Hippity Hoppity Bunny Day! - Cooke County Family Photographer

My daughter is lucky enough to have both sides of her family that want to spend the day with her so we were treated to two different Easter celebrations this year. She got to have two egg hunts and just thought she was the luckiest little girl to find so many eggs filled with goodies. I took over 400 photos and thought I'd share a few with you here! So here's some shots of Easter with my family, enjoy!



Flowers from my in-law's beautiful backyard.


The Ugly Doll "Bunny" I got for my daughter, which I have now basically claimed as my own because she says it's "Too old." Anyways, I had to have a mini photo shoot with him because he's too cute!


My daughter Zoey and her cousin Olivia checking out their goodies.


Zoey and her cousin Lexi on my parents rustic farm.


My beautiful niece Lexi being kind enough to stop and pose while egg hunting! =)


This wacky little hen wound up being very photogenic!


Kite flying was super fun for all!


My daughter is so lucky to have such a picturesque place to have Easter egg hunts!


Something else that photographs well, the rusty "junk" around my parents farm. Love it!

I hope your Easter was as good as mine! See you next time with more, Captured by Jess

Backlog Editing

I've been trying to get back to editing the photos I took on my step-Dad and I's marathon of visiting area cemeteries on the 9th of January because after the Easter sessions, I will have little time to edit much else for a while! I've still got 4 more cemeteries on my to-do list from that day that it just has seemed impossible to get back around to! Last night I was working on a small cemetery that didn't yield too many interesting photos so I went back to the photos of the barn we started at and came up with a new edit of one that I am loving, plus a bonus. Enjoy!

Rainy Days and Slow Computers...

So February is generally a dreary month. Cold and wet. Everyone is basically stuck indoors and bored out of their minds! Luckily, I've got a stock pile of images to edit and share, but unluckily my computer is disagreeing with me! It seems as though it's too old to handle the work load I am trying to impose on it. So as I attempt to edit the recreational photos I've taken over the last couple of months, it's creeping along at a snails pace! So, among a few other essentials - I am getting a new business computer when we get our small bit of tax return back. I can't wait to be able to edit and process my images at a more effective rate! =) LOL, until then here's a peek at what I'm (slowly) working on currently.



My Step-Dad and I went exploring in Cooke County, Texas where we live on 1.9.10 and this was our first stop. An old abandoned barn on the corner of I-35 and Highway 82. I am slowly getting all the photos I took throughout the day edited and will be sharing them here and on my facebook page as I get them completed.

See you soon with new photos and new stories!

Visting the Past... Dexter, Texas

The small derelict town of Dexter, Texas lies about 10 miles from my parent's farm in Callisburg, Texas yet in a decade of living in the area this was the first time I went there in search of the remnants.



History Lesson of the Day:

Founded in the mid 1860's, Dexter was the last stop for travelers headed north to Oklahoma before crossing the Red River. Outlaws on the run would commonly seek refuge in the town as they fled to Oklahoma.

By the early 1880s its population of 300 was served by at least thirty-seven businesses, including four blacksmith shops, three hotels, a district school, two steam gristmills and cotton gins, four physicians and somewhere between four and eight bars. Dexter was expected to overtake Gainesville as the largest town in Cooke County when residents thought the Denison and Pacific Railway was going to
pass through it. However when the rail line passed through Woodbine, a small town twenty miles south, Dexter began to decline.

All that remains in this once wild town from the old west is a church and several farm houses that sit among decayed traces of its former glory.


I drove up there with my step-father, I on the hunt for beautiful photos of the derelict remains, my Dad on the hunt for ghosts and orb filled photos! =)

When you round the corner, passing the church the first thing you notice is the tall structure that is known as the School Auditorium. We parked on a small street that runs beside it and walked over to the building. The trees and brush were thick on all sides but there was a well worn path that led right up to the front door.




These are views of the Auditorium exterior, top photo was taken in 1995, the bottom in 2003. ( Source: jimmy75020 )

I was kind of worried about the stability of the floor since there were rotten and broken spots in several areas but we had no trouble while inside. My Dad even went up on the stage to take photos - I was not so brave.


Looking up from the entrance...


East corner of the building...


This is my favorite photo of the day...Interior, West Corner


After exploring the auditorium for a while we made our way to the east of the building and found the remains of what is called the "Barber Shop" it was a small shack of a building that stood in-tact until around 2000 before it finally gave way to time and the elements.




Standing in the fallen doorway...


Photos of the Barber Shop. The top photo is the interior in 1995, mid photo is the exterior in 2003 and the bottom is the interior in 2003. ( Source: jimmy75020 )

A little further east you notice this concrete trim forms a box around the bank site. Hidden a few yards back in the tress and brush is the bank vault.



The vault is an amazing site. Just to think that it's been there since the days of the Wild West is so incredible. And the fact that the shutter doors are still in-tact was a real treat. We were loosing daylight quickly at this point and I hate all the photos I took of the door trim and front side of the vault but we do plan to go back, earlier in the day so we can stay longer and get even more photos.




Bank Vault remains in 2003. ( Source: jimmy75020 )

There wasn't much light left at all when I realized that the tall brick chimney across the street was from the old two story hotel. I was unable to get any decent pictures of it but it's my top priority on my return!


Photos of the Dexter Hotel. Top left is a black and white found in an old book. Top right is a painting (source unknown). Bottom left is the remains in 2000. Bottom right is what was left around 2004. ( Source: jimmy75020 )

Unfortunately this site has no historic markers and nothing is being maintained. It's only a matter of time before it is all lost to time and nature and I hope to document it in photos many more times before it's gone completely. It's a real treasure nestled in the crook of nowhere...

You can view the entire album of photos here on my personal Facebook account.