Down Under Broadway

The Broadway Bridge is one of the main crossings of the Missouri River between downtown Kansas City and the areas north of the city.

Around and under the bridge is one of the old industrial areas of KC. It is a collection of brick and steel, grime and graffiti. Gentrification is trying to creep in, but the nature of railways, bridges and the river will likely keep the rough and rusty feeling the same for a long time.

I made a trip at sunset to scout vantage points for the bridge. The sky was nondescript, so better images of the bridge are likely yet to come, but some of the other objects and views made interesting images.

Under Broadway

Viaduct

Diversion

All images were taken with a Nikon D7000 & 18-105mm lens. PP with ACR and CS5. To see more images follow this link

A White Christmas in Southern Illinois

We are spending Christmas with family in Southern Illinois where a White Christmas doesn't happen often

Christmas Eve brought 4" of snow, and today (the 26th) the skies cleared allowing for some great winter skies.

Image taken with Nikon D7000, 35-70mm f/2.8. PP with ACR & CS5

Merry Christmas !

December Sunrise

This weekend was yucky, grey days that weren't great for photography. So I spent my photography time sorting and clearing old images. This one is from December 2009. An early morning sunrise on an absolutely clear morning following a snowfall. Shot near Weston Bend north of Kansas City.

For extra credit look for the strings of ducks returning from their overnight feeding. Enjoy!

Flint Hills Sunset

This evening we were traveling eastward across the Flint Hills. As the sun was setting we stopped to enjoy the shadows on the hills. We hope that you enjoy them as well.

Image taken with Nikon D90 and 18-105mm VR. PP with ACR

Happy Halloween !

Happy Halloween! This sunset was Saturday evening out in Eastern Kansas between Emporia and Ottawa.

More Football !!

This weekend was the game of the season so far for the McPherson Bulldogs. Undefeated, they met the other remaining undefeated team in their conference the Kansas Wesleyan Coyotes at McPherson Stadium.

The game was a barn-burner! The final score was Mac 56 - KWU 42. The day was another bright and warm one. The weather added to the heat of the game. The wide open action and the bright light made for great action photos.

The McPherson defense brings down KWU QB #16 Doug Webster. Corralling Webster are Bulldogs #20 Sr. DB Ginikachi Ibe, #55 Sr. DL Scott Jones, and #21 Jr. LB J.L. Gomez.

McPherson Bulldog Fr. DE #89 Tyler Richards bears down on KWU QB #16 Doug Webster. Richards completed the sack of Webster on the play.

Senior Bulldog RB Aaron Lafitte breaks open against the KWU Coyote defense. Lafitte had 22 carries for 123 yards and three touchdowns. He added five receptions for a total offensive output of 188 yards.

McPherson senior QB Shane Mascarenas looks downfield vs. the KWU Coyotes. Mascarenas was the offensive star of the game: 24 for 43 passing for 498 yards and four touchdowns. Shane added a rushing touchdown.

The lighting conditions were almost identical to last week: Nikon D90, 70-200mm f/2.8, TC14-II. PP with ACR and CS5

McPherson College Football

I volunteer as a sports photographer for McPherson College. McPherson is a NAIA-affiliated school with an enrollment of about 600 students located in McPherson, Kansas. Their athletics teams are known as the Bulldogs and the Lady Bulldogs. This weekend was Homecoming Weekend. The weather was beautiful for the participants and for photography. The following photos are from the football game. The Bulldogs were taking on the Univ. of St. Mary Spires from Leavenworth, KS in KCAC conference play. Coming into the game the Bulldogs were 4-0 and ranked #7 in the country. The Spires were 0-4.

Junior DB Thomas Stauts avoids the USM tackler and celebrates a 31-yard punt return for a touchdown in the first quarter of the Bulldog-Spires contest.

Junior WR Andy Skinner pulls in a pass reception versus the Spires despite the efforts of the USM defender

Junior DB Ronnie Miller puts a solid hit on USM receiver Fred Edison

The final score of the game was 73 - 24 McPherson. Fifteen different members of the team had carries or receptions on offense. On defense 34 members of the team participated in tackles against the Spires.

