Haunted Hotel?

The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado is rumored to be haunted and this photo seems to lend credence to that belief. The hotel was Steven King's inpiration for "The Shining" and the mini-series was taped here. Ghost tours held at the hotel (we skipped that). The hotel was originally built by Stanley, of Stanley Steamer fame. He traveled to Estes Park to recover from tuberculosis and found the mountain air so refreshing that he built a house (and later a mansion which became a hotel) there.
Estes Park is the gateway town to Rocky Mountain National Park.

Polarizing Filters

Light reflecting off from surfaces such as water or metal can appear diffuse and fuzzy. Adding a polarizing filter (much like polarizing sun glasses) only allows light to come in at one angle. Skies are bluer, haze is reduced, and colors appear more saturated because there is less glare. Reflections on windows and water are reduced so that you can see through to whatever is inside/below. Go here to see with and without images on Wiki. Think of light coming through shutters on a window. This photo, Escape Route, is of the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in Yosemite National Park in California. The wind was blowing the water across the lake in ripples and with a polarizing filter it takes on an almost velvet appearance near the top and the corduroy near the bottom.
Hetch Hetchy is a controversial reservoir that resulted when the Tuolomme River was dammed up to provide water and power for San Francisco. John Muir, among others, led a losing battle to preserve the Hetch Hetchy valley. While they were unsuccessful, the experience of the loss of the valley gave fuel to protests that prevented a dam that would have filled the Grand Canyon.

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Burst of Light by Jill Foster
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and a selection of Infrared Photography

...into the World of Invisible Light by Jill Foster
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Franklin Delano Roosevelt Park

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Park, part of the Philadelphia public Fairmount Park System has clearly fallen on hard times. These buildings are part of what was built for the 1926 Sesquicentennial Celebration, with the top building originally a Russian Tea House and more recently a boathouse. The bottom building is a gazebo representing Japan. Now, there is garbage floating in the lake, partially eaten bones left behind by vermin, and the remains of a campfire on the floor of the gazebo. Jets are seen in their final approach to the nearby airport and I-95 is seen across the lake. The sports complex is next door, so apparently the park is used more by people parking for Eagles games than for enjoying the park.

Philadelphia: The Cradle of Liberty

This shot is titled, "The storm over liberty is clearing." I took it yesterday while downtown and realized that despite having thousands (?tens of thousands) of photos on my hard drive, I don't have any of the iconic Independence Hall. For those of you unfamiliar with Philadelphia, Independence Mall is in downtown Philadelphia and while getting this shot, a hundred feet to my right was the Liberty Bell. When I took it, I found the inclusion of the people intriguing, but without some HDR treatment, it really didn't work. It was a particular Blue States/Red States kind of day on the mall yesterday. Young people from the marching bands that would play in the parade today were swarming the area amidst Philadelphians on their lunch break-- Ohio, Alabama, other places. It made me think of the recent election and, watching their enthusiasm gave me hope for a turn around in the country. Band kids are interesting. Few people realize what work and discipline it takes for the kids and their families to make it to a parade like this-- months of fund raising, hours of practice, try-outs, local successes, and then a very long bus ride to a strange place-- just so they can get up at the crack of dawn and march a couple of miles in near freezing weather to entertain a crowd (and show their stuff).

Philadelphia Mural Arts Project

Mural from the side of the building at 707 Chestnut Street in Philadelphia. There is more on the Philadelphia Mural Arts Project go here. Scattered throughout Philadelphia are hundreds of murals depicting everything from famous Philadelphias (Dr. J), to historic scenes, to ordinary people. Each mural is "awarded" to a neighborhood based on developing and theme and requires community input. This mural is in center city, but murals are present also even in neighborhoods filled with urban decay and blight. Bus tours are held from April to November.

Cowabunga

So, this is what you can do with a "long" lens. This shot, Hanging Ten was shot from a pier in Ocean Beach (near San Diego) looking down on surfers using a zoom lens at its max, 200 mm. It was shot with the shutter speed at 1/1000 of a second to get a nice sharp image of the surfer caught in motion with good sharpness. The only downside is that the water is also stopped in motion showing individual drops which makes it look less natural.