sonyalpha Archives - Page 28 of 85

July 26, 2018

Frothy Monkey

Just before leaving Chattanooga we stopped here at the Frothy Monkey for lunch. The Frothy Monkey is a hip coffee bar attached to the old train station next to where the Chattanooga choo-choo sits on display. So perhaps these windows were once part of the old station.

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In any case, it’s a cool place to hang out, and I’d do just that if I lived here. But we were leaving town on a Sunday afternoon and had many miles to drive. Nevertheless, my eye was attracted to these reflections. They’re similar to water reflections, only on a table top. I find that the whole reflection dynamic adds a new quality to the photo.

favorites from the gallery

I ended up buying a Frothy Monkey cap as a souvenir. As we left, I threw it in the back seat of the car, and that’s the last I’ve seen of it. Maybe it’s still stuck under a seat or in one of my bags; I need to look for it. I wanted to have a little something to remind me of how hip this place is. Until then I’ll have to use this photo for that.

July 25, 2018July 25, 2018

Before the Fall

I mentioned the other day on the blog that the Anna Maria Island Pier sustained damaged in the last hurricane. They are now demolishing what’s left as the first step of reconstruction. However, I have a lot of photos of the old one, and this is one I took three years ago. I also posted a panorama of this view about a year ago.

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Before the Fall — The Anna Maria Public Pier before hurricane Irma

There is another pier just up the shore from here. It’s called the Rod and Reel Pier, and it also has a restaurant on it. A while back, that restaurant burned, but like this pier, I have images of it before the fire. Maybe the rebuilt one is safer, but in my opinion, the old one was more photogenic. Nevertheless, it’s still one of my favorite places to hang out.

more images of piers

In another year this will be rebuilt as well. I hope the architects take the time to preserve something of the old look. But no matter, I’ll be there to make another image and document the new pier, which according to news accounts should last about one hundred years. That’s a lot of time and hurricanes to withstand. Possibly I’ll reincarnate and shoot the replacement in the year 2120. You never know.

July 24, 2018July 24, 2018

Lone Tree in the Park

I saw this tree while driving past a park in the heart of Kansas City. I like the idea of a tree standing alone. I saw a lot of those in the Dakotas during my road trip. But in general, I was going too fast to pull over on the busy interstate.

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Lone Tree in the Park — A lone tree in Kansas City’s Penn Valley Park

I was a little frustrated at not getting all those shots on the highway, so when I drove past this park, I stopped right away. Finding a tree isolated from others is rare.

This image is a little deceptive. First, I’m shooting up a hill where the horizon line blocks the trees behind it. In that way, it creates an illusion that there is only one tree. Secondly, using Photoshop, I carefully removed a radio tower on the left.

more minimalism in the gallery

So now it looks the way I wanted. The idea behind this is to achieve a minimalistic aesthetic. A simple image of a single subject is a favorite pursuit of mine, even when driving.

July 20, 2018

Calm Before the Panic

This picture is a shot from the outskirts of Emerson Preserve in Bradenton. Whenever the water is still like this, I jump at the opportunity to create images featuring reflections. They impart a sense of calm, however, for me, taking this picture was nothing short of panic.

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Calm Before the Panic — A calm scene at the edge of Robinson Preserve in Bradenton

To get here, I walked through the brush to the bank of the water next to a kayak launch. I wanted to be right over the water, so I had to step in with my tripod. I was surprised as my tripod quickly sank in the mud; however, it stabilized, and I took this image. Nevertheless, it didn’t feel right, and I felt like I should get out. As I turned to leave, I realized I too was sinking.

reflections in the gallery

The mud turned into a quicksand-like substance and I, along with my expensive camera and tripod started to go down. It was only with great effort that I managed to save my camera and free myself. I walked back to my car coated in a layer of mud and a little shaken, yet thankful that I managed to keep the camera above water. So now, ironically, when I look at this calm scene, I feel a twinge of panic.

July 19, 2018

Highway 240

Highway 240 loops through the Badlands National Park in South Dakota. I took this photo near the entrance to the park. The geological formations of The Badlands are amazing to look at, but in this frame, I was looking at the winding road ahead. The entire thirty-mile loop is scenic winding roads with turnouts every half mile or so.

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If I had a motorcycle, this is where I’d ride. The road has everything, curves, hills, and of course scenery. When I came through here, it was a couple of weeks before Sturgis, and already groups of bikers were riding in that direction. I met one biker from Montreal when I took this photo. We chatted for a while because we were both into photography.

more photos with grass

In these grassy plains are hundreds, if not thousands, of prairie dogs. We’d stop along the side of the road and watch their antics; it was a regular circus. We continued down the road, eventually arriving in Rapid City. That night we had a massive thunderstorm, like those we get in Florida. It made me think about the constant erosion of this landscape as well as all those groundhogs hiding in their burrows.

