This is a shot I took at the Getty Center. Are there really angels here? Perhaps if you look closely, though for today's title I was thinking of the Paul Simon lyric that contains that phrase:
He looks around, aroundHe sees angels in the architectureSpinning in infinityHe says Amen! and Hallelujah!
I see many things when I look at the photo. I may even see angels. . . .
This single bottle is the only thing left in the back pantry of the old house north of Watertown I photograph from time time.
This is the time-worn eggshell blue kitchen paint in one of my favorite places to take photos - an old farmstead north of Watertown. The light had a great quality when I was there the other day and it helped give more dimension to this old paint barely hanging on the kitchen wall.
I have said that because the human brain doesn't see frames around things, photographers manipulate reality simply by framing a subject and clicking the shutter. I have also said that as a rule, I don't like to use software (such as Photoshop) to further manipulate reality.But guess what? I have been learning new things in Photoshop and this tulip photo and the one from yesterday are results of fairly heavy "altered reality." What have I done? It involves layers and blending options.But forget about that. Instead, I hope you like the dark, mysterious look and the deep tones of the reds and greens in these tulips, which I found growing between two buildings on my morning walk in St. Paul last Sunday.
I like the lines and curves and angles in this shot. In fact, if you study my architectural photography, I may seem a little "hung up" on lines, and curves and angles. I guess that's my style?
I wasn't planning to photograph the St. Paul Cathedral yesterday morning. Instead, I went off to photograph the capital building in St. Paul, Minnesota. Unfortunately, there was scaffolding all over the dome. So I took photos of the nearby Cathedral.Some of you are wondering if this photo is "real" or whether I put in a fake sky (or a fake cathedral!)? This is real, though it is actually two photos - my camera doesn't have the ability to expose a bright sky and the north side of a building and make it look this this. In photography talk, it doesn't have the "dynamic range" to do this.Thus, I took two photos, exposing one for the sky and the other for the church and then combined them into one picture. This is called HDR photography. It's a neat trick that helps the camera see things closer to how the human eye does. The human eye has an incredible dynamic range.
What caught my eye as I drove by this beautiful bed of tulips in front of the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis was the fact that there were a few yellow flowers scattered amongst all then pink ones. Look closely at this photo and you will see one small, yellow tulip.
I took a few shots of the yellow flowers thinking my theme would be "Nonconformity." but I ended up shooting a plethora of pink tulips. The shots I liked best were the ones where I shot not the early morning sun. This way, the leaves and the heads are all backlit.
In the school I teach at, Saturday School was a form of punishment to students who had misbehaved. But at KIPP Minnesota, where my son Brian teaches, things are different. Once and a while, if the 9 hour weekdays in school aren't enough, they work on Saturday.
It's not about punishment; it's about excellence. What a concept . . . .
I'm not sure where the whole ribbon cutting ceremony began but it's good to see that it is carried on in my home town from time to time. What it means is that, in spite of a poor economy, enterprise and progress continue.In this case, it was the dedication of one of the new buildings on the campus of Lake Area Technical Institute in Watertown, SD. The building is the new Automotive and Construction Technology Center.