Junction Day 14

I like waking up early and getting a lot done in a day because then I feel productive and my life has meaning. This morning, I did not want to wake up. We left at 6:00 a.m. Nick was passed out and I had to call him to get him to the van in time before we left him. I am amazed by how hard this boy sleeps. You can move him around and touch him, yell at him and get no response. That's why you have to be mean with him, rough him up a bit and then he'll wake up and get moving.

I finished my book on the way to Mason Mountain. Good read, unfortunately I unknowingly picked up the second book in a trilogy, however it's kind of like Angels and Demons and the Da Vinci Code, you can read them in whatever order you like and you still get the idea of what's going on.

When we arrived, the place was just gorgeous. All the rain we had received the past couple of days had made the flowers just bloom like crazy! I think I got some pretty incredible macro shots from it.

One problem we have run into is the bus system with film delivery. One box of film with 60 rolls was apparently just chilling in a back room of a bus station in San Antonio. That means, I'll have a lot of film to pick up in Lubbock, and a lot of film to drop off in Lubbock because it's just been crazy trying to track that one box down. It sucks. However, Armadillo Camera is going to honor the processing purchase made and I can either use the rest as store credit for camera equipment or as processing. Since I have 7 rolls of film left from the original 25, I think I'm just going to shoot as much as I can in the morning and after until Lynsey wants her camera gear back.

Breakfast of cereal and granola bars, our usual meal when we head out early in the morning filled up my tummy and really got me in the mood to shoot. I was in more of an exploring mood since this was the 3rd visit and I wanted to see what was beyond the roads I had already traveled. I found so many cool things to shoot. I've really pumped up the amount I shoot and the variety of subject matter. I find little things everywhere and I have fallen more in love with photography with each day.


After we got back to campus, we had lunch of catfish, popcorn shrimp, cornbread and black beans. I didn't get the beans, didn't look tasty to me and the cornbread was dry, but damn those popcorn shrimp tasted tasty dipped in ketchup.

Earl Nottingham, photographer for Texas Parks and Wildlife and good friend of Wyman spoke to the class after lunch and what he had to say was pretty information. More about the business aspect of photography. He really stressed marketing yourself. Well, now that I have me a fancy logo I can do just that!

As soon as he finished speaking to the class, we filled out evaluations and then filed out to take a nap. Oh that nap felt so good too! It was either shower or take a nap and I think I chose well this time.

We left at 4:00 p.m. and headed to Utopia, Tx where the Sabinal River ran through. Absolutely beautiful. We first stopped at the Jones Cemetary and then headed to the river. The water was cold but the imagery was incredible. I feel so lucky to have had this experience.


We got back to campus at 11:30 p.m. and first thing I did was take that shower. Oh blessed shower! After all the water I've been walking through and tall grass the cuts on my legs have just been itchy. Another thing that really irritates the cuts too is those damn biting gnats! They just really piss me off - always flying into my ear or my eyes. I was about ready to slap someone from the frustration. The gnats are probably the biggest reason I am ready to go back to Lubbock.

Wake up early again tomorrow for our last shoot as a class. We're going out to the flower fields and leaving at 6:45 a.m. I just know it's going to be gorgeous.