11-26-13 Another Time and Another Place

I suppose I should be posting something slightly more seasonal, shouldn't I? But perhaps these purple iris are blooming somewhere in Australia, where summer is about to begin. So I would suggest they are seasonal.

Frankly, I wasn't looking for a flower photo for this blog today; I was just looking for a colorful photo I could work on with a new version of Perfect Photo Suite 8, which just hit the market today. I like the software and, of course, I like the flowers.

Canon 5DIII 1/320s f/2.8 ISO250 100mm

11-25-13 A Nicely Painted Ceiling

Given that I talked a bit about the Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel yesterday, I thought I'd post my one and only photo of the ceiling, "accidentally" taken in 2004. Photography is not allowed, but in the crowded and somewhat chaotic chapel, my camera somehow went off. And this is what I ended up with.

See God? See Adam? See the brain? See the museum guard look at me with disdain?

Canon 5D 1/13s f/4.0 ISO1600 24mm

11-24-13 The Mysterious Moon Jellyfish

Here's another capture from the Doorly Zoo and Aquarium in Omaha, Nebraska. As I was working on getting this photo ready for this post, it occurred to me that the photos you see here fall into one of about three categories: photos that demonstrate a process, photos that attempt to show a unique or new view of things, and photos of things, in which process, art and uniqueness are not primary considerations.

This Moon Jellyfish photo falls into the third category. Do a Google search and you will discover over a million hits. And many of the photos are much better than this one. So why post? Partly, to borrow a phrase from mountaineer George Mallory, "because it's there."

Also, because I often see and think analogously, this photo reminded me very much of the alleged "brain" in Michelangelo's famous centerpiece of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Judge for yourselves:

In case you are wondering, the "brain" is the form in which God (the one with clothes) seems to be floating. Had Michelangelo seen a human brain before he painted this? No doubt. Did he say the strange form in the painting was inspired by brains he had seen? No. What does it all mean?

What it means is that I accidentally took a photo that is vaguely reminiscent of Michelangelo. So at least for today, I am in good company.

Canon 5DIII 1/50s f/4.0 ISO2000 67mm

Creation of Adam photo courtesy of Wikimedia

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.