Thrilling
Color, sound, lines and speed.....
Ready to rumble
American alligators inhabit most of the southeastern United States. They live in freshwater rivers, lakes, swamps, and marshes. There are an estimated 1.25 million in Florida alone. Alligators can grow up to 800 pounds and 13 feet long on average.
Art District
Between the Strip and Fremont Street areas in Las Vegas there is what's called the Art District. Formerly (and currently) a run down area of old buildings the city has been improving infrastructure and trying to renew the 30 some block area. It now has a scattering of restaurants, galleries, auto repair shops, vacant stores etc. I assume it will someday thrive as the Strip & Fremont Street areas converge but now it's an area that to my eye is struggling. Some old walls, alleys and vacant store fronts are covered in beautiful graffiti which is fun to photograph.
Old Farm Truck
Found this behind some buildings on an old settlers farm. When a 3 legged very ugly mean dog showed up it was time to quickly get back to the car.
Water Lily
Boerner Botanical Gardens in Milwaukee. This lily is a Nymphaea.
Architecture Row
Chicago architecture is wonderful.
Chicago
A must do in Chicago is the architecture tour by boat where you hear the stories about 50 buildings along the Chicago River. Hear how Chicago grew from a small settlement into one of the world's largest cities in less than 100 years.
Vintage cars visit Tuacahn
At the Tuacahn amphitheater in Ivins UT about 100 antique car showed up on one of the stops during a 500+ mile round trip drive from California. The cars were 80 to 120 years old and some had their original paint and interiors.
Air Show Stunt Pilot
Performing at Boca Chica Naval Air Station
Wisconsin 1870
Old World Wisconsin historical buildings are wonderful to photograph with wildflowers and partial cloudy skies.
Las Vegas Neon
Near downtown Las Vegas there is a non-profit organization that has been saving old outdoor signs from destruction. For a donation you can enter their yard and view the signs. Once a month you can make a larger donation and enter after dark for the purpose of taking photographs. About 2/3rds of the signs are lit in some fashion so against a dusky sky they make for some interesting photos.
1902 wood burning steam tractor
Look Up
Standing at the bottom of a slot canyon in AZ about noon. The sun lights up the sandstone but blocks the bright sun making for interesting photos.
ISO50 Leica 35mm f/16 8 seconds.
Memorial Day
The "world's tallest tribute to freedom," is a 400-foot tall flagpole waving an American flag that's 7,200 square feet. The pole is about 100 feet taller than the Statue of Liberty, its flag is four stories tall and it stands at Acuity insurance company in Sheboygan WI. "The purpose No. 1 was to sincerely thank veterans." The stars measure 3.5 feet. Each stripe is more than 4 feet wide. The pole itself, weighing in at 420,000 pounds, required 500 gallons of paint. The foundation holds about 55 tons of rebar. Three pendulums ensure it can take vibrations while working as dampeners, and it can withstand the severe northern temperatures — prepared to deal with cold as low as -42 degrees. A 220-pound flag flies during normal weather; a 350-pound one for harsh conditions. Old Glory even has her own seamstress. The flag takes "at least a half dozen" people to raise and lower it.
Fly Fishing
Casting in Key West
Busy Bee
My mother in Wisconsin has quite the elaborate perennial garden. Every summer I really enjoy taking photos of the color, structure and sometimes the wildlife.
Smiling for the camera
Walking along the harbor in Key West he must have seen my camera so it surfaced for a photo, not really but it appeared that way. Manatees never leave the water but typically come up for air every 5 minutes. When it is resting, the aquatic mammal can hold its breath for up to 20 minutes. When it is exerting great amounts of energy, it may surface as often as every 30 seconds.
Modena Nevada
J.B. Lund hotel. Founded in 1898 when the railroad first came through the area, water at the nearby Desert Springs made the site an obvious choice for a railroad depot where steam engines could refill their water tanks. In the early 1900s merchants from as far away a Mesquite and St. George would head to Modena to pick up goods shipped by rail.
With the invention of diesel engines that no longer needed to stop for water, however, the depot in Modena was rendered obsolete. The railroad company began to allow workers to live in nearby Enterprise, and slowly the town's population dwindled.
Simple Sea Grass
Walking on the Florida Keys reef at low tide in 4-10 inches of water one...
Key West
This shot comprises the Western side of the city including the harbor (owned by the US Navy), old Ft Zachary Taylor in the foreground, and Sunset Key to the top left. Half of the rest of what you see is owned by some branch of the military.
