TexPix Publishing by Jim Domke

Simply hangs on the wall

2011-12-05T08:46:00.001-08:00

In this digital world, the cell phone, tablet. laptop and desktop computer is all syched to the internet making it easy to remember important dates and times. But the old paper wall calendar is still useful. It stays in one place, like the kitchen wall or bathroom to always remind you to write. Write down the phone number, or make a note to do something on that day.

The old-fashioned wall calendar doesn't require batteries and is a permanent record to remember the year, something to save with tax returns, like a photo album. Post-in notes, doodles while talking on the phone, along with when the bill is due or when the car needs to go in for an oil change, it,s there to show what makes the year unique.

The Original Texas calendar is focused on Texas, but not simply pretty landscapes. It shows Texas of today! Trying to put a different angle on the historic Victorian courthouse, doing some photo manipulation to bring out details in the Alamo and stopping to get a shot of Tex Ann along I-30.

The few of people wading down the Paluxy River in Glenn Rose catches people's eye when they notice the artistic looking leg on a young girl and realize she's an amputee.

The Original Texas calendar is available in many Texas gift shops and also on Amazon and Etsy websites. All for $9.95. You can fax TexPix Publishing at 817-561-9316 or e-mail jim.domke@texpixpublishing.com

Remember 2012 with an Original Texas calendar. . .

General Santa Anna's papers worth sharing_ JGD

2011-11-19T05:50:00.001-08:00

From the San Antonio Express papers in a private collection - will they get donated to a library and made public. Would be nice it they were at the Alamo. That would make sense, but not according to reports in the article.
SAN ANTONIO 11-19- A bound collection of the 1836 field commands of Mexican Gen. Antonio López de Santa Anna drew a high bid of $183,500 in a weeklong online auction of historical artifacts, many related to the Alamo.
The field orders, which include three entries from Bejar, or San Antonio, also include Santa Anna's last orders near San Jacinto, where he was captured after Texians defeated his army, securing Texas independence April 21, 1836.
In entries concerning the siege prior to the March 6, 1836, pre-dawn battle at the Alamo, Santa Anna mentions an artillery barrage that's believed to be the cannon fire Alamo commander William Barret Travis ordered in response to Santa Anna's demand for surrender.
"That's Travis's famous reply!" said Bobby Livingston, vice president of sales and marketing with RR Auction, the Amherst, N.H., auction house that held the sale Nov. 10-17.
The Mexican general also writes "with a certain bravado" about surprising the townspeople after arriving Feb. 23, Livingston said.
The anonymous Texan who bought the Santa Anna field orders is interested in having them on display, but probably not at the Alamo, he said.

Original Texas Calendar now available _ JGD

2011-09-21T12:46:00.000-07:00

The 2012 Original Texas Calendar is now printed, sold in gift shops or order direct from TexPix Publishing. We are also offering a special sticker to companiers looking for a way to thank customers. TexPix Publishing

Don't say it's a gas petal - JGD

2011-07-07T16:57:00.000-07:00

See all the ways to get around from the electric stand-up three wheeler, T3 Motion, to the little Italian electric sports car, van powered by propane, the Dallas compress natural gas dump truck and bus all using alternative fuels! Alternative to imported gas and diesel fuel.

It's about time we turn the page and move on, add some choices to best serve the various markets. Like running the huge power mower on propane rather than gas, new design for propane gas tank now makes it possible.

What I find exciting is American made scooters. Vectrix in New Bedford MA has a new VX-2, www.vectrix.com coming out this summer. Carry 2 passengers, go as fast as 30 mph and cover 40-55 miles before it needs recharging.

It is interesting seeing charging stations starting to appear for both electric and compressed natural gas. Best Buys store is even rumored to be planning to install charging stations in their store parking lots. Electric charge station will open in July near the University of Texas in Arlington campus for students with the Vectrix scooters.

DFW airport now has 3 Compressed Natural Gas stations which is motivating taxi drivers to convert to driving cars powered by CNG.

Now we have to be careful and say "accelerator petal" it may no longer be a "gas petal."

Postcards are great thank you notes

2011-06-10T11:34:00.000-07:00

Do you want to thank a customer for using your services, show him you take the business seriously and appreciate them as a customer. Talking to Cindy Olson at Silver West she thinks postcards get noticed and has started to send them to thank customers for using their limousines service.

Whether they're coming to Texas for the NBA Finals or the senior prom a thank you note means alot, and a postcard will be saved. TexPix Publishing sells Texas postcards to giftshops, resorts, hotels and restaurants throughout Texas. Now we have special B2B pricing for businesses to buy a pack of 50 cards at a special price. www.texpixpublishing.com

New cards coming out all the time, like the Texas Wildflower card TX35-1121. We also design custom cards and make sure they look good at affordable pricing. People like to send have cards to show friends where they are and what they are doing, rather than offer just one card why not a rack of 20 cards showing off all of Texas? TexPix Publishing is focused on Texas

New card shows off Fort Worth Stockyards

2011-05-24T13:22:00.000-07:00

New for 2011, the Stockyards postcard

(TX35-3122) from TexPix Publishing captures some of the sights and activities unique to Fort Worth's Stockyards. It's a mini-picture story of photos showing carriage rides, Frontier Day flag raising, steer wrestling sculpture along with passengers waving on the train. Framed on top is the ornate iron sign showing a longhorn that visitors see next to Billy Bobs.

This is one of three postcard highlighting sights at North Main Street and Exchange in Fort Worth. The first postcard (TX35-1120) is also a collage, showing the sign across Exchange along with the herd and Texas Stars.

But don't forget, the cattle drive (TX35-3109) showing the Texas longhorns being led down Exchange Street.

Mixing several images together tells more, preserves more memories to share with family and friends.

Safety Fair in Fort Worth

2011-04-26T06:24:00.000-07:00

Safety Fair is this week at the River Ranch near the Fort Worth Stockyards. TexPix Publishing will be there with it's new line of posters that can be customized to include company logo and important telephone numbers to call in case of emergency. Especially for the energy industry the attractive posters are 11 inches x 17 inches to fit in and make workrooms friendlier. You only need to order 5 posters to get a special one tailored to your company contacts. See you on Thursday, April 28 in Fort Worth.

See you at the Safety Fair on April 28

2011-04-13T07:54:00.000-07:00

TexPix Publishing offers safety posters to the energy industry, not only to look good but top give employees information they need to report an injury and get help. We custom print the posters with your contact information so they don't have to fumble in their phone or waste time searching in a desk drawer.

We're showing off the custom 11 in by 17 in posters at this months Safety Fair being held in fort Worth by the North Texas Exploration and Production Safety (NTEPS). Meeting at River Ranch at 500 NE 23 Street. See you there.

From cards to magnets

2011-03-12T16:29:00.000-08:00

Working with Evert Carter at Gift Marketing, we have reproduced some postcards as magnets.

Smaller than the postcard (3-in by 2-in) they can stick on any metal surface, whether it's in the car, office, or home.

Riders postcard (TX35-3117) takes advantage of Carter's exclusive design and digital imaging to create an eye-catching card that says Fort Worth, Texas. Where the west begins!

Safety First

2011-02-23T10:52:00.000-08:00

Everyone should stop and think before acting - - - posters help remind us to be safe.

The trouble is that most safety posters are ugly, uninteresting, sort of like an official inspection certificate posted near the door.
They have to look like government posting, or a cartoon for elementary schools? Why not put up something that is attractive, but useful?

TexPix Publishing wants to offer workers a Safety poster that looks good, worth seeing and with a message. This goes back to using words and pictures to get the message out, and takes advantage of our experience in publishing.

Focusing on the energy industry, the posters hook the viewer to one word and a photo that has a message. Safety first!

Is it San Antonio or does it say Texas?

2010-11-27T08:48:00.000-08:00

Here's the latest postcard from TexPix Publishing, TX35-6113, the six-thousand product number puts it in the selection of Hill Country cards. But, does this just capture San Antonio? It says TEXAS.

It should be on any rack as a general card, like the Lone Star flag or Bluebonnets.

Cards are available in gift shops throughout Texas, contact http://www.giftmarketing.net/

Texpix now has postcards covering ALL of Texas

2010-09-22T08:09:00.000-07:00

New cards published for gift shops include a combo of four scenes in East Texas (TX35-5101) and Houston (TX35-4102) Shown is the Houston combo - showing the mini train at Hermann Park compared to the MetroRail going down Main Street. View of the historic old City Hall building next to Tranquillity Park which is dedicated to the Apollo missions. The photo in the lower left includes a palm tree along with the skyline seen through the ferris wheel at the Aquarium. A sampling of what makes Houston special. For getting TexPix Publishing line of Texas postcards go to http://www.giftmarketing.net/ to see them all.

Postcards motivate you to get well

2010-08-31T10:34:00.000-07:00

The postcard versus a greeting card. For one thing the greeting card is bigger, has a message, costs more than postcards. Postcards are simply photos, with a little room in the back for a message. The best thing is that you can see the message immediately, don't have to open an envelope and take the card out. over-looked by hospital gift shops they are simple ways for patients to contact friends and family 24/7. More personal than a computer e-mail and you don't need to worry when it falls on the floor.

If you're a patient you often don't have a lot to say, but you are bored. Here's something to send to family that you can write after the nurse has woken you up at 4:30am to take your temperature.

Or, you can keep the postcard as a reminder of the world outside and places you'd like to see some weekend. It can be a reminder of past events and motivate you to get well.

Postcards make you feel better.

Calenders?

2010-08-23T15:52:00.000-07:00

Everything is going digital, but a calendar on the wall survives, it is a central location for everyone. Needs no batteries, and makes it easy to put important dates/notes for the entire year. Get a TexPix Publishing calender and remember what you need to do and when.

Industrial Revolution and Digital Revolution

2010-07-26T13:20:00.000-07:00

Listening to my local NPR station, KERA, interview Bill Rosen, author of Story of Steam, as he talked about the beginning of the industrial revolution in the 18th Century! It was way back then that the steam engine was invented, pioneered in England to pump water out of mines from here we have evolved to the creation of factories, trains, automobiles, mass market, etc.

