Another Winterv Window Cell Phone Shot

Love the afternoon directional light to bring out the shadows and add to the three directional feel on this one dimensional viewing experience. You get that later in the day or early in the morning. That, plus a window seat and a good cell phone is all you need.

Wonderful colors, a phone and a window seat

Experimenting with uploading to Blogger with no phone and computer. Works!!! And I can post to FB from the phone!!! Cool. Anyway,  love the colors that popped out of the clouds as I flew to Las Vegas. 

Everglades Sea of Grass

At the Shark Valley Visitor Center inside the Everglades National Park there is a 14 mile round trip paved path leading to a viewing tower that gives a panoramic view of the Everglades. You can bike, hike, walk, run and take a guided tour on a tram on this path to see a lot of what the park has to offer. Very cool area. As I have shown in previous pictures, you will see lots and lots of alligators, many from uncomfortably close quarters. At the 7 mile point, there is a viewing tower (shown below) which gives this view of miles and miles of water and grasslands as far as the eye can see. Definitely, worth the trip. The tram would have been nice to get more explanation of what there is to see, but the workout for the 14 mile bike ride, was really worth it. The shot above is a panoramic composition of 7 shots taken vertically. Shooting vertically, gives more information when putting the picture together on the computer, as it includes more sky in the shot.

It's not all Alligators in the Everglades

It's not all alligators and pythons in the Everglades. You will see lots of birds too, especially the Cormorant and White Egrets. These two gave me a nice pose with the cormorant doing its drying wing thing. Fun birds to shoot (with a camera) as they stay very still for their shot. I was hitting these shots quickly as I had rented a bike to do this 14 mile round trip ride to a multistory view station and back, and I had to do it all, and take pictures, in an hour before the bike rental shop closed. I was huffing it and stopping to shoot as fast as I could. Fun workout but not great for photography.

Alligators and Photography

Alligators are surprisingly difficult to shoot with a camera as they are just a pile of bright highlights and dark shadows, especially in the middle of the day. This shot is an HDR composite, shot with lots of darks in the first shot and lots of exposure for the highlights in the second, and then combined with Adobe Lightroom software. They are easy to shoot in context of motion, as they mostly don't move much!!! Anyway, here is my favorite HDR of the sequence I took earlier in the week. That is one big powerful animal and mostly unchanged since prehistory--except, alligators used to be even bigger!!!

Swimming in a sea of clouds

This alligator seems like it is swimming in a sea of clouds with calm water and a beautiful sky. Now that is the way to spend a winter's day. From the Big Cyprus National Preserve near the Everglades National Park. You come down to the Everglades and you will go snout to nose with alligators. They are everywhere. Amazing.

Python.....it's what for dinner

I decided to drive the Alligator Alley to the east coast of Florida from Bradenton and stopped in the Everglades National Park on the way. Such a treat. At the Shark Valley Visitor's Center they have this 14 mile bike trail with bikes to rent so I went for it. Got to see dozens and dozens of alligators, some from less than 10 feet away. They are very accustomed to tourists walking and biking on the path so they don't seem to mind. Gets your heart pumping, however. Saw countless birds of various sorts. I was grinning like a little kid the whole way. Plus , I got in a workout. In the most amazing encounter, I was very lucky to see a very large alligator enjoying some Python for dinner. Didn't see the kill but came along shortly after. Wow. Nature red in tooth and claw. That must have been a huge Python. Looks like the size of my arm or larger. Pythons are not native to the Everglades and are a huge problem. This one won’t be an issue any more. 

Dixie Drive Inn, Greenwood, South Carolina

Visually a treat. Food-wise some controversy as to quality but definitely a nostalgic trip back down memory lane before fast food joints took over the roadways. I didn't stop to eat but the sign and design of the "U"-shaped lunch counter caught my eye.

Another Cold Winter Morning

Another cold morning....hey, it's winter. 11 degrees this morning. Feels like -6. But it will be a balmy 22 degrees later. Enjoy the day.

My Valentine

Beautiful then. Beautiful now. Happy Valentine's Day to my love.

Watch out for the slippery Trolls

Trolls are especially eager to catch their prey this time of the year. Watch your step.

Be careful out there today

Be careful out there today. Looks scary.

One Who Loves Winter

I saw it in his eyes. He loves winter. Really loves winter. That is not me, but I saw it and hope you can see it too. Glad I got a chance to visit the Trolls in a winter setting. Brilliant. Try to get away to Lisle Arboretum and visit the Trolls. Definitely less crowds. although I had trouble finding the troll hiding spots without the crowds pointing the way. In any case, go visit. They will love seeing you.

Old Time Blacksmith

The gentleman in the picture was doing old time blacksmith stuff, but he wasn't dressed the part, wearing modern jeans and shirt. So, I had to play with the picture to get an old time feel to the shot. Took a bit of time to find the right look but I liked how it turned out. This shot is from a visit to Old Tucson, a western-themed amusement park of sorts on an old movie lot. The tricks included a filter to put in some grit, a color tint to make the picture fade a bit and some other fun stuff in the secret sauce.

Coming To A City Near You

The Razor (and its competitors) is coming to a city near you, if it is not already there. These electronic scooters are just everywhere. Not sure if Chicago is next but wouldn't be surprised. They end up being everywhere once they hit a city and people, even those who shouldn't, end up whipping by on the way somewhere. I am sure I will ride too, and get less exercise from just walking as a result. Oh well. Can't stop progress--I guess.

The Three Amigo's movie lot

Got a chance to visit an old movie lot turned into an amusement park of sorts in Old Tucson, conveniently located not too far from the entrance of the Saguaro National Park to capture as many tourist as possible. It was an amusing half hour visit. Found a section of the park with the facade of this old church, where scenes from the movie, The Three Amigo's were shot, along with many other westerns.

The Beer Selfie

During my Dry January as I was cleaning up my photo library, I noticed that I have an unusual number of pictures of me with beer. Strange. I think I discovered a new genre of photography: The Beer Selfie. Here is a small sample of some beer shots. 

A toy shop of painted miniatures

Great chance to play with a tight focus on these small painted miniatures at Kings X located near the Alamo in San Antonio.  The diversity of things that people are interested in never ceases to amaze. Quite the detail in these miniatures.

The Alamo Neighborhood--just strange

I've been to the Alamo before and it is a cool place to visit. Yet, it is also unsettling. If you turn around from where I took the first shot, it is tourist central with all kinds of made in China trinkets and shops like a Ripley's Believe It or Not and a Tussaud's Wax Museum with all the favorites (Trump, Beyonce, Wonder Wonder, etc) standing in the window waiting for your tourist dollars. At some level you wonder what the battle was fought for? At the corner of the Alamo, across the side street, is a Haagen-Dazs Ice Cream shop. That area was the low fence guarding the Alamo during the battle, in the area where Kit Carson was defending the fort. I wonder what the defenders, or the attackers, for that matter, would think of the area as it is today? Would the defenders say, "No Thanks, not dying for that" or would the attackers say, "On second thought, you can keep the place".