Philly Love

Red October Once Again

Philly's Ben Franklin Bridge

The Cold, Dark Winter Approaches...

Baltimore

Valley Forge National Historic Park in the Fall

On my lunch break I decided to get out of the office - something I rarely do these days. But packing my lunch that day, I wanted to make full use of the time by spending some time in Valley Forge National Historic Park which isn't too far away. I knew that the Fall would offer some scenic views and at least one worth capturing. I was surprised to see other photographers, also perhaps on a lunch break, also roaming the park satisfying their itch to see the world through a lens.

Unfortunately, I didn't have the kind of time I would like to spend in the park since it's so enormous, but since I had my tripod with me, I wanted to grab a set of images that would eventually end up as HDR.

Hope you like it.

HDR

I finally found a great HDR program that makes images pop with ease.
This is downtown Wilmington on one of my earlier photo walks. The center of attention is the Hercules building and just so happens to be where my father's office is located. On this day, the overcast sky screamed HDR, so I grabbed my tripod and voilà!

The bridges below are above the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia.

Chichen Itza

I had the pleasure of visiting the Mayan Riviera in Mexico this summer for vacation. We were determined to visit one of the ruins and were blown away by the preserved Mayan pyramid in Chichen Itza. Upon my return home, I learned that this particular site is now receiving a lot of press based on the Mayan contribution to the calendar we use today, and their prediction that a dramatic change will occur in the year 2012.
I encourage all to add this new wonder of the world to your places to see list. Enjoy.

My summer memory

Summer 2009 was a rainy one in the Philly/Delaware area. I hope everyone had a chance to enjoy it. I don't get to spend as much time downtown Philly as in years past, however I spent a few hours in the renowned Rittenhouse Square just sitting in the park. There was an arts fair going on in the park and everyone was out walking their dogs or just relaxing on the lawn. I looked up through the trees and got this warm feeling as I saw the skyline. I enhanced to photo to give that daydream effect that hit me at the time, which captured the vibe I felt on a beautiful summer Sunday.

HDR - High Dynamic Range

The image you're looking at is actually a series of images taken at different exposures (really bright to really dark). Then combined with a touch of Photoshop, resulting in a vivid image referred to as HDR or High Dynamic Range. This takes some practice to get an artistic result, but the images can be striking.
This was taken along West River Drive in Philly along the Schuylkill River on the way home from the Penn Relays.

The art of imagery

While walking around with the camera one day, I asked a kid on a skateboard if I could take a couple snaps of him doing a trick. He was all too happy to. When I realized that I captured a nice shot of him in mid-air, I was determined to put my novice Photoshop skills to work, and give him a real skateboard look.

I never saw the kid again and still have the enlarged final image that I intended to give him.
So if you're out there, "here's looking at you kid".

Longwood Gardens

After getting some practice in at the Flower Show, I joined some family at Longwood Gardens, and of course I had to bring some gear. Just like the show, I noticed many more photographers than I did on previous visits.

Touring the Conservatory gave me a great taste of spring and roaming the grounds reminded me of Versailles.

2009 Philly Flower Show

Adding a macro lens to my collection gave me reason to attend this year's flower show held in downtown Philly. Funny that prior to taking photography seriously, I never noticed the amount of expensive cameras that show up at these shows (not at the previous 3 I attended anyway).

Since I won't post all 200 photos, enjoy these picks.

Black History Month

Ironically I had every intention of traveling to DC for the inauguration of Barack Obama, hoping to share the experience with millions of people, and bring back some cool photos to post. Not just for the history of it, but also since the timing was great for Black History Month. Needless to say, the crowd, cold, and craziness deterred me. It's great to know that while blacks only have a month to celebrate their history in this country, we now have 4 years of history to be made. I'm sure he'll do an amazing job despite the odds, and show the world that it's time to bring down barriers.
So in honor of Black History Month here in America, I stayed close to home - near my home is a memorial to the black Medal of Honor recipients.

African American Medal of Honor Recipients Memorial.