Whiting supports Food Bank of the Rockies

When I returned from my last business trip to Oklahoma, Louisiana and Texas, I had a message from Carla Wilson of Whiting Petroleum Corporation asking to use some oil and gas photographs in Whiting's cookbook being created as a fundraiser for Food Bank of the Rockies.

Food Bank of the Rockies (FBR) was founded in 1978 and serves an area where nearly 400,000 people live in poverty and struggle to meet their basic food needs. Almost half of them are children. Since 1996, Whiting has raised more than $238,300 for FBR.

For a more information on the cookbook or to purchase a copy, please contact Carla Wilson at 303-837-4225. Try some of the recipes and be sure to check out "More Oil & Gas Terms that Sound Like Cooking Terms ... but Aren't".

Magnolia Station on the Ozark Trail

As many of you know, I drive an average of 2,000 miles per week during my oil and gas photography road trips. And whenever possible, I try to take the back roads and keep my eyes open for interesting photographs along the way.

Early morning on the final day of my last trip found me in the small town of Vega, Texas at the Magnolia Station. The station was built in 1924 by Colonel J. T. Owen on a dirt road known as the Ozark Trail, which connected Vega to Amarillo and Adrian. The road later became part of the historic Route 66 developed by Cyrus Avery to connect existing roads through the main streets of towns along its path from Chicago to Santa Monica. Route 66 became known as "America's Main Street".

Art Deco Conoco Station

Another great find during my most recent oil and gas photography road trip was a restored Art Deco gas station in the Texas panhandle town of Shamrock. Located along historic Route 66, the station was known locally as the Tower Building. This combination gas station, lubrication, auto laundry and diner was designed by Pampa Architect J. C. Berry and built by J. M. Tindall in 1936. And the price on the pump was 34.9 cents per gallon. Not the lowest price I have ever seen, but darn close!

Pump Jack Graveyard

On a recent oil and gas photography road trip through Oklahoma, Louisiana and Texas, I ended up spending Halloween in Corpus Christi on route to an assignment in south Texas. While Halloween was uneventful, an early drive the next morning (All Souls Day) took me through the oilfield town of Alice where a group of derelict oil pump jacks caught my eye. I just had to stop and photograph this pump jack graveyard with all its interesting shapes and spooky spider webs.

Trinidad, Colorado and a 100 year old house

An older brother of mine and his wife recently bought a 1908 vintage house in the small southern Colorado town of Trinidad. My brother is one of those retired guys with just a little too much time on his hands and a great appreciation for old quarter-sawn oak woodwork. Unlike most homes of this vintage, almost none of the original woodwork has been modified or painted. Amazing. However, since the house was vacant for the last 20 years, almost everything else does need repair or updating! These are the "before" pictures. The exterior view of the house shows Fisher's Peak (9,626 feet) in the background.

The dogs in the photos are Flash, a yellow Labrador Retriever and Xena "Warrior Princess", the Yorkshire Terrier.

Located at the northern end of Raton Pass, Trinidad is a frontier town founded in 1861 on the Santa Fe Trail and with the arrival of the railway in 1878, grew into a commercial, agricultural and coal mining center. The town also hosts a picturesque Victorian Downtown located in it's Corazon de Trinidad National Historic District.

New Mexico and Texas photo trip

A photo road trip to New Mexico and Texas in early May yielded some pretty interesting results. When passing through Roswell, NM it really struck me funny just how prevalent the "Alien" theme is there. Yes, even WalMart... Just a few minutes in town yielded some pretty interesting images. Remember, "Trust No One. 

With my assignment in west Texas completed and a free weekend, I headed for the Big Bend area of Texas where I was greeted by a pleasant sunrise and a couple windmills shrouded by fog. Didn't expect to see that in the desert!

The Changing Landscape of Communication

It was sheer coincidence that I ended up at the Denver Press Club on the eve of the final issue of The Rocky Mountain News, one of Colorado's two daily newspapers. Since most of the people I work with are professional communicators, I feel it's important to share my views on the rapidly changing ways we all communicate with our business partners, friends and family.

Last night, I attended Rosh Sillars "New Media" presentation hosted by the Colorado chapter of the American Society of Media Photographers at the Press Club. While I hate to admit it, before last night, terms like RSS, podcast, twitter, and blog often left me feeling a little dizzy. Rosh delivered a dose of Dramamine last night and today the seasickness is gone. Well, sort of.

Change is inevitable. And while I have mastered many of the intricacies of digital photography and MacIntosh computers, the communications landscape seems to change daily. Like it or not, vehicles of mass communication are being replaced by more personal, community-based relationships served by the new media mentioned above. While you and I cannot control the economy, we can improve our communication by using the new technology available to us.

I promise to share what I learn with you and encourage you to share your success with me. For instant notification of the latest posts to this blog, please register this site with your preferred RSS Reader. Something like Google Reader would work. Being a closet technophobe, I'm still not sure about Twitter....

A Tourist's View of Washington, DC

With all the recent excitement over the Presidential Inauguration, I thought it might be refreshing to visit the non-political side of our nation's Capitol. During our airliner's final approach to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, the rain clouds parted long enough to treat my wife and me to a breathtaking view of the National Mall including the World War II Memorial, Washington Monument, and the United States Capitol.
We stayed in the Foggy Bottom area near George Washington University, Watergate, and the Kennedy Center where we enjoyed a great concert by the Carolina Chocolate Drops. As we were also located near the Metro and Circulator stops, we used public transportation, and were pleasantly surprised by the friendly welcome we received everywhere we went.
Like most places we all visit, one could literally spend months taking in all the sights, so it was a little bit like being the proverbial "kid in a candy shop". During our trip, we managed to visit the Air and Space Museum, National Archives, Sculpture Garden (relaxing place for lunch with good food), New and Old (best view of Pennsylvania Avenue and the US Capitol) Post Offices, The Hirsshorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Arlington Cemetery, Museum of Science and Nature, Botanic Gardens, National Gallery of Art, Library of Congress (voted the best surprise of the trip), National Museum of The American Indian, the Smithsonian Castle, The Spy Museum, most of the National Monuments and Memorials, The C&O Canal with its mule drawn barges, The Torpedo Factory Arts Colony, Gerogetown, Mount Vernon, and Monticello. Whew!
We also had a chance to have dinner with several local friends from Jim's college year in Vienna. Special thanks to Anya for the guided tour of the monuments at night in the rain and her husband Jack for navigating!