Tag Archives: Photos

Photography

Blurry Aspen 2.0

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Fall colors along the Poudre Canyon Road through Arapaho & Roosevelt National Forests

Long-time readers of this blog may recall a series of Aspen motion-blur photos that I shot during our first visit to Colorado in June 2015.  Because it was springtime, the vertical trunks of the Aspen trees made for great subject matter when combined with the fresh spring green.

Fall colors along the Poudre Canyon Road through Arapaho & Roosevelt National Forests

Since our most recent visit to Colorado was in the fall, I hoped to add to my Aspen Blur collection with some photos of trees with the golden yellow of fall.  A lot of the trees we saw in the first few days of our visit were on the mountainsides, too far away to effectively get the results I wanted.  On our final day, a drive through the Poudre Canyon with my pal Monte, we came across several excellent stands of trees.

Fall colors along the Poudre Canyon Road through Arapaho & Roosevelt National Forests

It sometimes takes a lot of “misses” to come up with a handful of keepers.  In this case I shot a relatively light 200 photos, and came up with a few that I’m really happy with.  A couple have some really funky looks to them as a result of a happy accident or two.

Fall colors along the Poudre Canyon Road through Arapaho & Roosevelt National Forests

I suppose the next step will be to get out there in the winter and make some photos of Aspen with snow.  I’m not sure I’m up for that yet, but it may make it on to the to-do list, you never know! 🙂

Fall colors along the Poudre Canyon Road through Arapaho & Roosevelt National Forests
50 States

We Got Planes!

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EC-135A Airborne Launch Control System (ALCS) – South Dakota Air & Space Museum at Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota

Years ago I hung out with a bunch of guys who were pilots.  Some of them owned their own planes – small homebuilt planes or private planes like a Piper Colt or Ercoupe.  I actually got my own private pilot license, although I haven’t actually driven a plane in about 30 years.  Photography is a very economical hobby compared to flying!  But I still like planes, especially big noisy ones. 😉

C-130E Hercules at Scott Field Heritage Air Park at Scott AFB, Illinois
C-130E Hercules at Scott Field Heritage Air Park at Scott AFB, Illinois
C-141B Starlifter at Scott Field Heritage Air Park at Scott AFB, Illinois

One day a bunch of us were talking about going to the annual EAA Fly-In in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.  For a week at the end of July, the EAA “AirVenture” as it is now called, is the World’s Greatest Aviation Celebration®.  Kathy was understandably skeptical about the idea of spending a week at an airport with a bunch of airplane geeks, so she asked, “is there anything to see there besides airplanes?”  One of the guys looked up and said to her in all seriousness, “well yeah, there’s parts!” 🙂

KC-135 Stratotanker at Scott Field Heritage Air Park at Scott AFB, Illinois

We didn’t see many airplane parts on our western road trip, but we did see lots of planes.  We visited the static displays at Scott Field in Illinois and Ellsworth AFB in South Dakota.  There are a few photos here, but for those who need to see more, I’ve posted a gallery of airplane photos on my Adobe Portfolio site.

B-52D Stratofortress at the South Dakota Air & Space Museum, Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota
B-1B Lancer – South Dakota Air & Space Museum at Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota
A-7D Corsair II – South Dakota Air & Space Museum at Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota
Photography

Maybe The Camera Just Doesn’t Matter That Much

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Locomotive used by the Great Smoky Mountains Railway in Bryson City, North Carolina

I was reading a recent post on Monte’s Blog in the context of a commercial print job I’m currently working on.  Monte was discussing how much he wanted a new Fuji lens (me too!) but indicated that his current cameras – 4 and 6 years old – still suited him fine, and he reminded us that all cameras still require a photographer to work.

I was recently contacted by a local restaurant owner about providing prints for their bar and dining rooms for an upcoming remodel.  I’m flattered that they asked me, and even more excited that it is one of our favorite restaurants.  And that they want 17 photos!  One of the things that interested me in the context of Monte’s post and the discussion about needing a “pro” camera for doing quality work is the breakdown of the cameras that were used for the photos we chose for this project:

  • Canon 5D  – 1
  • Canon 5D Mark III – 3
  • Canon Powershot G12 – 4
  • Fuji X-10 – 2
  • Fuji X-E2 – 1
  • Fuji X-T1 – 1
  • Medium Format Film Scan – 1

I wasn’t too surprised about the number of 5D shots, and I wasn’t at all surprised at the number of shots from the Fuji X-E2 and X-T1, my current cameras.  But I was quite surprised at 6 of the photos coming from two point & shoot cameras!  Maybe there is something to be said for ditching all of the interchangeable lens cameras and just buying a single, good, point & shoot camera!

I’ll share the photos later.  Or even better, photos of the photos once they are hung! 😉

Walkway leading to Everett Street in Bryson City, North Carolina

 

 

Travel

Umbrellas

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Old Town, Fort Collins, Colorado. The black stones are part of a public art installation titled “Confluence” by Lawrence Argent

One day when passing through the Oak Street Plaza Park in Fort Collins, I spotted the reflections that these umbrellas were making in the black stone and stopped to take a few photos.  I didn’t spend enough time on this idea, but otherwise think I captured what I saw.

