Heloise and Ed Lallo at end of photo shoot in her San Antonio home. Writer Stephanie Vozza in background.

Inside her home in San Antonio, Texas, the woman who writes Hints From Heloise pours a cup of baking soda into the drain of her kitchen sink to demonstrate one of her most-requested household hints.

“Here comes the fun part,” says Heloise, 60, adding two cups of vinegar.

As she watches the mixture bubble and foam to eliminate unwanted odors, she laughs. “I love to do this!” she exclaims.

Last year I had the pleasure of working with writer Stephanie Vozza on a piece on Heloise for American Profiles magazine marking 50 years in syndication.

The daily column started by Heloise’s mother has evolved into a multimedia enterprise. It is written in a no-nonsense brand of Texas charm and humor that are the hallmarks of the savvy businesswoman who inherited the column in 1977.

Heloise’s genuine enjoyment for researching and sharing household advice—from how to freshen foul-smelling drains to removing stubborn stains—have made Hints From Heloise one of America’s most widely read newspaper columns.

“Readers love Heloise because her column offers the kind of information you just don’t get anywhere else,” says T.R. “Rocky” Shepard III, president of King Features in the article. “She’s dedicated to learning, and is the hardest-working creator in our stable.”

Heloise is indeed a driven woman, but she was fun and charming to work with. My son Alex and I enjoyed the afternoon we spent photographing this special Texas legend at her San Antonio home.

Dyna-Light 1000xl power pack.

I am parting with this old friend that has been there as I photographed executives for annual reports and models for their portfolio, because I have decided it is time to retire.

I would like to sell the system as a complete package, but will consider selling them as individual items. The system is more than 10-years old, and has not been used that much during the last five years.

The Dyna-Lite Package includes:

Dyna-Lite 2000xl Power Pack 
Dynalite 2000xl flash power pack This pack can handle 4 heads, or you can send all the power to one head. Side A and B have a max of 1000WS with a Variator with 1/3 steps and reduces to one full stop of power. Each side can be reduced from full power to half and then to quarter power. There are switches for the modeling lights to be set to match the power output. The pack is in good working condition.

Dyna-Lite 2000xl power pack.

Dyna-Lite 1000xl  Power Pack
Dynalite 1000x flash power pack. This pack is 1000 watts of flash power split between 4 head plugs in two separate banks, separate modeling light switch and intensity sliders, 4 triggering modes and covers a 7 f/stop lighting range. One f/stop variator fine-tunes power settings on all heads simultaneously. One switch lets you toggle between Symmetrical and Asymmetrical routing of the “A” and “B” flash head outlet banks. LED indicates combined mode. Arc proof. Four arc-protected outlets allow you to plug and unplug flash head cables without shutting down the power pack. 100% recycle audible indicato. Choose standard mono plug sync cord, built-in optical slave on the sync input socket.

2- Dyna-Lite  Flash Head 
1000 watt second Dynalite flash head with attached pigtail and modeling light on/off switch. The head is fan cooled. The flash tube and modeling light are in working order. Flash head comes with plastic flash tube protector.

Dyna-Lite Flash Head with 7” Reflector

1- Dyna-Lite Flash Head with 7” Reflector
1000 watt second Dynalite  flash head with attached pigtail and modeling light on/off switch. The head is fan cooled. The flash tube and modeling light are in working order. Flash head comes with 7” reflector.

4 – Dyna-Lite 14 foot connection cable

2 – Dyna-Lite Grid Holders with 4 Grids

1 – Focusable Dyna-Lite Focusable Spot with Filters.

Dyna-Lite Flash Head

4 – 8-foot light stands.

This equipment has been well used over the course of its life, and looks like it. All equipment is original owner.

For information please contact.

Ed Lallo
ed@newsroomink.com
512.917.6222

Focusable Dyna-Lite Focusable Spot.

