Blog Archives

ice flower

The same year local farmers grew sunflowers there was an early-season ice storm. The ice made this lone flower look almost like a windmill.

Here’s a couple of things about sunflowers as a farm crop that AI thought I needed to know; I cannot vouch for the veracity, so my apologies if I’m just spreading rumors.

  • Soil Health:

    Sunflowers have a deep taproot that helps with soil conservation by improving soil structure, reducing compaction, and bringing nutrients from deeper soil layers closer to the surface. 

  • Pollination:
    Sunflowers are attractive to pollinators, beneficial insects, and birds, making them a good choice for biodiversity. 

Lubbock County, Texas
photographed 10.27.2020

franky

There is something heartbreaking and endearing about homemade cemetery markers, and I have never seen a fancy granite (or whatever) carved stone that I liked even a little bit.

And I am sorry for the loss that Franky’s family experienced.

unnamed cemetery
Cedar Crest, New Mexico
photographed 7.1.2016

land lease

The fact that I think it’s more than slightly creepy is probably not important.
 
Lubbock, Texas
photographed 6.28.2025

sacrament

A member of this church drove up while we were outside taking photos and asked if we would like to see the inside. She unlocked the door and then left  us alone for a while, a great kindness that I didn’t pay enough attention to at the time.

I like it that she was proud and wanted to show her meaningful place to three strangers. And her letting us experience the church for ourselves, without staying to see what we were doing, was the very best example of natural grace that I can even imagine. I am sure our thanks weren’t nearly enough.

San Isidore Catholic Church
Coyanosa, Texas

photographed 2.22.2025

campfire coffee

The photographer I used to be seems like a distant memory. That photographer who would never intentionally photograph people, and instead stuck to ragged buildings and empty landscapes – the photographer I thought I’d be forever – has left. And now I actively seek out places where I can photograph people doing what they do – even if they’re doing it on a very cold morning in Alpine, Texas, to cite just one example.

Alpine, Texas
photographed 2.22.2025