Spokane River in B&W

From a recent trip to Washington State, just before Thanksgiving. This is just outside Spokane:

Flatlands

Looking at the St. Louis skyline, from the bluffs in Glen Carbon / Edwardsville. Late afternoon, Christmas day. It's about 11 miles straight line...

This is actually the view I had from my first abode when I moved out here in 1989. There was an old Day’s Inn, on it’s last legs, and I lived there for 2 months until we got the house in DC sold and the family moved out. They original hotel is long gone, there’s a smaller Comfort Inn there now.

Green Space on the Prairie

Late afternoon on Christmas Day, my son and I went for a walk at one of the local Green Space areas. Not quite a "winter wonderland", but still a nice bit of calm and quiet to reflect on Christmas.

Resting At Sunset

My wife actually took this one, in CLearwater FL. I just did some clean-up in Photoshop.

We were looking at an opportunity recently, that would've involved relocating to the Tampa/St. Pete area. It didn't work out, but was an interesting experience. Not a bad place for a sunset, though....

Calendar

I've been thinking (for several years) about putting a calendar of my images. Finally, the other day, I pulled together a dozen shots from my microstock submissions, and sent them off to my favorite processing lab: Mpix. They did a (predictably) wonderful job, it looks great. Much better than the samples I've seen at places like OfficeMax, Kinkos and Wal*Mart.

Here's what I used:

January -

February -

March -

April -

May -

June -

July -

August -

September -

October -

November -

December -

Locations: January - Charleston Falls, near Dayton, OH. February - Land Between The Lakes, Western KY. March - Pontiac, IL. April - West Alton, Missouri. May - Niles, OH. June - New River Gorge, WV. July - Funk's Grove, IL. August - Bellflower, IL. September - Edwardsville, IL. October - Highland, IL. November - Seattle, WA. December - Land Between The Lakes, Western KY.

Merry Christmas!

This is last year's electronic Christmas card. I decided to recycle it! My mother made this ornament years ago, it is a Moravian Star...

Season's Greetings

Or Happy Hanukkah, or Kwanza, or Winter Solstice, or whatever you choose to celebrate. For our family, it's Christmas, though.

Rear Ended....

We were out running errands this morning, my wife and I, and our van got rear ended. Minding our own business, stopped at a red light. When the "Green Arrow" came on for the turning lane, the lady behind us hit the gas. Problem was, we're both in the straight lane, and our light is red. C'est La Vie, part of life these days, not even the first time this vehicle has been hit from behind while stopped at a light. But It'll probably cost over a grand to fix, based on other experiences. (Thankfully the other lady has insurance).

The interesting thing is that our vehicle, a Chrysler mini-van, was hit by a Lexus SUV, and their front bumper compeletely cleared our back bumper. All of the impact was on the rear gate, which is now crumpled. It is firghtening to imagine the damage if the lady had been going 20mph, instead of just starting. Or if she had hit some kid in one of those micro cars?... Now I'm no SUV hater, or anything, but this certainly raises an interesting issue about non-uniform bumper height. It would be nice if bumpers could act as designed, as impact absorbing devices......

Just my thought for the day.

Testing

Oldies.....

More images from 2003, my first year of posting to BetterPhoto:

Brrrr

Something from last January, for a cold December day:

Chain, Chain, Chain....

A couple of images from the old Chain Of Rocks Bridge, where Rt. 66 crossed the Mississippi.

It has been a while since I've been over there, need to plan an excursion.

Dynatte

Another photo from the sound board at our Church....

Around Spokane

Still posting images from my 2003 entries to BetterPhoto.com. All of these were taken in the Spokane, WA, area. The first one os Mount Spokane. The text is from the Monkees' "Pleasant Valley Sunday":

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The rest are from Spokane River Park, just 10-15 minutes outside downtown Spokane. All were from the same little area, within a few dozen yards of riverbank...

Hearing Assist

Just a "slice of life" taken the other day... Taken during practice for the Christmas Program at our church... I was helping run the audio, and studying the sound board.

ATAC BAD

This is a real oldie, and one that I've always liked. Way back in the early 80's, when I lived in Washington, DC, I took an evening photography course at the Smithsonian (my only formal photography training). This was from one of my assignments, I think it was to shoot several takes on "Doors". This is way pre-digital, scanned from an old 8x10 print. In retrospect, it is a pretty flawed photo, but I still see it with a parent's eyes....

Slip Sliding Away....

Another from Silver Lake Park, Highland Illinois, with effects. I used to really enjoy spending luchtimes at SLP, back when I worked in Highland. Clearly, I also loved the "BUZZ" special effect, as you can tell from these old photos..... This was taken at the same time as yesterday's post, and about the same spot, but looking a different direction. The title is a reference to Paul Simon's song.

Splash Of Color

Silver Lake Park, Highland Illinois, with effects. I've always really liked this photo, looking down over a hillside, through the fall colors, to the lake.... This was taken just a few dozen yards from "Quiet Moment in a Busy Day", posted on the 22nd...

Moondance

This image was actually taken near noon on a bright sunny day. A combination of in-camera (intentional underexposure) and software effects provides an image which (hopefully) conjures the feeling of a midnight stroll, with moonlight reflecting off the water…. And, purely random, Van Morrison's "Monndance" came on my iTunes playlist as I'm entering this!

Hand In Hand - The Three O'Clock

From their album "Arrive Without Travelling". When I first heard this song, back in the mid-80's, it really struck me. When my first daughter was born, it took on new meaning for me. She just announced her engagement recently, and now it really hits home. It's all good, of course.

You know you can be free, in a world you’ve never seen
When you find two at your door, that will be forever-more
Then the girl with the clear clean smile, stands at the altar...

The boy that moves too slow, in love with your daughter
And in his hand he holds the hand of your daughter

And I’m sure love will grow, in a world you’ll never know
Where the young they seem to last, in a world far from the past
See them approach the door, as if an altar...
The boy that moves too slow, in love with your daughter
And in his hand he holds the hand of your daughter

Then the boy with the clear clean smile, stands at the altar
The boy that moves too slow, in love with your daughter
And in his hand he holds the hand of your daughter
The boy that moves too slow, in love with your daughter
And in his hand he holds the hand of your daughter

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Sorry for the light posting lately. It has been crazy.
Here's some more images posted to BetterPhoto in 2003, continuing the series.

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..and on and on...

Still more images posted to BetterPhoto in 2003.

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on and on...

More images posted to BetterPhoto in 2003.

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Above is at Antietam Battlefield, the quote is Lincon (at Gettysburg)

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