Sandhill Cranes
Parents on the left and offspring on the right. I'd seen them sleeping, eating and preening on this mulch bed for a few days. With the sun brightly reflecting behind them I couldn't get a picture with any detail or color so I tried B&W.
Night Air Show
The EAA show runs 10 days each summer in WI. On two evenings they have a special show after dark. It is hard see the planes but the engine heat, LED lighting and firework launchers you can see where they've been. Here the plane entered from the right then performed a loop and exited back to the right launching fireworks. For this photo I left the camera shutter open for 46 seconds.
1929 Travel Air over Oshkosh WI
Taking off from Pioneer Airport in Oshkosh WI we flew around the countryside in this old biplane enjoying the scenery. I was using a small camera that to take a photo and I had to hold it up above the windshield, point into the wind a push the shutter button without knowing what would be in the photo. Got lucky on a few but most were just blurs as the camera and I just bounced around amongst the clouds.
School Bus
Found on an old farm in Utah.
Just fishing with dad
Mallory Square dock in Key West
Saturday Fireworks
Some of my favorite photography. I am always very surprised with what the camera sees. In this case I left the shutter open for 2 seconds.
L1001434_Optimizer
The Daniel Hoan Bridge is a tied-arch bridge that connects Interstate 794 in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to the Lake Freeway across the Milwaukee River inlet. Originally called the Harbor Bridge, it was renamed after Daniel Hoan (Socialist Party), one of the longest serving mayors of Milwaukee.
They were very very good.
Playing in from of the Chicago Art Museum.
The Long and winding road
Gold Butte National Monument is a wild geological wonder to explore. Numerous mining sites, rock art panels and outstanding colors, plants and quiet. A capable vehicle is highly recommended due to very rough roads. I carry a tire inflator when I'm in places like this so I can deflate my tires to about 1/2 normal pressure then re-inflate them when I get back on hard surface roads.
Pioche Nevada
The Mountain View Hotel in Pioche NV had three stories and 18 rooms. Three hot meals were provided daily. It also housed many juries who had come from many miles around the county to attend trials at the courthouse.
This hotel was built in 1895 by the Ely Valley Mines to house their guests, including (U.S. president) Herbert Hoover, a former mining engineer before his days in politics, had mine holdings in Pioche. Many U.S. Senators and Nevada governors, and many other notables. The food, the wines, the accommodations and unmatched service was renowned throughout the old west.”
I Wonder
Had a camera in hand when I came upon this local gentleman that I've seen many times before. Normally he elicits a quick glance and I move on. Though I felt I was somehow violating his space, I paused, took this photo and moved on. Now, frozen in time I'm able to actually look at him and I wonder.
Refueling
Just in case
Just in case the wall was not an adequate suggestion.
Nothing Special
Just a picture
Have a seat
These stacked chairs, for some reason, looked photo worthy.
Warm Sunday
One of many wonderful Chicago features
North Rim
Grand Canyon National Park Utah
Snow Canyon Utah
Snow Canyon State Park is a state park in Utah, located in the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve. The park features a canyon carved from the red and white Navajo sandstone of the Red Mountains, as well as the extinct Santa Clara Volcano, lava tubes, lava flows, and sand dunes. Snow Canyon is located near the cities of Ivins and St. George in Washington County.Wikipedia
I took this photo after a very rare snowfall. This part of Utah may never see snow all winter but this morning saw a 10" depth in the park which was completely gone by noon that day.
FW7
Grafton, Utah
Grafton is a ghost town, just south of Zion National Park in Utah. Said to be the most photographed ghost town in the West, it has been featured as a location in several films, including 1929's In Old Arizona—the first talkie filmed outdoors—and the classic Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
The site was first settled in December 1859 as part of a southern Utah cotton-growing project ordered by Brigham Young. The town grew quickly in its first few years. There were some 28 families by 1864. In 1866, when the outbreak of the Black Hawk War caused widespread fear of Indian attacks, the town was completely evacuated.
(you can see stars because the photo was taken around midnight under a full moon which required a very long shutter speed making the stars visible)
Nicely aged
I think repainting this wall would make it less attractive but that's the opinion of a guy with a camera that looks for images like this.
Leading Lines
Called South Street Pier, I noticed the different lines projecting into the soft seas and unruly sky.
