Hey everyone,

I hope you all have been keeping well in these crazy times.

Unfortunately, I have not had a lot of chances to shoot much as there have been lockdowns. Although, I did get out on Monday March 23rd and do a shoot of downtown Austin as they boarded up the bars and shops. I was going to make a blog earlier, but I decided to hold off on the post until things started opening back up, because I wanted to remind people what is was like when this started.

A little back story before the post. These were taken on a Monday, after a weekend full of storms. The day was dreary as the clouds had yet to leave, but it gave me the perfect backdrop. I planned on these being black and white as I feel the monochrome portrays more emotion.

While there were still a few cars out, most places were closing down of their own fruition as the amount of people had been limited to 10 people and it was not enough for most of these places to stay open. What I didn’t know when I went out that day was the city of Austin would issue a Shelter in Place order that would go into effect the next day.

Without further ado, I present the shuttering of a bustling downtown district.

After doing a series on drones, I thought it would be a good idea to show a few drone videos. Now, all of my videos are in the drone section of my portfolio, but I thought it apropos to go into detail on some of the videos. For this, I thought I’d show some downtown shots.

You’ve studied and feel you are ready to take the exam. The question is, what happens in the exam?

Well, there are a few things that must be adhered to, and in this final post in the series I will discuss setting up an exam and what to do one you get there.

Okay, so you want to take the test and get a Part 107 license, but what is the test going to be like?

Well, today I want to go into what to expect on the test.

So, do you need to get a Part 107 license?

Are you wanting to make some side scratch? Are you wanting to sell your photos or videos? Do you want to use a drone to survey land or take video of property that you have on the market? If that is the case, then your answer is: Yes, you need a Part 107 license.

Now, the big question is: What do you need to do to get licensed?

This week we will discuss what you need to do before you even take the test.

Last time I gave you a prep course on drones. Today, I want to give some of the laws when flying when flying as a hobbyist. But, lets start with the definition of hobbyist.

I love film, in fact my main points of focus in college were photography and videography. Aerial shots have always left me in awe and I loved the idea of showing shots that I could not take while on the ground. So, when it came time add to my arsenal of available to my clients, I knew I needed to start droning.

This was not quick, nor easy. So, I thought I would take the time to explain some things for people who might be interested in droning, even if just for fun.

Special Note: This series focuses on droning in the USA. Be sure to follow all laws for your country, state, and city.

As with most photographers, I have a day job.  I work at a news station in Austin and enjoy every minute of it.

Anyone who works in the news knows that there is no 9 to 5 and that holidays are non-existent.  While things are more laxed on holidays, the news must still go on.  This gives me some chances to do a few, small, behind-the-scenes photo shoots.  Here are some pictures from one of those shoots.

This should be pretty quick.  I thought it would be fun to show off some photos of the tree this year.   Many of the great Christmas displays come out closer to the 25th,  so I decided it would be advantageous to post something short instead of missing a post.

So, here we go.

Christmas time seems like it keeps coming earlier and earlier.  Perhaps this is do to getting older or possibly because Christmas items are out before Halloween.  Regardless, I have always loved Christmas lights and Christmas music...As long as I can get past Thanksgiving, first.

So, to start out December, I thought it would be appropo to show off some photos of Christmas 2015.  These are a mix between The lighting of the Studio7 Christmas tree (Studio7 was a lifestyle magazine on KOSA, CBS7) and Midnight Mass at St. Ann's Catholic Church.

I love records.  It is not only the sound of vinyl...It is the pomp and circumstance involved.