Betterphoto, last gasp

 I posted a few days ago about the demise of Betterphoto.com, one of the first photo websites I frequented...  The site is supposed to go dark 4/30, which is today.  I've spent a chunk of time over the past 2 days downloading (most of) my images from the site.  Primarily focusing on 2021 and before.

A lot of the originals from way back when are not easily located, so not I have something.  I'll probably trickle out some of those oldies over the next few Thursdays.  Here's the 1st new (at the time) I published there:

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And to bookend, here's the last photo I published there, from August 2025, not long before they had the system crash from which that they never quite recovered:

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I was really active at BP between March 2003 and June 2020, posting over 900 photos.  Then, for "reasons" I quit the site.  For other "reasons" I restarted in late 2020, a break of over 11 years.  Still, I was active there for a long time, and published well over 1,500 photos there.

Sad to see them go, wishing the folks there good luck in future endeavors.

Throwback Thursday, 2007 Self portrait

 Throwback Thursday... As BetterPhoto is shutting down, I'm scrambling to download the hundreds of photos I uploaded there. Many (most?) I have saved elsewhere, but not all...

Here's a self portrait, uploaded to that site back in April 2007. 19 years ago, might've been somewhere south of Chicago, but north of Bloomington. Or could've been lots of other places. I spent a lot of time back then working on the laptop in hotel rooms. This was getting towards the end of my travelling days, though...

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Arnold (MO) City Park - Walking Trail.

Continuing my series on walking trails.  Mostly in our general area, though that'll probably expand after a trip or two.  

Today's review is Arnold City Park.  This is in Missouri, on the south side of St. Louis.  Just south of the Meramec River.  I spent some time working an Arnold, and this park was a nice spot for lunch, to get out of the office.  This trip was to drop my granddaughter off at an event, I had some time to wander.

Another "not dramatic" spot, but pleasant enough.  They have plays structures, sports fields, and a small lake.  There's a paved path around the lake, which clocks in at about 2/3 mile.

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Hummingbird don't fly away...

So...  I hung the hummingbird feeder a couple of days ago, and saw our first visitor Sunday (4/26).  Today (4/28) is the next time I saw one, and this time I had my camera nearby.  Not great photos (and taken through the picture window), but proof that I wasn't imagining it.

True sign of spring!

 

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Various Artists - Heavy Metal: Volume 2 Superstars of the 70'S

I've been making a spreadsheet of my record collection, a daunting task, given that my last version was decades ago (and long lost).  One positive thing is that I've been re-discovering some of Various Artists albums from my youth.  So I decided today to make a Spotify playlist of one.

This is Heavy Metal, a 2 album set from Warner Brothers, released in 1974.  There's some great stuff on here, and a couple of not-quite-great songs.  Check out the playlist, let me know what you think!

Here's the Spotify Link:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1jNcXQNJVi71QqoJO3hr8g?si=463e81e8c7bf4bf7

Glen Carbon Green Space East Walking Trail

 Another in my series of walking trails.  Mostly (I expect) trails in and around our area.  Here's a quickie, Glen Carbon Green Space East.  This is one of two green-spaces in Glen Carbon, along with Green Space North.  I think there are planse for another...  sometime.

This is a quiet spot, just an open area, with a paved trail around the perimeter.  The loop is about 3/4 mile, with a spur connecting to Heritage Trail (bike trail).  Total walk was 2.57 miles, so most of the walk is getting to and from the space.

Nothing too dramatic here, but I have seen deer and coyote here at various times, and lots of birds.

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The tracking from my phone is incomplete, I accidentally stopped rather than paused...  But that mostly shows the path. 

Old Town Tavern

 Another Chuzhao photo, taken earlier this week.

This is the Old Town Tavern, in Glen Carbon, IL  Dating back to 1890 (as Yanda Saloon).    The internet says they're open, but not until 3pm, but the last couple of times I've passed by, it seems pretty dead.  But this photo was taken around an 2 hours before their opening time.  But the "Bud Light" sign is gone, and I didn't see neon in the windows (from the street).  I'll have to pay more attention.

We've lived in the area for decades, but have never been in this place.  

UPDATE:  I drove by 4/29, and yes, it is still open!

Chuzhao Found

 So, I misplaced my Chuzhao "toy" camera a while back, and finally found it today.  In the center console of my car, if you care.grabbed a couple of photos wandering around, but also found a few that I had taken during our March trip to Southern Illinois.  Which led me to notice that I never posted photos from that trip here.  Shame on me, I'll need to rectify that.

Meanwhile, here's 3 photos from Cave-In-Rock state park, from the Chuzhao.  I will say that I have a very strong preference for the in-camera b&w (+ sepia).  Very minimal Lightroom rweaks.