He told how craftsmen who knitted socks by hand wanted to destroy the mills because it put them out of work, it had eliminated their craft. Just like the digital revolution is eliminating newspapers, changing news gathering and reporting, still photography. Thanks to the computer, not mention cell phones and Facebook, but to think it started in Philadelphia in the late 40's simply to help the military compute the firing range for huge canons.

So I wonder, in past revolutions how people adapt and change careers. Did they survive if they stuck to what they were good at, or had to somehow adapt it to meet new needs, or simply learn to do something new and different? Like get news online instead of paper.

If you were a blacksmith and saw the automobile. What should you do? We still have horses, but just for pleasure, not a necessity for daily life. So we don't need as many blacksmiths, but there are still blacksmiths today. But they look a lot different than 100 years ago, they're mobile and do other things with metal, like fencing, gates, etc.

So what about the postcard? Cellphones let you send instant postcards with personal messages, although it is still difficult and it stays in the machine. The old-fashioned postcard on paper sent by mail gets delivered in your mailbox, and is losing to the digital revolution. Just like the horse.

We have to change, but some people still like riding horses and getting postcards. They aren't dead, just different. They won't disappear. Postcards capture scenes differently. Getting the scene to look sharp, with good lighting that your digital phone isn't able to capture, plus you get a hand-written note from a friend. Something personal and a way to really show they were thinking of you and not just pushing a "send" button.

A postcard is something to put in your scrapbook, if you have one, or simply stick on the refrigerator ro remind you of happy moments.

Postcards will survive in the digital age, but email and cellphones are reducing the volume. I think postcads need to be more story telling and creative, to motivate the digital generation.

Time will tell.

TexPix Publishing by Jim Domke: Story telling

2010-07-23T08:16:00.000-07:00

TexPix Publishing by Jim Domke: Story telling

Story telling

2010-07-23T08:14:00.000-07:00

TexPix Publishing Card # TX35-3120

Here's a new postcard from TexPix Publishing showing the "Cowtown" as Fort Worth, Texas, promotes itself. Has photos taken in downtown shows today's variety: from Victorian architecture of the county courthouse compared to modern water garden or beaux-arts revival of the Bass Performance Hall contrasts to the Chisholm Trail mural.

A little bit of everything, give us variety and make things more interesting. Remember those science fiction cartoons, or even Star Wars where towns all have the same style. No variety. Ancient cities in north Africa, middle east, Asia also look the same as people live in the same homes they grew-up in and nothing has changed in thousands of years. Not so in Fort Worth, it shows.

TexPix postcards of Rt 66

2010-06-03T14:12:00.000-07:00

West Texas on Rt 66 by Jim Domke for TexPix Publishing

Here's a new card of the first Phillips 66 gas station in McLean Texas, built in 1929. Still standing, but not in service. Most people miss seeing it when the zoom across Oklahoma into Texas heading toward Amarillo, need get on I-40 business and drive a mile north to McLean. There is also a museum in the town, old movie theater and many abandoned gas stations. Postcard # TX35-7020

Comparing energy to media

2010-05-10T17:11:00.000-07:00

I've been reading Power Hungry by Robert Bryce, which looks at how civilization evolved from burning wood, to coal, steam, oil, and how he sees the future not in solar panels and windmills, but natural gas and nuclear reactors. He's very thorough telling how the world copes with changes and evolved taking advantage of power!

I started thinking a communication. Energy started with fire from wood, well with communication it started with oral communication. Story tellers. Then go to ink and paper, letters, etc., which leads to printing. Getting energy from wood has lasted a long time but now we find it easier to get electricity from coal, natural gas, wind turbines, solar energy and nuclear generators. In communications we still talk face to face, but have added magazines, radio, TV and the Internet.

Bryce talks about how inefficient some of these power sources are and need to move to natural gas and nuclear power. He sites how wind turbines and solar is a a waste of money.

Looking at communication I see magazines as the coal of communications and the Internet is like nuclear energy. I guess TV can be like natural gas. Hum. Coal is always going to be around, it might have peaked, but it isn't going away. I think the same is true for the print media.

Interesting similarities between communication and energy.

Cowboys Stadium postcard says Texas

2010-04-15T11:53:00.000-07:00

The Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, has 80,000 seat stadium with the world's longest single span roof, world's largest moving panel roof, world's largest moving glass doors and is a 2010 finalist for the "Grand Conceptor" Award from the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC). Winner announced at end of April, but the postcard is now available from TexPix Publishing. Shows the stadium at night under the full moon rising. Get it along with other cards showing off Texas at www.texpixpublishing.com - Order number Moonrise #TX35-3104

Spring line coming off the press

2010-02-05T07:26:00.000-08:00

Here's one of the new Tex Pix Publishing postcards coming out this spring to gift shops throughout Texas. Were printing new cards every week with photos taken by Jim Domke in Texas and printed in Texas!

Texas BlueBonnets and the Lone Star flag say it all! Contact me at jim.domke@gmail.com or Gift Marketing at texgifts@flash.net (866-944-0144)

Wearing a new hat? Self-publishing

2010-01-26T09:38:00.000-08:00

I have the photos, know publishing and have a salesman. So why not? TexPixPublishing is starting, offering postcards and greeting cards of Texas. Using original photos and some original themes, like home to presidents showing homes in Texas for Presidents Eisenhower, Johnson and Bush (both). Or, here's a layout that shows the Fort Worth Stockyards that includes the Longhorn trail drive in front of the Stock Exchange, a sign being placed warning drivers to stop, a picture of the Texas Trail and an overview of the Stockyards.

Other postcards are available showing the Texas Flag, Longhorns, Bluebonnets, energy and other images of Texas today! I'm focused on Texas.

Contact me or Evert Carter at Gift Marketing, Inc www.giftmarketing.net to get information on stores selling the TexPix Publishing postcard line near you.

Tips for getting the best photo

2010-01-19T07:08:00.000-08:00

Taking photos of people and activities in the Barnett Shale, Haynesville and other fields, I see everyone with a camera and hear about them taking a shot of a rainbow or wildlife near a rig. Photography is art and also a record of effects. Here are some tips for getting better oil and gas images (still or video).

1.) Safety first, need to wear the hard hat, safety shoes when on the site. Be careful where you go, use the hand-rail things are slippery, that means keeping the DSLR camera around your neck and not simply holding it. Images from point and shoot pocket camera and cell phone are getting better, but it is hard to see image on LCD in bright sun, sometimes trying to see puts you in risk of falling.

2.) National Geographic time, means taking photos when the sunlight is at an angle, this gives depth to the photo. Color photos look best in sunlight, black and white likes an overcast sky.

3.) Fill-flash outdoors. If you are taking a photo of a valve or people working and they are 10 feet away or closer. Turn on the flash and open up the shadows. This works for both sunny and cloudy days. Experiment with underexposing and using the flash to make the sky a deeper blue.

4.) Don't be afraid to lay down on the job. This means to take photos from different angles, remember the horizon line should not cut down the middle, but be in the upper or lower third of the frame. Getting down low can remove distracting background so there is simply sky in the background.

5.) Don't forget details. PowerPoint slide shows are more informative when you show some specific features, not just the entire site. Move in and show the Dog House or tools used for a job.

6.) For outstanding photographs, call the experts. As a professional I'll take advantage of the situation to come back with images that show what is happening and are full of information. I use a variety of lenses, know light and color, and tag images so you can find them on your server.

Specialist in covering industry, digital imaging specialist with the right equipment, will result in the best possible images. And save you time and money. Please share your photo needs with me and I'll share my digital imaging expertise with you! www.jimdomke.com

It's 2010, look at what Wilson Hicks said in1952 still applies.

2010-01-04T09:12:00.001-08:00

Wilson Hicks, founding photo editor for Life magazine in 1937 and who went on to become the executive editor, is also credited for writing in 1952, Words and Pictures, the first book about photojournalism. With 2010, I happened see my 1973 reprint and was curious as to how out-of-date it must be. What with the mass media magazine having been replaced by cable TV and print media hit by the internet.

Hicks never imagined this change in the media, but what he says about visual communication still applies. Whether still, video or multi-media, "the all-important premise that it is the photographer, and not the camera, that takes the picture."

60 years ago he comments about how many people either view photographers as "madmen" or "photography is easy (what a soft way to earn a living!)." They saw it easy even in the days of film, when you had to develop and print by hand!

He felt the "madmen" image came from portrayals in films and the stage, and today seeing the paparazzi chasing after celebs it still fits.

With auto-everything cameras, billions of images getting uploaded onto the internet and citizen journalists see the easy money idea, along with easy fame. Hicks said that "however, as in golf or poker, beginner's luck is short-lived."

"The camera is one of the most efficient instruments that science has produced, and the temptation is strong, even after mechanical mastery, to let it do too much of the job," Hicks hits the nail on the head with digital photography.

He concluded that anyone can take a good photo, "good newspictures are taken accidentally everyday; now and then, accidentally a great newspicture is taken. A non-photographer . . .can take a good, even a great, picture if he happens to be in the presence of good or great picture material, aims his camera and pushes the button. But it is the event that is good or great, not the photograph."

"When the photographer sees it, and sees it well, it has a chance to be penetrating and often is," Hicks says in an attempt to explain the difference between a professional and amateur.

Hicks mentions television as something "combining sight and sound," as something that brings an immediate comprehensive reaction and can "produce the greatest impact, emotional or intellectual." Compared to printed page where you see the picture and then read the caption and get drawn into reading the story.

"When pictures and words are organically related and their values balanced to create a single effect . . .the total of the complex - words and pictures - becomes greater than the sum of its parts."

How does this apply today? Now we have cable TV, cell phones, and the internet.

And what about citizen journalism vs. professional journalists. Hicks stresses the role of the editor, as well as the role of words, "although the photograph frequently conveys something of the spirit as well as the reality of a subject, in both respects it has shortcomings, for which only words can compensate."

