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briancparks  > Portfolio > Favorites
These are some of my favorite photos, but if you've seen one on my website or elsewhere that isn't here just shoot me an email and I can add it. Thanks for visiting!

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briancparks > This is the world that I know This is how I view the world. Not to say that every sunset is an explosion of red and gold, but that there is beauty all around us that we take for granted way too often. We find ourselves mired in the petty minutiae of our daily lives. Deadlines, office politics, relationship woes, familial disputes. All of it gnaws away at our personal sense of innocence and wonder and leaves behind something lessened and jaded. Or at least that’s the way I feel from time to time. I find it way too easy at times to lose myself in the day-to-day life, overlooking the wondrous world around me. The world has so much to offer around every corner, yet I get weighed down with “being an adult” and have to marvel at how I squandered my youth (do most people think that way?). As an adult, I have responsibilities to myself and my loved ones, which I often regard solely in a financial sense. I forget that my loved ones want my time, my love, they want me more than anything else I can give them. This misrepresentation of worth leads to feelings of inadequacy when financial support ceases to be “enough.” I reel dramatically and have to find my bearings all over again. Then, once I remember that a simple kindness can be as powerful as a monetary gift, things start to feel right with the world. Granted, not everyone is like this. There are plenty of selfless people out there, striving to make the world a better, happier place at their own expense of time and/or money. Maybe one day I’ll find myself in a position to give more of myself to those around me, be they friends, family, coworkers, or random strangers from whom I have no intention of receiving any kind of thanks or recognition. I say (and have been saying for years) that I’m too selfish with my time. Yes, I realize that I’m 32 at the time I’m writing this, but I really do feel like I’ve just recently come into my own within the last three years. So maybe it’s okay for me to be selfish a bit longer (I suppose there will always be things I’ll be selfish about). But sharing how I see the world isn’t one of them. I want to show people beautiful things, or at least show them the beauty I see in things. This is the world that I know. End of rant.
briancparks > Good morning Columbus! Yeah, I guess that’s technically where I was. Last weekend was camping with the boys out near Fayettville and Columbus, TX. A friend of a friend of a brother’s fiance’s uncle’s brother’s family owns some land out there, so we packed up (or other people did) and we headed out for a raucous weekend full of shooting, grilling, bonding, and (unfortunately) getting Loko’d. The first night was pretty wild, full of drinking and hijinks (we was huntin’ wabbit) and lots of alien talk. Sometime are 3AM, somebody had the bright idea of driving off into the woods to hunt boar. I mean, I love bacon as much as the next guy, but it was pretty ridiculous. I think between us we had four guns, a camera, and two flashlights. Needless to say, the best thought and preparation did not go into this venture. We probably ended up chasing off anything even resembling a hog with all of our frightened chatter about aliens (okay, maybe that was just me and my brother). But we had a hell of a time traipsing through the woods looking for who knows what. And at the end of the night, we actually did manage to nab ourselves a rabbit. And after undercooking it pretty good, it was off to bed. So this shot is a thank you to whoever’s up there watching over us that we a) didn’t shoot each other, b) didn’t catch something from the bunny we ate, and c) didn’t get abducted by aliens. Though, I swear the cows were following us… So good morning Columbus!
briancparks > Butterflies Alive! I recently had the pleasure of checking out the Butterflies Alive! exhibit at the Lubbock Science Spectrum and, while I can’t say I was blown away with the presentation, it was certainly a lot of fun. It’s hard to compare a traveling butterfly exhibit to a permanent fixture like the Cockrell Center in Houston, but it was impressive by Lubbock standards. They touted 600 butterflies, but we found that a little hard to swallow. There were, however, plenty of insects on display. Though most of them seemed to be of one or two varieties (with the Monarch’s easiest to spot), there were a few hidden gems in the bunch. In addition to the butterfly photo ops, there are also a number of amazing plants and flowers to shoot. I’m still getting used to this manual focus lens, so a lot of mine didn’t turn out so well. All the more reason to return! Outside of the atmospherically controlled enclosure, they have a small display set up showing a number of species in the chrysalis phase. I always find this interesting (and you never know which ones are going to be bursting forth that day!). With my trusty 105mm macro lens in hand, I captured some amazing shots of a chrysalis. I am simply bewildered by how perfectly symmetrical the cocoons are. You’ll also find a photo wall with art from a number of local artists (including yours truly!) that’s definitely worth checking out. I’ll try to post some more photos if I end up going back. They’re supposed to be hosting an evening event during the April First Friday Art Trail, so we’ll see if I make it back over there.
briancparks > Butterflies Alive! I recently had the pleasure of checking out the Butterflies Alive! exhibit at the Lubbock Science Spectrum and, while I can’t say I was blown away with the presentation, it was certainly a lot of fun. It’s hard to compare a traveling butterfly exhibit to a permanent fixture like the Cockrell Center in Houston, but it was impressive by Lubbock standards. They touted 600 butterflies, but we found that a little hard to swallow. There were, however, plenty of insects on display. Though most of them seemed to be of one or two varieties (with the Monarch’s easiest to spot), there were a few hidden gems in the bunch. In addition to the butterfly photo ops, there are also a number of amazing plants and flowers to shoot. I’m still getting used to this manual focus lens, so a lot of mine didn’t turn out so well. All the more reason to return! Outside of the atmospherically controlled enclosure, they have a small display set up showing a number of species in the chrysalis phase. I always find this interesting (and you never know which ones are going to be bursting forth that day!). With my trusty 105mm macro lens in hand, I captured some amazing shots of a chrysalis. I am simply bewildered by how perfectly symmetrical the cocoons are. You’ll also find a photo wall with art from a number of local artists (including yours truly!) that’s definitely worth checking out. I’ll try to post some more photos if I end up going back. They’re supposed to be hosting an evening event during the April First Friday Art Trail, so we’ll see if I make it back over there.
