Ole Baldy

This past weekend I spent the day climbing at Baldy Point, known to climbers as Quartz Mountain. Despite being overcast and windy up high on the rock it was a beautiful day of climbing. Our team of thee had the entire mound of granite to ourselves for the entire day. It was the first time I had experienced that. It was just an amazing experience to be able to sit at a belay and hear the wind howling and feeling it whip you around as my partner came up behind me. This was by far one of the best days of climbing I have ever had.

As my trend of posting climbing photos continues I may end up starting an Adventure Blog of sorts and discontinue this one. As of now I still plan on shooting sports and weddings. I am currently in the process of updating my portfolio and plan on posting some of those photos here as I progress. I also plan on updating the website. So be looking for a change there.

My long term goal is also to primarily focus on shooting climbing. This may even involve moving to Colorado, as has been my long time dream. It's hard to pursue such a narrowly focused form of photography in a predominantly flat state. Although opportunities do exist, they are just fewer, especially when another Texas photographer has the niche on climbing photography and an in with editors at major climbing rags.

So, for now I will just continue doing what I am doing and press forward. I also recently discovered a new website with a focus on extreme sports. Check out Wheels & Wax. Oh, and just a note on the panoramic shot. It would have worked out better, I found out latter, if I kept my lens in one place and rotated around that point rather than just shifting the camera across a plane. Next time I am out there I plan on getting another shot like this.

Afternoon Delight

This afternoon I walked into my kitchen with camera in hand to photograph the progress of a RAW Food recipe I was working on. As I entered the kitchen, I noticed light beaming in through the doorway from the living room onto my bulk food jars, so instinct took over and I snapped a few frames. These are a couple of my favorites.



If there is one thing I like about the new house is it gets A LOT of sunlight through the windows, both in the morning and late afternoon. I think from here on out I will always live in a place with lots of natural light. There is just something about it that makes you feel good, it's soothing; plus, as a photographer I just love the way light creates shadows and illuminates subjects.

Solo

Gary Ballard climbs Solo (5.8) at Enchanted Rock State Park.



Well, I must be honest, lately there has not been much content on my blog because I have not been shooting much these days. Part of it has been lack of inspiration, another part of it has been that it seems doors keep getting shut on me when it comes to pursuing my photography passion full time. I have shot many professional assignments and been published an many magazines and newspapers, (including ESPN the Magazine, Sports Illustrated, The Denton Record-Chronicle and numerous college sports annuals) but the pieces have yet to fall into place to turn this into a full time career.

At the ripe old age of 30 I am left trying to decide how much time do I want to invest in pursuing this? Should I continue pursuing it as a source of income or just purely for the art and enjoyment of it, which is what drew me to photography to begin with. The work that goes into running your own photography business is very taxing and performing those tasks on top of a full time job and being active in the lives of people around you takes even a higher toll.

I am sure I will remain involved in photography to some degree, but the question is, "how much, and how often." I am currently working on updating my portfolio and revamping my website CalebSimpson.com. I hope to have that up and running within the next few months. My first priority is to update my wedding portfolio for a contract client so I can start pulling in more jobs through them. Following that will be my sports, climbing and photojournalism portfolios. It will be a long process, but hopefully with the help of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom I will be able to finish quicker than with my old work flow process.

Two Passions

Freelance work has been at a bit of a lull lately, but my New Years resolution is to start taking more assignments again. I am also looking to re-discover what exactly it is I want to be shooting. I should be able to start the year off with a few weddings and various athletic events. Along with that, I should be getting more climbing in - another one of my passions. I also have a trip to Yosemite planned as well, so I hope to come back with some beautiful pictures on a classic technical climbing route up Half Dome.

Here are a few images from a recent bouldering trip to my secret stash here in North Texas. It's a beautiful area located along the Brazos River. The day started off with howling winds, rain and ominous clouds, but we still went and before we arrived the clouds had parted and it ended up being a beautiful day.

Night Light

One of the first things that drew me to photography was incredible night photography shots. I have always wanted to get a photo of the historic Courthouse in downtown Denton with the moon glowing in the background. This past Friday evening was the brightest, fullest moon in 15 years so I finally jumped at the opportunity to get the photograph. Overall I am pleased with what I came away with.





Another photo I have always wanted to create is a shot of the Dallas skyline. This past Saturday night provided just such an opportunity. The annual Texas Mountaineers Christmas party is held at one of our members house near downtown. So atop of his three story condo I was able to create this beautiful image. I am bummed that reunion tower does not appear in the shot though. The iconic building is now blocked by another building from this particular angle. But again, I am pleased with the results. (click on the image for a larger version of the images)