Scott Newton Photo

I hesitate to publish this, since there’s no way to convey the wonderful subtle detail at low res, but I do love the shot even if the details don’t read. I first saw the Ocean from this overlook 40 years ago. On the day I saw it, then, the surf was huge and violent; it made a huge impression on me, returning in dreams periodically and sporadically….So on a recent trip to visit Hawk in Seattle we took a day-trip to see if I could find the spot I remembered so well… …And we found it. The shot is rendered with a 16mm lens, so there’s some distortion (which I love, in this case). The overlook is probably 200 feet up to this vantage point.

Well, here’s the final cover shot. I really like the colors and the composition….and she’s a really good subject. She knew what she wanted going into the shoot, and this image gets it.

This is Jessie Lee, people…. take note. Every once in a while I get to HELP nurse a keeper out of the chute. If you live in Austin, TX, right now (6/07), you’d get to go see a future superstar at the Broken Spoke, for free, on Wednesday nites from 6 to 8. If you don’t live here you’ll have to wait for the cd, with this photo on the cover, or maybe go see her on one of her gigs in Europe in the coming months… She’s channelling a similar Muse that Patsy Cline gave voice to…not affected or artificial in any way. She’s writing songs- lots of them- and singing them out of another era and style; bringing it Home. Wow. What a voice.

Be forewarned: it’s distorted. Fisheye. Tells the story pretty well, though. He’s baaaack. (He’s better than he’s been since the 60’s. Amazing.)

Here we are, how many hundreds of days out from the first Democratic Primary? Over 20,000 people turned out to hear Barack Obama speak in the middle of Texas, of all places. I haven’t seen anything like this since I heard Robert Kennedy speak at Everett Community College in Everett, WA in the Autumn of 1966… I say SEEN anything like this, RockStar scene that it was. He still hasn’t displayed the courage Kennedy did that day, speaking to college students and telling them he would strip them of their educational deferments from the draft because “it just isn’t fair for you children of privilege to have poorer young people die in your place”, and get cheered for it… But I’m sure Barack will have plenty of time to display his fortitude, and measure up to the truly great ones. Right now he gets to tell people what they want to hear–out of Iraq. The Slime Machines haven’t really geared up yet; be it Hillzilla against his Obambi, or the Niagara Falls of Slime, the Repubs. I’ll be rooting for him, and watching closely.

I recently photographed Barack Obama. He’s truly impressive. He has an easy, non-preachy, inspirational way about him as he speaks about hope in general and getting out of Iraq in particular. He had the courage and foresight to never go along with the war hysteria, a determining factor in my book….. I wouldn’t have thought it possible that an African-American Democrat, out of political nowhere, could be elected President of the same country that elected George W Bush. After seeing him, I have to admit it just might be a possibility. He’s THAT good.

The Texas Chapter of the Recording Academy presented a lifetime achievement award to ZZ Top, seen here acknowledging applause from the crowd. In all my years of shooting music, I’ve never had the chance to photograph these guys performing as ZZ Top. So, here’s the next best thing; a shot of them being honored by their local peers. That’s Billy Bob Thornton on the right, serving as presenter.

This was a very nice moment during a great show. About a year after Stevie died, a talented group of Blues compatriots got together to celebrate his memory at the KLRU studio here in Austin. There was a serious lack of great Blues guitarists everywhere else in the world that evening…. Pictured here are: (l to r) Dr John, Robert Cray, BB King, Jimmie Vaughan, Buddy Guy, Eric Clapton, and Bonnie Raitt.

I really like the enveloping, encompassing feeling I get from this image. It seems to go on and on, out of frame, like arms reaching to enfold… This is one of “The Big Tree’s” babies. The Big Tree is a Coastal Live Oak, over a thousand years old, with a girth of over 35 feet, the largest circumference of any tree in Texas. Unfortunately, an ugly fence combined with past attempts to “prune” the Big Tree have left it maimed, butchered, and unphotogenic. Luckily the “arborists” left the surrounding beautiful trees, like this one, alone.

I love pure form; especially natural form that reflects underlying forces–like prevailing coastal breezes.