Keeping It Weird at Pecan St. Festival

In one of my last posts, I wrote about our move to Austin several years ago, and showed pictures from a photowalk I did with a friend. One of the things that makes Austin so unique is the whole "Keep Austin Weird" mentality we've got going on. Yeah, it IS a little different here. Weird, and pretty darn proud of it too. I wanted to take more pictures along those lines, so I thought we'd head out to the Pecan Street Festival on Sixth Street this year.

I had visions of a pretty cool photowalk, camera in hand, taking colorful and interesting shots of all sorts of artistic and eclectic kinds of things. But, Jon and I ended up taking not only our own kids, but two of their friends, including Annie's boyfriend (we're still getting used to saying that) and their lifelong friend Sarah (who now likes to be called by her middle name MacKenzie. I've decided to combine her name and just call her Smac .. haha!). Oh, and of course, most certainly not to be left behind, we took Sasha as well. So, five kids, a dog, and a heavy camera did not make for an easy photo walk. But I liked the way these photos turned out ... take a look!

TGIF everyone! -- S

A few eerie kinds of place along Sixth St., and a ghostly looking woman hanging out on the corner. Halloween has GOT to be an interesting photoshoot there!


Street musicians hanging out, doing their thing ...



Looked like a whole nautical, pirate kind of theme going on here ...


You know, I like several restaurants' fajita dishes, but I'll have to remember to try out the Bad A** ones next time I head out that way. :)


This was Sasha's first festival to go to. Judging from all the dogs in attendance, she sure had a tail waggin' good time. Check out puppy girl in the top picture ... she looks like she was getting feisty again ... telling that dog, "c,mon -- bring it!" haha. And yes, the dog on the bottom right really was PINK (this is NOT an edit, repeat, this is NOT an edit). Sasha likes being our family dog, but I know she would definitely not let me turn her into a pinkalicious pup like this one. That's just not her color, you know! :)

There's A Tiger On The Loose

He's only been asking for the last year. "Mom ... can I play football?" Me: [secretly cringing at the thought] "Well, maybe, but you're playing baseball right now, so let's wait." But Chris is a smart boy ... he waited, until sign up time came along. "Mom, can I play football this time? I can play baseball in the spring. Please??"

Again, I cringed, because the thought of Chris getting hurt in football really scared me. I know, I know ... he's built like a tank, bruiser boy was born to play ... I've heard it all. With one look at him, I've even had some friends jokingly say "dude ... can I be his manager??". But after having watched my brother getting his knee crushed when he played in high school, the thought of that happening to my son was enough for me to say no. But I could hear the disappointment in his voice, and could see it in those blue eyes that get to me way too often. I could see how excited he got watching college football, and how quickly he was able to understand the ins and outs of the game. I knew I would eventually cave and let him play ... and this season, I finally did.

So, my little man is playing football for the first time, and is L-O-V-I-N-G it! He gets excited to go to practice, works hard, and really puts in his best efforts. I have to say it's fun to see him get excited about the game, and I'm pretty proud of him!

Here are pics of his team, the Round Rock Navy Tigers, at their game this weekend. They won 18-6. Go Tigers!

Have a great rest of your Monday! -- S
















There's my happy boy! :)

Pics: Speed Limit 180 & Chaotic Ei8ht

Recently I posted pictures of a number of bands at a charity event. But as you know, I don't have to go very far to photograph musicians ... I grow my own!! ha! ha! Here are some highlight pics of my daughters' two bands at their most recent gig at Junior's.

Have a great Thursday! -- S


Chaotic Ei8ht -- Stephanie (guitar), Chris (bass) and Nick (guitar). Below left -- There have been a few times that I've thought that this Chris looks much like my son Chris, but in this picture I almost had to do a double take! They really do look alike!!


Marley (Bass -- Speed Limit 180). I really like this black and white pic of her!


Taylor (Lead Guitar -- Speed Limit 180). The middle picture is her guitar recently signed by members of one of her favorite bands.


Annie (Keyboard, Vocals, Harmonica -- Chaotic Ei8ht; Rhythm Guitar, Vocals -- Speed Limit 180). Bottom left -- this was Annie's first harmonica performance in public, which she was pretty happy about. Above right -- I liked the little guitar on her shirt next to her electric guitar she was holding.


Kate (Drums, Vocals -- Chaotic Ei8ht; Keyboard, Vocals -- Speed Limit 180), and Mason (Vocals -- Speed Limit 180). Love their voices, and the smiles on their faces in these pictures!

A Walk Through Austin

Almost fourteen years ago, Jon and I moved to the Austin area. It was the weirdest thing. As a software engineer, he thought perhaps the city would be a good place for him professionally. When he approached me about the idea, I, having then lived in the Houston area all my life, immediately said no, absolutely not. Our family was there, our lives were there, and Houston would always be my home. Being from H-town himself, he understood and was fine with this. Three days later, I COMPLETELY changed my mind. In fact, I often joke that it then became my mission in life to move to Austin. I knew that by me working in human resources at that time, I could work anywhere. I didn't want to hold him back from growing professionally, and it was kind of adventure to move somewhere new together. So, it was decided ... we were moving to Austin.

