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

Almost tall enough

Winter has finally hit Texas with a big chill. Just posting an outtake today from those beloved warmer days when a light breeze and a river view are perfect for daydreaming.

Sophia

Sophia Villarreal is the talented, funny, sweet niece of a good friend. She's applying to colleges and doing tryouts for dance departments. We spent a few hours playing with light and her amazing moves. Hopefully the photos will help separate her from the pack.

We met at the tail-end of a long day, but this shoot made my week. I caught the energy of an amazing young woman with the world before her. Good luck Sophia! Can't wait to see where you fly next.

SUP Pilates for the Statesman

I love to play (and work) outdoors. Pam LeBlanc's Fit City columns give me an excuse to do both while on the job. The downside? Getting exposed to fun things I end up spending money on later. It's a first-world problem. I'll live.

A few weeks ago I met Liana Mauro, a pilates instructor with a new delivery platform - all the difficulty of pilates on a Stand-Up paddle board. Being on the water is a blessing and a curse, but you can't beat the view. One of her clients nominated her as one of the best trainers in Austin.

I spent an afternoon chasing Liana and her class around Townlake and came back with only a mild case of poison ivy. Next time I'll borrow a housing and get on the water with them.

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

The Blanton After Dark

Outtake

Solar panels and hydrant roping.  Gotta love progressive Texas.

DC Block Party

Earlier this summer I wandered around the streets of DC with Jenna Isaacson.  We heard music, smelled the grilling meats, and gravitated towards a good old fashioned neighborhood block party.  The kids were having a dance competition, though there was just one entrant in the "Michael Jackson" category.  Billie Jean was blaring for his performance.

road trip reprise

It seems I always hit the road on some kind of deadline.  There's never enough time between destinations to wander into uncharted territory.  I get my kicks where I can.

I spent some time on my favorite jogging trails from when I lived in SF.  Point Lobos and Crissy Field still reveal themselves anew.

The new Annenberg Space for Photography in Los Angeles.

El Monte, CA

Mt. Lemmon - Tucson, AZ

the most important pictures

The Robinson clan lost our patriarch earlier this year.  In preparation for his memorial service in California last month, I poured through my archives - digital and negative - for images of my grandfather.

In any given year, the ratio of assignment work to personal/familial images is staggering.  Among the millions of files, I came up with a few dozen of his face.  Those meant more to me than the soccer matches, holiday parades, dance recitals, portraits - the litany of daily work that I had so dutifully archived.

My favorite is a photo I took of him when I was just out of high school.  I was visiting California from Texas and we took a day trip to Half Moon Bay.  My grandfather, the progenitor of my sweet-tooth, ordered a root-beer float that wasn't on the menu.  "You have root-beer and ice cream, don't you?" he asked the waiter with his sly smile.  After haggling over the price of the new item, we settled in a window seat, victorious.

I knew it on some level before, but these are the most precious images to me.  The ones that pull love and memory from me at a glance.

We gathered in California to say one last 'aloha' to my grandfather - fleeting moments of togetherness for our far-flung family.

My father plays with his oldest granddaughter.

My brother and his youngest daughter en route to the 

memorial service on San Francisco Bay.

My brother tries on my grandfather's hat.

My niece plays with her great-grandmother.

around the neighborhood

twilight

VFW Wedding in Leander, Texas.

Favs from 2009

It's contest season for photojournalists everywhere - that magical time of year when we unearth files from hard drives and DVDs to create our year in review. There's the thrill of discovery (the frame you forgot to file) and the groan of defeat (yep, the composition is still off).

Whatever your attitude is about contests, the process is what's important. It's a reckoning, really. A pause in the endless 'next' to feel both satisfied and dissatisfied - to set goals and dream big. After a few days of hemming and hawing over photos I'm sick of them all and can't wait to get back out into the thick of things. Here's to a 2010 full of stories.

mpw outtakes, part deux

the first few hours (days) of the workshop are spent wandering around looking for story ideas and getting a lay of the land. here are some singles and stories that didn't make the cut.


















































some bonus footage. halfway through day 3 i got stuck knee-deep in mississippi river mud. jennifer (looking out over the river, above) was kind enough to take a shot of me in this ridiculous position.