STP Images is conducting a search for two high school Senior Spokespersons, one male and one female, to represent the studio for the remainder of the 2010 Spring Semester.  The contest is open to any high school senior regardless of school (public or private), but you’ll need to enter quickly as the winner will be selected in March.  The two selected winners will receive a complete ‘Senior Package B’ from our packages posted online.    This awarded prize includes a full studio or outdoor session of up to two hours of shooting time, one 20” mounted print, two 10” prints, three 7” prints, eight 6” prints, forty eight wallet photos, ten web resolution images for your Facebook page or other online social networking site and personal cards to show off your new images and to give to friends.  This package retails for $850.00.

Additionally, the Senior Spokespersons may be requested to attend up to 3 functions that STP Images participates in to help promote the studio.  These functions would occur prior to graduation date.  Winners will be selected March 15 and will be announced right here on the STP Images blog.

The contest is easy!  Simply complete the following steps to enter:

1. Send us in 100 words or less, why you believe that YOU would be the best Senior Spokesperson for STP Images studio.  Be creative in your reasons and you might even include your extracurricular activities.
2. Send us complete info for yourself – name, age, gender, mailing address, email address and Facebook.
3. Attach one or two sample photos of yourself.  These do not have to be studio quality, but need to be clear enough to show us who you are.  They can be images from a point and shoot camera, a cell phone camera or professional shots.  Just attach them to the email you send.
4. Simply email the 100 word essay (item #1 above), your contact information (items #2 above) and your jpg images (item #3 above) to seniors2010@stpimages.com.

To see some of the work that STP Images does with our high school seniors, check out our full portfolios of our work at www.stpimages.com.  You can also find pricing for prints and some of our unique products on both the website and the “Investment” tab at the top of this blog page.

We wish each entrant success and look forward to picking the winners in March.  Stay “tuned” to the blog for updates.

January 2010 just snuck up on us, didn’t it?  Well, if you’re a high school senior this year, it’s time to start thinking about your high school senior photos.  Remember, these photos will be with you FOREVER!  Just take a look at your parents Facebook friends and their 70’s and 80’s style senior portraits.  Is that REALLY the way you want to be remembered – a bad senior portrait of you posted to your Facebook profile in 2021 with a caption you wrote stating ”I don’t know WHAT I was thinking”?  Don’t be that person!  Do yourself a favor and say ‘NO’ to boring high school senior photos TODAY.  You’ll thank yourself when you’re 30.

New at STP Images this year, EVERY high school senior package comes with a Proofing Party absolutely FREE!  These Proofing Parties make YOU the center of attention.  After each STP Images Senior completes a fun, creative and interactive shoot, a Proofing Party is scheduled about two weeks later.  Seniors then invite their favorite friends to come to the STP Images studio for a full blown party with food and drinks.  Then, everyon gathers in the Proofing Room to see a music video of the shoot with every cool shot set to music.  After watching this video (usually several times), each senior gets to choose the shots they wish to have printed – and of course the video is available for purchase to each Senior as well.  There are tons of unique and cool products beyond standard prints for our Seniors including iPod Nanos with all your images on them as well as web formatted images for your Facebook page.

Take a look at the sample video below to see just how completely awesome these shoots can be!  More information is available on the “Proofing Party” tab at the top of this blog page.  We’d love to help make you the center of attention and give you some seriously hot images too!  Call or email for calendar availability.  We can’t wait to work with you.

AP Photo

Just a few years ago, Jai Lucas was a hot prospect out of Houston, Texas.

A scoring dynamo that embodied every sense of the word “playmaker”, Lucas was a hot recruit, despite being just 5-foot-11.

But his career has made an interesting turn, to say the least.

The Bellaire High graduate who played at Florida the last two years is now on the Texas Longhorns’ roster as a walk-on.

Lucas is without a scholarship this season due to the Longhorns not having any available, thanks to the No. 2 ranked 2009 recruiting class. Reportedly, Lucas knew that he might not have a scholarship this season if things fell in place for head coach Rick Barnes.

It has been reported that Lucas’ father, former NBA player and coach John Lucas, will pay for school. Lucas will have a scholarship in 2010-11.

Lucas transferred from Flordia in January and will become eligible to play in mid-December.

He never panned out for the Gators. He was said to be homesick, plus he wasn’t given a full opportunity at point guard since Nick Calathes, now playing overseas, had secured it.

Florida coach Billy Donovan had Lucas playing primarily at shooting guard.

