Make Your Move!

Heh, heh.  Couldn't pass up this shot.  He's gonna attack, he's not, he's gonna, he's not.  Which is it?  Check the second picture for the context. Here we go:

Here's the second:

Don't know why this rhino statue was sitting outside Union Station next to a dumpster, but it was a interesting photo.  What's your hypothesis?
I hope they're not throwing it in the dumpster, I can sure find a place for it.

365 day 30

This poor mallard drake was sitting all alone on Turkey Creek, thought he needed some recognition, so here he is:

Sunday Night

Went back and grabbed a shot of "Bird" at night.  The lighting is pretty direct, but it is interesting.  Here you go:

365 day 28

Saturday in the big town.  Had breakfast at Casconi's in the market, good as usual.  Went by work and got this shot.  Photo of the day:

Finally Friday!

Finally the week is done.  Gonna enjoy the weekend.  Went to Grunauer's for dinner based on the Check, Please! episode featuring them.  I'm sorry to say we were disappointed.  My Schweinebraten was good, but my wife's daily "special" (a stuffed pork roast) was so fatty as to be inedible.  They were "gracious" enough to knock $5 off the tab!  I left a business card and a note.  Oh, well, enough bitching.  Swung by Kauffman
center on the way home, so the picture of the day:

The red glow on the sign was provided by the brake lights of a passing car.

Fossils on the Plaza?

So, once again, wandering about the Plaza, how can you go wrong?  Got some good shots of Brush Creek and the fountains, but the photo of the day was something I noticed on the way back to the truck.  One of the large boulders lining the walkway from the boulevard to the creek was loaded with fossils of marine life:  tube-worms, bivalves, gastopods, etc.  So, I thought, rather than the usual Plaza picts, this is alittle unusual:

365 day 25

Greetings on hump day!  Went by the Plaza and the Cancer Survivor's park.  Here is the art piece at the north end of the park.

Back to 18th and Vine, part Deux

At Arthur Bryant's, getting a beef and pork combo this evening.  Swung down to 18th and Vine to get a photo.  Here is the Swing Shop at night, pretty dead for a Tuesday night.  The main room on Arthur Bryant's was full though!  Must have been the Google coupon!

Stay Between The Lines!

Visited the south end of Bartle Hall, some really neat art work.  This is the rear of two heads, one with features and one without.  I really like this view, lines going everywhere.  Did this in HDR.

Can you stay between the lines?

365 day 22

Went down to OP today after Emporia this AM.  Came by this waterfall at Vincent Associates, 103 and Metcalf.  Liked the waterfall, with the ice on a 60 degree day.  What's up with 60 degrees on January 22nd anyway?  And tonight, lightning and hail!  Weird weather.  Cool waterfall though:

Could bearly stay warm today!

Brrrrrrrr! It was cold today.  Decided to stay in, so a still life.  This bear (created by my mom and dad) has been thru' fire, flood and about 25 years of love, moves and storage.  So, he is the star of the day. 

(I think we named him Smoky after the fire)

365 day 20

Couldn't think of anywhere to go, to busy at lunch.  Went to Aldi after work, really close to A. Zahner Company Architectural Firm's building in Kansas City, MO.  It was sunset, so the light was great.  I like this one the best:

Nice , huh?  I named it Sunset Waves.

Back to 18th and Vine

 

Swung by 18th and Vine on my way in to work this AM.  Shot some more photos of the Charley "Bird" Parker Bust.  I had entered a photo of it on a amateur photographer group website on LinkedIn the other day for critique and took the comments to heart and went to reshoot it.  With the suggestions in mind it came out much better.  So here it is:

365 day 18

Drove thru' the old Hyde Park neighborhood on my lunch hour today, beautiful old homes.  Saw this sculpture from Harrison Parkway and stopped to see it.  Liked it, took a photo of it.  Don't know the name of it, couldn't find anything on it. I named it "Fatal Decision".  Here it is:

Forlorn, isn't it?

Cruising down Linwood Blvd!

I have always admired the Scottish Rites Temple at Linwood and the Paseo.  It is a magnificent building and I understand you can get a tour.  I'm going to do that one of these days.  There is also a really cool art deco traffic light built in the 1930's (designed by Edward Buehler Deck) in the center of the intersection.  I took one of a city bus going by and of a fire truck.  The bus one shows the building and the traffic light, but the fire truck is cooler looking.  I think I will post both!

and

Catch of the Day!

