11-23-13 Lines and Texture - St. Cecilia Cathedral, Omaha

It's no secret that I have a penchant for architectural details. On the morning I visited St. Cecelia Cathedral in Omaha, I was well aware of the fact that have hundreds of church exterior and interior photos. And so, even though I had my camera with me as I walked in and around this beautiful cathedral, I had decided that I wasn't going to take any photographs.

I walked around the building three times, enjoying and appreciating all of the work and artistry that went in to constructing St. Cecelia. It was on the third go-around that I took my camera out and started to frame things that were especially compelling.

And so here's a second photo from my visit to the cathedral. What struck me about this scene were both the geometry of the architecture and the random, dappled shadows cast by a nearby tree. For those interested in technical details, I used red filter in the black and white processing that turned a beautiful blue morning sky into a very dark presence in this photo. I didn't want your eyes drawn to anything but the architecture.

Canon 5DIII 1/250s f/8.0 ISO100 73mm

11-22-13 Reprise: The Most Famous Warehouse

Given all the retrospectives of the Kennedy assassination on the 50th anniversary, I thought it would be appropriate to post a photo I took while visiting Dallas a few years ago. This is the Texas Book Repository from which Oswald shot Kennedy. 50 years ago I was only nine years old but, like many of my generation, there are many things that I remember from those days in November. . . .

11-21-13 Details - St. Cecilia Cathedral, Omaha

11-20-13 Fall Colors At the Lauritzen Gardens, Omaha

The leaves have turned and fallen in Watertown, SD, but I discovered that if you go south about 300 hundred miles, you will find that you can still find fall colors. These leaves were photographed at the Lauritzen Gardens in Omaha and though the flowers beds were tilled and ready for winter, there was still plenty to enjoy.

The way leaves fall is random, of course, but if I had arranged these leaves, I would have put them just like this.

Canon 5DIII 1/200s f/4.5 ISO200 100mm

11-19-13 Through the Eyes of A Child

We attended a party in honor of the 2nd birthday of my grand niece Evie DeGeest a few days ago. I wasn't going to take photos because most of these events are very well photographed. But I couldn't resist. Alicia, Evie's mom, is a designer by bent and trade and DeGeest birthday parties are always brilliantly planned and certainly photogenic.

Maybe it's because of the birth of our grand daughter, Glenyce Jane, but these days I seem to look at the children in our family differently. "Wonder" and "awe" are two words that come to mind to describe how I feel when I study the face and eyes of a child like Evie.

I wonder about the gathering of all the forces that shape the person that Evie is becoming. And I wonder what she is thinking and what the world looks like through her eyes. And isn't it awesome that what begins as a microscopic fusion of DNA ends up becoming a wonderfully complex bundle of cells, thoughts and inclinations like beautiful Evie?

Canon 5DIII 1/80s f/2.8 ISO500 168mm

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11-18-13 Going To School

Those who follow my Instagram feed will have seen a variant of today's post. Both were taken at the Henry Doorly Aquarium and Zoo in Omaha, Nebraska. Deb is here for a Midwest Higher Education Compact meeting and I'm along as her driver, body guard and photographer. You didn't know that the president of Lake Area Technical Institute had people like me did you? All are unpaid positions.

Our group was visiting the aquarium for our dinner last night and I agree with Deb, who observed that she had never eaten a meal with sharks circling overhead.

We were served beef, not fish, so as not to insult the sharks.

11-17-13 Union Pacific Engine #4023

Just above the Lauritzen Gardens in Omaha, Nebraska, is a display of two Union Pacific freight train engines. This photo is one small detail of the older Engine #4023, which was a massive steam engine. As I walked around the engine, I was struck by all of the moving parts that comprise a steam engine, especially the mechanisms that transferred steam to power that turned the massive wheels.

Canon 5DIII 1/125s f/2.8 ISO100 100mm

11-16-13 Tropical Colors

This photo of a Hawaiian gecko is the third in a row in this blog that come from my 2006 collection. Like so many other photos of mine, it had been abandoned and exists only because I'm not good at throwing things away.

The colors in this photo are unlike almost any that occur naturally in South Dakota, though I am struck by how similar the color palettes are in this photo and in my recent post from Salt Lake City called "A Little Color." Check it out.

Canon 5D 1/2500s f/3.2 ISO100 135mm

11-15-13 Cat's Eyes

I'll bet you didn't know that a common characteristic of the four species of venemous snakes* in the US is that they all have "elliptical eye slits, aka "cat's eyes." The important thing, then, is that if you encounter a snake, you need to look it in the eyes to determine if it is deadly or not. If you stare in to a snake's eyes and see that they look more like a human's eyes, then he/she** is your friend.

Mac is no snake, of course. And he's not venomous. He has been known to kill mice and small birds from time to time but he does that primarily because that's what cats do in their spare time. Mac has been part of our family for 13 years now, though he is a sprightly 7 in this photo, taken in 2006.

Canon 5D 1/400s f/3.5 ISO400 135mm

*rattlesnake, cottonmouth, coral snake, copperhead **Only trained herpetologists can determine a snake's gender.

11-14-13 The Festival of Trees Metal Print Is Here!

Each year I donate a photo to the Lake Area Technical Institute Foundation to be auctioned at their annual Festival of Trees, which is quickly approaching. The photo usually has a winter theme and this year's picture is called "Spring Melt" and was photographed along Iron Creek last April.

Being a perfectionist, I rarely like my photos in print form but I have to say that this one, printed on metal, is pretty special. Of course it helps to have such great scenery. :-)

11-12-13 Changing of the Guard

The phrase "changing of the guard" can be metaphorical but at the Prague Castle in the Czech Republic it is literal. But the event is also a tourist attraction. Deb and I just happened to be arriving at the Castle when the three men seen here were marching to their post. Their baby blue uniforms are traditional but not particularly "normal" when it comes to military garb. Maybe the intent is to make the opponent feel happy and non-violent.

Have I just returned from the Czech Republic? No. We were there in 2006 and I found this photo in the process of organizing my vast collection of forgotten photos. I call it "dumpster diving" and the fact that I got caught up in processing this photo when I should have really been culling it is a reason I get so little organizing done. Some day I'll start on my closet, but I'll have the same problem with old college papers that I have with photos . . . .

Canon 5D 1/320s f/7.1 ISO400 105mm

11-11-13 A Little Color

My blog has been dominated by monotones lately so I decided it was time to brighten things up a bit. These leaves were found in a small park below the state capitol building in Salt Lake City Utah.

Canon 5DIII 1/80s f/3.5 ISO400 100mm

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