“There was a point where Jai wasn’t totally happy and wanted to try to make it work,” Donovan told ESPN earlier this year.  “And I think there’s probably a lot of contributing factors — being far away from home and not feeling like it’s the best fit for him is how he put it.”

Lucas averaged 8.5 points as a freshman and led the Gators in 3-point shooting at 43.5 percent. He started all 36 games.

Just great for the likes of Baylor, Texas A&M and the rest of the college basketball powers.

A walk-on will likely be the Longhorns’ starting point guard come January. Not sure Barnes drew that one up, but he has to be counting his blessings.

Lucas adds speed, shooting and quickness at point guard, and what team wouldn’t want that?

It’s good to see Jai back in Texas though, where he belongs. He had an outstanding prep career at Bellaire – I still vividly remember his performance while ousting Devin Gibson’s Cy-Falls squad from the playoffs in their respective senior years – and he’s definitely fun to watch.

The fall semester is in full swing and it’s time to start thinking about your high school senior photos.  Remember, these photos will be with you FOREVER!  Just take a look at your parents Facebook friends and those 70’s and 80’s style senior portraits.  Is that REALLY the way you want to be remembered – a bad senior portrait of you posted to your Facebook profile in 2021 with a caption you wrote that says “I don’t know WHAT I was thinking”?  Do yourself a favor and say ‘NO’ to boring high school senior photos TODAY.  You’ll thank yourself when you’re 30!

New at STP Images this fall, EVERY high school senior shoot comes with a Proofing Party (every package includes one FREE)!  These Proofing Parties make YOU the center of attention.  After each STP Images Senior completes a fun, creative and interactive shoot, a Proofing Party is scheduled about two weeks later.  Seniors then invite their favorite friends to come to the STP Images studio for a full blown party with food and drinks.  We then all sit down in the Proofing Room to view a music style video of the shoot with every cool shot set to music.  From this video, each senior gets to choose the shots they wish to have printed – and of course the video is available to each Senior as well.  There are tons of unique and cool products for our Seniors including iPod Nanos with all your images on them as well as web formatted images for your Facebook page.

Take a look at the sample video below to see just how completely awesome these shoots can be!  More information is available on the “Proofing Party” tab at the top of this blog page.  We’d love to help make you the center of attention and give you some seriously hot images too!  Call or email for calendar availability.  We can’t wait to work with you.

The fall semester is in full swing and it’s time to start thinking about your high school senior photos.  Remember, these photos will be with you FOREVER!  Just take a look at your parents Facebook friends and those 70’s, 80’s and 90’s style senior portraits.  Is that REALLY the way you want to be remembered – a bad senior portrait of you posted to your Facebook profile in 2021 with a caption you wrote that says “I don’t know WHAT I was thinking”?  Well, do yourself a favor and say ‘NO’ to boring high school senior photos TODAY.  I promise you that you’ll thank yourself when you’re 30!

New at STP Images this fall, EVERY high school senior shoot comes with a Proofing Party (every package includes one FREE)!  These Proofing Parties make YOU the center of attention.  After each STP Images Senior completes a fun, creative and interactive shoot, a Proofing Party is scheduled about two weeks later.  Seniors then invite their favorite friends to come to the STP Images studio for a full blown party with food and drinks.  We then all sit down in the Proofing Room to view a music style video of the shoot with every cool shot set to music.  From this video, each senior gets to choose the shots they wish to have printed – and of course the video is available to each Senior as well.  There are tons of unique and cool products for our Seniors including iPod Nanos with all your images on them as well as web formatted images for your Facebook page.

Take a look at the sample video below to see just how completely awesome these shoots can be!  More information is available on the “Proofing Party” tab at the top of this blog page.  We’d love to help make you the center of attention and give you some seriously hot images too!  Call or email for calendar availability.  We can’t wait to work with you.

A Harris County grand jury today indicted Bellaire police Sgt. Jeffrey Cotton in the New Year’s Eve shooting of a man outside his home.

Cotton was indicted on one count of aggravated assault by a public servant. The offense is a first-degree felony, and, if convicted, Cotton faces a maximum possible sentence of life in prison.

The shooting happened as Robert Toland, 23, the son of former major league baseball player Bobby Tolan, arrived at the family home in the 800 block of Woodstock after returning from a fast-food restaurant.

As Robert Tolan and his cousin approached the front door, officers, who erroneously had been advised Tolan was driving a stolen car, arrived and ordered the pair to the ground. Tolan family members said that as they attempted to tell officers about the mistake, police pushed the young man’s mother against a wall.

Tolan attempted to rise to protest and was wounded as Cotton fired his weapon multiple times. Lawyers for Tolan, who is black, have argued that the shooting resulted from racial profiling by white law officers.

