Category Archives: photography

Kentucky elk herd

Kentucky elk herd

I’m finding that I actually have more time to post when I’m on the road these days. Now that I’m back from Kentucky, I’m divided between work, painting the new house and office, packing, and preparing the old house for sale. It will all be worth it in the end, though. I look forward to having home and office under one roof again.

So, as I prepare to spend the day painting ceilings at the new place, I’ll leave you with one more shot from the elk herd that has been reintroduced on reclaimed mining land in Kentucky. This was a little later in the morning than the last shot I posted and the light was warming up a little (aided a bit here by Photoshop). Still, the fog just wouldn’t burn off. While others complained about the “bad light” I was having a blast finding ways to make the muted colors and subdued contrast work to my favor. Hopefully I succeeded a little but I know I came away with more shots than the folks who thought it was too bad to even take their lens caps off.

Two from the road

Waffle HouseMickey D's

Here are a couple of grab shots I found after finishing up with my morning shoots in Louisville, Kentucky. The Waffle House was somewhere inbetween Louisville and Lexington, across the street from where I was stocking up on peanut butter M&Ms. I tried to give it a little bit of a faded Ektachrome look in Photoshop. The McDonalds arches are peeking over the roof of the building next door to my hotel tonight — like it’s about to move in on the Waffle House’s territory.

Nicodemus, Kansas

Nicodemus

Saturday once again found me photographing the Nicodemus, Kansas Homecoming, an annual event usually set on the hottest day of the year, it seems. It wasn’t SO hot this year — maybe upper 90s — and we were rewarded for braving the sun in the mid-afternoon by a downpour that left us cold and shivering. Talk about contrasts.

Tomorrow morning I’ll be on the road again. See you in Kentucky…

Moving: phase one

parking garage

As of this past weekend, the office has officially been moved to its new home in Lawrence, Kansas. The house move will follow in a few weeks so we’ll be commuting in the interim.

There are lots of shots that I always intended to take in Topeka but never got around to them. For instance, I have an open invitation to photograph the State Capitol from a downtown dweller’s rooftop penthouse but there has always been some form of construction in the way and the time was never right. Other shots have withered away because I just never made the time for them. Sad. It seems it’s hardest for me to capture what is nearest to me.

On my last day of officing downtown, I had a quick shoot in the 700 block of Kansas Avenue. As I walked back to the office afterward, I made the time to go to the rooftop of a newly built parking garage that I had been wanting to scout for unusual skyline views. I found some interesting angles on the Capitol and this view of a lone car on an adjacent parking deck also caught my eye. I’m not sure why but it felt like it somehow fit the feeling of my last day in the city.

Two sides of Myrtle Beach

Myrtle Beach

Myrtle Beach, Big Crab

I saw some great high-end properties while in Myrtle Beach last week but — I have to say — what I loved most was some of the outrageous road architecture that lined the main drag. I could spend a lifetime shooting things like the Big Crab restaurant above (with a line out the door like that it has to be good!) or the many over-the-top miniature golf courses they have. Seriously — multi-story miniature golf courses! Maybe I could get a grant…

Coming and going

Bay City, Michigan

I flew back from Michigan on Saturday, spent Sunday mowing both the old house’s and new house’s lawns as well as doing a few other chores, and am now back at the airport to fly to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, today (Monday). Hopefully internet connections will be more bountiful on this trip and I’ll be able to post a few images.

The photo above is from our last day in Bay City, Michigan. The stormy sky seen here cleared up for a great boat ride out to Charity Island where we were fed a fantastic meal of fish and steak grilled outdoors next to an old lighthouse and stunning views of the lake. These excursions can be booked by the general public and are well worth it. Possibly the best steak I’ve had in a decade or more.

Self-serving horn tootin’

Native American dancers, Cortez, CO

It’s been another busy week but one filled with good news. Not least of which was that the above photo of Native American dancers at the Cortez Cultural Center in Colorado earned me the “Photographer of the Year” award from the Central States Chapter of the Society of American Travel Writers (SATW). Thanks, folks!

All good news on the new house front as well. The inspections haven’t turned up any horrifying secrets and we are scheduled to close next week. Various contractors have already been lined up to meet us at the house soon after. We only have a week to get some bids going before we head for Michigan for a week of shooting and story research. I’ll be home for one day after that before catching another plane to South Carolina where I will be giving a presentation on digital photography workflow and image management. Hopefully, by the time I’m back from that trip, we’ll be ready to get things moving on the new house in hopes of moving in later this summer.

Crunch time

View from Mt. Magazine

Sorry for my absence this week but it’s been hectic to say the least. I’ll (hopefully) appease you with another weather shot from our stay on Mt. Magazine in Arkansas last weekend.

While we were away, the sellers lowered the price on the house we had had our eye on. We already knew about the lower price and were supposed to take another look inside as soon as we got back in town but now the whole world (okay, maybe an overstatement) knew about it and we were worried that someone would put in an offer before we had the chance.

Anyway, long-story-short, we got home and saw the house again on Tuesday. Tuesday afternoon we were putting in an offer and by Wednesday we had ourselves a deal. Things still hinge on the results of a few inspections — Friday’s sewer scoping was lots of fun — but it’s looking good. It’s great news but it has made a busy week even busier.

Still haven’t had a chance to even look through the Arkansas shoot yet. Once I do, I’ll post a few more here.

Storms moving in

lodge lanterns

trees in fog

All during dinner I was watching the weather outside the windows of the dining room of the Mount Magazine Lodge as the clouds descended. Storms are moving past to the north and tornados have been spotted in the area of Ozark, Arkansas. It looks like the most severe weather will miss us but it’s still a bit rough out there. I’d just about given up on getting any twilight shots tonight when the mist cleared just enough to show the trees across the road from the lodge. I grabbed the camera and ran outside for a few last shots of the day. Some of my favorites as it turns out. The low clouds were blowing through very fast and the visibility would rapidly come and go. I thought about going back inside for the tripod but noticed the trees were rocking back and forth so it really wouldn’t have helped. I cranked up the ISO as far as I dared and did the best I could hand-held.