Governors, Gun Wielders, and Granada Rock Stars

SALUTATIONS! Random fun times lately.....A good friend John Harris asked me if I wanted to have some fun and go shoot some photos downtown of the Governor (of Texas) Rick Perry while he was in town for the Glen Beck Show. Totally not my style of shooting...but it's good to get out and do something out of the ordinary....keeps you sharp. BUT can I just say something...I am oh so proud to know that we have a Governor that could have the option of a career after his time in office of being an actor....maybe a soap star! GEEZE! I throw out a challenge....anybody have a better looking governor I dare you to challenge this man's rugged Tom Berenger level good looks! wow! hahahaa



TEXAS RANGERS....and not the baseball team.....Like WALKER!!!! (but the real deal) These guys are bad! FYI there are only 133 Texas Rangers in the entire state....pretty elite...Photo by John Harris


2nd Latest Adventure.....My very good friend Austin Lewter plays drums for Kevin Deal.....A great Texas Country musician. They let me come and hang out during their gig at the Granada. Austin and I used to play together so the music scene means a lot to me...brought back memories. Definitely check these guys out! Good people.




NOTE: Shooting this concert I kept my D300 at ISO 1000 and tried to keep it at a shutter speed of 1/60ths of a second.

QUOTE of the week! Don't be afraid to see what you see. Ronald Reagan

Here are a few shots more shots lately....Don't stop believin!


Til Next Time...

BRAUN...and Patton

Exciting Days to Come

Well I know you guys are all out there sweating the moments until the new faster, lighter, smarter, CHEAPER.....IPhone comes out...(July 11....Hope you are watching the potatoe crates)...and I pray everybody still has all your fingers from the firework celebrations this past 4th (for those USA'ers) .......So I thought I would throw some interesting and fun things at ya'll (Texas slang) to keep you going through the week!

Included a variety of stuff that tickles my fancy from photography, green technology, architecture design.....I am pretty jazzed about saving the Earth after looking at some of these things. Let me know what you think!

TITLE'S ARE LINKS TO THE FULL LOW DOWN (more photos)....DOOOO ITTT, DOOO ITTTT!

The Green Megalopolis: An eco-savvy blueprint for tomorrow's megacity
(I have already begun shopping for my Bubble House at Ikea...SERIOUSLY CHECK IT...you'll see!)


The Sun-Powered Sailboat
Ordered mine in Lambo Yellow...call it The Streak

ICON A5
This is up on the top of the list....For REAL



Nike:Take It To The Next Level - Directors Cut
GREAT POV (Point of View) film...brings me back to my Manchester days (just kidding), if anybody would have showed me this I would never have quit the Silver Bullets when I was 6. DANGIT!


Clothes! Shoes! Synchronized Swimming! (cool interview)
Jill Greenberg simultaneously showcase clothes and shoes and the U.S. Olympic Synchronized Swimming Team......I was lifeguarding.....one of the best photographer's you will find!

King Abdulaziz Centre for Knowledge and Culture
That's a lot of chrome......We ask ourselves....What do those guys do with the money from rising gas prices?.........hmmm I wonder!

Eleven Women House
My dream house....as long as I remember the right way to the bathroom at night! (DEF Check this out!)


The Democratic Party in 8 minutes
(this is no endorsement or put down....but it makes me laugh pretty hard.)



OK, so that should keep you crazy kids busy and entertained like a bowl full of cheerio's and a good Disney movie. Here is some good tunes for the morning to jam out in the shower.....PEACE, LOVE, JOY

BRAUN....and Patton

Opportunities, Creativity, and Fast Toys

How are we? If you haven't heard I completely adore planes.... or any aircraft for that matter. I fly but not nearly the level of this machine but I Got the chance to shoot a few of these guys this past week. Moral of the story....you never know when or how you will find new opportunities...get out there and lend yourself to chance.




If you don't, you should absolutely start using MOZILLA's FIREFOX the web browser. I love it....specifically it's all about customization and some reallllllllly sweet tools. MY favorite is the Pic Lens for it's awesome image viewing capabilities

Sometimes we just plain suck at getting creative, (atleast I do) This video gave me some serious encouragement. Don't stop believin!



