Captain’s Blog

Got a chance to go out and shoot with the local photography meetup group.  We visited several covered bridges after a night of a dusting of snow.

Water reflection and snow just makes this shot…

Capn Scott

I got a chance to go to New York City and get some shots.

We left Philly early in the morning and took the train to New York City.

The snow in Central Park really set the mood.  Vibrant colors, snow, calm reflections.

Got a chance to go past Wolman Rink.  About 20 years ago, I lived and worked in the city.  I lived here for 3 years, and worked at a 60 year old skate shop.  It is gone now, but I have great memories of the days when skating was all there was to life.

The architecture and art are definitely world class.

I got a chance to go past all of the old hangouts and even met up with some old friends.  The area that has changed the most would be Times Square.  Way back when, it was just one large jumbotron and the scolling text around one building.  Now, it is totally engulfed in electronic screens.  If  you look real close at the top screen, it says, “10 days until New Year’s Eve”.  At that point, the ball on top will raise and drop for new years.

Capn Scott

I do enjoy shooting with others…  Got an invite to shoot with the J’ville photographers of the Saint Augustine Lighthouse.

Myself and one other decided to get there before sunrise and before the others to get some great night/sunrise shots as well…

stunning at night…

This was shot from in front of the Castillo San Marco, with the lighthouse in the distance.

Another shot of the bay in front of the Castillo San Marco and the entrance to the Atlantic.

Using a polarizer, I bring out the very blue sky.

From the boat ramp a short distance away.

You know me…  had to shoot the flowers as well…

Some people made a statement about climbing the stairs.  I can’t image what they would have said about the stairway to La Piedra in Colombia.

The fresnel lens.  Now this is a serious piece of glass…

Another shot of the lens bending light and exposing the hidden colors.

Looking back down the stairs.  This was shot f16, handheld and a quarter of a second exposure.

You can actually see the lighthouse from miles at sea.  I’ve used it as a reference before when I had the dive op here in Saint Augustine.

From a distance at sea, this is a navigational aid.  It doesn’t mark the present channel, but it does mark the town.  From up close, it’s just a wonderful historical work of art.

The top…

Had to shoot the screaming kids…   with a camera, of course…

This was a great outing with a great group of happy shooters.  This was also my first time to see this close-up.  Like the lighthouse (faro) en Colonia, Uruguay, this is a great photographic opportunity.  I need to add “aids to navigation” to my repertoire of photography…

Capn Scott

I’ve begun to put together a website promoting photography tours and workshops.  It will feature some of my favorite places, in which, I will lead photography tours.  It will also include others tours and workshops from all around the world.

I’m using a graphical interface and also a calendar interface.  Hopefully this will get more people out shooting around the world.  This is still a work in progress, and any recommendations would be greatly appreciated…

http://photoworkshoptours.com

Capn Scott

From the rooftop of the building I live in.

Capn Scott

Lots and lots of new building construction.

Capn Scott

This image is processed in HDR, added preset COL polarizer.

Rooftops of Palermo in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Capn Scott

Another great day, that again starts off with a call from Diego…

On our way to the cemetery… (now that’s a loaded beginning to a paragraph) we stopped at a local train station. But behind the station was a train cemetery… (like how I tied that one together???)

This old train yard had some really interesting old trains in various states of disrepair.

And, of course bits and pieces.

I thought this was an interesting view from the inside of an antique car carrier.

Just rusting away in a field of wildflowers.

The real train station was very busy. Trains coming and going and this maze of tracks.

Yep, we made it to the cemetery finally. There were some nice statues, but not awe inspiring rock sculptures of the cemetery in Recoleta. Diego and I shoot pretty good as a team. Very soon, I’ll finish adding all the photos to stockonlinephotos.com , but I will also be adding Diego’s shots also.

Capn Scott

Diego called and wanted to take photos of the building Congresso. Off we went, and in usual photography style, our best shots were not what we expected…

First, let’s start off with the HDR images…  these worked out really nice.  This is one of the fountains in the park in front of the Congress building.

And, of course, this is the fountain directly in front of the Congress building.  You can see the building in the background…

This is taken from the Plaza de Mayo.  Nice shot of the Obelisque.

This is an old hotel a bit down the way from the Plaza de Mayo.

A spire in front of the Plaza de Mayo.

The Plaza de Mayo…  Here, most of the demonstrations occur, on thursdays the survivors of lost ones gather, and this is the place that a country wept when Evita passed away.

This is the Cabildo in front of the Plaza de Mayo.

And, the main church in front of the Plaza de Mayo.

I moved the camera according to frame the moon in the right place.  This ended up leaving me a great perspective of the Pink House (Presidents Mansion).  A night that really surprised us with the pictures that were taken.  I will have to do this one again…

Capn Scott

My friend Diego returned from vacation. He is also a fellow photographer and just got a new Canon 40D (seeing one in my near future). And, he called me and said, “Let’s go shoot some pictures”. He told me we were going to the cemetery. Of course, I responded with, “hunh?”.

There was the typical stuff that you would expect at a cemetery.

But then, there were the statues that were absolutely incredible.

All unique, one of a kind, and you could see the incredible expressions and feel the emotions of them.

Many many angels, and all of them absolutely stunning. The tan walkway is actually the removable top of the tombs. The buildings are all just entries into the crypts.

For many of the soldiers, there were memorials to days of battles.

Statues of beautiful women, mourning for the lost.

Just Amazing. This is supposed to be one of the top 3 cementeries in the world. If this isn’t number one, I need to visit the others.

The patriotism in the art was really inspiring. And, typically, these statues are at least life size, many much larger than life.

Again, just incredible. Definitely worth another full day of picture taking. The cemetery is enormous and it would take several days to enjoy all of the architecture there.

Capn Scott