Midnight rider

midnight rider, originally uploaded by Mr. Wright.

Willie Nelson was the reason we were at the rodeo a couple years ago. Had to make sure I saw him play at least once. Now it's my goal to see him in a smaller venue. His exit, pictured here, was classic.

Jewelry set updated

skull in gold (detail), originally uploaded by Mr. Wright.

The word from Austin is that Amanda's stuff went over well tonight at the opening. The set is also coming together on Flickr, and I was looking for an excuse to post this photo, so here you go.

Wedding mania

dancing, originally uploaded by Mr. Wright.

I did unexpected double duty on Saturday, shooting two weddings in S.A. in one day. The highlight of the day/night/early next morning was a big group jam-out of "Bohemian Rapsody" at my friend Jessica's wedding. That's the bride and her mom, old family friends both, getting down through the "nothing really matters" part, I believe. They earned the right to party hard: the family hosted the wedding in their backyard, and it was one of the best setups I've seen yet.

Weddings join the party

spin your momma round and round, originally uploaded by Mr. Wright.

Yesterday I decided to go an extra step and put some information about the weddings I've shot on my site. The main order of business, though, was trimming the fat from the Flickr set. It's now down to a slim 23 photos (which is still more than double a standard portfolio, but I figure wedding shoppers want to see more than photo editors).

Check it out: Set | Slide Show

Several shots from Leslie and Bryan's sordid affair made it into the set, including a couple that I had never got around to editing. I did hate to leave out this one, which was great, but too similar to the shot above. Sadly, Clare's scandalous booze heist also didn't make the cut. Nor did Leslie's thwarted escape attempt, since, out of context, it kind of conveys the opposite of love and marriage.

Professionalism rides again

For the second time in six weeks out here, I found myself in search of a new job and a new apartment. I think the word for this move, as a whole, is "harried." More on all that later.

For now, Amanda and I have the apartment taken care of. Hopefully, within a month, we'll finally be settled in for the next year. In the meantime, I've decided to take a stab at working in a photography print shop, if I can find one that'll take me. That meant mattwrightphotography.com needed some shining. Turns out I had neglected it for the better part of a year. I'm sure that looked great to prospective clients.

It's in better shape now. Among the highlights are an up-to-date main page, a new little icon for your browser (although it's still not great), photo titles that I can't quite get to look as good as Kriston's, an updated About page (with the above photo by Wylie Maercklein), and an overhauled Black & White Portfolio -- now with photos taken since 2003! Like I said, this was long overdue.

Comments, suggestions, corrections, adulation are welcome.

Wordless Spoon

tiny sleeping spoon, originally uploaded by Mr. Wright.

Connectivity lost

cutest cat in town, originally uploaded by Mr. Wright.

For some reason I can only get internet at home through my Wii. So there's something at least entertaining in this space until I get it all worked out, enjoy some Spoon the Cat pictures that I can post from work super-quick. This one's still my favorite.

And we have connectivity

GB promo shot, originally uploaded by Mr. Wright.

Currently stealing a wireless connection from our new apartment in S.F. The trip was long, but great. Pictures coming soon. For now, all I've had time to do is touch up this promo shot I did for G.B. before I left town. This right before we got kicked out of the Blanton for being big, bad copyright art rebels. Rock on.

Wordless adorable

brothers, originally uploaded by Mr. Wright.

Unforgotten photos: Golden Bear at Emo's lounge

chris at emo's lounge, originally uploaded by Mr. Wright.

Will be taking Golden Bear's promo shots tomorrow, so it's time I finally got to this one.

This photo wins the award for picture that I've been meaning to edit for the longest time. Took it back in March and as soon as I saw reviewed it on my little LCD, I knew it'd be the best shot of the show. Put off editing it because I tend toward preemptive perfectionism if I think the frame is especially good. Of course, these are the pictures that need the least work, so it usually only takes a matter of minutes to tweak them when I do get to it. I prefer to think of this as a stewing process.

Forgotten photos: Modern-day cowboys

cowboys, originally uploaded by Mr. Wright.

Takin' in a Willie Nelson concert at the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo a couple years back. Willie played on a rotating stage right above where the Spurs would normally tip off their games, minus the dirt and all.

Forgotten photos: Display window frogs

store frogs, originally uploaded by Mr. Wright.

These were up at Tesoro's Trading Co., I think, about two years ago.

I bring the rock

louis silhouettes, originally uploaded by Mr. Wright.

Out now in stores across central Texas, Visitors' first full-length, Secrets, featuring this photo of Louis on the back, inside flap — you know, behind the clear plastic thing where the CD kind of snaps into place. An inverted version of the image also appears on the CD itself, giving you two opportunities to check it out as you put it into your computer to rip and then never see again.

