Weatherford, Texas - Then & Now IV

Two years ago I was looking through all of the amazing old photos taken around Weatherford.  It was awesome to see horse drawn carriages traveling through our town square, early model cars and what the buildings looked like in those early days.  Many of the original structures were ravaged by fire but some still stand tall today in original form.  I felt inspired to recreate some of these old photos and give a 'Then & Now' comparison.  It is surreal to stand in exactly in the same location that the original photo was taken.  Here's a look back into the past of historic downtown Weatherford, Texas. The fourth video in the 'Then & Now' series will give you a small sample of what Weatherford was like in the early & mid 1900's.

CLICK HERE to see the complete playlist from all 5 videos in the series.

Maternity Sessions by: Felts Photography

Did You Know #10

Did you know that a couple of Parker County guys have a popular podcast with a huge following?

Cam Hale and Kyle Philson's podcast is called Expanded Perspectives and as stated on their web site, Expanded Perspectives represents individuals inclined to form one’s own opinions rather than depend upon academics or authorities; especially about ancient cultures, conspiracy theories, science, cryptozoology, social and religious issues. Their open minded views allow them to consider all possibilities regardless of how strange or unusual. They invite you to come with them as they explore the many stories, studies and topics through podcasts, interviews, books, blogs and news/magazine articles.

A friend of mine who also has a podcast (Pair of Spades) had mentioned these two guys and the unique but fascinating content they share.  I couldn't wait to check it out and was stoked to see they had nearly 150 different podcasts.  I soon realized, living in a small town that I actually knew of them but had no idea they even did this. I just wanted to share this with you all. Enjoy! 

Behind The Camera: Making A New Me

Here is a not-so-serious behind the camera look at making the docu-series 'A New Me' which follows my sister in law's weight loss journey after the Gastric Sleeve procedure. Below I'll post the link to our YouTube Channel. Feel free to subscribe for future videos.

Subscribe to Felts TV on YouTube for future videos.

A New Me: Weight Loss Journey Pt.1

I'm very excited to explore new territory by dabbling with video production. By no means is this perfect but I'm excited about this project and learning more in the area of video. Thanks to my sister-in-law for agreeing to let me document her journey.  

In Part 1 of  'A NEW ME',  we will follow Kiki Hyatt as she prepares for her Dr. Kim Inverted Gastric Sleeve procedure. Having struggled with being overweight her entire life, Kiki is now ready to live a better, healthier lifestyle.  The first part of her docu-series will introduce you to Kiki and give you an inside look at her struggles as an overweight mom. You'll learn more about the procedure and why this incredible woman chose surgery over traditional diets.  Check back for future episodes of Kiki's weight loss journey. 

Here's some behind the camera in making 'A New Me'.

Exploring New Ground

Ghost Caught On Camera

 Exploring abandonment, scary stories and movie making are three things I enjoy. Now thanks to new portable technology, I'm able to do them all. Hope you like this short.

Playing With Fire

Last night our Parker County Camera Club friends met and played with long exposure. The photo event began just about the time as the nightly round of storms rolled through. We worked fast and shot as much as we could. It was definitely interesting to see everyones different results. I can wait to do it again.  If you have an interest in photography please join in the fun. 

Throwback Thursday

Here's a throwback Thursday from the wedding of Carrleigh and Jonathon. The Lamb family have always been great to us. I feel honored I was able to be there to see these two tie the knot. 

Music Monday: Days Gone By

While exploring an old abandoned school I came across this beauty. I wondered how many songs had been played on this piano or how many students learned how play those ivory tusks.  

Music Monday: Shane McAnally

We're pretty proud of our local Grammy award winning songwriter, Shane McAnally. 

Shane's a multiple Grammy Award winning country music singer, songwriter and producer. He has written and produced songs for Kacey Musgraves, Kelly Clarkson, Sam Hunt, Kenny Chesney, Reba McEntire, Jake Owen, Luke Bryan, The Band Perry, Lady Antebellum, and Miranda Lambert, just to name a few.  The Academy of Country Music named him Songwriter of the Year in 2014.