]]> http://www.lallophoto.com/photography/new-home-wanted-for-well-used-dyna-lite-strobe-sytem-1250/feed/ 0 http://www.lallophoto.com/photography/arkansas-vacation-on-the-talimena-trail/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=arkansas-vacation-on-the-talimena-trail http://www.lallophoto.com/photography/arkansas-vacation-on-the-talimena-trail/#comments Mon, 28 Nov 2011 14:38:13 +0000 Ed Lallo http://www.lallophoto.com/?p=4081

Mike LeCluyse enjoys the view along the Talimena Trail.

Queen Wilhelmina Inn, or the “Castle in the Sky”, is situated on a flat plan high in the Arkansas Ouachitas Mountains along the 54-mile Talimena scenic drive.

Arthur Stilwell, vice president of the Kansas City, Pittsburg and Gulf Railroad (KCP&G), decided to build the first north-south railroad, a route from Kansas City, Missouri to Port Arthur, Texas, to provide rail access to the Gulf of Mexico.

Queen Wilhemina lodge at the Arkansas State Park is now closed for more than a year for a compete remodel.

The railroad’s route was drawn through Arkansas and the Ouachita Mountains. During the routing of the tracks through the valleys of the rugged Ouachitas, a flat area near the top of 2681-foot Rich Mountain was discovered.

This windswept, mountaintop location was brought to the attention of the investors of the KCP&G, many of whom were Dutch, as a site to build a resort retreat featuring a grand hostelry to entice railroad patrons to travel the rails.

The grand opening of the inn came on June 22, 1898 and Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands was to be crowned in September of that year. The luxurious hostelry of Victorian splendor was constructed of native stone and timber at a cost of $100,000. To honor the young Queen of the Netherlands, the magnificent structure was called “Wilhelmina Inn”, and a suite of rooms located in the southeast corner of the second floor and named for the Wilhelmina in the vain hope she would visit.

More than one hundred years, and two rebuilds later on the lodge, my old Maur Hill High School friend from Kanasa City, Mike LeCluyse, and I met up at the now Queen Wilhelmina State Park for a few days of rest and relaxation.  The lodge was scheduled to be closed the following month for more than a year for it’s third complete remodeling.

The marvelous views from the the lodge and along the Talimena drive are not to be missed, especially during fall foliage.

Also not to be missed is Spinnelli’s Italian Grill in the nearby town of Mena. The only restaurant in the area that serves alcohol, it was our regular dinner spot. A friendly staff serves the outstanding food. Best tip is to sit outside on the patio and enjoy the music.

The Talimena Trail is a popular destination for bikers.

The Talimena Scenic Drive is designated as an elite National Scenic Byway. It isn’t the quickest way to any destination, unless you want to get away from the ordinary and travel a road that is worthy of being the destination.

The drive winds its way through scenic beauty, historic sites, and natural wonders. Few travelers can finish these fifty-four miles in an hour and fifteen minutes. They could, but their curiosity requires several stops depending on their interests.

Hike fifty miles down the Ouachita Trail or sit on the front porch of the Queen Wilhelmina lodge and take in the view, the Talimena Scenic Drive can take you to some unique places. It’s more than just a road – it’s a destination that we are glad we did not miss.

Former People Magazine photographer Ed Lallo visiting "Okie Orthodox Ostrich Raising Monks" display at the Oklahoma City Zoozeum.

The Orthodox Okies of Forest Park Offer Holy Protection to Ostrichlings

Oklahoma town of Forest Park (pop.: 1,250), 10 Eastern Orthodox monks are midwifing baby ostriches, and doing it a good deal better than the Oklahoma City Zoo, which had just about given up trying. Life at the zoo, after all, tends to be sort of, well, a zoo, whereas life at the Holy Protection Orthodox Monastery, where women never enter, where meat is never eaten, is quiet and serene. There, zoo-laid ostrich eggs are hatched and the chicks are brought through adolescence, then sent back to the zoo for sale to other zoos all over the world. “

In the late fall of 1981, after a seven-year career working as a photojournalist for a variety of newspapers, I decided that my talents would be better served as a freelancer. Withdrawing the little money I had saved from my Tulsa bank, I flew off to New York for a weeklong adventure of showing my portfolio to every photo editor that would spare five minutes of time.

