Wall Street's Charging Bull - Part 2

Before the fencing and the police guard was in place, it was almost impossible to take a picture of the bull without having people in the picture.

So one morning I got up just after sunrise to get a photo of the bull...

...and another evening I stayed up very late to get the bull at night.

Wall Street's Charging Bull - Part 1

The Charging Bull is a sculpture by Auturo Di Modica.  He originally "installed" his sculpture in front of the New York Stock Exchange without anyone knowing about it and without any approval. The police initially impounded the bull, but after a public outcry, the bull found a home in a plaza in lower Manhattan.

As the picture above shows, the bull was a very popular tourist destination in the financial district of New York.  Unfortunately, that all changed with Occupy Wall Street.

Fearing for the safety of the sculpture, the bull (as well as other landmarks in lower Manhattan) is now surrounded by fencing and has a police guard.  You can view the bull on this webcam.

Skywalking - Part 2

This is an update to my April 25, 2012 post.  I came across another article as well as the video below.  These photographers are crazy.  I had a hard time even watching the video.

Wednesdays in Washington, DC

A few photos from the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.

Tuesday's Time Lapse - Chicago by Boat

This article will give you some background information on this time lapse.  Thanks to JoAnne Gunderson for making me aware of this video.

Mondays at the Masters

Fuzzy Zoeller is only one of three golfers to have won the Masters in his first appearance in the event.  He won the Masters in 1979.  He also won the U.S. Open in 1984.

These pictures were taken during the par three tournament (which is played for fun).  No par three tournament winner has ever won the Masters, so nobody ever wants to win the par three tournament.  The players often have family members as their caddies for this tournament and the family members/caddies often take shots on behalf of the players (as Fuzzy's caddie is doing above).

Wednesdays In Washington, DC

On my way to the United States Air Force Memorial, I had to pass the Pentagon.  When I passed by, I saw there was a memorial to honor the the victims of September 11, 2001, who were aboard hijacked American Airlines Flight 77 that was flown into the Pentagon by terrorists, and to the victims who were inside the Pentagon.  The 184 people who perished that day are memorialized here.  While many people are are very familiar with the 9/11 Memorial in New York ( see my 01-16-12, 01-23-12 and 04-14-12 posts),very few people even know that this memorial even exists.

The memorial consists of 184 benches; one for each of the victims.  Each bench has its own fountain/pool.  Those who dieded in the Pentagon have their names engraved on the benches in such a way that you see their names and the Pentagon in the same view, while the names of those on AA Flight 77 are engraved so that the viewer sees the sky.

Below are a few of the shots I took at the memorial.  These were taken after I was at the Air Force Memorial. By the time I reached the Pentagon 9/11 Memorial, it was about 11:30 pm (on a Sunday night).  I was the only one there at the time.  I expected it to be a bit eerie, but it was actually quite tranquil.  I'm looking forward to getting back there again.

Tuesday's Time Lapse - Sculpture in Melbourne

You can check out this article to see how this film was made.

Mondays at the Masters

The Drum Corps Season Kicks Off Tomorrow

For a number of years, Emily has been involved in drum corps.  She started after her sophomore year of high school (2003) and was a member of Pioneer for two years and then went on to be a member of Phantom Regiment for five years including 2008 when they won the DCI World Championship with their show "Spartucus".  Below are a few pictures of Emily when she was competing for Phantom Regiment.

Since aging-out in 2009, Emily was a mellophone (a marching band version of the french horn) instructor for the Academy the past two summers and will be a mellophone instructor for the Blue Knights this summer.  Below are a few pictures of Emily from this past summer.

If you're unfamiliar with drum corps and would like to learn more about it, see the video on this page.

Olympic Underwater Photography

With the Olympics coming up shortly (in only 42 days), I thought I would share a very interesting article about a photographer who is planning to do some cool interesting underwater photography at the Games in London.  Here's the link.

Wednesdays in Washington,DC

Like the National World War II Memorial (see my 05-30-12 post), the Air Force Memorial is one the newer memorials in Washington, DC.  The Memorial was dedicated on October 14, 2006.  Here are a few other photos I took of the Memorial:

As you can see, the Memorial features three stainless steel spires that soar upward.  The spires represent flight and "the flying spirit" of the Air Force and "evoke the image of the precision 'bomb burst maneuver' performed by the Air Force Thunderbirds Demonstration Team."

Tuesday's Time Lapse - New York City

This is probably the best NYC time lapse I've seen to date.

Mondays at the Masters

A fan favorite and one of the sport's most respected players, Phil Mickelson.

The Kids from Loucks (just a little bit older now)

I thought I would post a few pictures for some potential new visitors.

Drum Corps - Music in Motion

These are a few pictures I took last summer at a drum corps competition last summer.

I used a technique called the zoom effect to create a sense of motion in these photos.  I think this technique has the best chance of succcess when you use either a monopod or a tripod.  

Children's Memorial Hospital

I normally post time lapse movies on Tuesdays.  I need to make an exception today.

Today is the opening of the of the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago (formerly know as Children's Memorial Hospital).  As I write this the staff of Children's is in the process of moving patients from its current location in Lincoln Park to its new location downtown in the Gold Coast.

I've had a connection to Children's for many years.  My brother Paul was a patient at Children's in the early '60s and my ex-wife Sam has been a nurse at Children's since 1980.  As a matter of fact, Sam is a transport nurse at Children's so I have to image that today will be one of busiest in her career.  Below is a time lapse showing the construction of the new hospital.  Thanks to JoAnne Gunderson for bringing this time lapse to my attention.

The Empire State Building

If you're ever in New York City, you must check out the Empire State Building.

And if you do go to the Empire State Building, be sure to go at night.  Not only are the views more spectacular at night (see photos below), the later you go, the less people there are.  Since New York has the reputation as "the city that never sleeps", it will come as no surprise that the observation deck at the Empire State Building is open until 2:00 am.  With less people, the lines are much shorter and you can enjoy the view much better with less people fighting for position on the observation deck.

This is the view to the south.

And this is the view to the north.  The area with the bright lights in the lower center of the picture is Times Square; another New York attraction best viewed at night.

Post Secret

Okay, this has nothing to do with photography.  I guess I thought everyone knew about this website, but if you've never been to Post Secret you really need to check it out.  FYI, Post Secret is updated every Sunday.

Wednesdays in Washington, DC

My May 23, 2012 post includes a couple photos of the White House taken from the Hay-Adams Hotel.  One was taken at dusk and the other at night.  Turns out I also have one that was taken during the day.

Tuesday's Time Lapse - Venice

The photographer (Jorge Niggli) used software to make this time lapse film of Venice appear as if it had been shot with a tilt-shift lens.  By using a tilt-shift lens (or computer software to mimic it), the objects photographed appear to toy-like or miniature in scale.

While I really like the subject matter (Venice), I think the tilt-shift effect is too much of a good thing.  I think tilt-shift is best suited for still images.  For a look at some outstanding tilt-shift images, go to this link.  These photos are so well done, it's hard to believe they're real.

Mondays at The Masters

So does anybody remember Bernhard Langer?  Interestingly, Bernhard was born in 1957.