My Journey

After writing this entry, I realized that I use words like “WOW” and “awesome” a lot. As I think about it, I just have to use them as life is a “WOW” for me and every morning I rise to a new day is “Awesome” because I feel God has brought me to a place in life and my journey that I am where I should be. I hope all who reads these post will see that life maay be hard at times but it is nothing short of WOW!

I received a call from Julie telling me that Billy along with friends and family were going to brand this weekend. We are heading out on a family trip in the morning taking Kelly on her graduation trip… WOW, I wanted to go to the gathering and branding…but had to settle for just a few hours this morning while they were branding.

Billy is a real deal rancher and cowboy. I met him last October at a horse event here in the high desert. I knew the moment that I first saw him that I had to talk to him. I introduced myself and talked about possibly photographing him then he told me he had the ranch there in Rattlesnake Canyon. Boy that sounds inviting as I had just seen a really large Pacific Coast Rattler while Susan was taking me for a drive up in the mountains above where Billy ranches. At any rate, I have come to respect and highly admire Billy and his family both as cattle ranchers and friends.

I wanted to share a little something since I have been inactive for a while due to so much going on. Susan is finally retired and we are beginning a new part of our journey. We shot a wonderful wedding two weeks ago and once the bride sees her photos, I will share some of them with you as well. Here are a few I shot this morning…

This first image is of Billy holding a calf.

This next one is of a big mama longhorn…letting everyone know she was unhappy being penned up for this event.

The last one looks worse than it is, they were all very careful not to harm these calves. They have to be branded by law because they roam on open pasture. These calves have to reach the fall in good shape for the ranchers to profit, they are very careful when doctoring and branding in the spring.

By the way, I didn’t see a rattlesnake today but have no doubts that they are out there in the brush.

See you soon, we will have a great trip to Seattle on Amtrak from Union Station in LA and then a weaving our way as we drive back home over the next two weeks to celebrate Kelly’s graduation and Susan’s retirement to to begin a new journey in our lives.

I was able to do this series of portraits during the Mother Earth’s People Inter – Tribal Council Pow-Wow at the Mojave Narrows Park. These are wonderfully interesting people and it was an honor to be allowed to photograph them. My purpose was to be able to help them advertise this gathering to bring about a renewed interest in the culture of the American Indians but even more so to bring us all together as humans. Each one of us are different as humans. When we can embrace our differences and understand that is what makes us unique as individuals, we can learn from each other. Then, we all can grow in our humanity.

This beautiful lady has an awesome presence as I am sure you all will agree.

I just spent the past weekend photographing the first Mother Earth’s People Inter – Tribal Council Pow-Wow at Mojave Narrows Park. I met a lot of great people, had some awesome discussions and captured some wonderful photos for the producers of the Pow Wow. We had great weather that provided the local community a good opportunity to meet and understand the Native American culture a little better. I will share more photos once I have organized them.

Here is a portrait just to give a peek at how awesome an event it was. It was an honor to be allowed access to such wonderful portrait subjects. I photographed these portraits in a make shift studio as well as of the dancing.

This image is of Carl Eklund of the Lakota Sioux Nation.

Here is one of Alesander Littlebow

This morning as we awakened to the dawn of a new day, there had been a soft desert rain during the night. We just had a cold front move in yesterday. The fresh rain left water drops on the first new rose of the season in our rose garden. This one is called Heirloom and announced that there will be an abundant bloom as the others are heavy with buds and near blossoms. This was our first of spring.

The other thing that the rain produced was a fresh blanket of snow on the mountains between us and the lower areas heading into LA. This side of the mountains are awesome because they surround the Mojave River which begins in the mountains above us. There is water flowing every day and has been for months this year. It has only had an above ground flow a few times in the two years I have lived here. I will try to catch a great shot of the mountains before the afternoon thunderstorms comes through the pass. This will probably be our last snow.

Introducing our first rose of spring…

I just walked out to check the mail. As I did I was reminded of many springtimes in Texas where I am from. The Texas bird is the Mockingbird. We seem to have just as many here in southern California. There are many nesting pairs here and they let me know when I come outside and get too close to their nest. This pair already has some young ones that they are feeding. I have often wondered what they fed their young here in the high desert. It doesn’t seem to be a place for worms but guess what? They must be here. The mama Mockingbird has one in her mouth and was very upset that I was outside. I took this from just past the draped entrance of our house.

It is great to be alive.
Here is the entry of our house, I love it.

Here is mama with her youngs lunch.

Here is papa adding his 2 cents worth, giving me fits for being near their nest.

This is another image of mama Mockingbird. We also have house finches nesting around our yard. We also have Hummingbird families as well. I hope to capture them soon.

This is my sweet Sugar. She is just two and will be started under saddle either during the summer or fall. She is out running with the other two.

I have had several opportunities to photograph many of the country’s best trainers over the years. I am always watching the way they use their feet and hands as well as their body to bring out the movement in their horses. One of the things that is aways true is the use of their hands. Traniners hands are in themselves like the hands of someone who is sculpting a work of art. Just as an artist may form the shape of his or her art so does a great horseman shape the movement and refinment of their horse. It is an art.

I have shared a few of the Andalusian horses that I photographed in the last month. Here is another shot of just the riders hands. For me his hands represent both strength but a gentleness as they are used to control this awesome horse. There is a beauty in the connection between a horse and human as they dance together. What do you think?

This image is a composite image of the beach sunset and the Andalusian stallion at liberty in a large roundpen. These horses are much like Angel, they are graceful, athletic and beautiful in their movement and attitude. I love photographing them running free.

No matter what we feel like, today is a day of accounting for Americans as our yearly tax liability comes due. I hope that everyone had a profitable year and that the coming year will be a better one for all. We still live in a free country and should take responsibility for all that we do, that includes taking the time to understand the workings of our government and using our right to vote to have people that represent us as a whole. Enough about politics.

