Don Allen | nature and portrait photography

I am a part-time professional photographer residing in Texas. I started seriously pursuing photography as a hobby in 1994, when my wife and I bought some 35mm SLR camera equipment for a vacation to Hawaii. I quickly sort of "took over" the camera system (my wife has since purchased her own point and shoot camera) and have never looked back. More on my equipment can be found here.

Soon after our first son was born in 1995, I purchased lighting equipment for a portrait studio to set up in my house. After my wife saw the first set of photos I took of our son in my studio, she has never complained about how much I spend on equipment for my studio! I used to perform about 75 sittings a year, plus the ones I shot of my wife and children, but have since cut back to (mostly) shooting just my family.

Those of you that have never been to Texas in April, have not seen the most spectacular and colorful natural wonder on earth! In 1997, I purchased my first medium format system and went about taking serious photos of Texas wildflowers. In 1998, I added a large format system to my arsenal and in 2004 I went exclusively to large format for landscapes. I publish only infrequently, but was published in Texas Highways magazine in the April issues (April always brings the infamous annual wildflower issue) from the period 2000-2008, and occasionally on a sign, billboard, or another magazine or website. I do not rigorously pursue publications because I prefer selling fine art prints instead. Also, I just do not have the time to keep up with numerous submissions.

I was born in Tulsa but raised in Houston since I was four. I was employed full-time as a research engineer for Shell Oil Company and performed hydrodynamics research for offshore structures (primarily those in deepwater) until my retirement in 2010.

Today I manage two companies: VIV Solutions which manufactures suppression devices for vortex-induced vibration; and Allen Offshore which provides consulting services and develops software. I have a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Texas A&M University and a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Rice University.. My personal highlights during my years at Texas A&M include: playing in the Brazos Symphony Orchestra as lead trombone; directing the TAMU (student) Jazz Band; teaching calculus; and graduating in only 3-1/2 years. It took me an additional four years to get my Ph.D. though, which was sped up by the fact that I was able to skip my Master's Degree (by passing a special examination).

During graduate school, I was the co-founder of CAPS Sports Ratings - a computer rating system for college and professional sports teams. While my partners and I decided to quit the business due to lack of interest (on our part) in the early 1990s, the software is still better than anything of the rating systems published today (by the way, we were published in the Houston Post, Chicago Sun Times, New York Daily News, and were used by some of the NCAA Basketball Tournament Selection Committee).

Today, aside from spending lots of time with my wife and 4 children, I enjoy coaching youth baseball and basketball, photographing my kids' sports activities, studying history (especially World War II), cycling, tennis, and studying philosophy, and biblical theology. This latter pursuit fits in well with the active role my wife and I play as members of Trinity Baptist Church, and I like to think of myself as an intellectual Christian. I believe that all that is in this world worth photographing came from God, and I am thankful for the life he has given me. If you too would like to know how you can come to know Jesus Christ as your personal savior, or would like to know more about my "thinking" faith, then please email me!