"It becomes the duty of words to provide the facts of before and after. The camera can go just so far. Words go the rest of the way," says Hicks.

Which reminds me a of a photo I took for the Philadelphia Inquirer (see above) during the New York City blackout in 1978. Gary Haynes, Director of Photography, saw it as a big story, but without power we weren't getting any photos from NYC. Being 90 miles away we were close, many readers had friends in NYC and it could happen to them, we needed a photo to go along with the story.

But what happens when you get cut off from electricity?

Haynes imagined that everything would look deserted and maybe an aerial view of Times Square would show the effects of the blackout. I was assigned to show the empty streets.

I took off and when we got to Times Square, it didn't say power failure. It looked simply like a Sunday morning, with some traffic and a few people walking. How do you show blackout? We needed to look around. Find something, anything. However, the helicopter pilot warned me that we didn't have much fuel. But I didn't have any photos!

I saw some smoke over in Long Island, it was action, something happening. So we flew over for a look. It wasn't a house fire, but looters! The streets were strewn with empty boxes and filled with people carrying things! I had a picture showing what was happening!

We got back and nobody could believe it!

We called the reporter in NYC who was unaware of the looters, and couldn't confirm it. Some of the editors were afraid to run the photo till a reporter confirmed it, finally, the reporter was able to contact the police. Yes there was looting!

We had exclusive, breaking news for the morning paper, unfortunately, power came back during the night and television beat us. Took the newspaper to show what was happening back in 1952, today the cell phone immediately lets everyone see and hear it.

Life magazine in 1937 formalized still photography with an advertisement saying, "the camera is not merely a reporter. It can also be a commentator. It can comment as it reports.. It can interpret as it presents. It can picture the world as a seventeenth-century essayists or a twentieth-century columnist would picture it."

CBS's Sunday Morning found a story on a citizen journalists blog, then they reshot some more interesting subjects and made a story. Good for CBS and good for the blogger who will use the Sunday Morning show to promote her workshops for people interested in doing good.

I wonder what Wilson Hicks would say about photojournalism in 2010?

It's 2010, look at what Wilson Hicks said in1952 still applies.

2010-01-04T09:12:00.000-08:00

Wilson Hicks, founding photo editor for Life magazine in 1937 and went on to become the executive editor, is credited for writing the first book on photojournalism in 1952. With the new year I happened to look over the my 1973 reprint curious as to how out-of-date it must be, Life, Look or Time, etc have been replaced by TV and the internet.

Hicks never imagined the change in media, but what he says about visual communication still applies. Whether still, video or multi-media, "the all-important premise that it is the photographer, and not the camera, that takes the picture."

60 years ago he comments about how many people view photographers as "madmen" or "photography is easy (what a soft way to earn a living!)."

He felt the "madmen" idea came from portrayals in films and the stage, and today seeing the paparazzi chasing after celebs.

With auto-everything cameras, billions of images getting uploaded onto the internet and citizen journalists the easy money idea has also become easy fame. Hicks says in 1952 that "however, as in golf or poker, beginner's luck is short-lived."

"The camera is one of the most efficient instruments that science has produced, and the temptation is strong, even after mechanical mastery, to let it do too much of the job," Hicks hits the nail on the head with digital photography.

He concluded that anyone can take a good photo, "good newspictures are taken accidentally everyday; now and then, accidentally a great newspicture is taken. A non-photographer . . .can take a good, even a great, picture if he happens to be in the presence of good or great picture material, aims his camera and pushes the button. But it is the event that is good or great, not the photograph."

"When the photogapher sees it, and sees it well, it has a chance to be penetrating and often is," Hicks says in an attempt to explain the difference between a professional and amateur.

It's interesting how in the Sixties photography started off away from documentary and into fine art, personal statement. Whereas painters were beat out by photography for a true realistic portrait, it didn't have as much respect as a painting. There was a movement to make it art. They choose to ignore the strengths of the camera as a journalistic chronicle, but as art they make personal statements. There is a place for both, but it is freezing time and capturing a moment makes the camera unique.

Hicks mentions television as something "combining sight and sound," as something that brings an immediate comprehensive reaction and can "produce the greatest impact, emotional or intellectual." This compared to printed page or online, where you see the picture and get drawn into reading the story.

"When pictures and words are organically related and their values balanced to create a single effect . . .the total of the complex - words and pictures - becomes greater than the sum of its parts."

How does this apply today? Cable TV, cell phones, and the internet.

This goes back to the citizen journalism vs. professional journalists. Hicks stresses the role of the editor, as well as the role of words, "although the photograph frequently conveys something of the spirit as well as the reality of a subject, in both respects it has shortcomings, for which only words can compensate."

"It becomes the duty of words to provide the facts of before and after. The camera can go just so far. Words go the rest of the way," says Hicks.

Which reminds me a of a photo I took for the Philadelphia Inquirer during the New York City blackout. Gary Haynes, Director of Photography, saw it as a big story, but without power we weren't getting any photos from NYC. Being 90 miles away, many readers had friends in NYC and it could happen to them, but what happens when you get cut off from electricity?

Haynes imagined that everything would look disserted. It was the lead story, but we didn't have any photos! With little time before the 6 pm deadline, the editor thought an aerial view of Times Square would show the blackout. You can't go anywhere without electricity, so I was told to show the empty streets.

I took off and looking down onto Times Square it didn't say power failure. Rather, it simply looked like a Sunday morning, with some traffic and a few people walking, we could use a file shot.

How do you show blackout? The helicopter pilot warned me that we didn't have much fuel, and needed to fly back. But I didn't have any photos!

I saw some smoke over in Long Island, it was action, something happening. So we flew over for a look. It wasn't a house fire, but looters! The streets were strewn with empty boxes and filled with people carrying things! I had a picture showing what was happening!

We got back and nobody could believe it!

We called the reporter in NYC who was unaware of the looters, and couldn't confirm it. Some of the editors were affraid to run the photo till a reporter confirmed it, finally, the reporter was able to contact the police. Yes there was looting! Took a photo to get the words!

We had an exclusive photo, unfortunately, the power came back during the night and television scooped us.

Life magazine in 1937 formalized still photography with an advertisement saying," the camera is not merely a reporter. It can also be a commentator. It can comment as it reports.. It can interpret as it presents. It can picture the world as a seventeenth-century essayists or a twentieth-century columnist would picture it."

Promoting words and pictures. Today in 2010, with cell photos and pocket video cameras the citizen journalist often scoops the professionals. Is the still photo out of date? I think freezing the moment gives the mind time to see it and remember it. The trouble is that professionals need to earn a living and magazines are dying.

Even the CBS Sunday Morning show on Americans who are giving back got the story from a blog. Saving it money.

Who is a freelancer?

2009-12-30T07:32:00.000-08:00

A freelancer is an entrepreneur. Could also be called a sole-proprietor or a consultant. Or, it could mean that they are out of work. Simply unemployed.

Saying your a freelance writer, photographer, artist, etc. means different things to different people. I've never heard any say freelance lawyer or freelance actor. Lawyers have their own "practise." And you may be on the cast, but the show ends and you are on your own, auditioning for another role --- freelancing.

Webster's New World dictionary defines FREELANCE as " writer, musician, artist, etc. who is not under contract for regular work, but whose writings or services are sold to individual buyers. Is this good or bad?

For photographer Bob Sacha it is good, he worked for newspapers, corporations and on staff of production studios, but he always comes back to being a freelancer. He quit his staff job in December because he wanted to be creative and do his own work. Editing other people's work wasn't as much fun.

I think it takes a certain type of person to be a freelancer. For one, the freelancer needs to come up with ideas. It is coming up wit ideas that get them in trouble when they are on a staff and want to do things differently, but it is the reason editors like using freelancers. They like getting fresh ideas.

The staff gets into routine and is afraid to change, the freelancer is looking for new angles, something different to pitch to editors and get noticed.

Good ideas isn't the answer, editors have given assignments to freelancers with good ideas and then never seen the story. The editor wants a professional, someone they trust to come back with a story that can be published. Saying you freelance can mean that you just graduated from college and can't find a job, and being unknown to the editor they probably won't even look at your story idea. You need to network and get in with the editor, so they trust you and take your ideas seriously. This often means doing stories for free, simply to prove you can do it.

So freelancing means different things to different people. In Dallas, Texas, we formed the Freelance Alliance which meets to here about the best practice for managing a business, and ethics. To the banker it means I'm unemployed. So many of my friends look for new titles, some forming businesses so they can put LLC after their name or add "media consulting, or "editorial consulting."

Consulting is for IT industry and technology, freelancing is for creativity and nothing to be ashamed of.

The photo story in the 21st century

2009-12-03T06:59:00.000-08:00

Covering energy I pulled together photos taken of oilman T.Boone Pickens at a book signing combined them with photos shot at a town hall meeting in Fort Worth and posted it as a "picture story" at the "citizen journalist" web site Demotix.

A little photo story like I use to do for the San Francisco Examiner and the Aspen Times. Photojournalism tells a story and is a series of photos. It works with words to tell the whole story.

I've been looking for this type of web site, I tried Flicker, which is a snapshooter paradise, landscape photographers and digital artists. It maybe nice for families to communicate, but not journalists.

Facebook helps share my images with friends, but Demotix is photo reporting. And, you don't have to pay them a monthly rent, if the photos sell they get 50%. It reaches both online and print pubs and I look forward to posting more picture stories on energy.

Just like the good old days.

Pickens Plan story

2009-12-03T06:36:00.000-08:00

http://www.demotix.com/news/pickens-plan T.Boone Pickens acknowledged that he's old (80 yrs) and has plenty of money (billionaire), but isn't going to sit back. Although he has nothing to prove he sees importing oil as stupid. Not good for the economy, because foreign powers simply can stop the supply and force the government to comply with their wishes or it raises the prices. Take advantage of what we have, natural gas, wind and sun.