Father Arsenios, father Seraphim and Brother Simeon cuddle three winged neonates oustide the only Eastern Orthodox monastery in Oklahoma in 1982. About ostriches, says Arsenios, "I had to learn real quick."

One of the five-minute stops included a trip to People Magazine. I was lucky enough to get the time of the photo editor, Mary Dunn, and assistant photo editor, MC Marden. Both echoed the words that I had heard many times during my trip, “we love your work, come up with an interesting story and we will assign it to you.”

In the spring of the following year I was watching a popular TV program of the time – “Real People.” The show contained a four-minute segament on the monks of the Oklahoma orthodox Monastery of the Holy Protection of the Blessed Virgin that raised ostriches – a natural for People I thought.

Working closely with Michael Wallis, a freelance Tulsa writer at the time and current author of David Crockett: The Lion of the West, we submitted a proposal to People – and a couple of weeks later I started shooting my first assignment. The four-page article appeared in the September 20th, 1982 issue.

Twenty-nine years later, the Orthodox Okies of Forest Park are back in my life.

The Patricia and Bryron J. Gambulos Zoozeum at the Oklahoma City Zoo, has included a display on the famous “Okie Monks” that includes artifacts, photos, the original magazine and of course ostrich eggs. Also included is a 1980 Nieman-Marcus Christmas catalog that featured ostriches raised by the monks – price $1500 for a pair.

The only museum of its kind in the country, the OKC ZooZeum is a place to experience the zoological and botanical memories that guests and staff have encountered at the Zoo for more than 100 years. Designed into the framework of a 1935 Works Projects Administration (WPA) building originally built as a bathhouse, the ZooZeum is located in the heart of the zoo next to the Elephant Pavilion in the Elephant Habitat.

“The Ostrich Odyssey exhibit came to life when the zoo came into possession of one of the monks original ostrich chick cages”, said Amy Stephens, Naturalist Instructor Supervisor and Zoozeum Project Manager. “We found it interesting and after further research we were able to get the original people magazine photos from Ed Lallo, as well as purchase the magazine and Neiman Marcus catalog on Ebay.”

Amy Stephens, Naturalist Instructor Supervisor and Zoozeum Project Manager

More than 25-years later, the photos and story of ostrich raising monks still holds up. During the first 20 years of People Magazine, stories and photos were focused on both real people and celebrities. The magazine was black and white, and was not afraid to devote space to uses the eye-catching photos prominently.

A few days after the monk story appeared in the magazine, I was sitting in my Tulsa apartment on a Friday afternoon when the phone rang. It was Mary Dunn, People’s photo editor. She wanted to know if I was available to shoot an assignment. Renown climber Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia sportswear, was expecting me in the morning in Jackson Hole, WY to photograph him climbing one of the Grand Teton’s peaks – thus began more than 15-years of phone calls all People Magazine photographers were used to receiving on a Friday afternoon.

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The Texas Gas Service billboard high above El Paso’s Patriot Freeway is up!

Earlier this year I made the long drive to El Paso from Austin to photography three Texas Gas Service, a ONEOK company, employees for a billboard advertisement. Located on the edge of the company’s service yard, the billboard is in a prominent position to be viewed by daily commuters to downtown and Ft. Bliss.

The company’s success is driven by employees who strive to better their company and the communities in which they live. The billboard featured three local employees who met these criteria.

Texas Gas Service is a natural gas provider serving customers in Austin, El Paso, and the Rio GrandeValley. It provides natural gas service to approximately 535,000 customers in the state of Texas, including customers in Austin, El Paso, the Gulf Coast and the Rio Grande Valley.

A division of Tulsa-based ONEOK, it is a diversified energy company involved in oil and natural gas production, gathering, processing, storage, transmission and marketing in the mid-continent areas of the United States.

