art, photography, random thought, travel, writing

south louisiana red fishin’

a few weeks ago, i had the priviledge of fishing the gulf for reds.

my good friends and clients took me on one of their corporate retreats to capture the activities of the weekend.

i didn’t fish much, but as you can image, i shot a ton. it was just too much fun…

we landed in new orleans, one of my favorite cities. but after a long cajun lunch and a few beverages, we headed south. way south.

in fact, i didn’t even know where we were going actually existed. thought it was all marsh land. no highways, buildings, people, etc.

i was obviously wrong. happens every once in a while…

we stayed at woodland plantation, a fantastic old set of 100+ year old structures.

one of which is the famous house on the southern comfort bottle.

local cat and mouse game.

but that mouse bites back.

so the next morning we rose early to a dense, eerie fog over the gulf.

we headed out, deep into the byways and bayous of deep south louisiana. the light was gorgeous for me. bad for fishing.

the fog finally cleared in the afternoon and we started catching a few fish.

back at the plantation, we could see the massive ships coming up the mighty mississippi river over the levee.

there it is… recognize it?

spirits hall was a 138 year old church, converted into what else… a bar!

beautiful on the inside.

the next day there was still plenty more fishing to do…

and alligators to watch…

it was a fantastic experience.

meeting these guys, the great food and drink, and of course that famous south louisiana hospitality.

i love my job.

all images and content © andrew r. slaton | photographer 2011

art, family, photography, random thought, travel

honeymooners

well, as they say, the honeymoon is (technically) over… however, it doesn’t really feel that way.

now i’m not just trying to score points here, i promise. the first month has been a total blast. it hasn’t been without it’s rough patches, but overall i’d say, the honeymoon has seemed to continued…

the night of our marriage, elle and i got to stay at the historic adolphus hotel in downtown dallas. totally cool. and a great view from our enormous balcony!

sipping fancy coffee in the morning by the big windows…

it was a relaxing morning for sure. luckily we didn’t have to rush… our flight to mexico wasn’t until that evening.

so then we arrived on the mayan riviera in mexico, and it did not disappoint! white sand beaches, crystal blue water, all the amenities of the caribbean, but much better prices. we had a blast!

and yes, of course i had to try a star picture over the caribbean…

may the honeymoon last another 50 years!!

art, photography, random thought, travel

new years: bongos and puke

elle and i went to inks lake state park near austin to camp for new years this year…

it was kind of a disaster. some college kids pulled in next to us late the first night. no big deal, i thought. they’re camping for new years… i’m sure they’ll be respectful of our space and peace. expectations crushed.

they were playing bongos until 5 0’clock in the morning. awesome.

and to top it off, i must have undercooked our bacon wrapped jalapenos, because elle got violently sick in the middle of the night.

it was an interesting way to ring in 2011.

but, we still managed to have a good time, strangely enough. and i get the feeling it’s a precursor for what the rest of our lives might be like: shattered expectations, sickness, rude people, etc. rolling with the punches.

in spite of it all, we enjoyed each other’s company, and were glad that we had one another with which to share this incredibly odd time.

here’s to 2011!!