The Aggie Bonfire – Remembered

I walk into my house at 4:00 a.m. and put my camera equipment up, I think about going to bed. But I can’t. The moment I just experienced in my life was just to monumental for me to just sleep. What I experienced was an intense love for Texas A&M, family, and the values this university holds.

For those who didnt know, Aggies gathered this morning at 2:42 at the Bonfire Memorial on campus to remember the fallen from the collapse and to pay respect to them and their families. I started the experience when I drove through campus towards the memorial and I watched hundreds of Aggies all walking quietly and coming together. I got out my car and walked up to the candle lighting line and talked with a few people and watched people for a while all light their candles from a few candles on a picnic table set up. I walked up over the hill and what I saw took me a while to comprehend. I not only saw the entire inner ring filled with Aggies but a good portion outside the ring. We all stood in silence and I walked to the back to get a few photos. As I stood in the back a hymn broke out from the crowd and we all put our voices together and sang. From there we all said the Lord’s Prayer then the crowd lifted their candles and voiced the Aggie War Hymn.

After that had finished a man’s voice lifted over the crowd and he spoke for a few moments, encouraging Aggies, especially current students, to keep the spirit alive by showing up to silver taps, saying howdy, and living out the traditions at Texas A&M. These very things are what makes Texas A&M the greatest university in the world, and we need to keep them going. He finished his remembrance speech with this quote, “the Aggie Spirit built bonfire, the bonfire did not build the Aggie Spirit”.

I stood their in the cold wind and when I heard that, I didn’t shiver because of the temperature but because of the words. Aggies, this university has something very special and you don’t need me to tell you that. We have a heart and a family like no other. Live out daily the core values (Excellence, Integrity, Leadership, Loyalty, Respect, and Selfless Service) and be what makes this university so incredibly great. Tonight I felt like I was a part of something that was extremely loving and respectful, something that is strongly united. Be proud Aggies of what we have!

Okay everyone, I also made a video, something that’s  a little new for me. I hope you enjoy it.

Kameron and Taylor

A few weeks ago I had the absolute pleasure of photographing Kameron and Taylor’s engagement. It all started early Saturday morning where  the men(Kameron, Kevin and I) went out to the tree when Kameron was going to propose to Taylor. This was the tree that they had their first kiss, it was a perfect location. Kevin, Kameron and I set up a trial run and practiced different angles to photograph as well as setting up the remote camera in the tree. We grabbed a ladder and I climbed up and placed my camera, using a gorilla pod, on a limb that looked like it could support it. The plan was to have Kevin and I photographing behind trees as well as shooting off the camera in the tree.  After getting the tree ready and installing the swing we all went back to home to get ready for the engagement.

Kameron, Kevin and I have been meeting up on Sundays for about little over a year now running an accountability/prayer group. So I have seen all the preparation that went into that moment. That whole day I was super excited. We met up and this time grabbed everything from his house and Kameron checked himself in the mirror. I especially love this photo because Kameron was just chillin there and the lighting was bouncing off the mirror onto him perfectly and the Texas Flag couldn’t have looked more manlier behind him.

Okay anyways we drove out there and set up the table and bible, prayed it out with Kameron one last time before they got engaged, and then Kevin and I walked to our hideout spots to photograph.

The Engagement Story

(Doug’s Perspective)

Okay so Kameron had been playing up the idea to Taylor that he was at BCA retreat until Sunday or late Saturday. The plan was to have Taylor and her friends to go out to eat at a nice restaurant. So the girls came down George Bush and stopped on the side of the rode, where Taylor saw Kameron standing there. I was told that she could stop saying “shut-up”, she was so thrown off guard. Finally she got out of the car and they walked together to the tree. While they were at the tree Kameron read her a passage out of the bible, sang her a song he made for her, and then popped out the ring. It was such an incredible moment seeing that happen behind the lens. I had met Taylor back in high school at Sky Ranch and Kameron through BCA and seeing both of these people I love so much, becoming engaged was just awesome.