Left my lens cap in San Francisco

2009-11-17T08:15:00.001-08:00

I was there in "Bagdad by the Bay" as San Francisco columnists called San Francisco. In 1971, some called a suburb of New York City because a lot of writers lived there but worked for publications based in NYC. It was home of the Rolling Stone Magazine, which had to move to NYC. This was where Bill Graham presented huge concerts at Filmore. Native Americans occupied Alcatraz Island, Black Panthers marched in Oakland, Xerox invented the desktop computer in Palo Alto, there were weekly war protest. It was an interesting time to be in San Francisco.

I'm wondering if this was happening throughout America or was San Francisco and the Bay Area unique. I don't remember any other spot in the country where so much was happening. Bay Area Rapid Transit was almost ready to begin service, and Castro street was starting to hop to a different beat.

The Church of Scientology was booming and holding meetings in warehouses south of Market which were being converted to artists lofts. San Francisco was unique and different from the other parts of America. I wonder if it is still on the cutting edge? The paper covered press conferences called by unknown groups protesting this and that.

I photographed roller derby, veterans returning from Vietnam, protest marches, occupation of the Vietnamese consulate, Patty Hearst's kidnapping, along with festivals, sports, as well as, the traditional newspaper assignments covering fires and accidents for the San Francisco Examiner. I won California Photographer of the Year in 1972, and at the time I didn't think my portfolio seem to be much different than what a photographer anywhere in America might have seen.

For a newspaper photographer the portfolio was judged on versatility, ability to come back with a publishable sports photo, portrait, news photo, feature shot and picture story. Tri-X and be there.

Now they admit it, we are low on oil

2009-11-10T06:14:00.000-08:00

Now they say it. Story in The Guardien newspaper in United Kingdom reports on International Energy Commission report on how we have peaked on oil reserves. Move over oil, let natural gas take over.

I'd like to see:

1.) Company fleets, trash trucks, UPS, etc. get off diesel and onto compressed natural gas, CNG.
2.) New homes and existing homes come with CNG hook ups
3.) More CNG passenger cars/vans/pick-ups on the market.
4.) Tax incentives to make the switch to CNG
5.) Every gas station have CNG pumps.

It isn't that complicatied or difficult to get off oil and move to more environmentally safe natural gas. I'm interested in helping show how easy it is with words and pictures, online or in print.

Kanza Folk Art is tied to the land

2009-10-29T15:49:00.000-07:00

http://dgorton.com/liggett/m_t_liggett.html Mountains aren't going anywhere, but when you see a folk artist's you have to take a photo.

Creative and inventing figures out of scrap iron, but Liggett wants to speak out and rather than writing letters to the editor he uses art.

Photographers are inventors.

2009-10-26T11:40:00.000-07:00

Every once in awhile someone will contact me about how I invented the Domke Bag. The secret is that a lot of photographers had the same need and I was lucky. Right place and the right time.

I had been looking for a better bag since I was in college, going to army surplus stores and sports shops looking for bags that might work for camera gear rather than fish. I was satisfied with the Orvis fishing bag, but it wasn't perfect. Nothing would have happened until the Philadelphia Inquirer director of photographer, Gary Haynes, hadn't gotten tired of replacing camera bags and was willing to buy enough for the entire staff.

Instead of trying to find someone who knew how to sew to make just one bag, I was looking for someone to make 20 bags and a local awning shop could make money filling the order. Nobody wanted to make just one bag.

As far as the awning shop was concerned, it was a chance to use up some scraps they had lying around. But we wanted the camera bag had to be stronger than the Army surplus bags that the paper was replacing every few months, when the strap or seam ripped. #8 canvas duck, heavy industrial sewing machine and sew the strap all the way around the bag.

I never thought about making it a business, but with the large order from the paper, I'd converted my fishing bag to be a real camera bag. Dimensions had to be changed to better fit cameras and lenses, rather than fish. Also, why not put pockets on all the sides (including the top flap)! Leather was too expensive, so keep it in canvas. It just needs to be strong, rugged bag. Nylon was too light, adding padding takes up room and reduces flexibility.

The timing was right, there was a real need, and my boss was cheap. Competing with the Philadelphia Bullitin the accountants were trying to hold down costs.

He also wrote a weekly photo column for the Inquirer and got the idea that he could sell the bag to readers, like the paper sold photos, it would help cut photo expenses. He had to buy film, chemicals, paper and cameras. By selling the camera bag to readers it would help reduce expenses.

Over a 100 readers sent money for a "Inquirer Bag," and the camera stores used it as an excuse for not advertising in the paper. The advertising department was furious, Haynes had to stop ASAP. But more people wanted the bag, I wanted to take photos.

I had one photographer tell me that if I wasn't going to do anything, they would. They hadn't done anything to help so far, so I'd do it. Then the paper went on strike. I was out of work, but the bag could be a part-time business!

J.G. Domke Enterprises, Inc started with a post office address a block away from the newspaper and working out of the house. Ordering 20-50 bags, it was good business for the awning business.

No planning, it just happened, the timing was right as new SLR's and accessories came onto the market, beating out Kodak's launch of the compact Disc camera. Picture quality won out and photo dealers liked selling extra lens, flash and a camera bag.

For the serious photographer he needed to carry lots of film, and lots of lenses to get the picture. The magazine photographers had to shoot one camera with color and then another camera with b/w film. A lot of gear and we exchanged ideas about how to get the most gear into the bag, taping film cans together helped, and gluing lens caps back to back helped.

I always worked with a bag, it wasn't a storage container, but something I needed to have so I could get the filter, flash, film, etc. ASAP and get the picture. For the newsphotographer seconds matter, and you can't come back the next day, you need to get the best picture and make the deadline. A professional camera bag is a tool.

More about cameras bags and inventing to some . . .

The other unconventional gas play in Texas

2009-10-09T08:51:00.000-07:00

Barnett Shale Field may be the granddaddy, where producers mastered the technology to recover natural gas from unconventional formations. But it seems like everyday there are additions to the family, The Houston Chronicle reports on the latest find, the Eagle Ford shale in South Texas.

Its advantages includes lower production costs, easy terrain and a local population land owners who "have grown comfortable with the industry after decades of oil drilling," the Chron reports.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/energy/6653999.html

At a recent meeting by Society of Petroleum Engineers meeting on "Unconventional Resources" engineers and geologists heard how Houston based Petrohawk got in early and saw Eagle Ford (south of San Antonio and along the Texas/Mexico border) better than the Haynesville Field in Shreveport.

Photo by Jim Domke, www.jimdomke.com shows geologist looking at core samples from Haynesville.

Energy Pix Publishing says it all

2009-09-27T08:55:00.000-07:00

Photos capture memories, or that's how Kodak likes to say and as a journalist I feel they help tell the full story. Words and pictures. But after they appear in the publication are they forgotten?

They are history and need to be preserved, and shared. When Studio IJN bought a top-of-the-line Ricoh's C990 laser printer I decided to take advantage of the digital printing press and turn my photos into greeting cards!

When I was running Domke Bags I took the holiday season as a moment to remind all my suppliers, media contacts, dealers and friends that I was alive. Living in Philadelphia, but growing up in Colorado pulled me to cards with western images. An American image for the American camera bag.

So I wonder if the energy industry would like to show off? I guess old photos with funny captions would catch the attention, but then they all start to look the same.

My cards a 21st Century, digital technology and in full color, just like technology in the energy industry. Laser printing means we can customize the cards adding signatures, group photos, comments inside. Which helps it stand out and be notices. Everyone likes getting a seasons greeting, wishing them the best for the coming year.

Contact me to see samples of EnergyPix cards.

Seasons bests,

Jim

Sprawl of energy

2009-09-17T11:03:00.000-07:00

From Tennesee congressman Lance Alexander opinion page story in the Wall Street Journal on the land it takes for various energy for example:

Natural gas needs eight and petroleum needs 18. Wind farms require over 30 square miles.

This "sprawl" has been missing from our energy discussions. In my home state of Tennessee, we just celebrated the 75th Anniversary of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Yet there are serious proposals by energy developers to cover mountains all along the Appalachian chain, from Maine to Georgia, with 50-story wind turbines because the wind blows strongest across mountaintops.

Let's put this into perspective: We could line 300 miles of mountaintops from Chattanooga, Tenn., to Bristol, Va., with wind turbines and still produce only one-quarter the electricity we get from one reactor on one square mile at the Tennessee Valley Authority's Watts Bar Nuclear Plant.

Hum, it all figures into the equation. Petroleum has advantages and I can show it. Photos and Graphics by Jim Domke

Energy Pix is now publishing greeting cards showing domestic drilling - please e-mail jim.domke@gmail.com to find a thank you card or holiday greeting card with energy.

Remember the 1969 Moon Landing

2009-07-20T12:28:00.000-07:00

40 years ago man landed on the moon and I was in Aspen Colorado, where the Rocky Mountains made it impossible to get any TV signal.

No cable TV and No internet.

Just radio and I stayed in the newspaper office to listen to the radio that man had landed on the moon.

I was hired for $40/week to be the lab man, but they'd be happy to publish anything I'd shoot on my own.

A weekly paper that didn't have a staff photographer, the reporters took their own photos and I was hired to simply develop and print their pictures.

But I immediately jumped at the chance to TAKE photos andthe reporters jumped at the chance to STOP taking photos.

It was a wonderful experience, I took classes at the Center of the Eye photo workshop which was similar to the Maine Photo workshop or Santa Fe Photo workshop. At the end of the summer I left to go back to J-School at the University of Missiouri, but I had opened the publisher's eyes. The paper entered my photos in the Colorado Press Association yearly competition and won first place in photography. And they decided they needed a staff photographer! not quite as big an event as man landing on the moon, but a major step for the Aspen Times.

Here are 2 of my clippings, on the left is a photo of the sculture by Northern Illinois University students titled "White Mountain" created for the 19th International Design Conference, where Peter Ustinov and Robert Lowell spoke about the future. Rev. William Sloane Coffin said he liked seeing a gathering of humans interested in design rather than designers interested in humans. On the right is a picture page I did on the summer rodeo, where the main photo was a clown getting lifted into the air by a bull.

