The Bats of Austin

Another sign of Spring.  Nearly 2 million bats return to Austin after spending the summer in Mexico.  We should start seeing signs of them within a few weeks and by mid April, they'll all be nestled under 1 bridge in downtown Austin, Texas.  It is one of my favorite things about this city.  This is a rare pic of them.  the always come out at sunset and fly South, looking for food in the nearby farm fields.  Most of the time, they fly along the tree line but on this day they flew a ribbon-like pattern over Towne Lake in downtown Austin.  They also came out just early enough that I could get some great photographs before the sun was completely down.  www.douggraybealphotography.com

Spring Fever

I have been wanting to post this pic for a long time but I insisted on waiting until the weather got warmer.  After  several weeks of temps in the 20's here in Texas and worse in other parts of the country, we can finally take a breath of fresh air as the temps should be in the 70's all this week.  To my friends in the Pac NW...sorry.  This is posted on my web site at www.douggraybealphotography.com under the tab "Fine Art For Sale".

Spring is an exciting time in Texas.  We get the majority of our rain and incredible thunderstorms from March through June.  There is nothing like a good ol' Texas thunderstorm.  But another exciting time is when the wild fowers start blooming.  In the 1960's, when Lyndon Johnson was president, First Lady, lady Bird Johnson, took up the cause of beautifying our highways.  She started a campaign to pass out flower seed all across the country.  given that the Johnson's were from the Texas Hill Country, it makes sense that this plan took off right here.  In the spring, you first see the Blue Bonnets popping up, and then Indian Paint Brush and then just about everything else.  Not only are the highways covered with them, but fields can be found with an endless sea of color.  A photographer's delight and a natural setting for fine art photography.

This picture was taken last May at Lyndon B. Johnson State Park, near Fredericksburg, Texas.  I can't wait for the Blue Bonnets next month.  Stay tuned.

Hiding in the Open

I call this portrait "Hiding in the Open".  That was a term I first got from my Air Force days when we would come up with ways to look like we were working when we really weren't.  Just walk around with a spray bottle and a rag in your hand and nobody will ever ask any questions.  In this picture, the look on her face, the pose and sitting in this windowsill looks like to me like she doesn't want to be seen.  But that's just me.  You may get something completely different from this pic.  You can find this and other pics of model Kaylin Johnson on my web site at www.douggraybealphotography.com.

So it's been a busy couple of weeks.  I've been making several big announcements and today won't disappoint. I've added Zazzle to my menu of sites where you can buy my photography.  Why so many sites?  Well, why not?  Red Bubble is where you can purchase greeting cards and prints up to 8 x12 in size.  Zazzle is for larger prints and Trillium Gallery is where you can find my top 10 prints.  all are printed on quality paper and can be ordered with special protective coating, matting and framing, or just order the pic, itself.  I have a few more to add and will be doing so over the next few weeks.

The truth is, by joining these sites with these amazing artists and photographers forces me to raise my game.  I have found so many great artists and see the level in which they produce work and, while admittedly intimidating, have become more motivated to keep trying new things and continue to improve.  I have two new photo shoots set up for the last two weekends of this month and can't wait to get the concepts out of my head and into my camera.  I don't know if I'll ever get to the level of some of these artists but it doesn't matter to me.  The quality of the journey comes from trying to get there - challenging, experimenting, exploring, testing, stumbling, learning and succeeding.  One pic at a time.

Another New Year's Resolution Accomplished

I heard recently that most people give up their New Year's Resolutions by mid January.  In fact, the most depressing day of the year is January 24th, in part due to reality setting in that many New Year's goals have already been abandoned.  Really, there is actually a mathematical formula to calculate this.  So, I thought by stating them publicly, I would make sure I accomplished my goals and avoid depression.  

1) Start selling pics online - check

2) Build new web site - check

3) Do more photo shoots - check

4) Get new camera - well, we'll call this "in progress"

This pic is another from my photo shoot with Kaylin Johnson.  It is one of my favorites from the shoot.  I like photographs that have a bit of irony or juxtaposition in them.  You wouldn't normally see a beautiful woman dressed up hanging out in places built with rusted corrugated metal.  And yet, she looks like she has succumbed to her situation.  Another one of my goals is to not only do more photo shoots - I have two scheduled this month - but to make them more creative with story telling images.

I've added this and other pics of Kaylin to my new web sitewww.douggraybealphotography.com.  Be sure you turn up your speakers and watch all the slide shows before clicking on the next screen.  As always, please send me your thoughts.

Is This a Painting or a Picture?

Well, it is actually a painting that is made to look like a picture.  I went out last sunday with model Kaylin Johnson to do some urban style photographs.  We met downtown Austin at 7 AM last Sunday morning.  My plan was to use natural light and photograph her using all the unique buildings on 6th and S. Congress as a back drop.  There was only one problem....we had a rare day of rain that morning and there wasn't much light that early.  I had planned on renting a speedlight as a back up but the rental pace was out of them, so it was al-naturale (for lighting, anyway).  The first set of pics needed a lot of work to make them decent and this is what I came up with.  I kind of like it, even though it doesn't look natural.  Tell me what you think - good or bad.  www.douggraybealphotography.com

Happy Go Lucky

This pic has become my most popular on Red Bubble.

 http://www.redbubble.com/people/douggraybeal/art/6586576-1-happy-go-lucky#comment-38739821

It has been featured in 2 different groups (Urban Art and Story Through Image), has been commented on by 16 separate people and has been selected as a favorite by 17 people.  These are small numbers compared to some of the amazing artists and photographers on Red Bubble, but it is a good start for me.  I did a photo shoot this past weekend and will start working on those pics today.  Im also expecting to go live with my new web site any day now.  More to come....