McAnally co-produced Kacey Musgraves' 2012 Award Winning debut Same Trailer Different Park with her and fellow songwriter, Luke Laird. He co-wrote nine of the album's twelve tracks including all four singles, "Merry Go 'Round", "Blowin' Smoke", "Follow Your Arrow" and "Keep It to Yourself". He has worked with co-producer Zach Crowell on Sam Hunt’s major label debut, Montevallo, and co-wrote the lead single "Leave the Night On”. 

This is a pretty impressive list of accomplishments at such a young age. I found a great interview Shane did a few months back I thought you'd enjoy.

Shane McAnally has had a whirlwind of a few years. After a more-or-less failed record deal in the early 00’s, he didn’t score his first cut until 2008 on Lee Ann Womack’s ‘Last Call’, but since then things have expanded at any alarming rate, scoring cuts for Luke Bryan, Kenny Chesney, Reba McEntire, Jake Owen and Chris Young.........CLICK HERE for the full interview. 

Personal note:  In grade school, Shane attended Millsap ISD where we went to school together. We weren't friends but in our small school, you are pretty aware of everyone. Of course the younger kids always know who the older kids are.  He later moved  to Mineral Wells and I remember him working for the local radio station as a DJ.  Even at a very young age, Shane was following his passion for music by dipping his toes in any area of the industry that he could. 

 I can remember when I was in about the 3rd grade & going to my best friends house to stay the night.  Shane was also there staying the night with my friend's older brother. Us two younger kids sure thought it was cool to hang out with those older boys. Like young kids do, we stayed up late and watched MTV until the early morning hours. I always had a fond memory of that night. Even though we had a couple of cable channels at our house, I had never seen this new Rock & Roll video station everyone at school was talking about. That was the night I was introduced to MTV. 

I'm proud of the success this small town Texas boy has had.  Glad to see he followed his arrow to make a big name for himself a in the country music industry. CMS's,  ACM's, Grammy's..... I'm not sure how you can top these accolades, but I'm excited to see what's next for Shane. Congratulations on all the success, brother!  

Christmas Funnies

This year at our Felts Family Christmas, we did our usual Chinese gift exchange. I ended up getting a miniature version of the tacky leg lamp from the classic Christmas movie "A Christmas Story".  On the way home I had an idea. I wanted to reenact the scene from the movie when Bob receives his "major award". My family were great sports and obliged to partake in this crazy idea.

Shortly after I posted the video onto Facebook, I received a nice message from a friend. Glad to see my efforts to have fun and act nutty were understood. 

Oh, Is That What You Has Said??

There is a factory in Northern Minnesota which makes the Tickle Me
Elmo toys. The toy laughs when you tickle it under the
arms.

Well, Lena is hired at The Tickle Me Elmo factory and she
reports for her first day promptly at 8:00 am.

The next day at 8:45 am there is a
knock at the Personnel Manager's door. The Foreman
 throws open the door and begins to rant about the new Employee.

He complains that she is incredibly slow and the whole line

 is backing up, putting the entire production line behind schedule.

The Personnel Manager decides he should see this for
himself, so the 2 men march down to the factory floor. When
they get there the line is so backed up that there are
Tickle Me Elmo's all over the factory floor and
they're really beginning to pile up.

At the end of the line stands Lena surrounded by mountains
of Tickle Me Elmo's. She has a roll of plush Red fabric
and a huge bag of small marbles.

The 2 men watch in amazement as she cuts a little
piece of fabric, wraps it around two marbles and begins to carefully sew the little package between Elmo's legs.

The Personnel Manager bursts into laughter. After several
minutes of hysterics he pulls himself together and  approaches Lena .

 'I'm sorry, he says to her, barely able to keep
a straight face, 'but I think you misunderstood the
instructions I gave you yesterday...
 

Your job is to give Elmo two test tickles. 

Here are a couple of more video funnies I put together.

We made this last December when we has all that ice. I asked my son to do the famous Flick pole scene from the movie.  I couldn't believe how much he actually sounded like him as he frantically yelled for his friends help.



This has already been done and definitely not an original idea. My 9 year old insisted we do it and she got a big kick out of Jolly the elf swinging on the wrecking ball.

Felts Photography Seniors