I recently posted about looking at a scene and visualizing it in black and white. So now that we’ve taken the photo, we need to do the post-processing needed to achieve what we visualized. Specifically, we’ll talk about the importance of managing color in our B&W photos. Whoa! Did I really just say managing color…
Sam Houston Park sits at the edge of, you guessed it, downtown Houston. It contains 10 buildings representing the buildings and culture of Houston’s past. One of these is St. John Church. Built in 1891 in northwest Harris County it was relocated to Sam Houston Park in 1968 and has become a Houston landmark. I…
My dad, James E. Schaffner, Sr., passed away at age 100 last August. I came across a photo of dad at 93 the other day that is one of my favorites. So, I thought sharing this photo and a little about him would be a good way to honor his memory. Dad died of old…
As one who really enjoys black and white photography, I admit I get frustrated when someone suggests that you “try black and white, maybe that can rescue the color photo”. This treats black and white as an add-on or afterthought to color photography. For me, black and white should be made with deliberate intent to…
Smith Street is home to iconic Houston architecture. These two glass and steel towers have become landmarks with their reflections of the Houston skyline. Although similar in design they each have their unique characteristics. These buildings are now the home for Chevron Corporation’s Houston operations. But it was the former tenant that brought these building…
Back in the old days (meaning pre-Covid) my wife and I visited Nashville, Tennessee over a long 4th of July holiday weekend. Nashville is a great city with lots to see and do. The surrounding area is beautiful with forested hills and valleys; so different from the Houston, Texas area where I live. We wanted…
I like to try new things, to experiment. It seems I have a low boredom threshold. I like to think of this as a blessing. Maybe it’s a curse. I do know that it is why I’ve never deliberately developed a photography “style”. Oh, I may have a style, but I’ve never intentionally tried to…
If you’re like me you’ve spent a lot of time watching Amazon Prime and Netflix while hunkered down during the pandemic. Well I have one more for you to add to your list. It’s the film Campesino and it’s on Amazon Prime. It’s a documentary about Carl Oelerich, a skycap at the Salt Lake City…
This isn’t the picture I intended to get the day I visited Galveston Island. My intent was to photograph Stewart’s Mansion and old abandoned mansion. It is a 8,200 square foot Spanish colonial mansion built in 1926 complete with beautiful woodwork and inlaid tiles from what I could see in photos. Most notable thing the…
