Denny Mingus' photostream  

I'm an amateur photographer exploring the small towns and rural areas in the Lubbock, Texas region as well as the northern Texas panhandle, and western Oklahoma.

I have a number of little goals in mind for my photography. Primarily, I want to become an accomplished photographer. When I started taking photos in earnest in early 2007, it might have been nice to see the progress of a rank amateur to a professional. I hope if you like my current crop of photos that you'll look at some of the first few thousand that I posted. At the beginning I wasn't selective at all in what I posted with the exception of the absolute worst. You can see my progress both in equipment and skill. Hopefully this will interest you if you're just starting out.

I want to get out and see the world. In the past most of my time traveling has been to stick to the straightest, fastest path, and I've avoided experiencing anything but a stream of visual fast food. It's hard to speak of traveling to a destination down a paved road as being off the beaten path, but at this point, it feels like it is to me. Maybe you'll observe that in the beginning most of my photos were of the world at arm's length. Over time, I've gotten closer to my subjects and ventured out of my previous comfort zone. Who knows, maybe in a year or two, I'll have portraits of people in my photostream.

To me these small towns are the embodiment of America, and a microcosm of the hopes, fears, problems and strengths of this country. I want to show the world the small Texas town (and those of Oklahoma and Kansas when I can). It's my hope that we can see how unique and distinctive our own part of the world is, and take pride in it.

And finally, I hope you enjoy the photos themselves. It's been a huge learning experience for me, an experience like finding I'd never been to all of the rooms in my house, and I'm happy to share them with you. Generally I post the largest version of the photo. You could print a poster of the file if you like. Feel free to share the images via email, or print some off to share with your friends and family. I'm holding all of the rights to the photos, so please don't try to make a profit from them in any fashion, publish them in print, etc. without my expressed permission.