Thursday, July 26, 2012

It's Time for the Olympics!

This blog will be taking a hiatus during the Olympics.  But fear not, I'm doing a blog specifically from and about the Olympics.  Here's the link.

08-20-12 UPDATE - I'm still posting photos on my London Olympic Photo Blog and will be doing so for another week or so.  I'll start posting back here before the end of the month. Thanks!

Monday, July 9, 2012

Mondays at the Masters

My Masters' photos conclude with a shot of the 2012 tournament winner, Bubba Watson.

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Happy 4th of July



I had the chance to shoot fireworks and some carnival rides last night.  I've included examples of both below.












Looks like a pinwheel to me.


Ferris wheel 1.  Did you know that the original Ferris Wheel was designed and constructed as a landmark for the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago?




Ferris wheel 2.



Okay, that's a lot of picture for one post, but that's probably the way it's going to be during the Olympics.  Remember, if you want to see any of the earlier posts, you can go the "Blog Archive" which is on the right hand side of the page towards the top or you can also just click on "Older Posts" in the bottom right hand corner of every page.  FYI, I have posts going back to 12-21-11.




Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Monday, July 2, 2012

Mondays at the Masters

This man needs no introduction (for better or for worse).



With his win yesterday at the AT&T National tournament, Tiger Woods passed $99 million in career earnings on the PGA tour.  Vijah Singh is a distant second at $66.4 million.  

Saturday, June 30, 2012

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.


Friday, June 29, 2012

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.


Thursday, June 28, 2012

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.


Tuesday, June 26, 2012

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.

Monday, June 25, 2012

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).

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

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 01-16-1201-23-12 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.






Friday, June 15, 2012

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.



Thursday, June 14, 2012

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.

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

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."

Monday, June 11, 2012

Sunday, June 10, 2012