All the photos are Tri-X, black and white, but the reproduction was terrific. I worked with the printer to get the snap with a bright white and rich black. This is different from other printers who will see the photographer's prints as too contasty and work to flatten everything down so there was tone in whites and detail in blacks. The photographers found this as too flat and only made more contrasty prints. Nobody liked the end result. Even though we were in the commmunication industry, we had trouble communicating with each other.

www.jimdomke.com

2009-07-17T06:56:00.001-07:00

Wow! I'm focused on covering energy and taking advantage of digital technology to publish images in slide shows, online and in print. Building up a collection of images I can create 1 or 1000 greeting cards or calenders. This brings together my experience in journalism, photography, printing and business. Check out my site to see more

Learning to adapt is a challenge

2009-06-15T13:17:00.000-07:00

So some people are crying wolf saying newspapers are dead, yet people like to read the news on paper rather than online. Some say the problem is in the content, it needs to be personal? But the real problem is that newspapers survive on advertising.

Besides the newspaper organizations can find new customers simply from word-of-mouth, radio, tv, direct mail, and the internet. Even better is a fundraiser, it makes money as well as promotes the organization. Photos can also be sent to the newspaper and posted on the web.

Fundraisers are a great way to help the community and your business. Especially for clubs and sports teams. Offer a photo that families will keep and display to friends and family. This helps everyone remember how they spent the summer and helps the club raise some money for travel expense, awards, equipment, etc.

I look forward to helping local clubs grow with great action photos and portraits of members, who enjoy doing what they are doing.

Call me at 469-231-7440 and lets take some fun pictures of your club members.

Look how far we've come since 1909!

2009-05-26T07:14:00.000-07:00

Over the Memorial Day weekend I've had time to catch up on some reading. Photographing the Barnett Shale boom has aroused my curiosity as to the evolution of drilling for oil and gas in Texas, America and around the world and with some spare time over the weekend I started reading Ruth Sheldon Knowles's history of American oil exploration, The Greatest Gamblers.

Traveling around Texas for Fort Worth Basin Oil and Gas magazine I have seen lots of pump jacks and rigs. But a hundred years ago it was different, all cutting edge with America the worldwide leader in known oil reserves.

In 1909 there were 90 million people living in the United States, but only 200,000 of them owned the new high tech automobile. Most didn't think it was going to replace the horse or the bicycle or the trolley. It was simply a toy for the rich, but in 1909 things changed. it was this year when Henry Ford announced he would produce the Model T, a car "built for the multitude."

This same year, 1909, in New York City, is when Wilbur Wright flew his "ackward flying box" around the Statue of Liberty. They had all this oil and didn't know what to do with it, pumping in Texas, California, Illinois, Oklahoma and Louisiana. And wildcatter wanted to find more, they ended up having to sell it for less than it cost to drill it.

What a combination, if it wasn't for one the other wouldn't have been possible. The airplane needed a gasoline engine, and with so much oil they needed to find a use for it. Today, 100 years later, we have another revolution, the Internet is like oil and the computer like the automobile. Does it compare?

I wonder if we can follow how the petroleum industry evolved and predict how the digital age will go. Back a hundred years ago there were 100s of automobile makers, now only a few are struggling to survive. Can we compare the auto maker to the software programmer? This can be compared to Standard Oil and how John D. Rockefeller had a monopoly on processing all the oil coming from Pennsylvania and Ohio. Was Rockefeller like Microsoft?

The "gamblers" were the wildcatters and today it is the software designer. They make money and then spend it all looking for the next big oil field. Upload a program and see how many downloads?

It is interesting comparing 1909 to 2009. It isn't the same, or is it?

Comparing apples to pineapples

2009-04-07T06:50:00.000-07:00

Newspapers are dead! But photography is alive, capturing the moment and seen by people on the web.

So journalism schools are trying to catch up and find their place, like Columbia U and Mizzou. The content is still around, and you still need editors.

With all the changes, after 25+ years I still say I'm a photographer - - - a professional photographer skilled at communicating in words and pictures, whether its multimedia slide shows, phone directories with photos, or a portrait to hang on the wall. I'm also an editor, who is interested in getting the message across to the viewer.

Marketing in Facebook, is good if you have something visual. Photos help tell the story, whether it's just one photo or a series, photos pull viewers into reading the blog!' Video is nice, but it takes more time to boot up and then to watch. I like to keep it short, 30 sec slide show with words and pictures.

Photography are not dead!

Focusing on portraits, I try to take advantage of technology to get the message across. Show who you are, portraits of things, show what it looks like. Tie the person to their profession like I did with Leah, who sells ads for Fort Worth Basin Oil & Gas. With digital I can easily take her to the oil rig on a sunny day when the light is right, this lets viewers quickly see the market she serves.

by Jim Domke, taking portraits of people and things in Dallas/Ft Worth - jim.domke@gmail.com

Prices vary, depending on who is paying

2009-03-13T06:17:00.000-07:00

French energy giant, Total predicted this week that oil prices of $40-$45 a barrel this year will rise to an average of $60 next year, said Jean-Jacques Mosconi, vice president of strategy and planning. He also said they were hoping oil prices would rise further to $80 in 2011. This is lower than T. Boone Pickens forecast of $100/barrel.

In the latest poll in February, analysts' consensus on oil prices will average around $55 for 2009. Remember last year? Back then international oil prices averaged around $95 a barrel last year and they peaked above $147 that summer. But the global recession has slashed oil demand and pushed prices down by more than $100.

But this isn't accurate. Many get even less, it all depends on what the particular refinery decides to pay. Just like gas stations, where gas station prices vary from one block to another. Many north Texas gas producers wish they could match the published market price.

Ray Perryman, founder of The Perryman Group, was the keynote speaker at the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce's 2009 Barnett Shale Expo, who admitted that he had a different outlook than he did last year, but 2009 is still going to be better than 2007. Fort Worth can't complain, they still have 70,000 new jobs, which hadn't existed before the Barnett Shale field was discovered! (Unfortunately, there were 111,000 energy jobs in the Fort Worth Basin in 2008.)

He predicts 20-30 years of activity in Fort Worth, but in energy everything goes in "cycles and volatility, and periods of greater and lesser activity are inevitable."

Save the auto industry and ban gas guzlers

2009-03-06T07:58:00.000-08:00

Things are getting off track, or so it seems with health plan in the news and having an energy plan falling to last weeks story. But in Europe they are holding a conference where the professor warns that natural gas isn't the answer. Citing how switching to gas for generating electricity would lead to running out of natural gas in 20 years. We need to replace gasoline in autos and trucks, while electricity is generated using coal, nuclear and alternative. What I'd like to see is more homes and businesses generating their own energy on-site.

Don't use natural gas for generating power, but for replacing oil in cars and trucks. This isn't going to eliminate our supply of natural gas, something they simply burn off in the middle east, but will take 20-30 years as people replace their gas guzzlers with cleaner natural gas powered vehicles.

It seems to me that to save the auto industry we need to ban further production of gas/diesel cars and trucks. Like banning smoking. If Detroit only makes clean natural gas vehicles then there will be more stations selling natural gas. Why sell gasoline engines when we are switching to natural gas and in 20 years to electric cars?

If the US government wants to bailout Detroit auto makers then they should force them to run on natural gas and electric motors. They say there is an average of 7 to 8 million cars sold every year and with 240 million passenger cars on the road running on gasoline it will take many years to see any environmental changes, but it is a step in the right direction. It will help conserve the oil reserve, make us less dependent on imports and lead to a cleaner the environment.

Stop making gasoline engines!

Digital March on Washington

2009-03-02T21:51:00.000-08:00

After telling Texas Christian University sophomore, Ben Voigt (president of the TCU Energy Club) in December , he had to keep his word. So even though it was the worst snow storm of the season in New York, Boone Pickens got to the airport after his appearance on ABC’s The View, and flew back to Fort Worth for the 4:30 p.m.Town Hall Meeting at Texas Christian University.

After giving away 200 copies of his autobiography to students and he told the standing room crowd of over 800, how “an energy package needs to go ahead of health care,” and how a “digital march on Washington” in April will motivate congress to get an energy plan passed by Memorial Day.

Citing how last year 67 percent of the countries oil is imported, he felt it leaves us at the mercy of foreign counties. “Only one solution to solve this problem is that we need to move to natural gas,” he said and added that all of Americas resources, including coal, should be taken advantage of.

“We have plenty and it is insane not to seize this to solve our own problems,” he said.

When asked by someone in the audience whether he supported an energy tax and he said he didn’t believe a tax increase was needed. Rather, he’d like to see a tax credit given to truckers when they purchase a new 18-wheeler running off natural gas.

With over 350,000 semi trucks operating in America today, he says replacing freight carriers to natural gas would in 3 years reduce America’s dependency on foreign oil by at least 4 percent.

To make it work, Pickens says the government needs to maintain the current tax credits for drilling and encourage convergence to natural gas by giving credits when purchasing products. Pointing out the current drilling credit is “the kind of encouragement we need from Washington.”

It would also create a million new jobs and he predicts in 10 years a move to natural-gas would result in a 50 percent reduction in petroleum imports.

Moving to natural gas he feels gives America time to perfect the electric car, develop more efficient batteries, and switch to other alternative energy sources like wind.

Coming up from Austin, Texas Railroad Commissioner, Michael Williams, sat in the front row and says he has supported the Pickens Plan from the beginning, “it’s the Texas Two Step,” as the nation diversifies using natural gas and steps to generating more electricity from wind turbines.

On the move, after an hour and half, Pickens told everyone how he had a breakfast meeting in Chicago the next morning, but after 30 years lobbying “working from the top down” in Washington, he has found “I now get more respect, working from the bottom up.”

REporting on energy in Texas - Jim Domke - jim@jgd-reporting.com

Electric cars have to come after natural gas - - -

2009-02-11T07:23:00.000-08:00

To cut dependence on oil and pollution, the first thing to do isn't to invest in fancy biofuels or subsidize nifty electric cars, according to oil industry officials.