Stopped by Bell Street D'Bronx to pick up a large D'Bronx special and as I was waiting they got an order for a Party size Special from two of the city's finest.  I stayed around to watch him "throw" it.  Always amazes me that they are able to spin that big of a disc of dough.  Well, here is the 365 day 16:

Enjoy!   And support your local pizza shops.

Emporia or Bust!

Drove to Emporia to meet Dad for lunch.  Drive, drive, drove, drove.  Here is the photo of the day:
Back to Kauffman Gardens;  Stopped by for a quick shot in the arboretum.  From the front, no seed spots, from the back, well you see.  See you tomorrow! 

Wandering the City

"I'm gonna be standing on the corner, 12th Street and Vine, with my Kansas City baby and a bottle of Kansas City wine".
Couldn't decided which one to post today.  The 365 (366) rules (I am making them up as I go) only say you have to post a photo that you took that day, it doesn't say you can't post two!  In my wanderings (before the games came on), I took several that I like and I'm going to post a couple. First one goes with the song:

Now the second one is cool in a weird sort of way.  "Descent of Civilization (Bison Memorial)"by Marc Swanson is a bronze sculpture of a buffalo skeleton. Pretty novel, having it in Quality Hill, where, I suppose, buffalo did roam back in the day.  Here's my favorite of the ones I shot:

Kinda menacing, isn't he.  Check back tomorrow, to see what I can come up with then.

Friday Night in the Big City

Nice clear night, really got cold last night, but half way nice today.  Now for the big warm up.  Glad it was finally Friday.  Nice morning sunrise color, shot a couple, but really wasn't happy with them.  Thought about today's 365 (366) most the day, decided on a Still Life.  Decided to go with my favorite Friday night wind-me-down.....a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon:

Hope everyone has a great Saturday, enjoy!

365 day 12

Babies grow up so fast, I thought that I would go ahead and post one of my new granddaughter.  She was trying out her Mona Lisa smile on grandpa.  Another new photo tomorrow!

I'm here to say it's hump day.

So, here it is Wednesday, on the downhill slide to the weekend.  Good feeling.  Cold and snowing outside, I guess we are due.  That will give some different kind of opportunities for shots (action shots of cars sliding, ice falling from the tower, wind blowing snow into drifts).  I think if it's going to snow and be slick and messy, it should go ahead and snow enough for some great photos. It's a lot easier to get a snow shot when there is three or more inches of unblemished white stuff then when there is 1/2 " of glaze.  Well, since it is Wednesday, St. Patrick's Oratory had their lights on so I grabbed a couple of shots.  I likes the front door shot the best, they have beautiful stained glass all around.  So, here it is:

I added alittle HDR toning to it and some vignetting to give it depth.  Hope you like it.

It's in the details!

After shooting for several years with a 10 megapixel Canon XTi, I recently moved up to a Canon 18 megapixel 60d.  I also am reading Bryan Peterson's "Understanding Photography Field Guide" and working thru' the 60d user's manual at the same time.  Daunting! I consider Bryan Peterson a mentor and a wizard of light.  The 60d is a great camera and the 18mp are a huge leap forward from the XTi.  But as the wise men say, it is not the capabilities of the camera, it is the eye of the photographer.  So, I'm in the process of developing my "eye".  Considering I started this process as a yearbook photographer in high school, I obviously am a slow learner!  I think digital is a giant step forward for photographers today, no longer do you have to worry about the price of film and developing, you can shoot until you fill up the card or until the battery runs down!  Working with 5"X7" black and white plates and "dodging and burning" in the lab seem a long time ago (they were!). Does anyone remember rolling your own ektachrome into a canister and developing it in the sink?  Well, enough of a trip down memory lane, here is today's photo:

This is the blossom on my "Croton" plant in my office.  I was amazed that it blossomed, I don't exactly have a green thumb.  But, it is unusual. (and kinda cute)

Monday, Monday, can't trust that day..........