Braun...and Patton

Define Transformation

Ok, so I'm totally sorry for leaving you so long. I've been on an assignment that, though I love and support the cause, I loathe the time it fully consumes. I will quit whining now. So on my 1 day off I got to shoot MORE...but for another awesome cause. The Villages TRANSFORM....Did this with about 700 photo's from the day. Music by Mos Def (yes the actor...sick) DIRECT LINK


Transform Lewisville (June) from donovanhouse on Vimeo.

Found these 2 video's that totally tripped me out. It really made me think about certain aspects of photography....morally, perhaps we do have a certain responsibility to our viewers. What do you think? Is our standard of beauty raised to the impossible level of flawless? Women, I can see now how stressed you are with these types of advertisements.



Short one tonite seeing as I am dog tired. will post more this week.....promise.

Don't stop believin!

BRAUN ...and Patton

Yes we can

Like anything, if you do something you love (like photography) but also do it for a living....you run a dangerous game of only doing it on the job. Solution....make time to shoot for yourself. Not for the art director, angry bride, or Newspaper Nazi.....

So often I find myself wondering the streets for inspiration...sometimes alone, often with friends.....a weekend's results of late night venting.




I have always loved political media and photojournalism. Barrack Obama has raised the bar in this arena....or maybe the bar has raised for him. I'd love to meet his speech writers...Makes you want to go change the world...after you vote....Thanks Jen






Where will we stand as a nation 50 years from now? Where will we stand as a Global Generation 10 years from now? I pray still wonderfully created different, yet united responsibly with what we have inherited as only ours to care for....recognizing we too will have to live with the facts of our choices during our time.

Sincerest hope for us and for you

BRAUN....and Patton

Flying and Inspiration

Recently I was blessed to do a shoot from a helicopter.....Little known fact....I LOVE FLYING, and if I can get behind the Yoke or Stick (Aviation for steering wheel) I'm totally game! -

To try and be original is the ultimate priority (most of the time) for photographer's. So imagine how hard that is when your stuck in the same place as every other shooter in a flying contraption.

Thanks Bill, amazing pilot!

Nascar Heaven

Just Me...A buddy's comment about this photo made me laugh, said I looked like Chase Jarvis...one of my photography hero's


Had to include this rad commercial from Lacoste. Can't wait for this gear to come out! (NOTE the sweet LCD on the soles of the shoes...WHAT!!!)

Lacoste-future
by lacoste-future

QUESTION: What inspire's you creatively. For me...I would say it's about 50-50% (probably less) of the time between actual photography and other forms of life...videos, architecture, movies, illustrations, car designs, machines.....WHAT INSPIRES YOU?


PHOTOGRAPHY STUD SHOUT-OUT: CHASE JARVIS

OK before you go tearing off into his cool video's. Props first...I have learned so much from this guy (never met before...but totally down if your reading CJ), from tech's and spec's of gear, to business, to philosophy and approach of concept. This guy rocks.


Have fun
BRAUN...and Patton

Storms and Opportunities

It's been a long time yes I know. Things have been crazy. Few Shot I have done lately.


I call this one Suburbia Heaven. Yes I know I need to clean my grill. Not a bad view most days


"Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm." - Churchill
I'm still waiting for mine. haha

So lately I have been in awe of nature. Not like the bark on the tree....which is cool, BUT I'm sure you can tell by my work I am addicted to clouds. I caught these photos and stood there remembering Matt Chandler saying "Who has stood before a raging sea and felt powerful".....I can think of 1 guy, but we can talk about that later. These are not ocean shots, but same principle applies I believe.

Created by Chile's erupting Chaitén volcano, which started spewing lava, ash, and lightning (!) on May 3rd, after behaving itself for 9,000 years. Who angered the beast?!

From the full story in National Geographic:

"The little-understood storms may be sparked when rock fragments, ash, and ice particles in the plume collide to produce static charges--just as ice particles collide to create charge in regular thunderstorms." The pictures, by Carlos Gutierrez of UPI/Landov, are pretty incredible. Hopefully people are staying as safe as possible. I'd love to have the 3rd one as a giant poster!








The other night I had the opportunity to shoot a really cool furniture store with John Harris and Michael Hawkins.

Question: what happens when you leave 3 photographer's in a furniture store all night to shoot whatever they want for hours without any real set hit list......like shooting almost anything hours upon hours, you can get bored.....and what happens when you get bored? You start deviating..........Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you deviation.

(I have never seen any of these guys really drink, personally I don't....but it's cool if you do, within reason)





Talk to you soon. Take care

Braun.....Patton