July 17, 2018

Manhattan Vignettes

Here is a series of shots I took last year when in NYC. I walked to Times Square late at night in the pouring rain. While that may not sound fun, it’s an excellent time to do street photography. The combination of lights, reflections, and umbrellas create scenes that are fun to watch, in a people-watching kind of way.

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Manhattan Vignettes 1 — Crossing the street in a downpour

Manhattan Vignettes 2 — Kissing in the rain

Manhattan Vignettes 3 — Not enough umbrellas

Manhattan Vignettes 5 — A lot going on in this scene

Manhattan Vignettes 6 — I wish you called a cab

Manhattan Vignettes 7 — Where is our Uber?

Because of the rain and the late hour, there were far fewer people out than usual. If you’ve ever been to Times Square then you know that’s rare. It meant I was able to capture little vignettes without too many distractions. Each of these photos tells a different story from that evening. It is up to you the viewer to imagine what that story is.

street photography gallery

As the name of the series suggests, I’ve employed a vignette technique to each of these images to draw attention to the people. The setting, while electric, is only that, a setting. Each story is as different as the people that inhabit them.

July 16, 2018July 16, 2018

Ruby Falls

The last stop of our road trip was Chatanooga Tennessee. We passed it on the way up and made a note to stop here at Ruby Falls on the way back.

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This 145-foot waterfall is inside a mountain and over 1000 feet below the surface. The caverns are limestone eroded by the water over millions of years. There is some info on the geology at Wikipedia.

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To get here, you take an elevator down into the mountain and walk half a mile through narrow caverns. If you’re not used to tight spaces, it can be a little claustrophobic, the thought of millions of tonnes of earth and rock above your head is unsettling. But our guide was kind enough to point out that in the event of a cave-in they had insurance and, we would all be covered.

July 13, 2018

Kansas City Union Station

As we drove home from South Dakota, we stopped in Kansas City for the night. We intended to sleep and continue the next morning, but instead, we fell for the city and stayed an extra day.

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Kansas City Union Station — The restored train station in the heart of Kansas City

To orient ourselves, we took one of those red bus tours. It left from here at Union Station, so when it returned, we came back inside to have a look around. In its heyday, this was a busy rail station. It fell into neglect and then restored to its former grand architecture. Amtrak now stops here, so it’s once again a working rail station, more than just a remnant of the past.

more interiors from the gallery

It was my first time in Kansas City, and I was pleasantly surprised to explore and learn a little. We went to dinner at Jack Stack BBQ, one of many BBQ options in the city. The line up to get a table was long, so we sat at the bar, ordered BBQ and watched the Kansas City Royals get their clocks cleaned by the Boston. Aside from that last part, it was an excellent day, and now we know to come back when we have more time.

July 12, 2018July 12, 2018

Mount Rushmore at Night

We drove across South Dakota to Rapid City, and by itself, the drive was pretty amazing, full of sights. The next day was Independence Day, and so we set out sightseeing the two main attractions. In the morning we visited Mount Rushmore which is about twenty miles from town, and in the afternoon we drove to the Sitting Bull monument which is another seventeen miles west.

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Mount Rushmore at Night — Mount Rushmore on the evening of Independence Day

At both locations, there were large crowds, but that was no surprise on the biggest holiday of summer. After a full day, we returned to our hotel in Rapid City for dinner. During dinner, we decided that rather than watch fireworks in town, we would drive back to see the monument at night. Spotlights illuminate Rushmore in the evening creating a massive spectacle.

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So on our second trip to Rushmore that day, I took this image from behind the amphitheater about thirty minutes after a presentation. As it was late at night, the crowds had dissipated, and only a few visitors remained. That is how I managed to be standing at the base of the mountain to take this picture without anyone in the frame. All in all, it was an excellent way to end the day.

July 11, 2018July 11, 2018

Skeleton Dinosaur

Driving east on I90 through South Dakota there are some strange sights. This sculpture is one we encountered as we approached the Badlands. Here is a Google Maps link

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Skeleton Dinosaur — Seen along Interstate 90 in South Dakota

The open space seems endless along the highway. Mile after mile, it stretches across the country. The gently rolling landscape is broken sporadically by rest stops, gas stations and quirky recreations of western towns where billboards advertise coffee for five-cents.

Images from Europe

We came upon this sculpture near a stop known as 1880 Town. It’s not far from Badlands National Park which, among other things, is known for large fossilized bones from 33 million years ago. Perhaps back then, the dinosaurs were as familiar as the Buffalo along the plains of South Dakota. I think everything looked much different, and I wonder what it will look like in another thirty-million years.