Market Day

One of our favorite Saturday activities is a morning visit to the City Market.

The City Market is located near the original site of the City of Kansas and the river landing that brought the people to the place that became Kansas City.

The Market consists of a square surrounded by buildings that hold commercial vendors, restaurants and the Arabia Museum. Most of commercial vendors are in food related businesses: fruits and vegetables, middle eastern groceries, bakeries, an Italian deli. The center of the square is the farmers market. Prepared foods, local fruit and veggies, arts & crafts and nursery plants are usually available. Of course with spring finally coming to Missouri the local items will proliferate.

It is always a great place to visit for a bakery treat, people watching, and many photographic opportunities. The square and the commercial produce vendors receive the morning light. The shapes and colors and lighting make for lots of fun to be out with the camera.

The following are a few samples of the images from Saturday. Enjoy!











Tools of the Trade: Nikon D7000 w/ Tokina 100mm f/2.8 Macro. Post includes PhotoMechanic, ACR 7, Photoshop 6 and the Nik Collection

Street Music

I am often fascinated by the work of photographers who specialize in street photography, especially the 'environmental portrait'. I am still struggling with a personal hesitancy about 'intruding' on persons on the street for that kind of photography.

That's why I go looking for situations where the vibe on the street is 'look at me!'. Here in KC those people are commonly street musicians.

The City Market is an entertaining and personally exciting place for me. On summer Saturday mornings there are the farmers with their fresh vegetables, organic meats, etc. There is the spice merchant, the commercial fruit & veggie vendors and the Mediterranean grocer (fresh pita bread !). You can have a freshly grilled Italian sausage or a marvelous walnut danish (yay Bloom Bakery !!). It is a festival environment.

This year the Market has attracted a great number of musicians. There were at least six different groups of performers there on Saturday. And it was an eclectic group.

Here are some images of various aspects of the performance. Enjoy !

Stylin'

Magic Fingers

Up Close

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 55-105mm, post with ACR/CS6

Market Day

Kansas City's City Market is one our favorite places. It has full-time produce vendors, the weekend farmers market, coffee shops and bakeries and restaurants. On this past Saturday morning you could get a fresh scone, a live chicken, and a big sack of navel oranges.

It is one of my favorite places for lots of reasons. The photographic opportunities are great because of the various activities and peoples. And it faces the morning sun.

These images are just a few favorite images from our latest visit.

The last image of the flutist was taken in a sunbeam in one of the passageways. On this busy Saturday morning there were many musicians playing around the plaza. I have seen this man playing there several times. The hands of musicians reflect so much of their skill and power. And this man's hands describe so much of a long life.

Camera info: D7000, 35-70mm f/2.8

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 !

Photo Adventure - The City Market

The City Market has existed in one form or another in Kansas City since 1857. It is located on 3rd St just above the Missouri River. The original river landing is just below the market plaza. These days there is a weekend farmers market year-round along with a number of full time vendors.

We went down this morning early to take advantage of the early morning light and to take part in a program taking place first thing. A wonderful bakery with fresh cherry and walnut danish was an excellent incentive as well!



All images were shot with Nikon D90 with 35-70mm f/2.8. Post-processed in CaptureNX2, with "Bounty" processed from three images using Photomatix Pro