R. Doug Wicker's Blog, page 169
July 10, 2015
Fun Photo Friday — David Williams in Old Mesilla
The Blue-Framed Window
Here are my favorites from the David Williams tour of Old Mesilla, New Mexico:
By the way, if you’re reading this and other material authored by me on The Destinary website, this post was not “Posted on (fill in the date) | By destinary” as they’ve been erroneously claiming; this material was in fact reposted. The Destinary have also been claiming the right to do so, without links back to the original and without full attribution (“by RDoug” and a nonworking link i...
July 8, 2015
The Williams Tour Part 2 — Still in Old Mesilla
San Albino Basilica
On Monday I mentioned the dining venues in Old Mesilla. Here is one such spot famous for its green chile cheeseburgers and green chili cheese wontons with pineapple jalapeño salsa, it’s called Pepper’s Cafe, which is co-located with the jointly owned Double Eagle steak house:
Pepper’s Courtyard
Speaking of the Double Eagle, this place is home to the 30-foot/9.1-meter hand-carved oak Imperial Bar. This alone is worth the trip just to see it.
The Double Eagle Imperial Bar
An...
July 6, 2015
The Williams Tour Part 1 — Old Mesilla
Old Mesilla Plaza
My very good friend from college, and best man at our wedding, decided to pay us a visit out here in the Wild and Wooly West. His name is David Williams, he attended Clemson University, and he loves the Great Desert Southwest. So when he comes out this way, we like to clear our schedule and give him a tour of the surrounding area. This time it would be Old Mesilla, White Sands National Monument, the Franklin Mountains here in El Paso, Cloudcroft, Mission Valley, and a place...
July 4, 2015
Holiday Repeat — How to Photograph July 4th Fireworks
Fireworks
It’s that time of year again, and here’s that perennial favorite on how to photograph July 4th fireworks:
I more and more frequently find myself using a simple point-and-shoot for much of my photographic needs, but occasionally I simply have to get out the more sophisticated equipment to get the most out of certain subjects. For these shots I used my trusty, tried-and-true Canon EOS 5D. The great thing about the 5D is that it was the first “affordable” digital single lens reflex (DS...
July 3, 2015
Fun Photo Friday — Take Me Out to the Ball Game
Daytime photograph is easy, but . . .
There are some tricks to capturing a sporting event, and it gets really iffy in nighttime, artificial lighting situations.
. . . nighttime? Not so much.
You have to balance your camera’s sensor limitations against the need to freeze the action. Remember, the smaller the sensor the noisier the image at higher ISO settings. This night I was using a Panasonic FZ1000 with a 1″ sensor because I needed the longer telephoto reach over my 1.5″ Canon G1 X, but tha...
July 1, 2015
El Paso Chihuahuas AAA Baseball — Southwestern University Park
Daytime Panoramic
Well, I believe this was a first. For the life of me I simply cannot recall ever having gone to a professional baseball game, although I’m sure I had to have attended at least one sometime in the past six decades. Nice park, don’t you think? And just a short while ago it was City Hall (see Getting Even with City Hall). So, imploding this:
El Paso City Hall
Into this:
Thar she blows!
On the same weekend El Paso also turned this (see The Demolition of a Historic Landmark):
ASA...
June 29, 2015
Stainless Colt .38 Super +P M1991A1 — How do you go bankrupt making something this good?
Colt .38 Super
Before we get to the Colt M1991A1 chambered in .38 Super +P, there will first be a giant rant on Colt’s mismanagement team:
In case you hadn’t heard the news, Colt Defense, which owns Colt’s Manufacturing Company, last week went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Chapter 11 theoretically means that Colt will continue to operate, reorganize and restructure its huge debt load, and eventually emerge as a viable company.
Don’t bet on it.
Sciens Capital Management has pretty much lootedthe...
June 26, 2015
Fun Photo Friday — Springtime in Paradise Favorites
Springtime Desert Flora
Today’s Fun Photo Friday is dedicated to the magnificent, rain-filled beauty of a Chihuahua Desert spring:
Filed under: Fun Photo Friday, Photography, R. Doug Wicker, travel Tagged: cacuts flowers, Chihuahua Desert, desert flowers, El Paso, Fun Photo Friday, ocotillo, photography, R. Doug Wicker, springtime flowers, travel, travel cactus, travel photography
June 24, 2015
Springtime in Paradise
Ocotillo Red
It’s been an absolutely lovely spring here in the Chihuahua Dessert in and around El Paso. This year we had an unusually wet spring, and the desert has been in full bloom as a result. So, today I present some of the flora and fauna from the surrounding area, and on Fun Photo Friday I’ll present some of my favorite shots from this year’s springtime blooms.
Filed under: Photography, R. Doug Wicker, travel Tagged: cactus, cacuts flowers, Chihuahua Desert, desert flowers, El P...
June 22, 2015
R&B Kitchen’s Food from the Soul — I’ll Be Going Back
Our two platters plus an extra side of yam
A good friend of mine whom I’ve known and worked with for many, many years recently asked me to review a restaurant into which he has invested. Norvel Green asked because he wanted an honest evaluation from a couple of known foodies — Ursula and me. I promised not to pull any punches, so here goes my honest evaluation.
R&B Kitchen’s Food from the Soul is located in El Paso’s Northeast side at 9787 McCombs Street (915-757-1515). And befitting it’s nam...