It is also still early spring and the beauty keeps showing itself these days. There is a freshness in the air and it is always great to spend time out doors. I have been working with models who are just getting started by taking portfolio images for them and for my own portfolio.

I photographed a dancer who is also beginning a modeling career. Her name is Angel. She is an awesome young lady and very athletic with grace that is beauty in itself. Here are a few images shot of her during our shoot. The are taken out in a dry lake bed near us in Apple Valley. I love shooting there for the texture but also for the clear view except for the highway which splits the lake bed. Traffic is easily taken out so that it looks as if we are all alone.

Spring arrived several weeks ago and I spent some time out photographing a few blooms here around our place. I also went to a few local places to photograph flowers in the area. Most are garden flowers with a few Orchids and pear blossoms with the bee busy working.

Spring is a great time here in the high desert. We have had a good winter as far as rain goes and last night even had a nice shower that has left the groud refreshed along with motivating me to get out more often. I was out this morning feeding horses and saw a pair of house finches setting on the old unused basketball goal on the garage. The male was beautiful with his red spring breast puffed out. We also are seeing the hummer’s ( humming birds that is) come back around. I love just watching them flying about. I hope to hang a few flash units and a blind to photograph some of the birds soon as well.

We are heading to a bumper crop of roses as the bushes are looking better and fuller than any of the times I have seen them come out of their winter sleep. Buds are all over them. All the fruit trees have already bloomed with the apple trees just finishing up. Life is beautiful in the spring time as it restores the hope within us showing us all the great beauty and of the fruits ahead in the coming months.

Hope you enjoy the photos, take care and God bless you with Peace and Hope during the coming months.

Charles

It has been over 30 years since I entered my last photo contest. Back in those days long ago, I entered and won many local and nation contest. I stopped entering them because I wanted to move into professional photography. Most of these past thirty years except for a short break, I had a part time photography business.

In 1992, I took a very early retirement from a company I had worked at for 22 years. My children were grown and I finally wanted to do what I had encouraged them to do as they grew up…”Follow your dreams.” Two days before I lost my son in an accident, he told me that he was very proud that I had decided to take the talent God had blessed me with and live out my own dreams. It took a few more years and many more difficulties to finally just follow those dreams that I had for so many years hidden in doing other things that life calls us to do for our families.

In 2001, I found myself in a place that I would have to start over with my life and this time I wanted to just trust God. I made a commitment to myself and to God to allow Him to lead me where ever He chose to take me. On a personal level, I was experiencing the darkest part of my personal journey during the first three years of this century. I learned a lot about myself and about life. Accepting things I couldn’t change and letting God direct my life was difficult, as I had lived as if most of it were in my control.

One phone call and someone very persistent took me back into photography. From that time until today, I have know that photography was more than just a job, it was a way that I could use to share my heart and passions about life with others. A great many of my photos has a story within them and behind them. They are a part of my life journey as well as my work.

I have said a lot to just say that I entered the Cowboys and Indians annual Photographing the West this past October. There have been many reasons I have not entered this contest before but because so many friends suggested I do so, I decided to give it a try. Neither of my photos actually won their category but two of them were runners up and published in the March 2010 Issue of Cowboys and Indians.

Neither shot is posed but a moment captured in time. I have had a lot of images published over the last ten years in countless magazines as covers and editorial content and at least ten books. Getting published wasn’t my goal for these entries. I did so to see if this kind of image would have enough appeal to win a contest. I still have goals for images like these and will continue to put them out there to share with others.

Last August, Susan, Kelly and I went to Colorado to photograph a wedding for a friend. We decided to take a week to drive home so we could visit some of the National Parks in Utah and Arizona. On our first day heading towards home, we stopped near Arches NP to see some old Indian artifacts in a canyon on BLM property that I wanted to show them.

We stopped in a near ghost town to photograph some of the old abandoned buildings and I spotted a still used railroad crossing. I sat down on the tracks right in the middle of an intersection and the railroad tracks.  As I looked down those tracks, passions from my own past as well as thoughts about time in our country’s past reminded me of how blessed my life has been.

Each one of us like our country have a history, many times we have struggled to reach better times that were more exciting. Those times have vanished and there is still a track ahead of us to travel. Like those tracks before me in that photo, much life is still ahead and should be lived to the fullest. Each and every moment is a new beginning of time, we have a choice to either look for the blessings and live it to the fullest, trusting that God is our conductor or we can choose to be our own conductor and do what we think is right.

For me, I lean toward God and trust that what ever this life brings it is for my own good. Just as I look back into the past, all things have worked out for my good and I have been very blessed. For me the past is a witness that even in struggles it is going to be revealed how much we have been blessed at some point into the future. Today, I could all as blessings and know that the journey ahead leads me to adventures unknown that will shape my heart and life.

Have an awesome day and God bless,

Charles

I will share the second photo in a new post.

The above image was shot in August 2009 near Arches National Park. The town is not yet a “Ghost Town”, it surely is destined to become one. There are only a handfull of people still living there. The trains still pass it by but the deopt on the right side has been closed for years. Most of main street is abandoned as well. A few residents still live there though. As with an old barn I photographed back in 2002, if this town could talk, what would it tell us and what could we learn from it all? I have shared some of my own thoughts but there were many as I sat there that day waiting for the sun to drop just a bit more until the shot was taken.

The past is our “Teacher, the Present is our Adventure and the future is our HOPE!”

This photo is of my friend Brandi’s husband JD and his two daughters. We had been shooting some things for Brandi’s web site and advertising when JD and the girls were standing talking. I felt as if I could hear their conversation. When looking at the facial features in this photo you can just see the emotions coming from them.