Through financial and volunteer support, Texas Gas Co is committed to using their considerable resources and skills to benefit the communities they serve. is committed to providing reliable natural gas service and ensuring that their customers receive the highest quality customer service available.

Hurricane Irene wound up by most estimates as one of the top ten most destructive and deadly hurricanes to hit the United States since 1980. While ultimately not as powerful as many had predicted, the storm still killed at least 27 people along its path from the Caribbean to the eastern seaboard.

Transportation was shut down all along the east coast, stranding residents and tourists in shelters, airports, and train stations. More than 5.8 million customers lost electricity, thousands of flights were cancelled, flooding washed out roads and destroyed homes, and evacuation orders were issued for hundreds of thousands.

Amongst all this confusion sat the Lallo’s.

After dropping Alex at Mitchell College in New London, Ct on a beautiful Friday, Adrienne and Ed decided to cancel longstanding reservations on the Cape Cod seashore. After a long debate on going inland to the Berkshire Mountains, or hunkering down in Boston – Boston was chosen, and good thing because the Berkshire Mountains were pounded by heavy rain and flooding.

Having been at college for just two-days, New London was close to Irene’s landfall. The picturesque college sits right on the bay, but damage was limited to a fallen tree and loss of power for one day.

In Boston, Irene landed with more hype than happening. Downtown Boston was hit with gusting winds and torrential downpours – the brunt was over by noon on Sunday resulting in limited damage.

Late Sunday morning tourist ventured out of hotel rooms to survey the remnants of Irene and found whitecaps in the Habor light rain and Dim Sum available at Winsor Dim Sum in Chinatown.

Cactus Pryor, Austin’s original funnyman and a pioneer of local radio and television, died August 30th. He was 88 .

When Austin got its first local TV broadcast on KTBC in 1951, the folksy humorist was the first face that viewers saw. Until 2008, he did commentaries about Austin haunts and personalities on KLBJ radio, but the station continued rerunning his old commentaries, a tribute to his lasting popularity with listeners. He ended each segment with a distinguishable but puzzling word: “thermerstrockimortimer.” Pryor never revealed what it means.

A hummingbird visits a feeder, overlooking lovely Canyon de Lallo in Austin, Tx., filled with water sweetened with Imperial Sugar.

by Ed Lallo, Founder, Newsroom Ink

In 2009 when my former partners at The News Group Net and I founded the first dynamic online newsroom staffed by professional journalists for the Imperial Sugar Company, ImperialSugarNewsroom.com, little did I realize when our contract ended two years later I would inherit a garage filled with a wide variety of Imperial Sugar products.

Brown sugar, raw sugar, confectionary sugar, sugar in boxes, sugar in bags –both plastic and paper- and sugar in shakers; all stored on my cluttered garage shelving next to paint cans and lawn trimmers. How did such a menagerie of sweet products from the leading name in sugar end up on the same shelf as week killers?

Posting more than 200 stories on the Imperial Sugar newsroom during those two-years required an untold amount of photos. Studies confirmed posts containing interesting, storytelling photos are more likely to be read and used by news media around the world. That is why my Austin garage shelves are lined with Imperial Sugar, Dixie Crystals and Wholesome Food products – props from photo shoots past.

Mix the sugar into boiling water and let cool. Before filling the hummingbird feeder, make sure to add one drop of red dye to attract the birds – that’s it. Simple!

There is only so much sugar a family of three can, or should, consume. My wife has used bags of both brown and white sugar for cooking and baking, by mother enjoys the shakers filled with cinnamon sugar for her morning toast, our neighbors have inherited bag after bag of Wholesome products and Auntie Diana gets a box for her yearly consumption.

This summer I found a new use for the sweet taste of Imperial Sugar – hummingbird feed.

It seems that the Texas drought has made hummingbirds especially thirsty for the taste of water flavored with the sweetness of Imperial Sugar. A recent survey of hummingbirds visiting the back-porch feeder overlooking lovely Canyon de Lallo, revealed they unanimously preferred the taste of Imperial Sugar water to other brands.

