Category Archives: Scenic Views

Cancún Sunrise

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Another one from the unused image vault. I did put a full size image of this on my commercial site for sale but never shared it with my blog audience. In my opinion this was the precise moment of sunrise. When shooting a sunrise or sunset I always shoot a series so I get the perfect moment. Easy to do with free pixels rather than expensive film. This was taken last December on a beach near Cancún Mexico.

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Cancún Sunrise

Cancún Sunrise

Orchids on Display

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Another one that was lost in the editing shuffle. I had another macro shot of this orchid that I put on my commercial site but actually like this one better. I like the way the foliage provide a natural background for the vibrant color of the bloom.

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Orchids on Display

Orchids on Display

Pittsburgh–Mon View

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I have been going through images I have uploaded to my blog but not published. Some I look at and have no idea why I never published them. This one I understand though, it is not taken from a Disney Photo Spot. If you have every been to any disney park, you know there are certain places with a Kodak sign identifying the perfect place to take a picture of Cinderella’s castle or Space Mountain. That way everybody’s photo book looks identical except for the grinning people blocking the view.

Pittsburgh has a couple of these. One is from the riverwalk along the North Shore of the Allegheny and the other is from the top of Mount Washington showing the confluence of the three rivers. This one was rejected because it is the dirty old Monongahela River. Except the steel mills are gone, the river has been cleaned up and people actually fish in it now. Sure there are still the barges and the trains running beside it. It is not the money shot but all and all not a bad view of our fair city.

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Mon View

Mon View

Run Around the Square

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This year I am happy to serve on the board of Run Around The Square which is a 5K race and fun run in the Regent Square neighborhood of Pittsburgh. It is also in my opinion the best race of its kind in Pittsburgh. Now Pittsburgh has a lot of footraces including the Pittsburgh Marathon. However in our race you get to run through Frick Park and with musicians entertaining the runners along the route. At the end of the race there are free hot dogs, soft drinks and beer in Fern Hollow. It’s kind of of hard to top that and the hot dogs are from D’s SixPax and Dogz our very own Hot Dog emporium.

I will probably be writing about this a lot during the year but registration has just opened for the race which takes place on nAugust 27. To register for the 5K or the one mile fun run (with or without your dog), follow this link.

To see other images and buy apparel or prints, please visit my commercial gallery.

Along the route in Frick Park

Along the route in Frick Park

Greeting the Rising Sun

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As a photographer I have risen frequently to greet the morning sun. I am always struck by the birds. If you are going to take a sunrise picture you want to be on the scene before the sun rises. If you are real early in the eerie light you can hear the birds waking up but can’t see them. Then you will begin to see them perched and stretching their necks,fluttering their wings and then as the sun begins to peek out flight.

Taken in Mexico off a beach near Cancún.

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Greeting the Sun

Greeting the Sun

The NIK Collection from Google

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A photographer friend and former student of mine and I were discussing HDR. I have started to use auto bracketing and the new HDR merge feature of Lightroom on some images. I am generally pleased with the results.There is almost no ghosting with tripod shots. I also did hand held shots with a VR lens and the ghosting correction option worked perfectly. See Yesterday’s post

My friend suggested I try the NIK filter collection plug-in from Google which I have since installed and am really amazed with the options offered by this product. I have just started to experiment with it and so far I am wowed! I cannot yet comment on all the features but compare the two images below.

The first was done with standard editing using saturation, highlight and monochrome tools on Lightroom. The second using one of the many editing pallets from the HIK Silver plugin for Lightroom.

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Standard Editing Monochrome

Standard Editing Monochrome

NIK Silver Tool

NIK Silver Tool

Rembrandt Tulip

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This is a special tulip, it almost looks like a painting hence the name. When we moved into our new house in Pittsburgh last year we vowed to add 100’s of bulbs each year to make each spring special. This was the first year with a feast of spring blooms and next year promises to be even better.

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Rembrandt Tulip

Rembrandt Tulip

Tyger Tyger Burning Bright

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Tyger Tyger, burning bright,
In the forests of the night;
What immortal hand or eye,
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

William Blake”s poem was one of the first that I liked as a child. I also read all the Rudyard Kipling books I could find as a child and was fascinated with Tigers and other large feline creatures of the jungle. One of the things that stopped me from visiting Zoo’s was seeing these magnificent creatures in cages pacing back and forth. In the Highland Park Zoo in Pittsburgh this guy has a large habitat to roam. There is no neurotic pacing. You know he can’t get at you but still when he started to stride towards me staring me in the eye it caused me to get just a little nervous.

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Tyger Tyger

Tyger Tyger

Big Bird

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When I think about large birds I think of condors, pelicans, eagles and the albatross. I forget about the ostrich. Yes it is a bird but it does not fly. Thank god! They can weigh up to 400 pounds and be up to 9 feet tall. Can you image a sky full of these?

They can also sprint at almost 45 miles per hour according to the National Geographic. They are weird but fun to watch. They have a strange gait and when they sprint they make your jaw drop. They share a large habitat in the Highland Park Zoo of Pittsburgh where this picture was taken.

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Big Bird

Big Bird

King of the Hill

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As I posted earlier this week, “I was kind of nervous about seeing the Pittsburgh Zoo remembering the cages where animals would just pace. I remember the caged Gorillas would spit at the people and throw their scat at the crowds.”

Now the Gorilla Family ranges over a whole hillside and can be seen from multiple locations. I saw at least five gorillas included this guy who followed me with his eyes as we walked around the hill.

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King of the Hill

King of the Hill