Anyways we took some more photos and they headed to Square One restaurant in downtown Bryan, where Kameron had planned for both of the families to be waiting for her. Seriously Kameron planned this out perfectly and dinner was a great ending to the day. With all that being said I enjoyed being apart of this and I thank God for both of you, Taylor and Kameron. Ya’ll are perfect together. And I hope you enjoy the photographs.

Praising Christ in Kyle Field

So on my birthday this last Tuesday I had the pleasure of photographing the very first breakaway at Kyle Field. Breakaway, for people who dont know, is a huge bible study and worship that takes place on the A&M campus every Tuesday and has been going on for 20 years. Thousands of Jesus Lovers come to worship usually the Reed Arena but this year due to the construction, breakaway has had to jump around a few locations.

I came in early to the field and watched the band Aaron Ivey warm up and Ben Stuart get ready for the study. When everything was in place, the staff prayed it out and opened the gates. It was quite  a site to see thousands of people flowing into the stands of the first and second deck of Kyle on Tuesday not to cheer and yell for the Aggie Football team but to Sing and Praise Jesus Christ. I have been to breakaway many times throughout these last two years at A&M and it is always rest for my soul throughout the week. Please go if you havent before.

Before the whole event took off, I ran in front of Ben Stuart and snagged this shot of him about to walk onto the field and start off breakaway. I love this photo because he is focused, but also how everyone else behind him is just hanging out. And or the photo below, Jeremy and I ran up to the second deck of the other side of the stadium. This was a blast because we tried to go unnoticed. To the people who attended: If you saw a black dot wandering around across from you on the second deck during breakaway that was me.

Overall I was very pleased with the photography and with an awesome night on my 21st birthday. I thank Christ for Breakaway and what their ministry is doing and once again if you haven’t gone please do.

Check out the Podcast, video or audio, at their Website.

Gameday in Aggieland

First off sorry for not posting anything this last or since my trip to Ireland. The combination of starting junior year at A&M and finishing the yearbook and selections for BCA has been a doozy. But with that being said. We had a Fightin Texas Aggie Football game a couple weekends ago and I had the privilege of photographing on the field.

Walking onto a Kyle field with 70,000 people surrounding you is quite the feeling but after getting over that this year I heard the sound of the “Theres a Spirit” video and then those all to familiar drums, that start off the match. I ran over to the tunnel of football players and got a great shot of Reagan. After that I went to the sidelines where I stayed wandering around the whole game photographing. Here is some of the stuff I came up with. Enjoy.

Photo of me was taken by Jeremy Northum (awesome aggieland and batt photographer).

Thank you all for keeping up with my photo blog. You all are awesome.

My Last Day Photographing in Ireland ~ Oh how Great it has Been

So today was the last day of our trip throughout Ireland. We started off with an awesome breakfast buffet at the Westbury Hotel in Dublin. After that we got together with the group and started our way off to the Glendalough.  Glendalough is the most well perserved early monastery. Literally churches and stone towers that were built a thousand years ago are still perfectly standing. We walked through the cemetery on the grounds and then to different areas of the monastery. We walked around the stone and grass for the next twenty minutes and then headed across the river to explore the countryside.

While I was over there photographing the river, I remembered how I read that the monks who lived here at the monastery sought after God through nature. Of course the gorgeous Irish countryside but still it was neat hearing that. Because, that has been something I see Christ in a lot. Sometime when I am all alone sitting in a just feeling the wind or watching a tree move, I feel like God is so close to me. In these moments I can that this world he created is beautiful But even though he orchestrated all the heavens and earth, I am worth more to Him than that. I felt that a little bit today, and I can obviously see why these monks sought that solace as well.

Well after leaving the Glendalough we headed back to Dublin and had the rest of the day to ourselves until the farewell dinner. We all decided to head over to the Guinness Factory. We jumped in a taxi and got dropped off at the front gates. And from the moment I walked in I knew this was very different. The quote on one of their pamphlets claimed that this was Dublin’s most visited attraction.

