Photographs - Scena Locorum
(Scenes and Places)
Title: Alexis Hotel Bar
Date Taken: November 5, 2002
Location: Alexis Hotel, Seattle, Washington
EXIF Data: Camera: Probably Canon PowerShot A20; Exposure Mode: unknown; Lens Aperture: unknown; Shutter Speed: unknown; F/L: unknown; ISO: unknown; Flash: none
Notes: When returning from my tour in Korea to Colorado Springs, I decided to stay over in Seattle. I chose the Alexis Hotel because of it's bar with a cigar-friendly policy and whiskey selections (primarily bourbon, for me) with books scattered throughout the small space. My wife and I have stayed at the hotel several times since. It is a shame that the 'do-gooders' have enacted laws that prevent smoking in bars now, but this is still a fine bar to visit for a few drinks and the hotel (just a couple of blocks from the Pike Place Market) is an excellent place to stay. This photograph is one of two that were juried into a photo exhibit at the Cottonwood Center for the Arts in Colorado Springs in 2009.
Title: Ohio Roots
Date Taken: April 5, 2004
Location: Milligan Road, Lucas, Ohio
EXIF Data: Camera: Canon PowerShot G1; Exposure Mode: easy shooting; Lens Aperture: F/3.2; Shutter Speed: 1/50 sec; F/L: 5.4 mm; ISO: normal; Flash: auto with red-eye reduction
Notes: Cropped from the original color photograph and post-processing done with the red channel in Paint Shop Pro. I was driving back to my parent's home on Charles Mill Lake in the afternoon when the tree in the corn field and the afternoon light caught my attention. I am particularly struck by the reflection of the bare tree limbs in the water and how it almost seems to have roots growing beneath the corn stalks. There is lush, green grass in the foreground of the original along with golden hues of Spring light reflecting off the corn stalks and bare trees, but I much prefer the cropped, black-and-white look of this version of the photograph.
Title: Winter Juniper
Date Taken: April 23, 2004
Location: Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs, Colorado
EXIF Data: Camera: Canon PowerShot G1; Exposure Mode: easy shooting; Lens Aperture: F/4.0; Shutter Speed: 1/50 sec; F/L: 7.0 mm; ISO: auto; Flash: none
Notes: Only two blocks away from my home, Garden of the Gods is a great place for hiking, bird watching, and picture taking. Spring snow storms are not unusual and provide an excellent reason to bundle up and trek through a small slice of paradise.
Title: Garden of the Gods
Date Taken: June 4, 2005
Location: Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs, Colorado
EXIF Data: Camera: Canon PowerShot G1; Exposure Mode: easy shooting; Lens Aperture: F/6.3; Shutter Speed: 1/501 sec; F/L: 7.0 mm; ISO: auto; Flash: none
Notes: My friend Dave Godbey and I were hiking through Garden of the Gods the afternoon before he, Gary Foley, and I started our bicycle tour to Ohio. Storm clouds were building up to the south of the Springs while the sun was still shining on the rock fins locally.
Title: Council Grove Lake Sunset
Date Taken: June 14, 2005
Location: Council Grove Lake, Kansas
EXIF Data: Camera: Canon PowerShot A20; Exposure Mode: easy shooting; Lens Aperture: F/2.9; Shutter Speed: 1/1002 sec; F/L: 5.4 mm; ISO: normal; Flash: red-eye reduction (unknown if it really fired)
Notes: Taken the evening of Day 10 of the Tour de COhio. Of the several pictures I took that evening, this is my favorite, what with the sunset colors framed by the trees with the setting light reflecting on the water. This was right on our camp site.
Title: The Peaceful Spot
Date Taken: June 29, 2007
Location: Bloedel Reserve, Bainbridge Island, Washington
EXIF Data: Camera: Fuji FinePix S9100; Exposure Mode: auto; Lens Aperture: F/2.8; Shutter Speed: 1/43 sec; F/L: 6.2 mm; ISO: 400; Flash: none
Notes: Deb and I with our two good friends Kay and Peggy took a little vacation out to the Puget Sound area. The Bloedel Reserve is a fine Pacific Northwest garden spot we discovered back in 2003. This simple scene is another cropped picture and, since my wife likes sepia-toned pictures, this is the result.