It was a good weekend for the Cross Country squads as well. Hosting their home meet, the Lakeside Shootout, the men's event was won by McPherson runner Javier Ceja and the Men's squad placed first just ahead of Fort Hays State. On the Women's side the Lady Bulldogs placed third, with freshmen runners Kelsi Beam and Payton Hartman finishing 6th and 8th respectively.

The football images were taken with a Nikon D90, 70-200mm f/2.8, TC14 II. Post-processing was done in ACR 6 and Photoshop CS5.

At the Car Show

'Tis the season for city festivals. Our local edition is well attended when the weather cooperates. And so far this fall we have had cooperative weather for at least one day of the weekend for the past few weekends.

One of the activities is a car show. We went up to enjoy the warm sunshine and look at the workmanship and history involved with the vehicles.

The following are just a few images demonstrating the colors and forms that you can find.

Images taken with Nikon D90/50mm f/1.4. Post-processing in ACR and CS5

The Artist

We had a beautiful fall Sunday. We went to the Plaza Art Fair today. This art fair is promoted as one of the major events on the national juried art show circuit. There were over 200 artists in attendance. About every medium you can think of (sorry, no video) were on display. I went with a photographic project in mind to see and capture images of people. Kansas City's Country Club Plaza is also photogenic all by itself. This is an image of one of the exhibitors keeping an eye on his wares.

The Artist

Image taken with Nikon D90. PP with Photoshop CS5

Fall Meadow

We have had another wet summer here in western Missouri. For the second straight year we have great fall wildflowers. These images come from a wild corner of a nearby city park.

Fall Yellows

Spreading Seeds

Milkweed Pod

Fall Sports Season

Fall sports season continues! Debbie and I spent the weekend at McPherson. While there we took in three of the college sporting events.

These images are from the Women's and Men's Soccer matches. Shooting soccer requires a different set of tools and skills, like each sport does. In addition, these games were played during the high light of mid-day. More on technique at the bottom...

The opposing teams were from the Univ. of Sioux Falls.

These were shot using my Nikon D90. The lens is a 70-200mm f/2.8 with a TC-14 teleconverter. All post-processing was done in ACR and Photoshop CS5

Friday Night Lights !

Yes !! Football season is here !

The high school season opened last night here in Missouri. Debbie and I went to the game for the local high school. We haven't been to one for a couple of years. It was a chance to see neighbors, hear the band (sounding good!) and get out to practice shooting football for the first time since November.

The following are a few images from the game:

Looking for Yards

Friday Night Warrior

Reception !

The Purple Post

The oppressively hot weather here in Missouri has finally broken, if only for a little bit. I went out looking for evening shots at sunset yesterday. I pulled off the road to scout some fields that offered interesting patterns that I has seen from the air. I couldn't find a good vantage point for those. But the gate post into one of the fields was lush with summer vines and the farmer at some point had painted the post a bright purple. The shadows of the evening light made this a fun photo.

Storms at Sunset

This image comes from our summer trip to Nebraska. One of the things that I greatly enjoy about returning home this time of year are the opportunities for dramatic skies that come with the summer storms.

This image is at sunset. The clouds are the outflow from a severe thunderstorm that was about 60 miles away. My vantage point was on a bluff looking across the local lake toward where the sun would dip below the horizon.

Sun and Moon

I've been away from the blog and the camera for quite awhile. My day job is in IT, and we have spent the last two weeks bringing a new client live. These are time consuming and tiring events. That's why it was nice to break away this morning and make a early morning visit to the City Market. Fresh pastries for breakfast and fresh vegetables for dinner tonight. There isn't much better.

Many artisans display their works at the market. This item caught my eye as it glowed in the morning sun. Enjoy !

Spider Among Jewels

Here is another image from my morning meadow shoot. When we arrived the grass was filled with hundreds of spider webs jeweled by the fog. Enjoy!