We got our tickets and went up to the first floor via stairs. When I reached the opening, my jaws dropped, because I had walked into the Disneyworld of Beers. Literally this place had everything, okay maybe not huge roller coasters but incredible displays and the whole building was shaped like a Guinness Pint. Well we were all very hungry so we took the lift up to the fifth floor were we mostly ate Guinness stew (thanks for the recommendation Spence and John). It was incredible.

After walking around for a bit we travelled up to the famous Gravity Bar which once we reached it showed a 360 degree view of Dublin from on top of the Guinness Factory, also we were handed free Pints of Guinness.  After exploring for a bit we decided we needed to go back to the hotel. So thats what we did. We still had an hour before the dinner so I walked up and down Dawson Street and just enjoyed one of the last moments of the trip. I then meet up with all the members of the Tauck tour for our final dinner and ohh was it a great one. It was really neat also just sitting with the family all together knowing that this could be the last time for a while(not to long). Overall this trip has been incredible, we have seen many things and I am so happy that I could share them with you all as well. But in the end it isnt the places we have been but the people and family I have been with. They have really all been wonderful and to my family I cant wait to see them all soon again. So from Dublin one last time, thank you all.

Through Irish Eyes ~ Streets of Dublin, St. Patricks Cathedral & The Reason I am Here

Today marked my Grandparents 60th Anniversary, which is amazing. That is the reason we are spending time in Ireland this summer together. That is why we also got to see all the magnificent things we saw this today. We started off on a city tour which took us straight to St. Patricks Cathedral.

I have had the pleasure of seeing many awesome churches throughout England and I can honestly say this is one of the best. The is beautiful to look at from the outside with its standing buttress and Gothic style but once you walk into the main nave and see the flying buttresses and stained glass windows and intricate carving you feel of sense of real art and architecture. Well we walked up and down the aisles on both sides and read Jonathan Swifts epitaph that he wrote himself. We then walked around to the many stain glass windows and marveled at their displays of light.

Well after spending much time in their we jumped back into the bus and made our way around to squares and across the river. We ended up finally at the Trinity College and from here on out I was not allowed to take photography of a lot the stops we made. But none the less I did get to see many in the world call the most beautiful book ever created, The Book of Kells. And yes I agree that is by far the most intricate and gorgeous book I have ever seen or heard of. The Book of Kells was created by Irish monk at the church in Iona and depicts the writting and drawings of the gospels of Jesus Christ. I walked through the displays and read everything about the books including this cool fact: Iona was town on near the coast and with that came the constant threat of Viking invasions and also that some of the ink used in the books on the vellum came all the way from Indonesia from when some of them went on missionary trips.

Well unfortunately I wasnt able to photograph them or the a lot of the college but after that we headed to the Irish National Museum and the Irish National Gallery which took up a lot of the day but were very interesting. I had the chance to view a painting that I will not forget for a long time and that was by Jack Yeat’s and titled “Liffy Swim”. After exploring some of Irelands Arts we decided to just walk around the town for a little bit before we got ready for dinner. So thats just what we did and thats why I have a lot of really random street photographs. Hope you enjoy them.

Well the meaning behind the portion of the title of this blog says, “The Reason I am here” is that my Grandparents celebrated thier 60th Anniversary today. Yes 60th! Well we went out to eat at Rolly’s which was incredible. The food was sheer genius and had the best flavor. But really it wasnt the food it was just all of us being their together in Dublin celebrating Grandma and Grandpa’s marriage.