Title: Wyoming Pastoral
Date Taken: May 15, 2008
Location: Route US 18, somewhere north of Lusk, Wyoming
EXIF Data: Camera: Fuji FinePix S9100; Exposure Mode: auto; Lens Aperture: F/4.0; Shutter Speed: 1/505 sec; F/L: 6.2 mm; ISO: 80; Flash: none
Notes: This is one of those spiffy photographs one can come up with while driving (although I don't recommend steering with one hand while shooting a picture with the other one!). This particular picture was shot through the front windshield, greatly cropped, and the coloring changed to black-and-white. The color version is nice, but once again, I prefer the black-and-white version for the overall tone and feel of the resulting picture.
Title: The Old Barn
Date Taken: October 3, 2008
Location: Little Miami Scenic Trail near Spring Valley, Ohio
EXIF Data: Camera: Fuji FinePix S9100; Exposure Mode: auto; Lens Aperture: F/4.0; Shutter Speed: 1/377 sec; F/L: 6.2 mm; ISO: 100; Flash: none
Notes: This is a small cropping of a larger scene I shot from the side of the Little Miami Scenic Trail, a short distance away from the Spring Valley Frontier campground we were headed towards on the first day of the Milford-Mansfield bicycle tour. The larger picture was okay in and of itself, but I much preferred zooming in and cropping the barn scene and slightly adjusting the color with this picture being the result. I think elongated horizontal perspectives in photos (and art in general) are sometimes quite accepatble and pleasing to the eye.
Title: Snow at the Orchard House
Date Taken: January 4, 2009
Location: Rock Ledge Ranch, Colorado Springs, Colorado
EXIF Data: Camera: Fuji FinePix S9100; Exposure Mode: auto; Lens Aperture: F/2.8; Shutter Speed: 1/114 sec; F/L: 6.2 mm; ISO: 80; Flash: none
Notes: Rock Ledge Ranch sits next to Garden of the Gods, and this was this first stop of the two places that morning. A light snow was falling and I was the only one around. The original picture had horrible white balance with a very strong purple-ish cast. Splitting the channels into Red-Green-Blue channels, tweaking the histograms, and recombining the channels really helped bring out more natural colors and a slight warmth to the house itself to offset the coldness of the surrounding area.
Title: A Strangely Isolated Place
Date Taken: January 4, 2009
Location: Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs, Colorado
EXIF Data: Camera: Fuji FinePix S9100; Exposure Mode: auto; Lens Aperture: F/4.0; Shutter Speed: 1/294 sec; F/L: 6.2 mm; ISO: 80; Flash: none
Notes: The same snowy day as the Orchard House picture above, another chance to tramp in Garden of the Gods with a camera. My white-balance was horribly off, but various tweaks using Paint Shop Pro helped bring out some pleasing colors. Another version of this photograph, with a higher skyline, was the second photo juried into the photography show at Cottonwood Center for the Arts in 2009 and actually sold (at a bargain price!). So, technically, I guess I can be called a professional photographer now.
Title: High Country Morning
Date Taken: September 24, 2010
Location: Teller County Road 98, near Lake George, Colorado
EXIF Data: Camera: Canon PowerShot SD1400 IS; Exposure Mode: auto; Lens Aperture: F/2.8; Shutter Speed: 1/200 sec; F/L: 5.0 mm; ISO: auto; Flash: none
Notes: I was on my way to Elevenmile Reservoir for some fishing time when I noticed the full moon above a nicely morning light lit hill. It pays to carry a small point-and-shoot camera! This picture was cropped and enhanced from the original. I strove to bring out a somewhat poster-like view resulting picture.