Peligrosa for the Statesman

Light monkeying around for Peligrosa, a Latin DJ collective that has a regular jam at the Scoot Inn.

Chuckwagon Races

Chuckwagon races just sound awesome, don't they? I came across their existence working on my story on Charles Goodnight, who was widely credited for inventing the chuckwagon in the late 1800's. After my stay-cation with the Ultimate Weird Sports Photographer, Sol Neelman, (see previous post) I drove out to Bandera for an event that's been on my radar for over a year.

Sunday's races at the Twin Elm Guest Ranch did not disappoint. There were only a few heats that day, but it whet my appetite for the National Chuckwagon Races in Arkansas later this year.


Chuckwagon Races - Images by Julia Robinson

Unicycle Football

This month I was visited by one of my favorite people, Sol Neelman. Our friendship dates back to the first (third) Aphotoaday Geekfest that I helped organize in Austin in 2005. A few dozen photographers invaded the Days Inn and Star Seeds for a long weekend of photo shenanigans. Friendships were forged and paths forever changed. Sol left the world of newspaper photography, embraced the freelance world, and his love of weird sports.

Lo, these 7 years later (dang we're getting old), he's published his first book with a second on the way. Whenever he comes to visit, weird sports is on the agenda. That's how we found ourselves in San Marcos, Texas for the 2012 semi-finals of the Unicycle Football League. Cooper Neill joined us for some quintessential Texas weirdness.



Unicycle Football - Images by Julia Robinson

Derrick Wright for Thrivent Magazine

I met Derrick Wright last December doing a shoot for Thrivent Magazine. Derrick, a West Point graduate and Army officer, was working as security for US diplomats in Iraq when a rocket attack in the Green Zone left him clinging to life with shrapnel in his skull. Doctors later removed 2/3 of the left side of his brain. That was 2007.

Derrick has relearned to walk and talk, though he still struggles with reading and short-term memory. These days he writes about his family and the Small Victories that keep him motivated and moving forward. It's a life they never imagined, but one they've embraced.

The Last UT Hex Rally for Reuters American Service

The annual Thanksgiving game between the University of Texas and Texas A&M has come to an end. The rivalry that started in 1894 has grown to be one of the most revered match-ups in the NCAA. With A&M's move to the SEC next year, and Texas' non-conference schedule full through 2018, it will be a long while before these two teams meet again.


The University of Texas holds a hex rally the week before the big game, a tradition started in 1941 to break a curse and string of losses to the Aggies. Burning red candles during the rally has (arguably) led Texas to win 75 of 118 games. 

This last rally was bittersweet for Horns fans and students. They added another W to the record last Thursday, but everyone wants to know when the rivalry will be born again.

Goodnight's Legacy for Texas Highways Magazine

Part 2 of the Goodnight-Loving legacy appears in the September issue of Texas Highways Magazine. Editor Griff Smith did a great job culling the take from the 2,000+ miles across Texas it took to shoot the story. Outtakes and the lede are below.

My Obsession with Charles Goodnight began with a nudge from my father, a one-time history major who, as a retired state employee astride a motorcycle, explored historical sites all over Texas and reported his observations back to me. When his father, my grandfather, became seriously ill, those exploratory trips became therapeutic. My dad latched on to Goodnight’s story, and as he lost his own father, he sought out a tale that wove manliness, mortality, and legacy into the mythic story of a man who became legend.


Retracing the Goodnight-Loving Trail, Pt 2 - Images by Julia Robinson

Retracing the Goodnight Loving Trail for Texas Highways Magazine

The August issue of Texas Highways Magazine has part one of a two part series on the Goodnight-Loving Trail, a historic Texas cattle trail, the story of which inspired the Pulitzer Prize winning epic Lonesome Dove. You can link to the article here, or grab a copy at your favorite local bookstore. Intakes and outtakes appear in the slideshow below.

In 1866, a young cattleman named Charles Goodnight forged a partnership with Oliver Loving, an established rancher 25 years his senior, and they blazed a new cattle trail across Texas to Fort Sumner, New Mexico. By 1868, the trail spanned some 2,000 miles, extending into Colorado and Wyoming. And the partnership that started with a handshake in an unassuming hamlet in North Texas became one of the most celebrated legends of the West.

