Who's on first: Artist (left) and analyst at CentralTrak

Last Saturday night, I swept my eyes from left to right, then back again, over photographer Denise Prince's four pieces at CentralTrak as if I was flipping through pages in a magazine. On another wall, there was a bigger neon display, its bold blues and pinks distracting you from the bigger picture: In one corner, there is an impossibly polished model, and in the other, you are looking at a dead woman.

Over the last few years, Prince, who grew up in Dallas, has been recreating images from a 2009 Missoni ad campaign, called Replication and Breakdown of the Missoni Estate Line Catalog. She assigned the model roles to women and men who'd experienced physical trauma or deformity. In the above case, she photographed a recently deceased woman in India and juxtaposed her with the ad's original model.

The pieces were part of CentralTrak's current That Mortal Coil exhibit, which focuses on more radical depictions of the body and contemporary beauty and fashion. Her models were there among Ari Richter's heavily contested "Wolf Dong," R.E. Cox's architecturally precarious prosthetic leg sculptures, and Nina Schwanse's "Squirting" video series. It was a lot to take in.

Which is why I was so excited to know Prince's work would be psychoanalyzed by Dr. Charles Merward, her L.A.-based shrink, at CentralTrak a few days later, during a talk called "Not on Speaking Terms."

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All photos by Mike Mezeul II

Last weekend they found each other. Monsters, honey badger caretakers and chainsaw enthusiasts swarmed the Hyatt Regency for Texas Frightmare Weekend, the area's annual celebration of all things gore. The eighth installment of TFW featured two Buseys, Danny Trejo and loads of pulseless and soon-to-be pulseless Walking Dead cast members.

When the horror stars align, it's time to cook up some fake blood. We sent photographer Mike Mezeul to capture the most creative convention costumes roaming through Frightmare. Then, we ripped through 'em and picked our ten favorites. Be warned: these images could blow open ancient seals.

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All photos by Bianca Montes

The Kessler received the royal treatment on Friday as the Burlesque Hall of Fame Queens Tour dropped its dazzle on the main stage. The show gave glamor a spotlight, providing a look at which gals are currently werkin' it to the most acclaim.

We were voodoo-charmed by reining champ Imogen Kelly, her fairy glammother Indigo Blue, New Orleans matriarch Coco Lectric, and a whole sparkly slew of other megavixons, including: Ruby Joule, La Divina, Minxie Mimieux, Charlotte Truse, New Orleans, Violet Divine and Hot Springs. While the crowd experienced libido overload, photographer Bianca Montes was on hand, snapping these amazing shots. Here are our ten favorites. To see them all, visit our slideshow.

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All photos by Justin Terveen

Justin Terveen, the tireless photographer who has turned Dallas' skyline into a iridescent beauty on many occasions (and who was one of our 2013 Masterminds finalists), has an exhibit running at Kettle Art through April 13.

On display are his spine-tingling shots of Dallas' lightning storms and many shots of Dallas at blue hour. In honor of his showing, we present 10 shots of Dallas and its neighboring storms that cleared the clutter from our minds and sent electricity to our legs:

See also: In Tonight's Solo Show, Justin Terveen Shows Dallas' Best Side

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All photos by Danny Hurley

In the world of geeky division, perhaps no chasm is as pronounced as the one within the Star Trek fan community. Many who love the entertainment empire profess their adoration exclusively to the original model, Deep Space Nine or The Next Generation -- meaning you may never see Spock slowdance with Deanna Troi, which is heartbreaking. So how do we bridge that era-specific divide?

Easy: Beam down a Shatner.

His Trekkiness materialized at the Dallas Convention Center on Saturday in support of a new Texas lottery scratch-off game. Around him they clustered, dressed as Datas, Spocks and even a toddler tribble, to break the Guinness Record for most costumed Star Trek enthusiasts in one room. No title was awarded, but we like to think unity occurred.

Photography Danny Hurley was on hand to capture the scene, and here's our ten favorite photos. See his whole slideshow here.