So, this felt like the first real Monday in about 3 weeks.  Everyone's back to work, lots to do, uplinks, production, etc.  Makes the day go faster, though.
So, today was a nice sunny, warm day (probably not many left) so, I thought, "How about the Plaza?  I'll take pictures of the pig!"  Never fails, the Plaza is always busy, even on a Monday.  But, here is the picture:

I think I will caption this:  "Rub my nose, oh, come on, rub my nose!  You know you want to, rub my nose!"
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Day 8, It's kinda late.

Our 1950's era lighting board at KCPT.  Still in nearly daily use! 

Day 7, I'm in heaven (well, OK)

I don't know about heaven, but it is Saturday!  Stopped by Harry J Epstein's hardware store today, incredible! What a treasure!  Reminds me of the hardware store on the main street in O'Fallon.   Wish I could remember the name, but Epstein's beats it.  Had everything you could remember and more.  Cool.  So here is the photo of the day, the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City, used to be the New York Life Building.  The Eagle is looking at you........

Day 6, another photo to add to the mix.

Finally Friday!  Why is it when you have Monday off, the week stretches on forever?  Weird.  Busy week, more projects than ever, busier and busier.  Well, tomorrow's Saturday....market day at the City Market.  Wonder what surprises we will find there?  Saw some great looking canolis at Carollos last week,  maybe we'll grab a couple of those.  I really enjoyed the spaghetti squash, maybe we'll have that again, maybe with marinara this time.  Or maybe some eggplant parmigiana.  OK, now I'm hungry.
OK, I'll post the picture and then I'll get something to eat!
This is the Just Off Broadway Theater building.  It is built inside the remains of the former 1910 parks headquarters building that burned in 1991.  Pretty cool structure.

 More tomorrow.

365 day 5

Took care of my new granddaughter this afternoon.  She's alittle over 3 months, very sweet smile, seems to think Grandpa is kinda funny.  Maybe I'll post a photo of her later on, it's too bad you have to be so careful posting children's photos.  Great day today, beautiful weather.  Have you noticed everybody is sick....sneezing, hawking, coughing, unbelievable.  Photo of the day:

The new Bond Bridge across the Missouri River and the Catholic church in Columbus Park. 

Where did winter go? Not that I'm griping.

Nice and warm here for January.  50 degrees today, tomorrow predicted 60+.  I'm loving it.  Lots of sunshine, blue skies.  Watching the game, so I'm going right to the photo.  Here's the 365 day 4:

New Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts.  Absolutely a new star in Kansas City's universe.  Most fantastic sounding concert hall I have ever heard.  I haven't heard the other hall (there are two) but I'm sure it is just as magnificent. 

If you have more than one caucus, isn't that a cauci?

Watching the Iowa Caucuses (Cauci?), they've only picked one Republican president correctly in the last 30 years or so.  Why are we watching them?  I guess because they are the first of the new year.  January, the month of Janus, the roman god of, among other things, doors, new beginnings, starts.  So, this is the time to start the new project, start doing things differently if  you don't like the way things are going, turn over a new leaf, start new habits while discarding the old, etc.  If you hope that doing the same things over and over in the same way will eventually yield different results, you are going to be disappointed. 
How's the weather been where you are?  Here, no snow, not much cold, almost set a new high on New Year's Eve.  I bet when winter hits it's really going to be something.

OK, enough of that, here's a photo.  Dropped by the Kauffman Memorial Gardens today, one of my favorite places, no flowers outside, of course, but some cool picture ideas.  These were small, close to the ground, left-over seed pods.  I hope you like it.

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Two New Year's Days

Well, here is the second New Year's Day of the year.  How's everyone doing?  Looking forward to the new year?   First a toast, then a something motivating.
In the New Year, may your right hand always be stretched out in friendship but never in want.~Traditional Irish Toast.
Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any one thing. ~ Abraham Lincoln.
365 Day 2; sun setting, reflecting off of downtown buildings, taken from Children's Mercy........

Happy New Year!

Wow, 2012!  Another year gone.  First day of the 365, much harder than I thought.  Want to start off on the right note, you know?  So, I thought, start out on the right note!  Here's the first of the 365's:

 One of my mountain dulcimers.  My favorite is a McSpadden from Arkansas, but this one is pretty nice.  Got it in Florida.  Most mountain dulcimers are 4 string; two treble, tuned the same; one midrange and one bass.  This one has 6 strings; two of each.  It also has a pickup for amplifier use.
Hope everyone had a good New Years Eve!  Heres to a great new year!!!!

Cheers!