The more and more I think about the fact that they had been married that long the more that I appreciate it. Really they are a huge testament to me and to my family but also to a marriage that is centered around Christ. Especially in day in age were the norm is not to keep that relationship and that people have the right do whatever they want whenever they want. Statistically speaking half of the marriages that are together now in America will end up with a divorce. That saddens me for the people involved but also for the children in that situation. But I look at my grandparents as a guide to what is right and how that is carried out. Really they have created so many blessing for me and the entire family, they have love us unconditionally constantly showing us grace and love. That is not easy to do or easy to find. So yes, congratulations Grandma and Grandpa, I know you arent reading this now but you will in the future. I love you both very much. I am going to end up the post with a quote my grandfather gave us while we were laughing together and opening up cards.

“Well its not about today but the sixty years that we have lived together before this day.”

I Kissed a Rock Today ~ Blarney Caslte & Dublin

So today we traveled from the Dunloe Pass and were we had been staying for the last two days and made our path to Dublin. But before reaching the city we stopped at Blarney Castle. Wow from now on when I picture Ireland in my mind I will think of Blarney. We walked up to this stone fortress covered in moss and beautiful clouds above it. It was surreal walking up to it because I have heard about the castle before and was anticipating it rather greatly.

One of the superstitious things to do at the castle is to kiss the blarney stone which legends states once you do you receive the gift of Gab(to read more about it click on the link in the previous sentence). Its crazy because we climbed up this super narrow stone stairway and leaned over the castle to kiss this stone. People from all over the world come and do this and even at 10:00 in the morning a line was formed by the time Grant and I ran up their.

While were walking around the castle I took a photograph(the one below) that I really love. Its of the warning tower that is adjacent to the castle itself and what the soldiers would do is look out for vikings at the top of the watch out tower and could send troops down from their when they were close as kinda a way weaken the enemies force.

Well after we tromped the castle grounds the family headed out along to the rock close were we found a beautiful waterfall which I took a long exposure shot of. For the photographers reading this I used my gorillapod attached to the fence and set the aperture at about f/22 and a shutter speed of about 8 seconds.

After exploring what has been my favorite part of Ireland so far, we jumped on a train and rode it straight into Dublin. I love trains, I mean I really love trains. I almost went to Indiana University because they have trains in Indiana. But driving on this train through the Irish countryside and seeing nothing but lush green fields and cows wandering and small towns flying by, this could not have been more perfect. After journaling in my moleskin for a while, we landed into Dublin and departed for our hotel. Once again, I dont think I have walked foot into such a great building as this hotel. Its literally two blocks from everything; Trinity college, Irish national museum, churches, Dawson street, pubs.

We walked around the streets for a while and I could get over how much I loved this city. We walked through a couple of blocks and I photographed everything I could. We stopped at a pub called Davy Brynes, which is famous because of the literally giant James Joyce and how he writes about it in Ulysses. After having fish and chips and another Guinness we headed back to the hotel and got ready for our tour of the Jameson Distillery.

The Jameson was absolutely awesome. We learned the different stages it took to cure the whiskey from the Barley all the way to barrelling. After going through the tour we ate at on the top floor where I had my first ever Irish Coffee and listen to Irish singers. They were incredible, I didnt understand a lot of the songs but they sure had a passion for what they were singing. Tap Dancers came up on stage and people started clapping to the rhythm of the music. Actually the did play on final song that night that I knew, they closed with Brown Eyed Girl. It was Brilliant, the whole day was.

The Ring of Kerry and landscapes of Ireland

This morning was our first morning to wake up in Killarney. We had a rather quick breakfast and I grabbed a cappuccino. While we walked out of the hotel we saw the Dunloe Pass and underneath of it is a pasture were cows and horse just roam about. The scenery is perfect. Well we jumped in with the group and started our trip around the Kerry. Supposedly if you take the roads counter clockwise you have better luck, so thats what we did.

We stopped at numerous small towns and in one of the small towns we talked with a sheep herder. Brendan Ferris, was his name, and he was incredible. He explained the ways he called the dogs with different pitched whistles and how he could maneuver the collie to gather all the different sheep. I could see why he loves it so much. He said that he will take apprentices but they have to give him three years and they will know everything he does. So if college goes astray, I will become an Irish sheep herder.

