you familiarize yourself with our studio.

Book a session, get a new head shot for your business cards, or just spend some time browsing my work.  Hope to see you tomorrow.

Frisco PD Glass Sculpture

6/30/2010: Added several images of the Hall Office Park sculptures taken last week.

6/26/2010: Update posted to this gallery as a result of re-shooting the Central Frisco Fire Station last week.

As most of you know by now, I spend a fair amount of time studying and photographing Frisco, Texas.   Partially because it’s where I live, but mostly because it’s interesting.  Frisco is an architecturally diverse city with a great many intriguing buildings, parks and public art.  Over the years I’ve shot a number of projects for The City, Frisco Square and numerous local publications.  My old gallery went the way of the dinosaurs when the website got the “big facelift” earlier this year and, since I’ve been adding a lot of new material lately, it seemed like a good time to create a shiny new gallery.

So here’s the new smattering of images from my collection.  Needless to say, this is maybe 1% of the sum total of images in my library.  If you love this City and have an interest in any of these images – or something you don’t see here… Let me know and I’ll see what I have in the archives.

This will change over time and be rebuilt every time I have a significant number of images to add.

Rusted Farmall Tractor

Undergoing a few changes around here to try and create individual identities for some of my themes.  A new site is now complete for my Desolation collection of images.  DesolationImages.com is now active, although not complete, as more images will be posted in the coming months.

Take a look at DesolationImages.com if you want to see what this is all about.  And by all means, if you know of locations that fit the theme of abandoned buildings, rusted automobiles, wasteland areas, etc., let me know and I will investigate.

If you love Pink Floyd (and if you don’t exactly what is wrong with you?), then you should know who Syd Barrett was and what makes him such an important part of history.

Barrett, the book is in production, waiting for enough registered buyers of the book to justify printing costs.  I have been registered since I first heard about a book on Pink Floyd’s founding iconic genius, Syd Barrett.  You should too, as your interest in this tome could be the registration that flips the switch to start the presses.

So here’s the information, all you have to do is click.  Easy enough, right?  I mean I have done all the work for you…