Another Iowa Sunset © 2007
Sunsets are so beautiful that they almost seem as if we were looking through the gates of Heaven.
John Lubbock, English politician (1834-1913)
I couldn’t resist posting one more Iowa sunset, this one turning the sky a lovely shade of purple. Again taken from car moving too fast, thanks to a driver who wanted to get to Illinois before dark. (We didn’t make it in time so we may as well have stopped a few times.)
Iowa’s Beauty ©2007
“The most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched, they must be felt with the heart” ~ Helen Keller, American author and activist (1880-1968)
This photograph was taken yesterday, November 30th, on a family trip from Wisconsin to Illinois, via Iowa and Missouri. Don’t ask! We follow the Mississippi River so our path is always a twisty affair. I was shooting with my new Olympus E 510. This photo was taken south of Iowa City in East-Central Iowa.
I hate to admit it, but I switched the settings to automatic and shot out of the car window while traveling 85 mph. The traffic was crazy, and we were being pushed by semi truck traffic, everyone in a big hurry to get nowhere, so we were changing lanes, and any attempt at photography was a challenge. I thought the colors were worth the required technique.
I had an even better set of shots, but we were blocked by a semi just as I started clicking away! 🙂
Williamsburg Bridge © 2007
If you saw the film, ‘Naked City,’ you saw this historic bridge – the Williamsburg Bridge in New York City. Even when the bridge worked overtime as the locale for a movie shoot, it still continued to carry 100,000 cars and 90,000 subway riders across the East River every weekday.
The movie depicted the murder of a pretty, but thieving young model, and then detailed the efforts of the cops to sniff out her killers. Eventually they unraveled the case, culminating with a classic chase sequence across this bridge from Manhattan’s Lower East Side into Brooklyn.
Photographed from the East River, tour boat, circumnavigating Manhattan.
July 5, 2006
A Bit of Winter © 2007
To be interested in the changing seasons is a happier state of mind than to be hopelessly in love with spring. ~ George Santayana
On the Prairie Path in Owen Conservation Park, Madison, Wisconsin, as the last autumn leaves hold fast to the tree limbs amidst the first of winter’s snow flurries.
In my October 31st post I noted large construction machinery leveling land in the southwest corner of this conservation park. I left a message with my alderman complaining about infringement in our conservation parks, but did not follow-up as I should have. I now discover that the City of Madison has not succumbed to the pressures of outside development, but is instead improving the site. I do acknowledge that Madison is one of the most environmentally-conscious and progressive larger cities (200,000 city population, 500,000 metro) I have ever lived in, so I should have given it the benefit of doubt until I checked the facts.
I recently found out that the city is constructing three storm-water/wildlife ponds in the park to replace an eroded channel to Lake Mendota. This water way currently carries tons of sediment to our largest downtown lake (9842 acres) every year. Soon, Owen Park will have three new wildlife ponds to attract the aviation population. Sorry, Madison. I jumped to a wrong conclusion when I should have checked my facts first. Kudos to Madison, instead. I will follow up as the project moves forward.
Treescape © 2007
Be a gentle friend to trees and they will give you back beauty,
cool and fragrant shade, and many birds, singing. ~ Anonymous
Door County, Wisconsin on a sunny day in June with a lovely breeze and temperatures in the mid-70s F˚. Just taking a brief trip back in time to remind me to remember and be thankful of all the gifts we receive from nature’s beauty.
A note to other photographers: Another attempt at a B/W shot, my second. I like the way the contrasts play, but my eye is untrained and I am never quite sure if it is the best I can make it with the simple post processing software I have in my camera. Am I missing out by not investing in Photoshop Elements or something else?
And another note: Also is there a way to get a line around the photo to give it a framed look against all the black background. I’m thinking of getting a simple web design specifically to address the problems (not only the framing) I have with the templates offered at WordPress, but as always, I’m not quite sure what I’m doing. I just know what I want. That’s probably a bad combination! 😉
