The Bratwurst Flamingo

At the recent Dickens' Christmas in downtown McKinney, I snapped this shot of the sign above the food vendor I got a cheesesteak from.....it was very tasty as well....the cheesesteak, not the sign.....

McKinney High School Choir Feast of Carols

For the past 13 years McKinney High School's Choir Department holds a Feast of Carols Madrigal Dinner at First United Methodist Church in McKinney. Both my niece Ashley and nephew have participated. This year Ashley is participating, but my nephew Alex is now at Baylor. It's quite a fun evening. The lighting is very low, so I had to make do with ISO 1600 and shutter speeds that risk camera shake, but without a good flash diffuser I make do...plus I don't like the way flashes destroy the ambient lighting plus, in low light situations I myself hate annoying flashes going off repeatedly......

Pictured at top is my niece Ashley. Second from the bottom is my niece Virginia pictured with the Feast's Queen.

A Dickens of a Christmas: More... In Color!

Well, this time I decided to stick with the color shots. I have included some that I included earlier in platinum or albumin, so you could compare....if you area person who is interested in such things.

A Dickens of a Christmas Pt. 3

Here are more pictures from Saturday night in period processes like daguerrotype, albumin, and platinum. The child in the top photo (I didn't catch her name...) asked me to take her picture while I was ordering a cheesesteak from at one of the food stalls around the square (my father's side of the family is from Philadelphia, so I inherited a taste for cheesesteak hoagies). She was an absolute darling, and so happy with her little marrionette, and the picture I think captures it perfectly...

More From A Dickens of a Christmas

More photos from the shoot this evening. It amazes me sometimes how many things I can find to photograph. I think one of the reasons I have this blog is to show people you don't have to travel far to find interesting photos....there are enough things in your own backyard to keep you busy for a lifetime.

Landon Winery (bottom) is a nice local winery that gets its grapes from California; LaMisha Bistro (middle) is a classy European-style restaurant with walls lined with the work of local artists and great food; and Cafe Malaga (near top) is a great and affordable Tapas Restaurant with wonderful atmosphere and an asparagus wrapped in prosciutto tapa that is to die for (or to kill for, because if you were to die you could hardly enjoy this present to your tastebuds!). The restaurant is also next to the location of James W. Throckmorton's (Governor of Texas during the early years of Reconstruction, and later Congressman from Texas) law office which is a Texas Historical Landmark.

A Dickens' Christmas in McKinney Town Square

November 28, 29, and 30th is A Dickens' Christmas in downtown McKinney. I went down there this evening to shoot some photos. In keeping with the occasion, I have used Albumin and Platinum effects for the shots...techniques around the time of Dickens (and Daguerrotype would have also been a possibility) . I would also like to thank Charm of Alternative Furnishings, and Jennifer and Sherri of Cookie Lee Jewelry for letting me take their pictures. Over the next few days I will be posting more photos from this shoot, in color, platinum, and albumin....

More of McKinney's Fall....

I usually use Paint Shop Pro Photo XI to crop, edit, and tweak photos....my philosophy towards this to change or enhance in the same manner as you would if you were in the darkroom developing prints yourself....the fact is, for anyone who thinks that this is "cheating", no amount of photoshoping can make bad photos good. The bottom photograph, by the way, is completely untouched, and unenhanced.......