Simple to make, the receipt calls for two parts water for one part of Imperial sugar. Mix the sugar into boiling water and let cool. Before filling the hummingbird feeder, make sure to add one drop of red dye to attract the birds – that’s it. Simple!

As the Texas heat continues, remember to keep the hummingbird feeder filled with Texas’ own Imperial Sugar – water that is. Next I have to find something to do with the cases of Imperial’s Baker’s Supreme frosting mix next to lawn mower.

The deserted Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railway freight station in Ft. Stockton, TX.

Located on Comanche Springs, Fort Stockton, originally named Camp Stockton, at one time was the third largest source of spring water in Texas. Comanche Springs was a favorite rest stop on the Comanche Trail to Chihuahua, San Antonio and El Paso Road.

The deserted station sits besides equally deserted tracts.

The current Fort Stockton is located on 960 acres leased from civilian landowners. Companies A, B, E, and K of the 9th Cavalry began construction under the command of Colonel Edward Hatch. About 87 percent of all soldiers garrisoned at Fort Stockton from 1867 until 1886 were Buffalo Soldiers from the 9th Cavalry.

In the early 1860’s entrepreneurs, convinced that the water from Comanche and nearby Leon springs could be used for irrigation, purchased large tracts of land for agricultural development. By 1870, the region had a population of 420 civilians, predominantly Irish, German, and Mexican Catholics who had come by way of San Antonio. Irrigated farmland comprised 7,000 acres by 1889.

After the military post was abandoned on June 30, 1886, and both the Comanche Springs and the Southern Pacific railroads had bypassed it, Fort Stockton experienced a decline. By then, however, it was rapidly becoming the center for an extensive sheep and cattle ranching industry, and in 1926, the opening of the nearby Yates oil field brought on an economic boom.

The Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railway, started in 1900 by American railroad entrepreneur Arthur Edward Stilwell, was the predecessor to the Chihuahua al Pacífico railroad in Mexico. It was one of three connecting railroads that ran from Kansas City, Missouri, to Topolobampo, Mexico, a distance of 1,600 miles.

The United States portion was incorporated in 1900 as the Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railway, and completed between Wichita, Kansas and Alpine, Texas.

It was forced into bankruptcy in 1912, but its receiver William T. Kemper was to make a fortune when oil was discovered under its tracks. In 1914 it was reorganized as the KCM&O Railroad. Another reorganization in 1925 returned it to its original name. It was popularly called The Orient railroad.

The KCM&O was acquired by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway in 1928. mainly to gain access to the west Texas oil fields. The Santa Fe then sold the Mexican portions. The 603 miles of the Orient of Texas was merged into the Santa Fe on August 1, 1965. The Santa Fe has subsequently disposed of all of the former Orient trackage in Texas, beginning with the abandonment of the Sonora line in 1976.

The interior of the station that once housed incoming and outgoing freight.

]]> http://www.lallophoto.com/photography/ft-stocktons-kcmos-deserted-freight-train-station/feed/ 0 http://www.lallophoto.com/featured/seton-promotes-adrienne-to-director-of-communications/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=seton-promotes-adrienne-to-director-of-communications http://www.lallophoto.com/featured/seton-promotes-adrienne-to-director-of-communications/#comments Wed, 20 Jul 2011 12:07:03 +0000 Ed Lallo http://www.lallophoto.com/?p=3843

Adrienne Lallo and her father, Jules Sotnek, enjoy a Belikan Beer at Chef Rob's in Hopkin's, Belize.

A little over nine-months after being promoted to Manager of Communications, Adrienne Lallo has once again taken another step up the corporate ladder as the new Director of Communications for the Seton Healthcare Family.

Her responsibilities will include managing the internal and external communications staff for the more than 20 clinical locations Seton operates throughout Central Texas, as well as thought-leadership for communications and advising senior management.

Adrienne has been a member of the Seton communication team for five years, and said “her work experience at Seton has been one of the most enjoyable and rewarding in her career.”

Seton is a member of Ascension Health, the largest not-for-profit health network in the nation.