After that he we grab lunch in one of the small towns and I had vegetable soup and had cod. After lunch I decided to walk around the town for a little bit and I took what could be some of my favorite photographs from the trip so far. After lunch we headed further down the Ring and ended up at several photo shoot stops with just beautiful views.

After that we drove the ring even further and now started to make the loop around to back were we started in Killarney. We stopped along another small town to break for a little bit. While we were there we were told that the Irish make this great ice cream with chocolate sauce and stick a piece of cadburry chocolate in it. They call it the 99. Because it you to could 99 schillings(I think). But we did that and then Grant, Amy and I walked down to the Church in the town. It was very interesting because behind it the monks way back in the day use to live in these small stone-like tepees. I walked around and checked them out and crawled into one of them.

We kept driving and came finally to the Ireland’s National Park and found even more beautiful view points. It was incredible seeing how green everything is. It gorgeous.  Well sorry I didnt write much tonight but we have an early day tomorrow and if I go to bed right this second Ill get five hours in so lasts what I am going to do. You all are awesome, thank you so much for the prayers and encouragement. I love you all. Bring on the Blarney Castle (Tomorrow)

Ireland: Molanna Dairy Farm, Killarney and the Dunloe Castle

Alright was long day and this morning feels like it happened a week ago. Alright it started off with yet again a wonderful breakfast. This time I had and English muffin with smoked salmon. We packed up our luggage and left our perfect rooms at the Dromoland Castle to head towards Killarney. We started off on the road which was windy and very beautiful. Lush green trees and bushes lined the worn road till we reached the very quaint and small town of Molanna. One of the incredible experiences included in this trip, was getting to go into the home of and Irish farm and sit and talk with the family who owns it. We arrived to the farm and immediately we were greeted by Paddy and Margaret. Paddy greeted us immediately through the fog and introduced us his wife. We then departed with Paddy as he took us to the lower end of the Dairy Farm to meet up with his son Patrick. Paddy took us into one of the rooms in the house and showed us photos of his ancestors and leases from the past. He recited us a poem that he made up, and I will write late in a post. He described the stories of how his grandfathers grandfather lived through several plagues and earthquakes and wars. He described the role that church has played in his life. The family was very simple but yet their was so much complexity to their lifestyle. Paddy recalled as we talked later how he walks down to the pub on the weekends around ten o’clock at night and doesn’t come back til late in the night. He said “Irish just don’t wake up in the morning”. I laughed with him and then we all walked down to Dairy section of his land.

Patrick, his son, then  showed us the different stages of the dairy production and explained to us how they played a role in his seven days a week job. He told us, “There isn’t a on and off button to turn the cows off on Sunday morning, so you just have to do all seven days”. Patrick who was recently married was a very cheerful human being, very respectful and very loving. After that, we went back to the dining area in their house and had a lunch which consisted of Guinness bread, turkey, soda bread, and potato salad. Margaret did a wonderful job with the meal. After saying out goodbyes, we jumped back with the group and headed off for Killarney.

We arrived in the town square around and hour and half later and walked around for a good hour. I walked with my family to a pharmacy and then to a glasses store. My mom got glasses from a small town in Germany when we visited a long time ago and I though how cool it would be to return to the states with a new awesome pair of Irish glasses but no luck.

We walked around the streets and then my dad and I split up and walked over to the Franciscan Friary Catholic Church. We walked inside and being the only ones there I walked right up to the front and started photographing. We walked around and marvel at the depictions and stages of Christ’s Crucifixion.

Just the thought of Christ sacrificing his life for the very men he help create brings me to my knees but seeing that pained out, while rain struck the outside of the windows in an old Irish church was simply awesome. On that note, I just want to give Christ all the glory for the photography I am producing. It is for Him that I create these photographs. Like I said earlier he is the reason for my life and I cannot praise Him enough(so I do it through photography). After walked through the church grounds we joined back with group and arrived to the Dunloe Castle.

