Thursday, July 29, 2010

Fireflies of Elkmont

While on vacation in the Great Smokey Mountain National Park in June we happen to be there for the one week of the year necessary to see a extremely rare work of nature. The once a year occurrence is the viewing of the synchronous fireflies of Elkmont. For one week or so per year, usually the first and/or second week of June, the fireflies are visible during the brief period of of their shot life span when the males flash to attract females.

I did not run this photo with my other Tennessee vacation pictures because it is not an actual photo, but is instead a collage of images of the night. The creek and the fireflies pictured are all at Elkmont on the night we were but I layered individual firefly shots over a twilight shot of the creek to recreate the actual scene as we saw remembered it between 9:30 and 10:30 the night we were there.

I knew from quite a bit of Internet research in advance that the fireflies were EXTREMELY difficult to shoot. While very bright to the human eye they are not very bright to a cameras sensor!

More on this event @ http://www.appvoices.org/index.php?/site/voice_stories/the_synchronous_fireflies_of_elkmont/issue/528

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Nico Nico's

I took this shot at Nico Nico's [www.nikonikos.com/] restaurant on Montrose in Houston this past Sunday.

Monday, July 26, 2010

Traveling Man

This shot is of a vignette inside an antique railroad car at the Rosenberg Railroad Museum taken at the "Second Annual Rosenberg Railroad Festival & Hobo Days" event early in May of this year.

Friday, July 23, 2010

Baytown Nature Center Floral

This shot was taken at the Baytown Nature Center about six weeks ago. To me it's one of those shots that have several identifiable flaws that I like anyway.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

BNC Ducks

These ducks were swimming around a small pond at the Baytown Nature Center a month or so ago.


Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Battleship Texas OTB

An over-the-bow shot of the Battleship Texas. This, like yesterdays post, is also a 3 shot handheld HDR produced with Photomatix Pro and finished with Topaz Adjust in CS3.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Battleship Texas

I've processed this image in the spirit of some of the over-the-top machinery images that I've seen posted on Topaz Lab's Facebook page @ http://www.facebook.com/topazlabs. Many of the images I like however are processed using Topaz Clean which I do not currently own. I do think this one gets close to replicating the look.

Monday, July 19, 2010

Wrecked Piano


This image is of a wrecked and abandoned piano left exposed to the elements at the old outdoor theater in Galveston.

Friday, July 16, 2010

Lost Oaks Project Galveston








Miscellaneous shots of the carved figures of the Lost Oaks Project in Galveston. All are single [except the Tin Man with three] frame pseudo HDR conversions using Photomatix Pro.


Thursday, July 15, 2010

Time Marches On

"Gardeners , like everyone else, live second by second and minute by minute. What we see at one particular moment is then and there before us. But there is a second way of seeing. Seeing with the eye of memory, not the eye of our anatomy, calls up days and seasons past and years gone by." - Allen Lacy, The Gardener's Eye, 1992, p. 16

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

The Blues Brothers


We spotted Jake and Elwood Blues on a recent photo trip to Galveston, TX. Although in this case I think maybe Elwood should be called "Lefty."

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Old Twin Stack Factory at Galveston


This photo is of an old abandoned factory currently owned by Galveston County located just to the left of I45 as you come on to the island. It's a great old block building with a lot of character - wish it wasn't posted!

Monday, July 12, 2010

Galveston Island Outdoor Musicals


This interior shot, taken this past Saturday, is of one of the pavilions at the old abandoned outdoor theatre at the Galveston Island State Park. The facility stands in ruin about 8 miles south of the Galveston seawall near Jamaica Beach.

Friday, July 9, 2010

Lyons Ave Theatre


This shot is of an old boarded up theatre on Lyons Ave just east of downtown Houston. I used CS3's "Poster Edges" to try and play up the humorous aspects of the shot.

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Monarch Butterfly_2

This Monarch butterfly shot was taken at the Baytown Nature Center a couple of weeks ago.

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Trinity River Bridge

This shot is of the old iron bridge crossing the Trinity River on Hwy 146 at Liberty, TX.

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Black Bear in GSMNP

One more shot of a Black Bear at Cade's Cove in the Great Smokey Mountains National Park in Tennessee.

Friday, July 2, 2010

Bicentennial Park Baytown

In honor of the fast approaching holiday, this shot if of the veterans memorial at Bicentennial Park off Market St. in Baytown, TX.

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Varner Hogg Plantation and Historic Site_2

A mossy oak covered dirt road at the Varner Hogg Plantation and Historic Site.