1321 Union - Worldwide Photo Walk

Kansas City had two events for Scott Kelby's Worldwide Photo Walk. I chose to go to the early morning event. The location was in West Bottoms area. The original townsite for Kansas City sets on a bluff above a number of streams, including the Missouri and Kansas Rivers. The original city was surrounded with floodplain valleys to the west, north and east. They are all known as the Bottoms.

The West Bottoms is an old industrial district. It was the home of the former KC Stockyards. It is bordered by the Missouri and Kansas, and Turkey Creek. It is an area of old brick factories and warehouses. There is plenty of dirt, graffiti, and general grunge. This image is one that shows one of many examples of deferred maintenance.

Image taken with Nikon D90. PP with Dx06 and CS5.

Windmill

Our last morning in Nebraska we had some great sunrise skies. This image is "pushed" in post-process to bring out the drama of the sky and clouds

Image taken with Nikon D90 & 18-105mm VR. PP with CS5

Grasshopper

This is another image from our foggy morning in the upper pastures. This big grasshopper was resting on the goat's beard bloom. He was covered in dew like everything else.

Nikon D90, 35-70mm f/2.8. PP with CS5

Prickly Poppy

We've been busy with harvest chores and wedding preparations. This has kept us busy and we haven't been able to shoot and post as much as we would like.

This morning dawned with a heavy fog. We had already planned a trip to one of the upland pastures to shoot. When we arrived the view of the rising sun across the valley was no where to be found. But summer blooms and jewels from the fog were in abundance.

This bloom is called a Prickly Poppy. The blooms only last a day or two in the heat of summer. Prickly is an understated description for this plant. You can see the spines on the buds and edges of the leaves. It is so spiny that the cattle won't eat it.

Image taken with Nikon D90 / 35-70mm. PP with ACR & CS5

Fence Line

This is another sunset image from Chase County, Nebraska. My home country has a very diverse geography. This view looks up to the skyline across several miles of loess canyons. Once you top the 'Divide' there is a plateau that is as level as central Illnois. If you turn 180 degrees and look North you are looking across the floodplain valley of Frenchman Creek into a expanse of sandhill pastures.

It was a near perfect evening, except for one thing: an absolutely bald sky. There were few clouds in any direction, and with the heat and dust the evening sky tended to hazy and light. I chose this image for how the line of the fence cuts through the frame and then disappears.

Image taken with a Nikon D90 and post-processed with CS5

Hills and Coves

It has been another wet and green year in SW Nebraska. I was out exploring this evening, visiting some of the hilltops in the canyons south of Enders Lake. I haven't visited this spot in probably over 30 years. Right now the lake is full and the hills are lush and green.

Photo taken with Nikon D90, 18-105mm. PP with Photomatix and CS5

Monsoon Season

We are out in SW Nebraska for a week of vacation. It has been another wet spring and summer here at home. We drove in through a rain squall, and then we have watched thunderstorms build and move eastward. This thread of cloud was on the western skyline with the sun setting behind it.

We will be here for a week. My niece's wedding is next weekend and much of the family will gather here for the happy event.

The Book Cliffs

This Independence Day weekend was stormy and rainy here in the KC area. Since we've been kept inside I've been doing some cleanup of the photo files. Having a little fun with Photoshop too!

This image is from our trip to Utah earlier this summer. This row of cliffs is known as the Book Cliffs. They are the Eastern rim of the Price River valley. US 6 and 191 follows the Price south down this valley towards Green River, UT. The little river actually passes between the foreground and cuts through the cliffs to join the Green River a few miles to the East.

This image is taken at sundown, with the sun glowing off the bands of rock. This is a different formation from the red sandstones we will see down at Moab. The yellows and tans of these rocks aren't as colorful as the formations further south. The B&W treatment provides the feel of an early photo and allows for an emphasis on the contrast and texture of the cliffs.

The black and white conversion is created in Photoshop CS5.

A Secret Smile

When we were in Sedona earlier this year I found this statue setting in a corner of a courtyard. The artist provided the young lady with a special smile. Enjoy the image!

Cisco Sunset

This sunset was taken at Cisco, UT. Cisco is a ghost town in Eastern Utah. We visited the town as part of the DLWS class we took back in May.

