Twelve Months, Twenty Photos
I am going with something different for today's post. Not a presentation of a new photo, not a travel destination, not an indoor project. Instead, I have looked back over the last year and picked a group of twenty photographs I have added to my web site over that time. It was fun. Challenging in a way but definitely fun. I usually do these trips back in time when selecting entries for various photo contests. On this occasion, the motivation was simpler. A year in pictures, and just a few pictures for that matter.
Everyone likes something else, and even my tastes change over time. Would I choose the same twenty photographs a few months ago? Would I choose the same set in a few months? I doubt that. Either way, I hope you will all find a few that speak to you. Enjoy!
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A photograph of a wonderful and dramatic light show over the Buffalo Central Terminal. As the clouds rolled in over Lake Erie and downtown Buffalo at sunset time and reached the terminal they provided an wonderful backdrop for the already dramatic architecture, with sun already low over the horizon the building was blasted with the direct light and the clouds appeared dark, adding mood. |
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A fiery summer sunrise over the skyline of downtown Buffalo, with the sailboats in the Erie Basin Marina in the foreground. The inner harbor always provides a great waterfront feel for photos of Buffalo. For this photo, stormy weather has graced the area with some impressive clouds and the rising sun used them as a canvas to draw fire on. The show happened well before sunrise, and lasted just a minute or two. Its intensity more than made up for the brevity! |
Morning Fire over Buffalo |
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Buffalo Metro Rail: Delavan - Caniscius Escalators |
Often, subway tunnels are viewed as dark, dirty and unwelcoming. There is quite a bit of effort going into brightening the experience, whether it is the use of special reflective wall siding or other decorative elements, light systems, or the inclusion of artwork. This photo represents a subway classic, with escalators taking people in and out of a deep underground subway station. The strong symmetry and blue tones make for a rather eye catching presentation elevating the experience well beyond a walk in a hole in the ground. |
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Lake and Rail Grain Elevator at the turn of the Buffalo River photographed from the new Mutual Riverfront Park at the corner of South and Hamburg Streets in Buffalo, NY. It was built up between 1927 and 1930 when two annexes added to it, a north and a south. It lacks the grain elevator hallmark - the concrete cylinders. They've been hidden by flat walls built around them. |
The River Turn at Lake & Rail Elevator |
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Through the Blossoms, Buffalo History Museum |
Spring came late to Buffalo in 2014 but it came. And this year, there was something special about it. Buffalo held its first Cherry Blossom Festival at the Japanese Garden by the Buffalo History Museum from April 23 - May 4, 2014. |
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Buffalo Rochester & Pittsburgh Depot in Orchard Park, New York located behind the Orchard Park Erie County Public Library, owned and operated by the Western New York Railway Historical Society. In this photograph, you see the depot with a blue hour wintery look, the season Western New York and Buffalo are very well known for. |
Where the Trains Don't Go Any More |
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Green Lake in Snow |
The first snow of the season to create a nice thick white blanket on the ground and a coat on the trees. Photograph taken at Green Lake and Yates Park that took on a winter wonderland look overnight. Everything was clean and white, winter arrived. Thanksgiving 2013 was going to be in white! |
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While most crowds frequent Niagara Falls in summer I find them even more impressive in winter. Whether you visit on the American or Canadian side the whole experience is so much more intense. The colder, the better! Your experience will also be much more natural despite being in the middle of civilization as not many people tend to brave the elements. Come after sunset or before sunrise, and you may be on your own. |
Horseshoe Falls in White |
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Fall At Watkins Glen |
In Watkins Glen, you will find tall waterfalls and tiny cascades rushing through a deep rocky canyon, one after another. Amazing what one tiny creek can do over a long period of time. Here, Glen Creek really worked its magic. Watkins Glen is a magical place all year round but autumn foliage and flowing water always create extra magic, at least in my eyes. |
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This photo shows the autumn signature colors at the Hog's Back of Letchworth. The dense clouds covered up the sunrise to be but diffused the light nicely thus intensifying the colors. I loved the intense yellow of the Genesee River flood area surrounding the Hog's Back. The ominous dark blue clouds made the yellows stand out even more. And then there is the river that made this gorge happen! |
