Capturing the Personalities of 6th and 7th Graders

Last month, I had the absolute pleasure of photographing a fun bunch of quirky and bright 6th and 7th graders in their middle school library. Which, by the way, no longer uses a card catalog. Did y'all know that? I digress. The seamless went up, the lights were on and I was ready for action.

I didn't have very long with each kid but as soon as they stepped on the white and I asked them a few questions, their personalities shined through! There were athletes, actors, writers, musicians, dancers and artists all in this small group of 12 and 13-year-old children. The future is bright. Very, very bright! Click HERE to check out the full gallery!

Houston's Historic First Ward

I photographed a woman named Gloria Vera a few weeks ago for the Houston Chronicle's Spanish language off-shoot, La Voz. Vera, who grew up in the First Ward neighborhood of Houston was on a mission to get the area designated as a historic district. She wanted to see her quaint neighborhood stay intact with single family homes and views of the city's skyline and not overrun by 3 or more storied apartment buildings. On May 28th, she got her wish as the Houston City Council voted in favor of designating First Ward as a historic district.

Happy Almost Father's Day!

Happy Almost Father's Day ya'll! I'm gonna celebrate the 2nd place of parental holidays with a few portraits of my old man. After my creativity inducing trip to the Palm Springs Photo Festival, I decided I needed to make more portraits. And who better to start with than the most accessible subjects? Family. The first person on the list was Mike Sr.

I originally, wanted to shoot in a large open field that I was sure existed out in the wild west of Katy, TX. But after about a half hour of scouting, there was nothing easily accessible for the truck. As a side note, subdivisions in the suburbs of Houston emerge often and very quickly. Thanks to the HOA (haters) he can't park his work truck in the neighborhood so he rents a spot at a nearby storage facility down the street. I checked it out and figured we could make it work.

It had been a pretty long work day for Mike Sr., so I greeted him with a tall boy of Budweiser before we got the photo party started. In the end, I accomplished my goal of making more portraits, drank some brews with the old man and added to my tangible collection of family memories. Shout out to dads...Happy Almost Father's Day!

Hockey Night in Houston for the Houston Chronicle

As a freshman in college, I saw a flyer hanging in a hallway of my dorm. It was an informational meeting for American University's Club Hockey Team and I decided to attend. New city, new people, new experiences, right? I met a guy at the meeting from Houston who loved hockey, but that was pretty much the beginning and end of my hockey career. I don't know what I was thinking.

On a trip home sometime in the early to mid-2000s I saw a billboard near the old Compaq Center (now Joel Osteen's church) trying to woo visiting NHL officials to bringing a team here. That also didn't happen. But that doesn't mean the city lacks fans!

I went to The Maple Leaf Pub near downtown Houston for a story the Chronicle was running on hockey in Houston. The New York Rangers and Pittsburgh Penguins were going to do battle in game 7 of the conference semis. Their respective fans, present in the bar, were a little more jovial. The intensity of the crowed peaked at the beginning of the game and the very end. I'm not even a hockey fan but I'd head to The Maple Leaf Pub to catch a game or two. Why not? Check out the article HERE.

This dog is named Lil' Willie Stargell

Grandma's, chillin'.

Just a few snaps of a family gathering at Grandma's house on Mother's Day.

Lena Mae the Grandmother

LaToya the Sister

Floyd the Uncle and Dave the Cousin

Shadow the Pit Puppy

Rugged Maniac - Dallas, Texas

While working on a much needed computer upgrade, I was looking through the old 2013 image archive. I found these images from a muddy obstacle race near Dallas, Texas called Rugged Maniac. You know the routine: cargo nets, walls, slides, fire pits and more. Also, lots and lots of mud. If you wear a pair of sneakers to one of these races, RIP to them. They're not gonna make it.

Ralph Garr of the Atlanta Braves

On the 8th of April in 1974, Henry 'Hank' Aaron hit another career home run over the left-center field fence. It was his 715th. This 715th home run broke the long standing record of 714 held by the one and only Babe Ruth. You've probably seen the clip of Hammerin' Hank rounding second base flanked by a couple of excited fans who ran onto the field looking to share in the joy of the moment. I've seen it. Every baseball fan has but that was all that I knew about that game and about the 1974 Braves...until a few days ago.

I photographed Ralph Garr who lives right out side of Houston in a town called Richmond, TX. He was on that Braves team in 1974. In fact, he made the National League All Star team that year. I saw his official 1974 All Star Game program signed by many of the players with a blue ballpoint pen, the ink fading. And, Garr continued his stellar play after the all star break by winning the batting title that season with an average of .353.

Between doing some pre-research and actually talking to him during the shoot, I learned a lot about Mr. Ralph Garr. He has a .306 career batting average. He was nicknamed the 'Roadrunner' because he was fast but didn't steal a lot of bases because Hank Aaron usually drove him in. He still works for the Braves scouting players in the Houston area who could potentially join the Atlanta organization. He also kinda reminds me of my dad. Shout out to Ralph Garr and the Houston Chronicle...it was truly a pleasure. Check out the article by David Barron here.