The black stones are part of a public art installation titled “Confluence” by Lawrence Argent.  More public art!

Old Town, Fort Collins, Colorado. The black stones are part of a public art installation titled “Confluence” by Lawrence Argent
50 States

The Merry Old Land of Oz

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Wizard of Oz Museum in Wamego, Kansas

One our stops in Kansas was at the Oz Museum in Wamego.  Kansas=Oz, right?  It was a very well-done museum, with lots of movie and book memorabilia as well as displays documenting various scenes and characters in the movie.  While I knew that the movie was based on a book by L. Frank Baum, I didn’t realize that the tale was actually comprised of a series of 14 books.  Now I’m going to need to read them all!

As I’ve been doing, there are a few highlight photos here in this post, and anyone interested can see more at this link: Wizard of Oz Museum in Wamego, Kansas.

Wizard of Oz Museum in Wamego, Kansas
Wizard of Oz Museum in Wamego, Kansas
Wizard of Oz Museum in Wamego, Kansas
Wizard of Oz Museum in Wamego, Kansas
Wizard of Oz Museum in Wamego, Kansas
50 States

Cars, Cars, Cars!

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Dream Car Museum in Evansville, Indiana

Kathy & I visited the Dream Car Museum in Evansville, Indiana on our recent jaunt through the Midwest.  Here are a few photos from that visit.  For anyone who wants to see even more car photos, I’ve added a gallery in Adobe Portfolio with an expanded selection.

Dream Car Museum in Evansville, Indiana
Dream Car Museum in Evansville, Indiana
Dream Car Museum in Evansville, Indiana
Dream Car Museum in Evansville, Indiana
Dream Car Museum in Evansville, Indiana
Dream Car Museum in Evansville, Indiana
Dream Car Museum in Evansville, Indiana
Dream Car Museum in Evansville, Indiana
Dream Car Museum in Evansville, Indiana
Dream Car Museum in Evansville, Indiana
Dream Car Museum in Evansville, Indiana
50 States

Where To Next?

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Sunset over the bay in Chincoteague, Virginia

One of my favorite questions from friends and neighbors is “so, where are you off to next?”  One of our neighbors is certain that we’re trying to spend all of our retirement dollars on vacations, but since we like having a place to come home to, we only spend part of it! 😉  I guess we’ve developed a well-earned reputation, and one that we’re just a bit proud of. 🙂

In a few days Kathy & I will be setting out to bag a few more states on our path toward 50.  We’re looking forward to cooler temperatures and meeting up with some friends along the way.  I plan to send “Postcards” from the road as we go, although they likely won’t be daily.  Stay tuned!

50 States

A Visit To Cape May

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Cape May, New Jersey

The third “new” state on our recent DelMarVa excursion was New Jersey.  We debated how to do New Jersey, realizing that the state is very diverse in terms of urban vs. rural, city vs. shore, crowded vs. not so crowded.  At first we were thinking in terms of Atlantic City or Wildwood, but then we discovered (or remembered) Cape May.

Cape May, New Jersey
Cape May, New Jersey
Cape May, New Jersey
Cape May, New Jersey

While just barely in New Jersey, and the very southern tip of the peninsula, Cape May represented “enough” of New Jersey for us to say that we had visited.  Nothing wrong with visiting the rest of the state, but we like to do things our way, and finding a town where we could park the car and leave it for a few days suits us.  And Cape May fit that bill just fine.

Cape May, New Jersey
Cape May, New Jersey
Cape May, New Jersey

Cape May is recognized as the country’s oldest seaside resort, and the beach has been recognized by many “Top 10” lists, including the Travel Channel.  Beach Avenue is lined with amazing homes – hilariously called “cottages” although they are often huge! – and hotels.  Very little to no chain restaurants or hotels.  They don’t even have a McDonald’s, a Starbucks or a Walmart!  Our kind of place.

Cape May, New Jersey
Cape May, New Jersey
Cape May, New Jersey
Cape May, New Jersey
Cape May, New Jersey

Other than the fact that our hotel was full of families enjoying one last hurrah before school started, complete with loud, misbehaving children, we enjoyed our visit very much.  The great part is that we spent most of our day walking around town while they were at the beach or the pool, and by the time we got back and showered for cocktails and dinner, all of the noisy families were headed off to dinner.  Ahhhh!

Cape May, New Jersey
Cape May, New Jersey
Cape May, New Jersey
Cape May, New Jersey

Three days in New Jersey were plenty, we’re glad we went and glad to say we were there.  And here are a few photos to prove it!

Cape May, New Jersey
Travel

The Sky’s The Limit

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Sky and clouds reflected in cars on the Cape May ferry

Reflections of the sky and clouds in cars that I found while on the Cape May Ferry from Cape May, NJ to Lewes, DE.  I was standing on the deck above the cars.

Sky and clouds reflected in cars on the Cape May ferry
Sky and clouds reflected in cars on the Cape May ferry
Sky and clouds reflected in cars on the Cape May ferry