If you are a regular visitor, then you know the changes that have been taking place with the blog. This image is the background image you are seeing behind the blog entries.

I'm also started a learning curve for the new CS5 Photoshop. I'm just starting to learn both the Photoshop tools as well as the new CS5 features. Content-aware fill can do amazing things!

A Quiet Weekend

It's been my first weekend that felt a little 'normal' since Debbie and I went on vacation to Utah. I still have to take off early one more time. I'm flying out to Pennsylvania this afternoon. I couldn't get the better connection so I'm routed through Atlanta.

Only photography was a few family snaps from our morning outing yesterday. So nothing to post there.

It has been a great weekend with family together and just relaxing, some small outings, cooking together. Melanie is home for the summer and Alan is wrapping up a week off from his work. We've shared stories of work and school and recharged to get ready for the coming week and the summer.

Bryan is the only one not with us. He is out in Pennsylvania with Michelle and her family. We are going to take advantage of my being out there this coming week. It is too far for me to travel to see him and make it back for work. So he is coming down to hang out one evening and will stay with me at my hotel.

I hope that everyone has a good week!

Thunderstorms

On Friday I traveled home to Kansas City from Manchester in the United Kingdom. The trip was good, with much accomplished both for work and personally. But it was definitely time to be home.

My transfer point once we reached the US was New York - JFK. As we flew west from there the pilot warned that there would be thunderstorms along our route all the way to KC.

There were clouds and bumpy air along the route, but once we crossed into Missouri the late sunlight and our route along the north side of the front exposed us to some dramatic views. Fortunately I was on the proper side of the aircraft, and my window featured clean and clear glass. Enjoy these images of the magnificent view !

Images captured with Nikon D90 and 18-105mm VR. PP with CS5

The Memphis Belle

After stalking the landscape of western England I was ready for a change. I took the day and drove to Duxford Aerodrome. The Imperial War Museum - Duxford is England's equivalent of the US Airforce Museum at Wright-Patterson AFB or the National Air & Space Museum in Wash. DC. Duxford has major displays of both UK and US military aircraft. There is a big emphasis on WWII, especially with the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Britain being recognized this summer.

The big surprise and special treat was seeing a B17 Flying Fortress. This plane is the only operational B17 based in Europe, and it operates out of Duxford. While I was there the crew fired up the engines and took her out for a flight. They were gone for about two hours and returned later in the afternoon.

The plane carries different nose art on the two sides of the plane. One side is painted as the Memphis Belle. This plane was used in the shooting of the movie of the same name.

This image is of the plane on takeoff from Duxford. I hope you enjoy it !

Welch Storms

Saturday in Herefordshire started off rainy and breezy. I spent the morning doing the errands that needed to be done (laundry, shopping). The clouds were more broken in the afternoon, so I headed out for another afternoon of photography.

I drove down to the border of Herefordshire and Wales. I'm further south of where I was last weekend at Hay-on-Wye. I was visiting a number of different historical sites, and they were connected by narrow winding roads.

The roads throughout the region are lined on both sides by hedges. Here in Wales these side roads were barely more than a single lane wide, with very few places to pull out. Most of the time you see an attractive scene you just go on because of the difficulty in turning around or pulling off.

When I saw this view with the valley in the foreground and the high hill on the horizon I knew it was special. I found a place to turn around and go back to a pull-out that faced the view.

Images captured with Nikon D90. Processed in ACR and CS4.

From Herefordshire Beacon

On Friday afternoon I drove east to the ridgeline known as the Malvern Hills. The southern anchor of the ridge is a point known as the Herefordshire Beacon. The hill tops out at a little over 1100 feet, and is probably 500 or more feet above the valley flour. The hilltop is crowned with a large Iron Age earthwork fortress. The area is included in a area of preservation called an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. And it is easy to see why.

I arrived in time for the sunset hour. These two images are a sampling of the interesting light that was available on this evening.

The Golden Light

Sunset on Distant Hills

The first image is taken looking northwest,  the second a few degrees south of west.  Both take advantage of a three-stop ND grad filter to bring up the exposure of the foreground