Three years ago, in building our new house, there was a short time in between homes in which the kids and I lived with family in Houston while Jon worked and stayed with a friend in Austin. Although I love my hometown and always miss being there, it surprised me how much I realized I have come to love my adoptive city. Austin, even with its quirky and "keep it weird" ways, had become a place near and dear to my heart.

Last weekend, my photographer friend Michelle and I went out to the Austin Warehouse District for dinner and a photo walk -- just for fun. I always have a good time looking for new things to photograph, and during the golden hour? Awesome! Love it, and my home away from home!

These are several of my favorite pics from that day. A few more are on the website at http://www.brogdonimages.com/Sessions/A-Walk-About-Austin/13855016_KY8LG#1015831042_rFW2Q

Have a great Tuesday! -- S



Every time I head to the warehouse district, I always, always, always, shoot the Frost Building. It's just something about it that compels me to take a picture of it, no matter the time of day. Here's one of it straight on, and one that's a reflection. Above left: I couldn't help but think of the Journey song, Wheel in the Sky, when I took this picture.



Left: I bet Sasha would love a day at the puppy spa here. haha! Right: Another Austin site I always shoot: the Lucky sign. :)

Top Left: another Frost building pic. Top Middle & Right: scenes from the Katz car. Bottom Left: a really cool water fountain, edited to really bring out the blues. Bottom Middle: this sign reminded me of Chris, who used to love Clifford the Big Red Dog cartoon when he was little.




When I take shots like this (not people, but more of art and architecture), I generally look for lines/curves/lighting and try to play on that. Lots of that going on here ...



When I took this middle picture, I saw only sunlight coming through the trees. I thought, "that's cool." Because of the glare, I didn't see this then, but later in editing, I saw that the sunlight was coming through HEART-SHAPED. How awesome is that?? Yep, I ♥ this city.

Guest Blog From The Dog: Sasha Says -- #3

Hey! What up, peeps? It's going to be another crazy week ahead for my human mom, so she got me to guest blog again. I didn't know that was going to be part of my regular deal here, but gotta admit, it's not that bad. That's the least I can do for the pretty cushy life I've had so far with this family. I mean ... check this out.

Besides the standard food, water, shelter deal that comes with living at Chez B (I mean, yum-o, Bil-Jac puppy food, treats, and rawhide toys are just the best!), I get played with a lot by my family and all the kiddo friends that come over to the house. Just love it when they all chase me around the yard! And I think I can jam out with the girls' bands too (but I guess chewing on guitar cords wouldn't be a good thing, huh?). I hang out with my mom and dad while they work, and my mom often takes me places while she's running errands, you know, so I can keep her company. Check out my pics below to see what I mean!

So, yeah, it's a pretty cool gig I've got going on ... I can't complain. I even get face time on the blog?? Sweeeeet!

Have a great Monday! Peace and Paws Out! -- Sasha


I get to sleep ON the couch? YES!!!



The family takes me to football games. Puppy likes!!

Hanging with the boy after picking him up from school.


Love his hugs! :)



And now, even the barista lady at Starbucks likes to hang out with me! She even picked me up and took me inside to show me off to the other employees there. Nice! Wait, did you say whipped cream in a cup ... just for me?? Mmmmm.

Ghost Town Hootenanny Photo Faves - Part Two

More favorite band photos from this weekend's Ghost Town Hootenanny. Now the hard part begins -- must decide which pics from all of these to enter into a photo contest. So hard to choose ...

Have a great Thursday! -- S








Annie was very impressed with this photo, and starting wondering if she could do this with her guitar and flute at the same time. Hmm ...

I liked the framing of the guitars around the drummer here, and his expression too.



Why so serious, dude? haha





Checking the playlist on his laptop.

Ghost Town Hootenanny Photo Faves

I absolutely love photography. Uh, yeah ... like there's ever been any doubt or question about that. :) But there are some things I love shooting more than others. Ranking right up there in the "I love to shoot ____ " category is MUSICIANS! (But of course, with my daughters in two bands, again, no surprise there, right)?

This past weekend, I attended a charity event in a ghost town in Manor, TX. It was called a Ghost Town Hootenanny. There were several bands performing, and photographers were welcome to come and shoot. I met several new photog friends and took a whole lotta pictures! But these featured below, were some of my favorites. There are still pics from two more bands that I haven't even gotten to yet, but these I just had to share ...

Have a great Wednesday! -- S

This is one of the most eclectic, most interesting guitars I've ever seen. I knew Annie would absolutely love it!

Liked the sun setting in the background in this shot.

I really liked the lighting on his face and on the upright bass.



Thanks so much to Steve, another photographer I met there who let me borrow his Pocket Wizard flash for these two shots. I really love the way these turned out!



I really love the emotion in this bass player's face here.

These shots were taken at night, and the stage was lit up in RED lights. I didn't want to use my flash so not to disrupt the performers. For my photog friends out there, ISO was about as high as it could go, white balance as low as it could go to offset the red, and aperture/shutter speed were low too. Translation for everyone else ... let's just say I was pushing every limit on my camera to get these to work. :)

Love the fun expression on her face here ...

... and the pensive expression on the violinist here.

But these two pics are probably my absolute favorites. This bass player was so expressive, so interesting to watch, and so great to photograph! I took several of him for these reasons, but these two stood out to me because you can really see his love of his music.