Death Valley National Park
Death Valley National Park is an American national park that straddles the California–Nevada border. It has a diverse environment of salt-flats, sand dunes, badlands, valleys, canyons and mountains. Death Valley is the largest national park in the contiguous United States, as well as the hottest, driest and lowest of all the national parks in the United States. It contains Badwater Basin, the second-lowest point in the Western Hemisphere at 282 feet below sea level.
The Bean
The structure is made up of 168 stainless steel plates that are welded together. The polished exterior has no visible seams, making it completely smooth. The inside is largely made up of a solid wooden structure.
It measures 33 x 66 x 42 feet, weighing in at 110 short tons. So, it’s pretty big. When in Chicago I have no problem taking lots of photos.
Barn Stuff
All I can say about this on is that it would make an interesting jigsaw puzzle.
Festive Face Painting
Fantasy Fest primed
Last Supper
Outside the abandoned mining town of Rhyolite Nevada someone erected this sculpture and one other strange "artwork". Nothing much else there except bad buildings, car shell and a bad totem pole.
Scenic Highway 89
On the road up to Cedar Breaks and Bryce Canyon from Cedar City UT
Enterprise
One very cold morning we drove over the mountains you see in the distance. Here in Enterprise NV it's flat endless hay fields. This sunrise was beautiful, lighting up ground fog/haze and the vegetation picked up the sky color as it was frost white. My fingers froze working the camera quickly to capture this.
Bean II
The structure is made up of 168 stainless steel plates that are welded together. The polished exterior has no visible seams, making it completely smooth. The inside is largely made up of a solid wooden structure.
It measures 33 x 66 x 42 feet, weighing in at 110 short tons. So, it’s pretty big. When in Chicago I have no problem taking lots of photos. If you see a little guy way off to the right with a camera & tripod, it bean me.
More Faces
Popped into a Fantasy Fest painting shop and found a couple getting ready for a Key West Duval stroll. They were more than happy to let me take their picture.
Chicago River Sunday
Quiet Sunday
B-25 Mitchell
EAA Oshkosh
Havana Harbor
Havana has a well protected harbor. To the right is an old fort and I’m...
Forest Light
Rudbeckia
If this is correct it's also called a Black-eyed Susan. I took the photo in Wisconsin.
More Bean
The structure is made up of 168 stainless steel plates that are welded together. The polished exterior has no visible seams, making it completely smooth. The inside is largely made up of a solid wooden structure.
It measures 33 x 66 x 42 feet, weighing in at 110 short tons. So, it’s pretty big. When in Chicago I have no problem taking lots of photos. If you see a little guy in the middle with a camera & tripod, it bean me.
Chicago Skyline
Long Forgotten
Resting in a forest in Georgia
Alley Walking
Between the Las Vegas Strip and the downtown area (Fremont Street) there's an area that is....neither of those. Graffiti artists have taken over the alleys so it is fun to walk around with a camera.
Bryce Canyon Panorama
Using an extremely wide lens (11mm) I still can't get it all in a photo.
Conch Republic
When you deplane in Key West this is what you see when you walk towards the terminal.
Key West
Land of wonderful sunsets.
Angry Skies
My usual serene sunrise setting is upset about something.
Kaboom Boom
I really enjoy taking photos of fireworks. The camera often sees what the eye cannot.
Chicago Skyline
Death Valley National Park Crater
Ubehebe Crater is a large volcanic crater 600 feet deep and half a mile across.
Melting Sun
Wing Walker
This show was at the Naval Air Station in Key West. Here the wing walker was flying over a parked Blue Angel F-18 Super Hornet
Rolling Lake Fog
Wisconsin
Chicago Skyline
Chicago Skyline
Road to Canyonlands
Outside of Moab UT is Canyonlands National Park. This 340,000 acre park preserves a colorful landscape eroded into numerous canyons, mesas, and buttes by the Colorado River, the Green River, and their respective tributaries. (Wikipedia) While driving through wide vistas I will sometimes shoot with a camera close to the pavement which can make for an interesting photo.
Death Valley California
Nations largest National Park. Well worth the visit except in mid summer.
Ride Art
Wisconsin State Fair Midway ride. I left the shutter open for 2 seconds while it spun.
Basic Kitchen
She was feeding the Cuban workers at a sugar cane factory that was closed.