From the Dallas Morning news, Tony Hayward, chief executive of BP PLC, said Tuesday at the CERA conference in Houston, the first step is to improve the efficiency of the plain, old gasoline car. After that, people should invest in biofuels, and only then should people focus on developing electric vehicles.

"I have to say, I think -- and I probably won't be popular here -- I'm quite aligned, I think, with the auto industry, that there's a right sequence to do this," Hayward said following a presentation at the Cambridge Energy Research Associates conference.

Americans are calling for fuel alternatives to oil, and the natural gas, biofuel and power industries have offered their own products to do the job. Now, oil officials say their product can do better.

The "electric vehicle, maybe it comes," said Royal Dutch Shell chief executive Jeroen Van der Veer at the conference. But, "at the end of the day those [gasoline] cars may be lower in incremental costs than your renewable something."

ExxonMobile is covering all bases with Litieum battery technology, but when autos like the VW bug in the 1950's got better miles/gallon than today's autos. But instead, Americans switch to pick-ups which get even worst mileage and switch to lower miles/gallon using ethanol. Please explain . . .

Poor reserves, doesn't mean low on fuel

2009-02-06T08:33:00.000-08:00

“We’ve got a lot of really poor gas reservoirs in this country, but we’ve gotten really good at getting at it,” says Michael Bahorich, executive vice-president of Apache Corp in Houston, Tx, at NAPE, formerly called the North American Prospect Expo conference. They went on to report on how they now have more than demand, so why not have more cars run on natural gas?

Haynesville will become the largest US gas field by 2020, added Chesapeake Energy CEOAudrey McClendon.

The Barnett Shale play in north Texas, which sparked the shale craze earlier this decade, now produces 4.5 to 5 Bcf/d, and "is largely responsible for the current oversupply of natural gas" in the US, said the CEO. However, Chesapeake does not believe production will peak at more than 7 Bcf/d.

"If the current 100 rigs there -- half what it was six months ago -- holds, this field won't ever produce more than about 6 Bcf/d," he said.

Last week, Chesapeake peer EOG Resources said it expected the Haynesville to peak in the first quarter at 5 Bcf/d.

In addition, McClendon projected that a declining rig count could cause a 7% to 8%, and possibly even as much as 10%, decline in US natural gas production.

Photos by J.G. Domke - Get a slideshow with eye-catching images with voice in background to get the message out at trade shows, or online.

Future energy career opportunies grow

2009-02-06T06:22:00.000-08:00

Recent photo taken at Navarro College in Corsicana, where the first oil was discovered in Texas in the 1890s. They are now training the next generation on how to locate, assess and access energy reservoirs.

As an energy journalist, I'm covering the events and all aspects of the energy industry, especially in my home state of Texas. Many photos are published monthly in the Fort Worth Basin Oil & Gas magazine.

Some people love exploring for oil, I love exploring for photos. (E-mail me if you need eye-catching photos and friendly portraits at jim.domke@gmail.com)

As America looks for ways to stimulate the economy, congress can help get us ready for the future by supporting California and Boone Pickens. President Reagan pulled the funding away and killed the tax breaks for alternative energy and even removed the solar panel installed at the White House in 1980. Proposed funds in the 2009 economic stimulus bill are getting ear-marked for alternative energy. It's about time.

Energy4me believes there are several "excellent career opportunities" in bioenergy, ethanol, geothermal, hydropower, solar power and wind power. They list many jobs for scientists and engineers, which doesn't help the growing unemployment.

The jobs that don't require graduate degrees from a major university include things like windsmith (new name for electrician), solar technicians, recreation planners needed in hydropower, drillers, mud loggers in geothermal along with career growth for farmers who "need to produce and harvest biomass resources."

Will this rejuvenate the economy? It is better than importing oil from around the world and by developing domestic resources we put a halt to a price war competing for global petroleum resources.

Cold winter is hard on renewable energy

2008-12-18T12:51:00.000-08:00

Find out more, Google: PickensPlan

In California voters defeated the tax credit in November to motivate alternative energy, saying how their financial problems outweigh the State going deeper in debt, simply to get off our dependence on oil.

In the NY TIMES they reported on how snow and freezing weather doesn't favor switching to alternative energy. Former Austin, TX, based correspondent for The Economist and now a NYTime's Green Team member, Kate Galbraith reports how getting hit by flying ice can be deadly as it melts off wind turbines, so some are now painted black to absorb heat and hopefully keep them from icing. It also helps the birds see them.

They report how solar power has a tough time when snow covers the panels and the sun is low in the sky, concluding that oil and coal still win out in winter months. But, wind power has come up with alternatives like storing compressed air underground. Ice is problem for some, but in New Hampshire they say the wind blows harder in the winter and they are producing more electricity.

As for bio diesel, Galbraith reports that in Colorado they discovered how 30 percent vegetable oil diesel froze and a shuttle bus service decided to stick with oil in the winter to avoid passengers freezing to death. Why don't they switch to gas?

For energy photos of today contact Jim Domke

20-20-20 and get OPEC off our back!

2008-12-18T09:32:00.000-08:00

OPEC doesn't like the falling oil prices so they are cutting back, just as Boone Pickens predicted.

"I’ve told you this all along — our addiction to foreign oil could bring us to our knees, and there wouldn’t be a damn thing we could do about it. Now take a look at today’s headlines. OPEC just announced it’s cutting production by 2.2 million barrels. Remember – this is on top of the 2 million barrels in cuts they’ve already made since this summer! These guys are serious about getting the price of oil back up right where they like it: $75 a barrel, $100 a barrel, $150 a barrel.

They want our money and want to hold America, and the rest of the world, captive. It's time to take advantage of ALL the resources whether, it is natural gas, wind, sun, coal or nuclear energy," says Pickens in a recent posting on the Picken's website.

The 27 nations in the European Union recently adopted new guidelines to have 20 percent of their energy needs come from renewable resources and reduce emissions by 20 percent BEFORE 2020. Using the slogan 20-20-20, it translates the same in all languages.

It sounds good, but 2020 seems like a long ways off and already 8.5 percent of the energy needs in Europe somes from renewable sources. Is 20 percent that hard? Will OPEC raise rates or keep them low so we stay dependent on oil? It isn't just a matter of dependency, oil is a limited resource so we need to use it sparingly. The Pope installed solar panels on the roof of the Vatican.

When are we going to get grants and tax rebates for installing solar panels in our homes or get semi-trucks to run on natural gas and, for that matter, when will everyone start consuming less energy? (Who benefits from decorating the house with lights?) Should we always assume that the population needs to grow and therefore we need more roads, more homes, more energy?

Caption: Showing off colors, the photo shows roughnecks raising the flag this year on a rig in downtown Fort Worth. For more energy photos contact Jim at jim@jgd-reporting.com

Energy Quiz

2008-12-09T15:53:00.000-08:00

Test your energy IQ! Harris Interactive poll was commissioned by the American Petroleum Institute to find out what Americans think about energy.

Many think Exxon Mobil ranks as one of the top 10 holders of oil reserves, but only 8 percent got it right. It ranks lower than 13, behind huge reserves controlled by foriegn countries.

Only 7 percent picked that less than 15 percent of the oil consumed by Americans comes from Persian Gulf countries.

But 30% got it right when they picked that in 2007 America had to import 60 percent of the oil it needed.

The API survey made front page of the Houston Chronicle quoting Mark Cooper of the Consumer Federation of America who felt this showed how advertising by the oil industry has been telling America that we have plenty of resources. Really? The new director of the API, Jack Gerard, says the public supports expanded offshore drilling, "all they needed was facts. No spin, just facts."

Check Pacific Gas & Electric's calculator to see how you can save energy

Photo shows roughneck climbing up rig with Fort Worth skyline in the background. For energy photos and filmstrips e-mail, jim@jgd-reporting.com

Photo of a celebrity

2008-11-21T06:36:00.000-08:00

Even in Dallas Texas, T. Boone Pickens draws a big crowd. He had a book signing on Thursday, Nov20, that drew over 100 residents to listen to how we need to take advantage of what we have and not import oil. He has the wind farm on hold, but noted how WalMart announced that they are planning on building one and he hopes they will also convert their trucks to run on natural gas. Natural Gas Vehicules Texas is a new business, which seeing gas climb to $4/gallon will convert your auto to run on natural gas. Pickens says he fills up his Honda Civic at home and likes seeing new cars being introduced by Toyota. For the US Big Three auto, he says they should fight it out like the airline industry did and don't deserve any Federal funding.

Small is beautiful?!?

2008-11-12T08:21:00.000-08:00

"Energy conservation in modern industrial society meant, for the most part, not deprivation, not "small is beautiful," but greater efficiency and technology innovation," said Daniel Yergin in his 1991 book THE PRIZE and he was talking about price boom in 70's.

He mentioned how in the early 80's when demand for oil was weakening that they didn't know whether it was a result of a recession or conservation. But there was a new resolve in Western nations to fight inflation "even if it meant recession." Prices have gone up with the increased price of gas.

Back in the 70's there was "as had happened before, in times of short supply if not outright panic" that Washington wanted to move away from America's dependence on imported oil. "Synfuels," synthetic fuels were promoted making liquids and gases from coal, something Germans used during WWII.

Surprisingly we haven't heard much about it this time, perhaps because of environmental issues. This time it was WIND.

Yesterday, Nov 11, Texan T. Boone Pickens, announced at the Edison Electric Institute Financial conference that "wind projects are on hold ."

He went on to predict that crude oil, which closed Tuesday at $59, would go to $100 a barrel within a year, and possibly hit $300 a barrel by 2018.

Does he really have to put it on hold? He looks at the long term and sees a need. So do it! In 1980 it was the Iran-Iraq War and the discovery of new reserves in other parts of the world. Today we don't have any choices except to be more efficient and move to renewable resources.

