The Perfect Perspective

Any photographer, no matter the experience level, knows perspective is the difference between a good photo and a masterpiece.  When it comes to the perfect shot, no risk is too great, no roadside position too humiliating if the reward is earned.

Normally I am alone in my photography quests but this week, as we all know by now, I had the good company of Ashlie Blake, who matches me in my fearless quest for just the right angle.  Stomping through ant-ridden sands, tip-toing around thorny shrubs, and trying to guess the stampede warning from a wary longhorn.  After all, "no trespassing" signs are just a suggestion, right?

The greatest fun at the end of the day was sifting through all the photo flops and laughing at how we got the shots in the first place.  The uncooperative butterfly, the blooms that knew to wind dance just when the focus was right, and broken window shots that look more like crime scene evidence.

There were the battle scars of the hunt: sun burned necks, dirt-filled shoes, and swollen hands from a palms-first fall into a raspberry patch.  All symptoms of a time-grown friendship

captured both before and behind the lens.

Finally meeting Ashlie in person has been one of the greatest joys in my life. If a picture is worth a thousand words- the story behind it is worth a million more. So if ya catch me smiling at the pics of our 4 day excursion- know that I am simply dreaming of the adventures yet to come.

 

LOVE  &  JOURNEYS

Wildflowers and Antiques

Country explores are fabulous medicine for the soul.  With old fashioned paper, pen, map and camera, Ashlie (Painting Bliss) and I set out to snap some good pics of Texas bluebonnets.  Amongst the blues, pinks, and rustic elegance of small town Texas, we found insta-relationships, heart melting homes, and an unexpected mega antique fair! 

 

 

Despite a dry season, the roadsides were alive with color.  Painted ladies danced from bloom to bloom as buzzing bees tunneled in bluebonnet towers. 

 The breeze so gentle, the hawks drifting circles in the sky, so far from any city it's as if nature pressed the pause button on our busy remotes. 

Today was a day to stop and smell the flowers.  And stop again.  Oh and over there!  Stop again!  Wait!  Back it up! (Ashlie can really fly a car in reverse!) No field or patch was overlooked on the road from New Ulm to Fayetteville!

 

Little did we know that our route to Round Top was taking us right into the heart of Marburger Farm Antique Weeks!  This time of year the fields are alive in sudden tent cities hocking the finest finds of the season. 

 From massive architectural doorways to the tiniest trinket, rust and chippy paint rule the day.  We arrived late in the day but it was perfect timing for us.  No crowds, no lines of people to dodge, just us and the vendors talking shop, reflecting on the day.

 

 
The day was coming to a close as the Texas sky clouded over and one by one the tents wrapped up for the evening.  Ashlie and I had a 2 hour ride back to Houston, the last stretch of what has been a phenomenal four days.  The bluebonnets fading into dusk, the car barreling south, all that was left to do was to celebrate the rarest of birds: true friendship.

LOVE  &  WILDFLOWERS!

 

FOLK Spring 2013 Issue Review

****WIN a FREE subscription to FOLK! Read my review here and post a comment letting me know what interests you most about FOLK Spring 2013!  One lucky winner will be announced Tuesday, March 4th at 8 pm Central time!

Every now and then something comes along when you need it most.  In today's market of same old- same old country magazines with content disappearing under loads of medical advertising and non-country themes retold in color palettes that induce more yawns than inspiration, a new star is on the rise.  FOLK magazine is challenging the old publishing standards, creating a fast following, and giving the readers what they want: connection and authenticity.

 

 

The Spring 2013 Issue is a prime example of why Ben Ashby and Hillary Lewis are becoming household names.  From the sweetest lambs on a Cape Cod farm to a Nebraska man whose antiquing passion spans more than three decades to fresh takes on ice-pops that would make an Alaskan resident crave a cold treat, the Spring Issue of Folk is a page turner that does not disappoint!  Vivid photography highlights the lives of people whose work employs age old traditions, drool-worthy recipes, and storytellers who bring to life vignettes of country spirit. 

 

Articles in this issue seem to interact with one another- an organic mushroom farmer in New York,  a ladies' retreat luncheon in Napa Valley, a young fashion designer in South Africa, and an Florida artist who turned her love of vintage clothing into a fulfilling career.  The characters could easily be assembled into a cast of a day in a more simple life.  But as we all know simple does not always mean easy. The people featured share their honest truths. Folk's Spring Issue illustrates that not all authentic living has to happen in rural settings.  Interviews with Leann Rimes, Sara Hertell, and Greg Sczebel, allow the reader to see how successful artists stay true to an authentic life in the midst of high profile careers. 

 

 

This is by far my favorite issue of FOLK to date! There is something for every artist, every dreamer, every person seeking a deeper connection to an authentic life.  If the Spring 2013 Issue is a sampling of the future of FOLK, then there is nothing short of greatness yet to come.  Get your FOLK subscription today and become part of the modern wave of country living!