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All photos courtesy of Justin Terveen

We've run many photos by Dallas photographer Justin Terveen, but the above photo went viral last August, after a spectacular thunderstorm danced across Dallas. While many of us watched from the safety of our couches, Terveen was on a rooftop, capturing the Ghostbusters-like scene in real time. The day after, an Observer co-worker whispered aloud: How does he know? Terveen laughs off any notion of Spidey sense.

"I've always had a fascination with the weather," he says, "but further, I hang out with meteorology students and storm chasers, so I've learned how to forecast, how to position myself."

The above shot, entitled "Chaos," is but one of Terveen's right place/right time feats. In the last few years, he's also captured the changing landscape of Dallas -- the addition of the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge, the lights of the Omni -- and, scrolling through his photos, you can see the subtle shift. Battles over the expansion of Winfrey Point and the Trinity River make for good copy, but Terveen -- who was also one of our 2013 Masterminds finalists -- looks at the big picture: Dallas is an ever-changing canvas, a real-time document of urban decay and renewal.

Tonight, his solo photography exhibit, "The Urban Fabric," opens at Kettle Art, and you can see the shift for yourself.

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Big Shot image of Cowboys Stadium, taken by the RIT School of Technology with Nokia sponsorship

We have this stunning picture of Cowboys Stadium thanks to two years of planning by the Rochester Institute of Technology's School of Photographic Arts and Sciences. In its Big Shot series, university photographers select interesting points of architecture or landscape, then selectively light them. But they don't use normal methods -- that wouldn't be any fun. Instead, they invite the communities around those landmarks to take part. Then, they put 'em to work.

Creating this glowing image required the neighborly assistance of 2,400 people from the Metroplex who came out, flashlights in hand, last Saturday night. RIT organizers positioned them and their portable lighting devices in clusters, illuminating the darkness around Cowboys Stadium. Achieving the angle required sending the camera 40 feet in the air on a scissor lift. Finally, the photographers used a 30-second exposure at f16 at ISO 400, giving us this final, remarkable image.

Jamie Laughlin

Somehow I don't think our Irish ancestors thought the Feast of St. Patrick's Day would include Cool Ranch Doritos Locos Tacos.

Photo by Bianca Montes

Over here at the Observer, we love a good convention. Last weekend's All-Con was a thing of exceptional beauty -- After all, when else can you walk through an Addison hotel and see men and women, bounty hunters and storm troopers, dressed down to suits and helmets partying in a hot tub?

Only at All-Con, man.

From steampunk angels to voice-modified Imperial Troops, we were humbled by your costuming skills. So, we've put together a few favorite photos to share. Here's the top ten, and pop back by for more dispatches from Geekfest 2013.

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The Alamo, March 10, 2001, 30 second exposure, lighting provided by more than 1,000 volunteers

Rochester Institute of Technology has captured stunning photographs of architectural landmarks since 1987 through an annual project called Big Shot. But what's unique about this group's approach, and what gives the night shoots their curious, ending glow, hinges on deviation from the standard. Rather than placing industrial photography lights around their targets, Big Shot calls on local communities to participate, illuminating the structures with handheld devices while the camera's shutter speed stretches out, leisurely.

Soon you'll get a chance to participate when Big Shot comes to Arlington to try its luck at the world's largest domed stadium.

The scale and height of the property, along with its reflective glass exterior are expected to cause site-specific challenges. But those obstacles are conquerable if enough volunteers are positioned around the perimeter and throughout the building with flashlights and handheld camera flash units. That, of course, is where you come in.

Big Shot will take the photograph on March 23, and it's hoping that more than a thousand of you show up to be a part of this community art project. If you'd like to volunteer, arrive at Cowboys Stadium by 7:30 p.m. on March 23 wearing dark clothing and holding either a flashlight or a camera flash unit. The shoot's organizers will divvy up the crowd into illumination squads and place them throughout the landscape.

Now, let's look at five favorites from the other 27 existing Big Shot photographs.

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