The Scrambler
The Scrambler is an amusement ride in which suspended riders spinning in cars experience centrifugal force, while spinning along two separate axes. Riders are seated in small carriages clustered together and connected by beams at the top to a central point. The clustered vehicles are spun in one direction, while the ride as a whole spins in the opposite direction. Wikipedia
I took this at the Wisconsin State Fair by leaving the shutter open for a few seconds.
Bubble Art
A guy in the park in Key West was making huge 5' bubbles with a rope dipped in dishwashing soap. Had my camera so I was fortunate to get about 7-8 beautiful photos with the sun off to my left lighting up all the colors in from of me.
Zabriskie Point
Zabriskie Point is an elevated overlook of a colorful, undulating landscape of gullies and mud hills at the edge of the Black Mountains, just a few miles east of Death Valley - from the viewpoint, the flat salt plains on the valley floor are visible in the distance.
White Pocket National Monument
Very remote Utah location
Extreme face art
Went streetwalking yesterday looking for more creative Fantasy Fest face painting and came upon this guy. It is a combination of paint, hair, contacts and skin prosthetics all combined in a great mix of colors.
The Blues
In April 2016 the Blue Angels performed in Key West at the Boca Chica Naval Air Station for Armed Forces Day. They are one of the best things to photograph because they fly with such precision, so fast and so very close to the ground.
Union Pacific
In Nevada with no sign of any railroad tracks.
Las Vegas Signs
Near downtown Las Vegas there is a non-profit organization that has been saving old outdoor signs from destruction. For a donation you can enter their yard and view the signs. Once a month you can make a larger donation and enter after dark for the purpose of taking photographs. About 2/3rds of the signs are lit in some fashion so against a dusky sky they make for some interesting photos.
Fort Ord California
The base was named in honor of Union Army Maj. Gen. Edward Otho Cresap Ord. Initially, horse cavalry units trained at the camp, though eventually, mobile combat units such as tanks, armored personnel carriers, and movable artillery joined the base.
Before its closure in 1994, it stood as a fascinating army base. It is located on the Monterey Bay of California’s Pacific coast, and after its abandonment, some of the land was converted into the Fort Ord National Monument. This monument is handled by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management as part of the National Landscape Conservation System.
Although it is beautifully situated, the base has a dark history of environmental destruction. It is now one of the most toxic places in America.
Its grounds were the site of 100 square kilometers of petroleum leakages, dump sites, landfills, and a large number of unexploded mines.
During its peak, the base held some 50,000 soldiers, some serving in the Korean War and some in the Vietnam war.
Chicago Skyline
Abandoned school/hospital
St. Coletta School for Exceptional Children (formerly known as "St. Coletta Institute for Backward Youth"). Pretty interesting history if you want to look it up.
Rhyolite Nevada
By 1914, Rhyolite was in decline and by 1919, it was a deserted ghost town. Its last resident died in 1924.
Sunrise White Pocket
National monument in Utah
True Patriot
Nothing unusual for Key West's Duval Street.
Las Vegas
Walked around Las Vegas a couple times during the Covid shutdown. The streets were virtually empty and the few that there were really stood out. This gentleman was actually a very good musician.
Oh Say Can You See
During the War of 1812, Francis Scott Key penned these words as he looked for the American flag the morning after a huge, strategic battle. If he were to see Old Glory still flying like it had been the evening before, then he would know that the American troops had been victorious. And he was not disappointed. In his joy, he wrote the words of what would become our national anthem, “The Star Spangled Banner.”
SS Badger
Built in 1952 it transported trains, trucks and autos across Lake Michigan. In 1992 it was reconfigured to carry cargo, trucks and autos. It is the only steam powered ferry still operating in the USA.
Ghost Town
By 1914, Rhyolite Nevada was in decline and by 1919, it was a deserted ghost town. Its last resident died in 1924. In it's day was a producing gold mining town.
Bang Whoosh
Fireworks on a windy night
Chicago Skyline
In the Nevada sun
This and other colorful jewels can be found in Nelson Nevada
Richard
When I met this gentleman he'd been living on the streets of Key West for at least 30 years. When I asked him how long he'd been homeless he said "since my car was stolen".
Nelson Nevada
Nelson Nevada Mines, active from about 1858 until 1945. Many of the men that created this area were deserters from the Civil War. This was one of the first major gold strike areas in Nevada. Now a gold mine of great junk. Many open mines and ventilation shafts-use caution.
Harpoon Harry’s
A Key West restaurant fixture. Food is nothing to remember but it is painted an outstanding color.