Check out Doug Fine, http://www.smithsonianmag.com/specialsections/making-a-difference/interview-doug-fine-200803.html, who recently spoke at Texas Christian University about his success at being energy self reliant in the 21st century by using solar power and converting his diesel truck to run on cooking oil. We don't need to wait for Pickens. http://www.cfr.org/publication/17088/crisis_guide.html

The Yin and Yang of energy

2008-11-11T10:59:00.000-08:00

Is the sun rising or falling? The photo was taken at a sunrise, but the we are all seeing gas and oil prices fall. Everyone is cutting back drilling as prices fall below $60 a barrel.

But wait! When it first hit the record high of $60 in 2007 everyone started drilling, now everyone is slowing down.

T.Boone Pickens complains that we are importing 70% of out our petroleum, but it's not because we don't have anything in the States. It's simply because it is cheaper to import than to drill here. Price over supply. Exxon Mobil makes more importing energy.

If it is cheaper to import oil, how can we switch to wind turbines and alternative energy? Why spend more money, when we don't need to? Shouldn't we go for the best value and with falling prices, people are talking about over supply! Now we are starting to hear complaints about having too much oil and gas and the need to use more!

This comes down to the contradiction between using renewable energy versus consuming the limited resources of oil, coal and gas, which once burned it's gone.

It's makes common sense to start thinking renewable, not to just think that whatever is the easiest and cheapest is the best. Look to the long term!

Another mistake is the global thinking, "the world is flat," concept versus the need to live only on locally produced resources. It may be nice to eat fresh strawberries in January, but we waste energy importing strawberries from the other-side of the world. Keep it local, this saves jobs and it gives every region a unique flavor.

It's simply a matter of Yin and Yang, cause and effect.

Gas takes flight

2008-09-24T06:44:00.000-07:00

Dallas-Fort Worth Airport in the heart of the metroplex is also a natural gas resource. With the price of fuel going up, airlines need to find other sources of energy. Will future jet engines run on domestic natural gas, rather than imported oil?

Other airports now earn money from what lies underneath the ground, as well as, in the sky. Denver airport has been drilling for several years, who'll be next? LAX?

Energy photos by J. G. Domke - multimedia, executive portraits and digital art. jim@jgd-reporting.com

I like to photograph rigs

2008-09-17T15:31:00.000-07:00

After a huge thunder storm during the afternoon as I drove up from Austin, I had to pull off and capture the light on the gas rigs. This is my top selling energy photo. Taken of a gas rig in Johnson county as the sun lit the last of the storm clouds. Drilling is 24/7 and the roughnecks had little time to look at the clouds. Energy photo by J.G. Domke - e-mail me at jim@jgd-reporting.com

Telling the facts

2008-08-27T18:13:00.000-07:00

NBC refuses T.Boone Pickens commercial!? I wonder why? He says that Iran is using natural gas for autos so that they can sell oil to America to get our money and NBC won't run it? Is it that NBC believes it's a lie, but what commercial isn't? I can't believe NBC has more money than they know what to do with it. VERY INTERESTING

FLASH!

From the Pickens Plan web site on Sept 1st, "On Wednesday the Pickens Plan Army engaged in a battle against NBC. . . .Guess what: We won the battle!"

No reason mentioned on Pickens Plan site as to why NBC blocked the commercial. I don't think it was because they didn't want his money.

Drilling boom revives hope

2008-08-26T07:18:00.000-07:00

So the headline goes in the Aug. 25 New York Times article, "Drilling Boom Revives Hopes for Natural Gas." it mentions the Barnett Shale put goes on to say how other sites have more potential. Is the Barnett Shale field history? Or, is it just that everything is taken and the wildcatters are trying to get ahead of the pack.

As Chesapeake Energy's CEO and Chairman, Aubrey McClendon says, " we've got an abundance of natural gas around us."

Deutsche Bank says that the 8 largest shale fields in the US are likely to rise to 14.5 billion cubic feet a day by 2011 and meet a quarter of US production. Not counting the goal to get transportation running on natural gas.

It was funny how in 1850 when they discovered oil in Pennsylvania that at first they thought it was unique and only available from that one spot. Now we know and we have only begun to exploit shale gas formations are worldwide.

Photo by J.G. Domke shows Chesapeake Energy's downtown rig next to the art deco railroad warehouse with the new Omni hotel rising in the distance. Call 469-231-7440 or email Jim.Domke@gmail.com and get eyecatching energy photos for your publications, trade shows, or display on the office wall. Jim also takes executive portraits and team photos that look alive.

Going with the flow

2008-08-08T14:40:00.000-07:00

They're welding the pipe together to make a 4,000 ft section that will be pulled into a tunnel to carry gas from Barnett Shale to market. Inconvenience for church members in Arlington, but maybe in August the parking lot won't be as packed. (Photo by J.G. Domke on 8/8/8)

It is interesting seeing pipe lines getting built, because the gas from the Fort Worth Basin isn't worth anything until it gets to the refinery. It is interesting how the State of Texas is paying to fund a "pipeline" to get electricity from wind turbines in West Texas to urban areas. Others feel T. Boone Pickens is starting a grassroots Pickens Plan to get government to fund the network to simply get his gas, electricity and water to the cities. If government funds it then it can be used by ALL producers, so let's get behind Pickens and get the ball moving.

Pickens tries to motivate everyone saying how we are sending our money (assets) to make foreigners wealthier. But Exxon-Mobil is producing all the oil overseas, and their stockholders (many who are Americans) are getting wealthier. So Pickens is simply trying to get us motivated. Exxon-Mobil simply being economical and it is cheaper to get the oil out of the ground in the middle east out.

Seeing how the gas pipelines in the photo are being buried 40-50 feet below the surface it is surprising that some residence want to put a halt on drilling, fearing the pipelines will destroy their yard and mess up their neighborhood. It's underground . . . they're drilling a hole and pulling the pipe through it. You'll never know it's there. But they want a moratorium.

The headline "Wind blows less when power is needed most" in the Aug 5 Fort Worth Star-Telegram, told how the wind simply doesn't blow as much on hot summer days when the air conditioner is running on high. The Wind Science and Engineering Research Center director Andy Swift at Texas Tech University in Lubbock says, "its something we as a state and a nation need to stay focused on."

The Virtus Energy Research Associates in Austin, TX, says that given natural gas high price it is still economical to get energy from wind. Greg Worthham, of the West Texas Wind Energy Consortium in Sweetwater, feels the bigger issue is making sure there are a enough transmission lines to take the energy to populated areas, but the cost of building the lines will be factored into our monthly electric bill. Which the Star-Telegram's Jim Fuquay concludes could offset the lower electricity prices.

Why complain?

2008-08-06T05:25:00.000-07:00

Making the news, the NPR report on Tuesday makes it sound like we should suspect Chesapeake, why sure they are bringing in billions of dollars into the economy, but what about those trucks and the noise from the diesel engines at the pumping stations. Okay! Get real, anyone complaining about building an Interstate highway, look at the noise it brings.

The Barnett Shale isn't going to last forever, with every oil or gas field there is a boom and then it slows. The gas pressure makes the first wells the biggest producers and then the pressure goes down and supply goes down. Nobody is talking about how this is temporary good fortune and that it can't last forever. Let's work together and make the most of it.

Flex your muscles and get it done

2008-07-22T12:07:00.000-07:00

Max Shultz a fellow at the Manhattan Institute is promoting how petroleum is still the best. You can hear the radio interviews and access articles he has written on how wind and solar power is good, but is just a drop in the bucket.

He observed how life has evolved from running on oil/coal to electricity. Oil is a minor source for electricity, but coal generates 50% of what we use, 20% comes from nuclear and 20% from natural gas.

What makes sense to him is decreasing coal and building more nuclear reactors like they have in France. Natural gas should be used for transportation , not generating electricity. Leaving oil for other industrial needs and products.

Boone Pickens went to Washington today and said we need to get out priorities in order. Get the supply steady and then worry about "global warming." Trying to do both ends up with us doing nothing.

There is no way we can survive only on wind and solar energy, but we need to concentrate on making electricity.

Greenpeace's Jim Riccio says, "Nuclear power is a false solution to the problems of climate change and expensive gasoline. The opportunity cost of wasting billions on new nuclear power plants would be better spent on energy efficiency and renewable energy such as solar and wind. According to scientists from the Rocky Mountain Institute, every dollar spent on efficiency and renewables displaces 7 to 10 times the amount of CO2 as a dollar spent on nuclear. Not only is nuclear not essential; it’s not even necessary."

What's best?

I find it interesting in our home how the kids think they can't wash dishes by hand, rather than using the same glass over again they get a new clean one and then put it in the dishwasher after drinking some water. The dishwasher fills up and we use electricity to wash the dishes, then I get to unload the dishwasher. It was simpler and quicker before the dishwasher!

By using muscle power I save time and energy.

Happy Fourth - time to celebrate!

2008-07-04T09:46:00.000-07:00

Urban drilling for gas is unique and from Fort Worth we see Fourth of July fireworks go off behind a rig. Most home owners never thought that having the mineral rights to their property would amount to much. Today it's adding a couple of thousand dollars to their pocketbook. Now they have to pay taxes!

Photo by J.G. Domke
photos/words/design

Let Jim create an info packed online or in print newsletter for employees, members, clients, etc.

469-231-7440

Lots of gas in Texas but they say coal is cheaper

2008-07-02T12:31:00.000-07:00

Can you believe it! the State of Texas says that we need to reduce our dependence on natural gas. Here I am in Fort Worth getting royalties from natural gas and Texas task force recommends more coal power plants.

They also encourage everyone to reduce their demand on electricity. This means we shouldn't use that much AC in the summer!?!? I'm voting for reducing need for gasoline by making my next car be an electric car. Mass transit reduces the individual auto expense, but it runs on electricity, too.

Tom "Smitty" Smith, director of Public Citizen's Texas in Austin told reporters on June 20 that "Texas's enormous pollution has added to the crisis of an overheated climate, and we should plan to reduce carbon emissions from the power sector by 80 percent by 2050."

