Big Tex and my baby...

I've been a fan of the State Fair of Texas since as long as I can remember. I have not missed a single fair in approximately 31 years. Big Tex was always a highlight as a child, so to meet the modern day voice of Big Tex was a true delight!

I first met and photographed Bill Bragg (Big Tex's voice) several years ago, while doing a story about the state fair for a national weekly magazine called American Profile. At the time, my oldest boy was my only boy, and he must've been just under a year old. The story required me to make several trips to the fair, and I took my boy on a few.

On the day I met Bill, my boy tagged along, and we took this photo of the two together (after I finished my portrait of him for the magazine):

Well, jump forward a few years. I just pitched a fun photo essay idea to Quick, called the ABC's of the State Fair. I was really just looking for a good excuse to go to the fair a million times this year. Plus, I thought it would be a fun photo project for the readers. It's basically 26 fair photos, one for each letter of the alphabet. Of course, I thought Bill/Big Tex would be the perfect photo for the letter B!

After completing our photo shoot today, I had Bill pose with my boy again - now about to turn 4 years old. He was so happy to have his picture taken with Bill, and was so excited to see Big Tex again. I'm hoping that he (and my other boys) will love the fair as much as I do...

On a side note, Bill was nice enough to say that out of the thousands of photos people have done of him, mine is his very favorite! He repeated that statement a few different times throughout our shoot today, so I imagine he really meant it, not like he was just being polite or anything.

I have to say, that is quite an honor to hold that distinction!!! I am such a huge fan of the fair and Big Tex, so to know that out of all the publications and all the photographers who've had Bill in front of their lens... I was the best! It's the Texas State Fair honor of a lifetime for sure.