The elder Tolan said his son, who was a baseball standout at Bellaire High School, hoped to pursue a professional baseball career. Though he had previously played minor league baseball, Robert Tolan was not on any team’s roster at the time of the shooting.

Tolan’s attorney Geoffrey Berg said the bullet entered the young man’s right chest, piercing his liver and lung.

At an afternoon press conference outside the Harris County Criminal Justice Center, Berg said his client continues to experience pain.

“He isn’t back to where he was,” Berg said. “He was an athlete in peak shape. … He has a long road to recover, if he ever does.”

Alluding to the grand jury’s indictment, Berg called today “a good day for justice” in Harris County.

Berg and co-counsel George Gibson said they would file a civil lawsuit on Tolan’s behalf.

In a separate news conference today, Bellaire City Manager Bernie Satterwhite said “it should go without saying that this (indictment) is far from a finding that Sgt. Cotton actually did anything improper in connection with the incident.”

Cotton, Satterwhite said, “is, like any individual, innocent until proved guilty through a trial.”

Cotton, 39, who worked a decade for the Bellaire Police Department, will remain on paid administrative leave while the case remains pending, Satterwhite said.

Berg renewed his assertion that the incident leading to the shooting was a case of racial profiling.

Gibson charged that Tolan was guilty of “driving while black in the city of Bellaire,” and called for diversification of that city’s police department.

“It was unjustified,” Berg said of the shooting. “There was no fact whatsoever to justify what he (Cotton) did.”

Satterwhite, however, said “the city has not learned of any evidence indicating that the city’s policies or any lack of training played any role in the incident.”

“There is nothing about the indictment or any investigation which even suggests that race played any role in the stop or in Sgt. Cotton’s action when he arrived as a backup officer,” Satterwhite said.

Berg today called on the city of Bellaire to apologize for the incident.

The shooting happened six months after a Harris County jury acquitted two Pasadena police officers of criminal charges related to the beating death of Pedro Gonzales Jr.

Gonzales, 51, arrested after officers Jason Buckaloo and Christopher Jones saw him apparently intoxicated at an auto shop, suffered eight broken ribs and a punctured lung in the July 21, 2007 incident. He had been out of jail for less than two hours on an earlier intoxication charge when he was arrested.

Testimony revealed that Gonzales was not intoxicated when confronted by the officers, but may have been severely agitated and hyperactive.

Wow!  What a blast we had during this shoot.  Hannah is a Westside High School senior and she made the portrait session seem like a party.  We saddled up for our shoot and hit the historic Majestic Theater and the dock at Discovery Green Park downtown.  Then it was off to the Menil Museum, a gritty graffiti wall and we finished with a few studio shots.  We were worn out when we were done, but the portaits are beautiful!

We love our High School Seniors and it shows in her shots.  Take a look for yourself and be the judge!  (Hannah – if you’re reading this, we’re saving the best shots for you to see in the studio in two weeks!)

Spring is in the air and that means it’s time to capture those fleeting and soon-to-be-gone high school memories!  Our Houston high school seniors love the way we can combine some really beautiful (or gritty!) outdoor shots with some great studio shots that parents will love as well.  Since we’re so close to Hermann Park and downtown, we can design a High School portrait session featuring your personality in a truly unique way.

Our schedule is starting to fill, but we still have some prime time slots available.  Take a look at some of our recent Houston high school senior portraits below and give us a shout for a FREE consultation to talk about the artistic way we can make you ROCK!

Brian Beard’s poem “Earth to Sky” appears in the most recent issue of The Red Rock Review. Usually our “Writer in the Limelight” series features the writers who teach with WITS. This is different. Brian Beard is not a writer teaching for WITS but a teacher (at Bellaire High School in Houston) who hosted a WITS writer in his classroom.

Brian explains the genesis of his poem this way: I wrote this poem using the prompt [WITS Writer] Jacob White gave my class last year. The prompt was essentially: “Write a letter from one natural element to another.” I am tickled that the WITS collaboration, which my students got so much out of, was inspiring and helpful to me as well. Even though I don’t have a WITS writer in my class this year, I continue to use creative writing techniques I picked up with Jacob over the year and Cecily [another WITS writer] over the summer.

Here is Brian’s published poem:

Earth to Sky

Your indifferent breeze,
your self-serving bees,
your distant sun:

still I would give you this bouquet
from my dirty, grassy paws.

From under winter’s death shroud,
each unborn petal longs to muzzle against
your unholdable face.

by Brian Beard