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Another Estate Seller, another scammer.

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  Putting this photo here, because its pretty and for attention. Yes, I took this photo for a neighbor's cattle business. Back in 2012, a bit after my mother in law passed away, we had an estate sale to help us with the collected things from her life. Its was hard, and we were scammed. I am not speaking out of turn, the Texas Attorney General's office became involved, due to my blogging about it. That person not only scammed us but many, many others. She did time in prison.  Flash forward to 2023. My mom couldn't stay by herself anymore. We had space for her, but not ALL her stuff. I asked the real estate agent if she had a referral for an estate seller. Especially working so far out of San Antonio, it was gonna be tough. She had a referral for us, a nice couple from San Antonio. We met them in the house after we moved all the things mom wanted to keep and they seemed nice. They were excited and between projects and could fit us in right away.  I got mom moved (which is a w
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Catching up...

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  I've been away along time. A LONG TIME. The last post i created was in 2012. By then, this blog had taken us through my time at USAA, my departure through there, the start of my commercial photography business SnowPro Photography. I was too busy to post after that.  Flash forward to 2020. 8 years, whew. Where has time gone? Let's see. In a nutshell and in order: my daughter married, my mother-in-law moved in with B and I, my daughter divorced. B & I went to Italy on a Rick Steve's tour, my father became ill with the first of his long battle with cancer, I closed my business to help take care of him. B and I bought property out of state, moved, saw & photographed the 2017 eclipse in Tennessee.    We bought an RV, moved out of Texas & built a house on said property. I went back to Texas in 2020 and in 2021 for months at a time to help with my dad's care through his battle with the big C.   I keep bees now, and B built his observatory that he has always wante
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How much is the doggy in the window?

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I am a professional. I work at what I do and try to maintain a level of professionalism and approach each project with a strong work ethic and an intense desire to exceed expectations. A few days ago, I was given a referral that a smaller group of professionals needed some new headshots (to be made during their weekly meeting) so they could have some marketing materials printed up. A simple enough request. On the surface. Let's dive deeper, shall we? What you get: my time to take your portraits. set up of portable studio. my equipment to take your portraits. my expertise and talent. planning time. retouching time. file archival. copyright transfer so you can legally use the image I create. And all the overhead, insurance costs and other "overhead" costs that are written into the price. So, when I say that my "one off" portrait creation fee is 125.00 per person, I mean that for one portrait I create, I give you at least 4 hours of my time,
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OPINION!!! 8 red Flags... bells clanging: Buyer beware...

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If you don't know me, ask anyone. I am as honest as the day is long. My honesty is something that has actually hurt my career: I was not "correct" enough to "gain favor." I call 'em as I see 'em. So, this is the story of my family's experience with a local company and my opinion of their customer service. This has been a tough year for my husband and I. We had been taking care of his mother for about 18 months when she passed away. My mother in law and I have had an always touchy relationship and she had a really hard life. We were happy and blessed to have been able to take care of her when she needed it. She never wanted to "sell or rent" her house after she moved in with us. So, there it sat, empty. She paid the higher insurance rates, and we moved the majority of her things here to my home.  After she passed away, we knew that we needed to liquidate the majority of her belongings. My husband did not have the appetite to go through h
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Something to think about.

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Today's shoot: Charlie Gonzalez. Charlie Gonzalez event, SnowPro Photography I am a straight shooter. You know what I mean, when I say it. There is no pretense. I share my opinions when asked: religion, politics, social issues (or lack thereof). During my main work, I have had the opportunity to meet and "work with" many politicians. Too many to mention. Today, I had an opportunity to photograph Congressman Charlie Gonzalez, District 20. Texas Democrat. He isn't running for re-election (sorry to say). His statements were refreshing and honest. No "line" delivered. I have a few observations: 1. The majority of politicians I have photographed lean to the conservative side. 2. The majority of these politicians do not smile except during the hand shaking, greetings and posings. 3. The majority of these politicians are not genuine in their smiles. The politicians who smiled and who were genuine were mostly "progressive" - liberals. By
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Have you lost your marbles? I found a few! A few days ago, I received a call to photograph these beautiful art glass orbs. A collector found me on Google, (thanks for letting me know), and he brought out many thousands $s worth of these beautiful marbles. I had him stay through out the shoot, even though I am fully insured, I just didn't want to handle these beauties!  They contain colors created from the burning and manipulation of precious metals and compounds. They even have opals. Incredible. I consider myself pretty well rounded; I know some art here and there... but these, I had never heard of. Wow. I photographed 6 unique and one of a kind designs, from the "top" and from the various sides. Each side presented a different design and different lighting challenges. What I thought would be a simple set up, not more than 2 hours moved into 4 hours. I appreciated his patience & his company. Here are 2 that I have finished retouching. (Yes, even this beauty r
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Do it yourself -- sometimes ...

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Do it yourself -- sometimes ... Kyle Brady - nice hand painted background! I used to do more DIY stuff. From major yard work. In the past, I would have laughed at the heat, and resodded my yard last year. But, alas, I am too old and cranky. So, we hired that out. In the past, I actually did my own brake job on my Austin Healy. I sheared the lug nuts off in the process: leverage does work. So, it actually cost me in time and repair $$. So, I learned what I can do myself, and what I just shouldn't. All this being said, I still do a lot myself. I love to paint and do artsy-craftsy things. Take that backdrop on that portrait of Kyle Brady (left) . Some good heavy canvas (from a scenic goods company here in town), a couple of quarts of carefully chosen paint. I was good to go. A beautiful hand painted canvas backdrop, classic in nature, 10' x 16' usually retails for over $200-$300. I think I spent a very hot afternoon in my garage, having a great conversation with my
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