fourpointedstar

Why yes, of course, I did visit several waterfalls while I was in southern Indiana for the eclipse. I am legally obligated to visit waterfalls anytime that I travel farther than 45 miles from home.

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Would these buildings be considered twins, just wearing different clothes?
Siblings?
Cousins?
Either way, these two buildings on Grove Street are wonderful examples of Elgin’s historic downtown.

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Elgin has so many wonderful buildings. This one on Douglas Avenue is very interesting, the fancier façade partially extends to the side which implies that this wasn’t going to be as visible, but there are windows which implies that there wasn’t going to be a building immediately next to it… (Ok, so maybe not “very interesting” only “interesting”.)

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I told my boss after the 2017 eclipse “slap me if I choose not to travel for the eclipse in 2024.” I chose Spenser, Indiana because it was a small town along the path of totality, and I wanted to avoid the crowds. I ended up shooting the eclipse from a grassy field outside of town along with maybe 50 other folks. The group shared Oreos and stories, and we generally enjoyed the warm, sunny weather.

As totality approached it was a very odd feeling; it was almost like dusk, but the colors in the sky were all wrong – an unnatural hue. Totality was more like a nice moonlit scene; the frogs in the pond didn’t understand what was going on and were discussing their confusion very loudly. But the humans were in awe of the scene; it’s an incredible experience.

Photographically, I had prepared myself to be content and happy no matter what – weather, camera malfunctions, etc. So, I am thrilled to have gotten this image during totality (and many other great images).

Anytime that I attend an event, there is always the question – “how many of my photos do OTHERS want to see from this event?” After all, I take way too many photos and seeing 38 images of the exact same car/plane/waterfall isn’t how most people want to spend their time.

So, as I was driving home after the Eclipse (confident that some of my photos were good), I wondered how I could share the Eclipse without 38 photos of a smaller and smaller wedges of yellow. How about a video? Just 2 minutes long.

Anyway, you should watch it. In fullscreen. On the biggest screen you can find. Obviously.

I tend to edit my photos based on how they “feel” and one of those feelings is balance.” The photo should appear balanced, but the sad part is that I don’t know that I could quantify what makes a photo balanced … but I know it when I capture the photograph or in most cases, when I edit the photograph.

Sarah and I took a day trip up to visit family in Milwaukee and on the way took a walk through Milwaukee. I may enjoy reflections in windows more than any other kinds of architecture photography.

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I know, I know … all that I did was turn the photo sideways, but when an architect lays out clean lines, and there’s a wonderfully warped reflection, well … that’s all that I needed to do, right?

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As Sarah and I walked past 833 Michigan Street, we both noticed the modern abstract fixture hanging in the lobby. The installation definitely feels at home inside of the the large glass lobby, but the reflection of the US Bank building in the same windows blocked the view of the fixture. Fortunately, the contrast between the two makes a compelling photograph.

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If you start looking, the reflections of any town will provide dynamic views and photographs. I love the unfinished nature of this photo; how the angle of the foreground building gives the appearance of an unfinished canvas that drops into the negative space provided by the soft blue sky. You will find many reflections throughout my architecture photography, and I know that there will be more to come as well!

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I was unable to track down exactly where this location might have been. It may be the valley in between Kingman, Arizona and the Arizona & California state line, but when viewing the desert from 25,000 feet, it’s a bit hard to determine specific landmarks.

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I think most people think of the Golden Gate Bridge or Hollywood or the beach when someone mentions California, but Bakersfield and the surrounding area in the south is so very different. As we flew over the mountains, my coworker mentioned how much he enjoys the mountains and the vistas they afford – something that California can definitely offer in spades.

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While flying over the dry and monochrome desert areas of northern New Mexico, we passed this one snowy cap. From my vantage point it looked quite out of place, but the Sierra Grande summit is all that remains of an extinct volcano. From a general Google search, it doesn’t look that steep or tall, but it is about 2,000 feet taller than any peak in the Appalachian range.

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I love photographing abstracts, and some of the coolest abstracts are in landscapes. On my recent work trip to Bakersfield, CA I took a few photos of the various landscape features that caught my attention.
This is St. Joseph, Missouri; and while that airport is in Missouri, everything else to the right (west) of the river is Nebraska. Rivers wind and change course over time, but state lines don’t.

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A month ago at photo club, we had a group of photographers edit various photos so that the club could see various styles and choices. I submitted a few “bad” photos to the group of editors and one of my friends took my bad photo of this 918 Spyder and created an image similar to my edit above. I was amazed at how he’d taken a photo that I’d written off and created something gorgeous!
…to be clear, the image above is my recreation of his edit…

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Why, yes, I did enjoy taking photos of the Chihuly installation at the Milwaukee Art Museum. Some day, Sarah and I will make it out to Seattle to his museum…

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