Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all.  I photographed this magnificent wild Florida gobbler at the Circle Bar B Reserve a few years ago.  (Nikon D300, Nikon 200-400mm f4.0 lens at f8.

Safe travels to those that are on the road this Holiday weekend.

Very Busy Photographing Car Shows, Reunions and More

I have been very busy lately...and that is a good thing...photographing Lynn's 50 Year High School Reunion in Ft. Lauderdale, a 25th Anniversary party and on Saturday, our Mercedes Benz Club's monthly social at the British Car Club Show in Safety Harbor.

Members of our group surround one of my favorite vintage cars...a Morgan.  These beautiful cars continue to be custom made at a small factory in England.  They are identified by the leather strap, prominent across the hood.

Though it might not have been one of the most reliable cars of the '60s the Jaguar XKE  certainly was one of the most beautiful. (I can say that since I owned a '60 Jag Mark IX saloon car which spent more time being serviced than driven.)  

All of these photos were taken with my Olympus OMD-EM5 micro 4/3 camera with the 17mm prime lens.

Car Photos - The new Mercedes-Benz CLA

Mercedes Benz recently introduced their new CLA model to the U.S. Market. Lynn and I had lunch with friends that had just taken delivery of their sporty new car. This was definitely a photo op. The new CLA wreaks sporty. I took this picture as our friends were parking their car for our lunch.  I love the German crest on the front plate and the sunlight illuminating the headlights . I think that this photo screams "I want one!" What do you think?

I am usually challenged when I try to get good auto interior photos, but this interior screamed of impact. I particularly like the dark and light contrast of the interior fabric. And, my friends added a nice touch with their Turkish floor mats. I used a Gaussian Blur on the background of the top image to focus on the CLA's style. These photos were taken with my tiny compact Panasonic LUMIX DMC-LF1.

San Diego Skyline from the 34th Floor

Every time that I get an opportunity to photograph a cityscape/skyline from the highest point in a city I jump at the opportunity.  Such was the case recently on a trip to San Diego. I love the view here with traffic (upper left) from San Diego International Airport (Lindbergh) as well as the Interstate 5 corridor funneling right into the heart of the city.  Interestingly, San Diego International is the busiest airport in the country with just one runway handling all of the traffic.

A friend invited Lynn and me to lunch at the University Club on the 34th Floor of the Symphony Towers in downtown San Diego.  Before he and his wife arrived at the restaurant I took these photos.  

Later we took our final tour of the trip on the Old Town Trolley where I took the photo above.  Once again the freight yards feed into the heart of the city revealing that beautiful skyline at the top of the picture.

This final photo was also taken from the Trolley on Coronado Island.  What a tranquil scene with the lines of sailboats at anchor with San Diego in the background. All of these photos were taken with the Olympus OMD-EM5 camera and the Olympus 12-50mm lens. The next time that you take the camera out in a new travel destination look for a unique perspective from which to photograph.

Railroad Photography - Denver

Photographing the railroad has become one of my recent passions.  On one of my recent trips to Colorado I spent the day shooting the recently renovated Union Station in downtown Denver.

The station makes for some great HDR opportunities.  My friend Jim and I were able to talk an influential employee into photographing from upstairs in the station which is now a hotel.  I like shooting from this different perspective.

Converting photographs of old places to black and white offers a nice sense of place to historical buildings.

I love this old original safe on the second floor of Union Station with the stacked suitcases from another era.

The beautiful Denver Union Station upstairs bar (above) and (below) one of the private cars available for corporate or private luxury traveling on the rails.

This is a photo of a poster over the underground pathway that leads from the railroad tracks to the station.  I reversed the photo so that you can read the writing on the top of the poster.

Today the California Zephyr is the only passenger train that goes through Union Station. It's journey takes it from Chicago through Denver to San Francisco.  A scenic trip on the Zephyr is on my bucket list.

All of these photos were taken with the Olympus OMD EM-5 using only one lens, the Olympus 17mm 1.8 lens.  For a future Denver trip I am going to focus on the massive rail yards.  I will appreciate your comments.

Fun visiting & Photographing Grandkids.

We are so fortunate to be able to travel frequently from our home in Florida to visit our granddaughter in Colorado. It is fun watching Savannah grow and creating a photo diary of her progress from baby to toddler to little schoolgirl. Schoolgirl...that is her new phase. She starts kindergarten in just a few days. Trying new looks is all part of it. 

These are a few of my iPhone photos from our current trip, adjusted in Snapseed. 

Savannah chose all of the costumes herself. Enjoy!

Opossum Family

This sighting was a first for me.  I came across this mother opossum yesterday while on an early morning walk.  At first I thought that the animal was moulting, but a closer inspection revealed that this was a mom with many babies.  I got off a couple of shots.  This was my favorite.  Shortly the opossum noticed me and took off into the bush.  I took this picture with my tiny (just slightly larger than my iPhone) Panasonic LF-1.  RAW in Aperture priority, f5.9, 43mm, ISO 200. When I got home I researched the opossum family and learned that a mom will birth as many as 15 babies and will carry them like this on their backs and in her pouch for up to 3 months. When opportunities  like this come up It is not important which camera you have with you.  It is only important that you have a camera!