The Dunloe is actually were we had rooms would spend the night (which I am about to go do). The grounds are absolutely breathe taking and rest at the foot of the Dunloe Pass. The Castle raises horses and cows here and I could have possibly taken my favorite photograph of trip so far, of them. After that we took a swim in the indoor pool and then dressed up for dinner. My grandparents, who are having their 60th Anniversary (reason we are here), had a piece of chocolate cake brought out to them during dinner. Even though the day hasn’t come yet, it was rather remarkable. More on that in future posts. I had scallops and some kind of raw Irish meat for dinner all which I washed down with a perfectly drafted Guinness. All in all another perfect day in Ireland.

Thank you once again to the hundreds who are following me this week through Ireland. I hope you all are enjoying the photography and stories, you are all incredible.

Other Irish Lingo

Bumper to Bumper Traffice = Tailback

Ireland: Cliffs of Moher, Lower Shannon, and The Burren

This morning we all woke up and walked down to the main dinning quarter and had a remarkable breakfast. I had an “Irish Breakfast” which consisted of sausage, bacon (which is very lean ham), slice of tomato, black & white pudding, mushroom, potato cake, and of course scrambled eggs. After I indulged myself with that incredible tradition, we joined the group and headed off through to the south western Ireland and came to the Cliffs of Moher. As we walked out of the bus and up the hill to see the cliffs we were clouded in a mist. But once we reached the top of the viewpoint what we saw made the who plane trip worth it. Sheer rock cliffs of black shale and sandstone. I photographed for about an hour trying as many different things as possible.

After that we headed back into the bus and drove through the Burren, which is a vast land covered mostly in jagged and long rocks. Interestingly enough there were a lot of flowers growing in the cracks of the rock surfaces. The Burren, which is located in County Claire, is where Ireland has found some of its most prized artifacts from various underground caves and rock tombs.

We traveled further into the Burren and came to what was one of the most amazing and unexpected site, the Poulnabrone Portal Tomb. Our guide claimed that this stone tomb created earlier than the pyramids in Egypt. What I thought was incredible was how there was little to none overview of any officials, you could just walk up to about five feet from it and you had to stop because of dingy string wrapped around it. Anyways I really enjoyed this stop.

From there we went into a small town in the county and had lunch at Monk’s. Monk’s was right on the Atlantic coast and it was awesome. I ordered seafood chowder, their well known fish cakes and of course a pint of Guinness. After we all ate that wonderful meal, we loaded back in the bus and headed back to Dromoland Castle, were we are staying.

It was a really cool time spending a section of the day at the castle because it was spent just hanging out with the family. We all sat down and talked for a while and then walked over to the Gardens. Dad, Grant, and I then took bicycles around the Dromoland Estate, which consisted of us biking around the lake and through woods and around a lily pond. Grant and I fell back from Dad as he went on to change for dinner and we decided to take a few beaten paths. While we were biking through this one area a deer pranced into the path and out of it within a blink of an eye. Grant saw it too and so we immediately dropped our bikes and with our expertise in tracking we followed that deer or what we thought was a deer for a good twenty minutes. Finally we came to and opening and low and behold, not one but two deers were there. A stag and then a buck, we were far away but I did get a fuzzy photo for proof. This was really neat because Grant and I traveled pretty far into the woods and found some incredible trees and shots.

Anyways we joined the family for dinner and then most of us walked around the castle for an hour or two. We could do that because, lighting in Ireland is pretty interesting. Its a lot like Alaska because its light for 5:00 in the morning til about 11:00 at night. Well I am going get some rest for tomorrow. I just want to thank the hundreds of people who have checked out my first blog on Ireland. You are all amazing and I love you all.

Irish Lingo (funny/ interesting)

Sidewalk = Footpath
Cigarette = Fag
Bathroom = Lou
Cabinet = Press
Closet = Wardrobe
Cookie = Biscuit