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Jazz Night

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Jazz Night

Photographing musical performance is something I really enjoy. Fortunately musicians of all types are drawn to Central Texas because of the music scene in Austin. You might say the area is a target rich environment for photographers.

This photo was made at an outdoor music event called Jazz a’Round in Helotes Texas. The evening of music is really part of a small town summer festival you might find anywhere in the Midwest. I’m not sure why they program jazz considering it takes place within sight of a well known Honky Tonk.

On this particular evening I had the good fortune to get close enough to rest my camera on the front edge of the stage for most of the performance. That is simply not possible at most venues but once in a while luck smiles down on a poor camera jockey. When that happens step up do your best.

The event was sponsored in part by a local radio station KRTU 91.7Jazz. Most people don’t think of excellence and college radio at the same time but it is simply the best jazz station around. The nice thing is you don’t have to take my word on this because you can listen for yourself on the web from anywhere in the world. Give’m a try they won’t disappoint.

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2020 Photo Calendar No 4

Some people just catch your eye as a photographer. So it was with this man who was walking around Luckenbach striking poses for the tourists. I just had to take his picture. Here is what I wrote about an earlier version of the image in 2016.

The dime novel narrative surrounding my subject was already there, all I had to do was make it visible. The text is a combination of sentences I wrote myself and a paragraph from an actual dime novel, The Untamed by Max Brand, published around 1919. Max Brand is surely one of the great marketing names of the twentieth century. Of course given the context of his work it may well have been a reference to a permanent tattoo on a horse. No matter, it is a wonderful name for a western novelist.

The West we know from popular entertainment is a wild exaggeration of larger than life characters and their dastardly or heroic deeds. My subject personified many of those stereotypes at least in my mind. He made a turn of the century dime novel impression of rugged individualism with impeccable style cues.

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Old Steel

This old truck sitting beside a country lane has been my subject for several years. I have watched it slowly crumble due to natural elements and vandalism. It seems to be more photogenic with each visit.