We need to reduce polluting the atmosphere by banning gas and diesel pick-ups and trucks for non commercial use, motor boats, gas powered lawn mowers, jet skis, etc. Go electric and take advantage of clean gas. BTW, here in Texas three new coal-fired plants are going online by 2010, which will increase global warming trends. In 2007 the Energy Future Holdings (EFH), formerly TXU, canceled 8 of 11 future coal plants. The Texas Secretary of State Phil Wilson resigned the beginning of July to join the coal fired Luminant, which has their CEO, Michael Green who was also a member of the commission resigned to become vice chairman at EFH. Using the cheaper coal means EFH makes more money.

Russel Smith, executive director of the Texas Renewable Energy Industry Association said he supports the council's recommendations that utilities install meters that can allow billing by time of day! This he feels would motivate solar panels being installed on roofs of homes, etc.

This report doesn't cover meeting the growing demand worldwide as other countries increase their energy needs. No wonder energy is the worlds largest industry.

Energy reporting by J.G. Domke, photo of gas rig taken at DFW airport. Call Jim at 469-231-7440

View of the West in the 21st Century.

2008-06-04T08:14:00.000-07:00

Who would expect to see a coal plant next to Lake Powell in Arizona? Here is a view of the Navajo Generating Station near Page, Arizona, that takes the water from the Colorado River to get steam to power generators to make electricity. Dirty coal!

Here's a photo I took in 2005 showing the drop in the water level in Lake Powell and the coal plant steaming away. (I always thought that even though they destroyed the Glen Canyon the trade off was getting energy from environmentally friendly water turbines. Damn, guess I was wrong.) Turns out daming up the river was to hold water so more people could move out West and drive the economy. We need fewer people in the desert not more.

On an Indian Reservation, the power plant doesn't have to meet State or Federal regulations. At the recent shareholder's meeting in Dallas, Exxon Mobil handed out "The Outlook for Energy - a view to 2030," which concluded that the world will be using each year about 1.3 percent more energy as living standards improve around the world. Yet we need to reduce effects of global warming. Move to natural gas and get away from coal.

The challenge is finding more energy, assuming Europe, US and Japan flatten out or even reduce their consumption, it's countries like India, China that will emit a predicted 1.2 percent per year more CO2 into the atmosphere.

ExxonMobil's report concludes that to fight global warming in the next 40 years we need to strive to double biofuels growth through cellulosic ethanol, double rate of improvement of new car efficiency, replace 1/2 coal growth with nuclear/CCS and retire coal plants at 40 years with nuclear.

If we do this then by 2030 we might be able to keep the emissions to where they are TODAY. Nobody is talking about reducing them. This doesn't even effect the need for water, for that, go to www.rd.com and look at the article in the May 2008 issue "Dry Times" by Joseph Vetter.

We need energy and I want to cover how we are getting natural gas in Texas to meet the needs of future generations. Email jim.domke@gmail.com

Drilling in the city

2008-06-03T08:09:00.000-07:00

Drilling for gas doesn't keep Darrell Peters from seeing the hole on the green. A member of the Glen Garden Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas for 23 years, Darrell Peters doesn't mind the Chesapeake Energy drilling rig in the background.

Teeing off in 1912, it is the 2nd oldest golf course in Tarrant County and is surrounded by homes. The club also boasts that golf greats Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson caddied here and learned to play golf.

Located in south Fort Worth, it is thanks to the Barnett Shale Field that they have much needed funds for future growth.

Photo by J.G. Domke, Jim got a call from Fort Worth Basin Oil & Gas magazine on Wednesday asking if he could get a photo for the July issue showing urban drilling by Friday! He started calling around and driving around. It had to look great, not simply a valve and pipe sticking out of the ground.

He found the location and by noon Thursday was sending photos to the publication in Abilene. He beat par, making the deadline a day early. The photo at left is NOT the cover shot. You need to get the July issue, go to www.fwbog.com

Covering energy Jim is working on stories about damping the noise around the drilling site, how to get water and dispose of the salt water pumped out. Drilling in the city is new and Jim wants to tell you about it. E-mail him at jim@jgd-reporting.com

Anyone want to protest the price of gasoline at the pump?

2008-05-29T14:52:00.000-07:00

Well some feel they need to speak out about global warming, but nobody wants to protest the record profits and record prices at the pump.

At the shareholders meeting in Dallas on May 28th, the descendants of the company founder, John D. Rockefeller, argued for a report on "developing sustainable energy technology" and for separation of CEO and Board Chairman. But ExxonMobil recommended to vote against it and over 80% of the stockholders did. Oh well, it seems to me that ExxonMobil is looking for more ways to consume petroleum products not cutback.

They aren't worried about running out, they are excited that China and India will be requiring more energy and petroleum needs are increasing. It's good for business to have increasing demand.

CEO and Chairman R.W. Tillerson doesn't see an energy crisis, business is booming. Apparently he doesn't see any shortages, prices are high so the company makes more money. It actually shows in the annual report how worldwide production of crude oil and natural gas was down in 2007 from 2006, as well as, refinery output in US for 2007 was 1,746 million barrels/day versus 1760 million in 2006 and 1794 in 2005. But look at the price at the pump.

Nobody was protesting the prices at the stockholders meeting. Why should they? ExxonMobil likes making money. Unlike what the protester's sign says, "Mobillions" is not a problem.

Limits to energy force us to conserve.

2008-05-22T08:21:00.000-07:00

We get our energy in many ways, from the wind and in the ground. The farmer in the photo can even take the corn husks and make Ethanol. So why is it costing so much at the gas pump?

In west Texas farmers are in the energy industry not agriculture - catching the power from wind and land - but the price at the pump doesn't show up at the gas pump.

At least here in north Texas, I have the mineral rights to my home's fifth acre of land, no room for a wind mill, but I hope to make some money from leasing mineral rights to the Barnett Shale Field.

At the recent Barnett Shale Expo in Fort Worth, I got to talk with people in the petroleum industry who see how it is helping out economy. I'm interested in writing and photographing the boom. If you need a photo e-mail me at jim@jgd-reporting.com

Wind Power

2008-05-13T10:50:00.000-07:00

There is room to share the wind. A hawk soars in the wind next to a huge wind turbine in west Texas. The blade turns slow enough for the bird to pass through and not get hit.

But in California, it's another story. Many feel the wind turbines do more harm than good as small birds that fly in flocks get routinely smacked out of the sky by wind turbines.

Jim has stock photos of wind, gas and oil energy. Contact him at jim@jgd-reporting.com

Texas Living - - US Presidents a series

2008-04-29T12:02:00.000-07:00

Up near the Oklahoma border, north of Dallas, Texas, is the town of Dennison. The birthplace of President Dwight Eisenhower, 34th President (1953-1960) and commander of Allied Forces in WWII, who knew the importance of oil to winning the war.

Back when he was a Captain, he led a convoy across America in the 20's and perhaps it motivated him to start the Interstate highway network, to help the army move quickly. This explains why the Interstate was funded by the Department of Defense.

Ike's family, however, didn't stay in Texas, but moved back to Kansas, home today for the presidential library in Abilene, KS. And after leaving the White House, Ike didn't go home to either Kansas or Texas, instead he lived next to the Civil War battlefield in Gettysburg. Pennsylvania.

Had to see where he grew up.

2008-04-12T07:48:00.001-07:00

Out there in west Texas, 2 towns, Odessa and Midland compete. Who is the riches? Who has the best high school football team? Where did the President Bush grown up? Which one?

Midland out in the Permian Basin oil and gas field, claims to be the "Tall City of West Texas," with skyscrapers, oil tank farms and pumps still pumping away. Here is where G.W. Bush grew up, a small home in walking distance to the downtown skyscrapers.

Photo taken of the "restored" childhood home, shows a small one-story home. A lot different from the vacation home in Maine or his new home in Crawford, Texas.

Jim Domke covers Texas, his stock photos include historic sites, major cities and the energy industry in Texas. Need a photo? jim@jgd-reporting.com - 469-231-7440

Historic Parker County Courthouse

2008-02-04T14:11:00.001-08:00

They took pride in their county and in the 1880's Texans showed off with elaborate county courthouses. Here is the recently restored courthouse in Weatherford Texas, just west of Fort Worth.

It's pretty as a postcard.

Let me know if you would like a print or reproduce this shot.

Dallas skyline looks great on the desktop

2008-01-28T08:51:00.000-08:00

With Adobe's Photoshop Elements you simply right clip on a photo and scroll down to "Create Wallpaper" and voila! the photo has been converted and can be seen when you look at the Desktop.

Here is a "solarized" view of a photo from Texas archives, taken early in the morning. As a regular photo, it lacks punch, no wow. The buildings blend in with the dark blue sky.

In the computer I selected the sky and lightened it, so the buildings would stand out. Next I went to Filters and put a pattern in the sky. Choosing halftone screen.

Then I went to Select and reversed the selection to highlight the buildings. The buildings needed more edge, more snap so I tried different Artistic Filters till I found one I liked best. Deciding on Ink & Pen.

The foreground is a distraction, so I Ctrl-O on the keyboard to quickly open the Burning tool. Then I darken all the trees, homes, and power lines along the bottom edge of the photo. After this I simply go to the Curves and then to Solarize.

My Wallpaper is ready, and the shortcuts are easy to find. Take advantage of digital photography and be creative, in print or simply on the screen. Learn more by taking my one day Multi-Media workshop on utaking advantage of the computer using free programs, and/or Photoshop Elements and Premier in March at Tarrant County Community College Continuing Education Northeast and South campus.

Season's Gusher from Texas

2008-01-27T11:35:00.000-08:00

Happy 2008!

The first oil wells in Texas were used in Corsicana some 60 miles south of Dallas. Here is where oil just seeped up out of the ground (little pumping required), and where they stopped pumping when 90's.

Before autos, plastic, and all the other uses of petroleum, they only thought it was good for keeping the dust down on the roads. It was here that they discovered new ways of pumping out the black gold, and now with oil at $95 a barrel they are coming back using new technology looking for more.

Corsicana still has a gusher every Christmas, see in photo of the oil rig sitting in the middle of the intersection in downtown Corsicana. Photo by J.G. Domke, covering energy in Texas