The adventures and various works of a photographer, road tripper, former patron of the local arts, aspiring app developer, and late night coffee drinker and conversationalist.
I've been spending quite a bit of time lately working on my long-neglected road trip travelogs and photo galleries. While going through related memorabilia and papers, sorting items into piles of what to file away versus what to discard, I stumbled upon my old pre-departure checklist from 2024. I make one of these lists before every significant out of town trip as a safeguard against leaving something important behind, a practice I began following a near "missed opportunity" in 2010. About two hours into a drive from my then-home in Allen, Texas to Hoopeston, Illinois, I realized that I'd left a critical piece of kitchenware destined for use at my friends' home back at my apartment. I ended up purchasing a new one at a Target store in Texarkana, an option that, while a bit pricey, was still better than the alternative of turning back and making what should have been a single day's drive up north take two days to complete. I started making my pre-departure checklists shortly thereafter.
I generally begin a list two weeks ahead of my departure date, adding individual items as they occur to me rather than trying to think of every single entry all at once. I've learned from experience that allowing this additional time makes me less likely to overlook some item I need to take along or to forget something I need to address at home. The following list may seem overly comprehensive, perhaps to the point of fastidiousness, but in reality I've become fairly expert at packing things efficiently for a couple of weeks on the road.
(Some items have been censored for privacy and/or security reasons)
Two months ago I came across an unusual find while browsing through online auctions. That find was an antique wedding invitation, originating from my hometown of Dallas and dating to the late 19th century. A quick look at the card showed the location for the upcoming ceremony to be 334 Elm Street, an address familiar to me as the site of a well-established 1800s photography studio downtown. A second, closer look revealed the advertised bride to be the daughter of W. Wirt Williams, a name associated with nineteenth century Dallas photography and whose most well known studio was located at the 334 Elm address. I immediately recognized the wedding invitation as an item of interest as part of my ongoing early Dallas photography blog series.
While the most notable early photographers operating out of Dallas have been documented, there are many for whom little to no information appears to have been preserved. These photographers and their studios present very challenging subjects for research, but that’s no reason to deny them their places in local history. With this installment in my Early Dallas photography series, I'm going to try to shine a light on those places in history, piecing together fragments of information found in the historical record.
This is a listing of notable restaurants and food establishments I've enjoyed in various cities across the United States and Canada. These were found during my various road trips, and represent
where I had a good personal experience with the food and/or service. In a sense, this is a list of recommendations and places I would revisit, though it should be noted that individual experiences can vary across different visits.
By early 2014, I'd been photographing live performances for a full seven years. Deep Ellum was "coming back," on the upswing again following a years' long period of decline. I was back where I had begun in terms of the types of venues and musical genres I was shooting, but my skill level had improved dramatically compared to the early days. The two years from 2014-2016 heralded the end of my regular activity in the scene, and a period during which I captured many of what I consider my best ever shots. The plug had been pulled on the Lost Art Open Mic in 2011, and after having largely turned my back on the spoken word scene by this time, my non-travel photography was once again singularly focused on live music. And, by and large, the live music was centered around a handful of bands with whom I had personal relationships. The bands were familiar, as were most of the venues by this time. But despite this, the act of shooting them with my camera often remained an adventure.
Rail Club, November 2013. Photo courtesy Metal Mina Pics.