The story of the Goodnight-Loving Trail represents the defining story of the last frontier, before fences and railroads changed the West forever. As a Texan born 100 years after the close of the frontier, I’ve always wanted to see the state as it was then—wide open to anyone courageous enough to take it on. Believing in the power of place to connect us to history, I decided to retrace the steps of Goodnight and Loving to call forth that sense of possibility and purpose.


Retracing the Goodnight-Loving Trail - Images by Julia Robinson

Kids Outdoors Zone for the Statesman

My relationship with my dad is one of the most important in my life. He's always seemed to 'get' me, always able to pinpoint the exact thing that bothers me or brings me joy. We share the same sweet tooth, an appreciation for small cute critters, and an irreverent, dry wit. I'm immune to most appeals to Hallmark sentimentality, but when it comes to depictions of Dads and Daughters I cry every time.

The Statesman called me last month to spend a morning with a group of girls who recently lost their dads. A faith-based organization called the Kids Outdoor Zone brings them together for a group discussion about their loss and then leads them into the great outdoors. I fell instantly in love with the cause of KOZ.

It was a gray, drizzly morning but the girls were bright spots of love for each other. You can read Joshunda Sanders' story here.

(Left to right) Nicole Basey, Kendal Rhodes, and Amy McInnes say a prayer during a KOZ group meeting on Saturday May 21, 2011. Kids Outdoor Zone is a youth ministry devoted to helping girls who have lost a father.

Destiny Richter, 12, (left) and Salem Severance, 9, right, look for a passage about faith the size of a mustard seed in the New Testament.

CC Vantrease, right, gives a reassuring hug to Salem Severance, second from right, as they lead KOZ group members to an open field for a lesson in tent construction at Mary Moore Searight Park in South Austin.

Salem Severance, left, and CC Vantrease, right, fold up tent poles while singing a song about team work.

Cascarones at FIESTA for the Wall Street Journal

Ah, Fiesta time in San Antonio. It's our version of Mardi Gras - 11 days of parades, crowds, adult beverages, delish food, music, revelry, and afterward, mountains of trash.

This year San Antonio's Mayor Julián Castro is appealing to the better nature of the estimated 3.5 million Fiesta-goers asking them to clean  up after themselves with a new recycling initiative and more plentiful trash cans. The recycling program has taken off, but does nothing for the millions of confetti pieces left behind from the traditional cascarones.  There is an app for that, but so far the analog smashing of egg shells remains the most popular.  I'm still finding confetti in my camera bag.

Streets are clean an hour before the gates open on Night in Old San Antonio (NIOSA) in downtown San Antonio.

Edna Jimenez arranges cascarones for sale in a basket on Villita street.  Jimenez has been working the event for 28 years and estimates she sells over 2,000 of the confetti filled eggs each night of Fiesta. 

Kieran Mason, 20, left, holds Tyler Knight, 7, center, as Cameron Toomey, 19, right, cracks a cascarone over his head. Cascarones are empty egg shells filled with confetti and are cracked over the head of friends and loved ones for good luck and the fun of it.

Spirit of Community for the Statesman

Most of my assignments these days boil down to portraits. As a freelancer, most of my calls come after some big news event has happened and editors need the photos yesterday. Whenever I can, I broaden the scope to include documentary shooting. If the deadline is flexible and some meaningful interaction close at hand, I'm happy to put in the extra time. These are the photos that are the most revealing to me, the ones I love to make.

At a recent portrait assignment, I sat in on an interview with Gilbert Ramirez and his wife Jane. Like many east Austin residents, they're worried about rising property taxes and the loss of community as older families move out and new neighbors settle in. Gilbert told me about his neighborhood's communal tool shed and a commitment to help elderly residents with their yard work. There's community spirit in action.

With a long lead-time on publication, I went back a few days later when a group of neighbors came together to help Maddie Collins get her yard into shape for spring. The paper might still run the portrait, but I'm more fulfilled as a photographer, story-teller, and neighbor by making the extra effort.

Save Texas Schools Rally for the Dallas Morning News

Earlier this month thousands of teachers, parents, administrators and students marched to the capitol to protest cuts to education spending in the state.  Texas faces a budget shortfall estimated at between $15 billion and $27 billion.