briancparks > The mirror in the bathroom Welcome to my nightmare. The mirror in the bathroom. But is it only that? You might find yourself asking, do your nightmares always involve you wearing your wife’s pajamas? Typically no. But I have had recurring nightmares about strange clones and odd happenings since I was a child (which, I’m glad to say, happen with much less frequency now that I’m older). I would often dream that there were weird, invasion-of-the-bodysnatcher duplicates of my family following me around the house with lights for eyes (probably lifted from the “deadlights” description in Stephen King’s It). They were mainly chase dreams, never really reaching any kind of culmination (and thank god for that!), but they stuck with me. Anywho, I was having a dream the other day (well, night really) about strange mirror men looking back at me from the other side. Strangest thing was… they were all versions of myself. I really liked the idea and figured it would be pretty easy to recreate photographically. You may not know it, but I play the guitar. If you did know that, you probably know I don’t play it very well. I want to be able to, and I can visualize (auralize?) myself playing well and it sounding great. I just hit a wall when I actually pick up the damn thing. One of the coolest things about photography is that I’m slowly getting to the point where I can visualize something and then actually make it happen. Sure, at this point it may not be as polished as I’d like, but I’m getting there. This one came off pretty easily once I had the angle down and knew what I wanted my mirror selves to look like. The end result combined a few different techniques, including HDR on the background, some harsh flash setups on the mirror men, abundant amounts of photoshopped steam, and a hefty dose of contrast and saturation manipulation in Lightroom. Sure, it’s not really as creepy as I wanted it to be, but it’s pretty damn close. Enjoy!
briancparks > Favorites photo
briancparks > Inside the fuselage of a WWII glider Here’s a shot from inside the fuselage of the CG-4A glider, the star attraction of the Silent Wings Museum. While it looks large enough, it’s hard to believe that 15 armed soldiers were crammed into such a tight space (not to mention the pilots!). And this was pretty much all the room they had since the entire tail section of the plane was fabricated of structural supports. I added a photo of the inside of the tail below, as well. It must have taken some pretty brave people to fly in these aircraft.
briancparks > Flying on silent wings Have you ever asked yourself, “What did the military use before they had helicopters?” Me neither. After some initial research, I discovered that helicopters haven’t always existed. (I know!) You’re probably now wondering how the pyramids were really built, but rest assured it wasn’t with the aid of helicopters. All kidding aside, I’ve never really taken the time to wonder about it. So it came as quite a surprise to hear that the military actually used gliders back in WWII as stealth infiltrators, towing them behind regular planes (like the one below) and then cutting them loose behind enemy lines. It was also surprising to learn that (of all places) Lubbock is home to the Silent Wings Museum (it turns out that most of the pilots in the glider program were trained in Lubbock). Housed in what was the original Lubbock airport terminal, the museum is dedicated to the Wolrd War II glider program. Having come from an era where helicopters were old news, I found it all the be pretty interesting. Definitely worth the price of admission (which was actually free–they waive the five dollar admission if you’ve come over from the Buddy Holly Center and paid for admission to his museum). For more info on the Silent Wings Museum, click here. The shot above was a three-exposure HDR with a little Photoshop trickery.
briancparks > One way out - Replacing my DX ultra-wide It was a sad day when I parted with my Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8, which had become one of my favorite lenses over the last few years. Purchased originally for a European trip, I figured I would have to have a wide angle to capture all the spectacular architecture I’d be seeing. After some research (taking into consideration the fact that I’m relatively cheap when it comes to glass), I opted for the ultra-wide angle Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 Pro DX Digital Zoom Lens. It’s a become a bit cheaper now since Tokina released an updated version (to be honest, though, I can’t tell what they’ve changed with it to justify the $200 price increase). I took some great shots with it during that trip, and continued using it pretty much everywhere when I got back. It was my go-to lens for HDR work, not to mention a great way to capture groups of people at parties and weddings! It had some issues with chromatic aberration on the far edges, but the overall IQ was pretty good for such an inexpensive lens. A great number of the shots on my portfolio pages were taken with it. So why part with it now? Unfortunately, it’s a lens designed specifically for APS-C sensor (or crop sensor) cameras, namely Nikon’s DX line. For my D90, it worked like a charm. This isn’t to say that it won’t work properly when mounted to an FX camera, though there is horrible vignetting (even at the 16mm range the vignetting is pretty bad) and the distortion is pretty unforgiving. It was time to say goodbye to my first UWA. So for me, there was only one way out… Read more...
briancparks > Twilight Over the Camel's Back I had a lot of fun shooting in and around the JW Marriott Camelback Inn while I was in Scottsdale awhile back. I got this shot after a pretty long day of shooting. The sun had set while I was climbing down Mummy Mountain, so I headed back to the resort for some dinner. I ended up having the steak skewers and guacamole (along with a couple G&Ts) at the hotel bar at the suggestion of the bartender. And kudos to him, because all of it was top notch. Calling it a night shortly thereafter I began the trek back, stopping at the entrance to the playground outside of my room. I’d passed it several times during the days before and knew I wanted to capture the adobe arch at the right time, but the right time never seemed to present itself. And so it was that on my last night in Arizona, I decided to set up my tripod for one final attempt to capture something magnificent…
briancparks > Favorites photo
briancparks > Favorites photo
briancparks > Favorites photo
briancparks > Favorites photo
briancparks > Favorites photo
briancparks > Favorites photo
original size: 15988px x 2610px |
Current: 600px x 98px |
Other sizes: S • Medium • L |
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Keywords: arizona phoenix hdr nikon d90 tonemapped hdr
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