But someday it'll be a collector's item, surely, given the tremendous upside potential of both my career and Visitors'. Buy it on speculation. Available on the Visitos site, at Waterloo or End Of An Ear in Austin, and Hogwild Records in S.A. Preview some tracks an you-know-where.

That's life

lone star summer, originally uploaded by Mr. Wright.

Not alcoholism, of course, even if I did just lose a job. That picture, though, says "Texas summer nights" to me as well as any I've taken, and for the last week or so it really has been summertime, living easy, etc.

I just realized that I never once mentioned on this blog that I was leaving the Washington Post. I guess actually the Post left me, and Austin. And I did tell anyone who would care about this news in person, anyways.

But it's now officially done. Adios, office by the capitol. Adios, sifting through endless news stories and answering phones. Adios, set schedule. Adios, insurance. (Hello, Cobra.)

Still got the Observer gig going, although I've already told them I'm almost certainly going to have to leave in mid-August. The lease on our apartment only runs through July, although we can stay at friends' and families' places around town for a couple weeks. But for now Amanda and I no closer to knowing what comes next than we were weeks ago.

I'm surprisingly non-worried about the whole deal. I sweated for a few days, then I said, eh, and started reading some good books (The Black Swan and The Corner, both highly recommended.)

And as for leaving the Post, it wasn't exactly gut-wrenching either. I was ready for a chance of pace, and it's weird working for a satellite office of a company (and industry) in flux and in a panic. From a distance, my impression of working in the D.C. newsroom could be equated to signing up for one of those prescription drug studies. Yeah, you might make out with some good dough, but it seems a little like walking into a social experiment. The politics and bureaucracy of such a high-profile institution sound like dubious waters to jump into.

That said, I enjoyed the job I had, and everyone I worked with, from my immediate boss, Sylvia (now back in D.C. with a new beat), to my editors to the other reporters I talked to on the phone were all real nice, professional, everything you'd expect. (And that's not just kissing ass in case anyone from the company ever stumbles across this blog, although that couldn't hurt.)

But the Post right now is all mixed-up, like most newspapers. It still produces some of the best and most meaningful journalism around, but it also produces a ton of bullshit. Like I said, weird to observe in bits and pieces from afar.

I could say more, but I don't know if it'd be interesting to anyone outside of journalism. I'll think on it. Sucks that already I've had to censor what I write on here because I want to be able to use it in job applications — and not have it ruin job references, for that matter. I mean, I've known the bureau was shutting down — excuse me, the company decided to reallocate resources to cover the 2008 presidential campaign — for like five months. I just couldn't say anything because it wasn't public knowledge in D.C. Closing bureaus, domestic and foreign, is a touchy subject in the industry these days.

Wrapping up my Jason coverage...

jason at joan grona gallery, originally uploaded by Mr. Wright.

Pictures from the show are up in a set on Flickr now. More photos from our going-away party will be added there later, likely friends-only in case any of Jason's future students go Googling for his email or something and end up on my photos.

As for the above photo, it was a total accident, since I fired the shutter before I had finished adjusting the controls. The effect was an overexposed bounce flash of the wall next to me coupled with a long shutter speed allowing the ambient light to blur in the background. Jason was standing outside of the glow of the light, almost entirely in shadow, which is why the crispness and exposure were preserved. I love the result, that he seems to be floating outside the backdrop. Photography so often is the art of happy accidents.

Puro San Antonio

stay classy, san antonio, originally uploaded by Mr. Wright.

Here's a picture from right after the Spurs victory parade, when people were buying up the Spanish cuss words in droves. Notice how the shirts cleverly avoid referencing anything that might be at all copyrighted. It's also funny to me that in about five years one of those shirts is going to end up in thrift store in, say, Deluth and make absolutely no sense. But hey, that's just how San Antonio rolls.

This is also how they roll: "Exclusive! The Express-News is the only newspaper in the world with a sketch of Eva's dress. See the full design in Sunday's paper."

And if you think the town isn't excited about that Sunday pull-out, well, you haven't realized that it's no coincidence it'll run on the day with the highest circulation.

Independence Day wordless

louis in motion, originally uploaded by Mr. Wright.

(Uh, given the title, there shouldn't be any text here, but I have to point out I stole the the idea from photographer Todd Deutsch, who does great work with ordinary subjects.)

In which I rediscover the joy of working in black and white

And, for kicks:



There's a narrative quality to B&W that I'd gotten away from.

Backflip

recover backflip, originally uploaded by Mr. Wright.

The band Recover got back together. At their reunion show, people flipped out.

Summertime

dad mucho happy, originally uploaded by Mr. Wright.