Cloudy Daybreak at Hog's Back, Letchworth State Park |
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Sunset Swirl at Woodlwan |
I am really grateful to have this big lake in my back yard. It's not an ocean but it can make up for it! Based on the direction you shoot in and where exactly you shoot from you either see or don't see land across so the feeling of large is easy to get. The waves can't rival those of the Pacific on Kauai's north shore in winter but when it's windy the motion and power are very impressive. And when winter rolls in, it can freeze and create moonscapes, something one does not get with oceans other than the extremes! |
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This night, Mother Nature gave me a lesson on how things work. It was not the first time I was served this lesson but it was timed very well since I seemed to have forgotten! It's not over until it's over! I should have known better but I still packed the camera too early. However, nature would have none of it and with its quick lesson the camera was back out to capture the last few seconds of the day. |
Blue Sunset at Chimney Bluffs |
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Hot Air Balloon over the Great Bend of Letchworth |
It was a great fun watching and photographing the 20+ balloons launch from the Archery Field, go over the tree line, and dip into the Genesee River gorge by its Great Bend. The green summer foliage provided a great backdrop for the brightly lit colorful balloons. A wonderful event with a lot of friendly people around! |
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These beautiful waterfall veils were photographed in Shenandoah National Park while the colorful fall season was in full swing. The Dark Hollow Falls trail is a gem of a hike! While the waterfall the trail got its name from is definitely beautiful and well worth the hike down and back up, it's the creek one gets to walk along that further elevates the whole experience. There are so many beautiful spots where the water is zigzagging among rocks! And there are so many smaller waterfalls and cascades! What a beautiful location! |
Water Veils in the Fall, Shenandoah National Park |
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The Lonely Tree of Shenandoah |
The fall, or autumn season, whichever you call it, is in the full swing, colors are peaking, it's a wonderful sunny day as you enter the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia, and there it is! A beautifully shaped lonely tree with branches already bare highlighting their shape. A tree in the middle of a golden meadow commanding respect watching over everything happening there! A tree begging to be photographed. |
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This photo illustrates the concept behind the Black Canyon's name. It's so deep sunlight struggles even under clear skies. In this photograph, floating clouds threw most of the canyon into a deep shadow while the sun peeking through the open spotlit a few areas. Here, the rays hit the two sharp peaks right in front of me and shrouded the rest of the canyon in mystery. |
Light & Shadows, Black Canyon of the Gunnison |
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Destination: The Organ - Arches National Park |
The roads leading to or passing by the icons of the American landscape, especially the Southwest, may be as iconic as the locations themselves. Especially given the tradition of road tripping in the United States, roads set in magnificent landscapes can express a road trip's purpose in a single photo. Arches National Park offers many opportunities to integrate the yellow-lined pavement into the natural rock formations. |
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An old no longer used wooden ladder in a Southern Moravian backyard shed. Both the ladder and the shed in a state of disrepair yet both possessing an old-time charm of days gone by. A cobweb here and there. Presented in black and white to stress the simplicity of the scene and highlight the classic feel. That is the beauty of travel photography. There are treasures waiting around every corner! |
Old Ladder in an Old Shed |
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Tracks in the Field, Czech Republic |
A typical Southern Moravian landscape. A landscape so typical for that region, for Czech Republic, and for most of Europe. A landscape so different from what one usually sees in the American landscape photography. A landscape formed by nature but transformed by humanity. Landscape I love, landscape I could get lost in for hours! |
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Two sailboats competing side by side in the sea of black. An abstract created solely by light. In this refractograph two light sources were used and sent through colored gels to provide a color variety. As with any abstract, one's imagination can run wild and determine the content. |
Two Sailboats, An Abstract Refractograph |
I hope you've had fun scrolling through these. Thanks for visiting today, and in the future!