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R.I.P. BetterPhoto

 The web site BetterPhoto was one of the fist online photography sites that I discovered / joined.  Going back to 2003, it was my only photo site I participated in for a long time.  I've waxed and waned there, but not too long ago (early 2024).  I even set up a web domain through then (lawheadphoto.com).  And in mid 2024, I agreed to provide (volunteer) input ti the guy running the site.

BUT, they had a major, catastrophic server/computer crash back in early 2025.  Everything was gone.  After months, they had restored some functionality, but they just couldn't seem to get it back up and running.  And all historical uploads were just gone.  And I basically gave up and moved on, expecting to go back when they got it all resolved.

Sadly, over a year later, they've decided to pull the plug and give up.  Disappointing, and I feel bad for the owner, but after a year, not especially surprising.

Big takeaway?  I have about 2 weeks to transfer my domain name, or lose it....  Any suggestions for good photo web hosting services are welcome!

Life goes on.

RIP BP....

Pano!

Recently, I was wandering around at Highland's Silver Lake Park.  Just a short-ish little walk, <2 miles.  But that's what I had time for.  During that wander, I got to messing around with my camera's pano feature.  Good fun, here's some "keeprs".

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So, time for a vote;  Which one should I use for my Facebook banner?

• #1:  Old Dock
• #2: Path on left, lake on right
• #3: Path on right, woods on right

Put you vote in comments!

Watershed Nature Center Walking Trail

 Beautiful day today, perfect for an extended wander around the Watershed.  This is a long time favorite spot, with a main loop and several spurs and side loops, etc.  For todays wander, I covered most of the side spots, and ended up totally 3.22 miles. Pretty much a perfect day, I need to savor these before it gets hot and humid and oppressively green...

The birds were out in force, here's a list of what Merlin identified:

American Crow / American Goldfinch / American Robin / Black-capped Chickadee / Blue Jay / Bluebird (seen, not heard) / Brown-headed Cowbird / Canada Goose / Carolina Chickadee / Carolina Wren / Cedar Waxwing / Common Grackle / Eastern Meadowlark / Fish Crow / House Finch / Killdeer / Northern Cardinal / Northern Flicker / Northern Mockingbird / Pileated Woodpecker / Pine Siskin / Red-bellied Woodpecker / Red-shouldered Hawk / Red-winged Blackbird / Song Sparrow / Swamp Sparrow / Tree Swallow / Tufted Titmouse / White-breasted Nuthatch / White-throated Sparrow / Yellow-Rumped Warbler

That's 31 different species identified in less than 90 minutes.  I saw or heard most of them.

And here's a few quick phone photos:

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Township Park Walking Trail

 I guess it's technically Township Park, but it's widely known as Airplane Park, even on the Pacer Ap (see photo below).  Past the plane, and the sports fields and the playgrounds, there's a little trail through the woods.  The actual loop is only 0.40-0.45 miles, from the parking lot to the loop and back clocked out at 0.70 mile.

Not very dramatic, no vistas or such, but a pleasant little wander.

Here's a few photos from today's visit, while the grandkids played...

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Spring Is Sprung!

 

Spring is sprung and the bluebirds have been busy!  

We have 2 bird-boxes in the backyard, I've been busy disrupting the House Sparrows from the "left" box for days, hoping they'll give up.  No luck on that, but it has freed the "right" box for the bluebirds.  I've seen them coming and going, but today was the first time in weeks that I opened it.  And we have eggs!

This'll be the 3rd year we've have bluebirds nesting in the yeard, they have been having 3-4 broods each year.  Always fun.

They'll probably lay 1 or 2 more, then start sitting.  Nothing fancy on the photo, I try to be quick and as non-intrusive as possible.  And this is straight from the phone, no crop or anything....

Stay tuned!

Old Shawneetown Photo Essay

 Been scarce on posting will try and do better.....

I did another Youtube video, after our March trip to Cave-In-Rock and surrounding area.  This is a shortie (1:47), from Old Shawneetown, IL  Check it out, let me know what you think!

Old Shawneetown

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I enjoy putting these together, and will continue as long as that's true.  Check out the channel!

What Holds - February Photos

 Another Youtube video posed yesterday.  I've really been enjoying making these, hope y'all enjoy watching them!  This is a summary of photos from February 2026, a quickie of 11 shots.  These will (probably) feed into the 2026 version of A Good Crop...

What Holds

I'd be thrilled if anybody wants to check out my Youtube channel.  I've posted 13 photo essays since July 2025, I hope to keep posting 1-2 per month.