Mission OakMission San Jose Dignified oak spreads its arms Moody skies look on

This image is titled Mission Oak, and the caption is:

Mission San José
Dignified oak spreads its arms
Moody skies look on

It is an image of Mission San José, in San Antonio, Texas and is part of my ongoing San Antonio Missions project. There are five missions in San Antonio along the San Antonio River, spaced about 1 to 2 miles apart. The five missions are a UNESCO World Heritage site. The northernmost of the missions is The Alamo, formerly known as Misión San Antonio de Padua, and later as Misión San Antonio de Valero. It is located in the center of downtown San Antonio. There are four additional missions along the river South of The Alamo: Mission San José, Mission Concepción, Mission San Juan, and Mission Espada. Those four missions comprise the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park. 

Mission San José was founded February 23, 1720 when Misión San Antonio de Valero (The Alamo) became overcrowded due to the closure of missions in East Texas. Today Mission San José is an active parish with regular services.

This is a 3 minute and 20 second exposure to add character in the sky. The oak tree is what mostly caught my eye from this vantage point, and I wanted to emphasize its grandeur and dignity of that tree in front of the old mission. 

Our Daily BreadSliced bread, coffee
In soft warming morning light
Time stands still - anew

This image is titled "Our Daily Bread" and the caption is:

Sliced bread, coffee  
In soft, warming morning light  
Time stands still - anew

This is an image of a breakfast table scene at a museum in The Netherlands. I wanted to make an image that evokes nostalgic feelings of a more simple time from the past.

The image was made in 2009 during a trip to Amsterdam and was processed to the final image that you see here in 2017. I have so many images from the past that deserve to be processed that it would take several lifetimes. It would be nice to process them but there just doesn't seem to be the time due to current work I'm doing.

Tracy Arm JourneyPassenger ship in Tracy Arm Alaska
This image is titled Tracy Arm Journey.

The cruise ship is returning from Sawyer Glacier in Tracy Arm, a beautiful glacier carved fjord near Juneau Alaska.

The ship approaching the 'X' made by the valley and its reflection is what caught my eye, in addition to the dramatic sky.

There was very little processing of the image other than converting it to black and white.
 

Flying AwayTowers fell in grief
But from ashes, spirits rise-
Hope dawns through the pain.

The image is titled Flying Away and the caption is:

Towers fell in grief  
But from ashes, spirits rise-  
Hope dawns through the pain.

This is another image from the Julia Anna Gosporadou workshop in New York last June. It's also part of my Urbane series.

I hoped to have post processing completed by 9/11 but didn't quite make it. The image is intended as a tribute.

To me, the waterfall represents falling tears, but I just wasn't able to bring out the water the way I wanted to. And I think the oculus represents soaring, flight, and hope.

TimelessVast prairie views
Skies promise stormy weather
Now the same as then

Recently I had the privilege of being invited to this working ranch in the Colorado high country (around 10,000 ft. elevation). I was invited to help vaccinate the calves against respiratory problems but I quickly decided the best contribution this city slicker could make was by creating images. 

The image is titled "Timeless" and the caption is:

Vast prairie views
Skies promise stormy weather
Now the same as then

The ranch has a rich history, and the large white building that is the primary subject of the image was once a hotel and stagecoach stop/relay station. The upper floor consists of several rooms where passengers could rest (maybe overnight or at least while the horses were being changed and refreshed). The log building behind it was the original homestead when the settlers originally came here in the 1800's. 

And you can tell it was a pretty elegant place because the outhouse has two separate doors.

The dirt road extends into the distance and it's easy for me to imagine the stagecoach coming up the road trailed by a cloud of dust.

The truck is of much more recent vintage, being only about 60 years old. It looks a little run down but I understand there's a high performance Corvette engine under the hood. One of the ranch's brands is on its door.

This ranch has been in one family since settlement, and there are many interesting facts and tales that I learned. One member of the family who lived here was Antoinette Perry, a performer. Not only does she have a street named after her in New York but the Tony Awards are also named for her. And another was a founder of Cities Service and Diamond Shamrock, which is now one of the ranch's many brands.

Through this long exposure with a sepia treatment I was trying to a nostalgic image that expresses the duration of this place across time, which required perseverance against constant threats such as weather as represented by the threatening sky in the image. The exposure time was 4 minutes and 30 seconds using 16 stops of neutral density filters and a circular polarizer. 

There was a significant thunderstorm a little later in the day.

The ParkA clear winter day A Sunday stroll in the park A coincidence?

This image, titled "The Park" is Central Park and the New York Skyline.

The image's caption is:

A clear winter day    
A Sunday stroll in the park    
A coincidence?

The image may be my first successful black and white image. It was March 2008 on a clear weekend day. There was an elevated point in the park where you were looking down on the lake and all of the people strolling about. It was an inviting scene.

It was so long ago that I don't remember and particular challenges that were necessary to overcome other than hand holding the camera.

DAM 3Jagged peaks skyward Pointing the way for ascent - Solidly grounded

This image is titled DAM 3 and is the Denver Art Museum. The lighting on the building is modified to reflect my vision. For me this profile of the building evokes thoughts of jagged mountain peaks, so the caption is:

Jagged peaks skyward
Pointing the way for ascent -
Solidly grounded

The image was made by stitching together three photos made with the Canon 24mm tilt/shift lens and Fuji GFX100S medium format camera body. One image was straight on and then one was shifted up and one was shifted down. By doing it that way I was able to create more space in the foreground leading into the image.

Cacophony IChaotic Profile cacophony of shapes a striking combo This image of the Denver Public Library is titled Cacophony I. The caption is:

Chaotic Profile
cacophony of shapes
a striking combo

What a combination of shapes, forms and volumes the architect assembled in designing this building! The word that first comes to me is "cacophony", by which I mean a striking combination of incongruous parts. If form follows function, I have to wonder about the function of each of the forms. In particular I wonder about the flat structure on top. What is its function? It reminds me of a heliport, or the cap of a cap and gown.

I wanted to include the stone sculpture on the right side of the image to provide weight to that portion. 

The early morning light was also striking at the time and my objective in processing was to use and enhance the existing light to differentiate each of the different shapes and volumes.