Road Portraits One

OCTOBER 21, 2021 PREMIER POST: Brance Arnold and Sonic Radio at Koozies Ice House & Grill. Fellow traveler Walt at The Lighthouse Inn.

BRANCE ARNOLD / PHOTOGRAPHED AT KOOZIES ICE HOUSE & GRILL / NEW BRAUNFELS TEXAS

This is Road Portraits

Portraiture is one of my favorite disciplines. With Road Portraits, I’m bringing portraits to Drop Top Road Trips. Portraits starting with musician Brance Arnold.

WRITTEN & PHOTOGRAPHED BY: STEVE HOLLOWAY.

I played in bands all through high school. It’s how I paid for guitars, amps and gear. And my first car, a Ford Galaxie. And my second car, a 1967 Ford Mustang.

One of my classmates was Christopher Cross. Yes. The Arthur’s (movie) Theme (The Best That You Can Do), Sailing, Ride Like The Wind Christopher Cross. I could play and I could make money playing but I wasn’t that caliber of musician. Still, I got to play with musicians that were in bands with him and I learned what really gifted musicians can do.

So I can tell you, first hand, there aren’t many musicians who can move effortlessly from one discipline to another.

Brance Arnold can

Based out of San Antonio, this guitarist/vocalist divides his time between playing original and authentic Mississippi blues in Chacho & Brance, backing Vic Vega in Rod Stewart tribute gigs, providing guitar/vocals for Nashville/Austin/San Antonio singer, songwriter Ed Morales and performing with cover band Sonic Radio.

After several failed attempts to match our schedule to their calendar, we were able to catch up with Brance and Sonic Radio at Koozies on the Guadalupe River.

It was hot, like 98 degrees hot, but that didn’t stop them from delivering a solid 3 hours of killer rock and roll. Greatest hits and forgotten gems. From 80s hairmetal to 90s alternative to earlier tunes.

Look for Chacho & Brance, Vic Vaga, Ed Morales and Sonic Radio. Catch as many of their shows as you can. We’ve heard all four. All four are bad ass, dead on perfect.

SONIC RADIO IS (L-R) CHRIS LOWRANCE (BASS), MONTE RAMIREZ (DRUMS/PERCUSSION), CHRISTOPER NEW (LEAD VOCALS), BRANCE ARNOLD (LEAD GUITAR/VOCALS)

Koozies Ice House & Grill 8515 River Rd, New Braunfels, Texas. Sonic Radio Cover Band, Gig Salad.

WALT / FELLOW TRAVELER / PHOTOGRAPHED AT THE LIGHTHOUSE INN / ROCKPORT TEXAS

On The Road, Back to The Beach

WRITTEN & PHOTOGRAPHED BY: STEVE HOLLOWAY.

Ever have someplace you went to so often that you overdid it? You went so many times that you needed a break? That was us and the beach.

So we decided to skip a year. Then other trips came up and a year turned into three.

Then Hurricane Harvey happened and, for a long time, we just couldn’t bring ourselves to go back. To see what Harvey had done to the marinas, stores, restaurants and beaches in and around Port Aransas. Places we loved so much.

Finally, in 2021 we were ready. Ready to go back to the Texas coast. Back to the beach. Happily, the Port A we found was the Port A we remembered!

To get the total beach experience, we started with 3 nights in Port Aransas at the Gulf Stream Condos over Labor Day weekend. We’re talking people, families, and kids everywhere, swimming, cooking, digging in the sand.

That was followed by 3 nights at The Lighthouse Inn in Rockport, Texas. Labor Day weekend was over so it was just us and maybe 5 other couples. Peaceful. Quiet. The perfect contrast to the holiday weekend atmosphere of the first 3 nights.

ROCKPORT. The relaxing view of the bay from outside our room at The Lighthouse Inn. This 78 room historic hotel dates back to the early 1900s. After Harvey hit, the Lighthouse got a face lift so staying there now is an authentic experience much like the you would have had in their early days.

PORT ARANSAS. While you’ll find fried fish all over Port A (and believe me, we tried more than one), some of the best we ate was at Virginia’s On The Bay. We had oysters and, of course, shrimp (Port A is known for its’ fishing and shrimping industries). Straight from the bay, breaded and cooked to perfection, served with an awesome baked potato.

And, when they say “on the bay”, they mean the sitting at your table, watching the fishing boats, chased by gulls, come in for the day while you look at the marina and the boats on the dock kind of “on the bay”. Virginia’s is the perfect accent to the beach experience.

ROCKPORT, The Shoenstatt Shrine. It was in Rockport at The Lighthouse Inn that we met fellow traveler Walt. He and his wife were traveling with another couple. Walt and his friend are both retired Navy officers.

The couple traveling with Walt told us not to miss seeing the Schoenstatt Shrine. Which is good because, if we hadn’t been looking for it, we never would have known this tiny jewel was there.

Set in tranquil surroundings with calming views of Copano Bay we found the smallest chapel I’ve ever seen. A chapel that is special to Walt’s friends because this is where they got married.

Located next to the Schoenstatt Sisters of Mary, the chapel’s design is based on the order’s original chapel (built in Germany in the early 1900s). There are 10 pews, each seating 2 people. 20 in all. Other Schoenstatt Shrine chapels are located as close as Helotes, Texas and as far away as South America and South Africa. Today, The Schoenstatt Order has grown to over 1800.

Lighthouse Inn 200 Fulton Beach Road, Rockport, Texas. Virginia’s On The Bay 815 Trout Street, Port Aransas, Texas. Our Lady of Schoenstatt Shrine 134 Front Street, Rockport, Texas.

#roadportraits #sonicradio #kooziesicehousegrill #lighthouseinn #virginiasonthebeach #portaransas #rockport

Road Portraits Two features a stop by the Wildflour bakery on the way to Devil’s Backbone. It brings two of my favorite disciplines together, portraiture and food photography.

QUICK READ: LIVE PHOTO

Creating a Sense of Motion

This on-stage live image was captured in Live Photo mode using natural light on an iPhone 11 Pro Max with Beastgrip and Bluetooth release.

Post production included using the Long Exposure option in Live Photo to add motion to the on-stage image then offloading the images for background clean up, recombination and conversion to monochrome.

I capture all of my images with the iPhone Live Photo mode. Why? Because Live Photo gives me more options in post production.

Live Photo mode captures a high resolution key image and a lower resolution 3 second video clip starting 1.5 seconds before and running 1.5 seconds after the key photo is captured.

Later, you can choose to use that key image or add an option. Loop plays the video over and over. Bounce plays the video forward and backward. And Long Exposure uses AI to merge the images together and form a blur emulating a conventional long exposure.

Here’s how to use Long Exposure to create a sense of motion.