Shards and Phractures

The Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, that is. We picked the worst possible day to go, unfortunately--during the NCAA College World Series, which happened to be playing right across the street from the zoo. We were stuck in stop-and-go traffic, moving at something less than 1 mile an hour, for nearly two hours...just trying to get from the freeway to the zoo entrance...only to discover the zoo parking lot was full. We finally ended up parking almost a mile away and walking back to the entrance. -=ad=-

October 21, 2006, there was an airshow out west of Phoenix. They had all kinds of things worth looking at, but the part that fascinated me most was the last thing they did before packing it all away--the Balloon Glow. -=ad=-

Nothing like some home-made treats (glazed popcorn) to bring all the local neighbors over for a taste. ...and of course, I couldn't resist dragging out the camera. -=ad=-

...continuing with the battered antiques at Jerome theme... -=ad=-

Found this dilapidated shack in Jerome, Arizona. It's located at an old mine that's been revamped by the owner, and it's surrounded by antique cars. I don't much like the white, blown-out sky, but it was overcast and I had no idea at the time what to do about it. -=ad=-

...we never did get any seeds out of this sunflower...probably because the insects beat us to it... -=ad=-

...I've said it before...I generally make it a point to not murder my models after the photoshoot is done, but in this case, I had to make an exception... -=ad=-

Flowers for the wife... -=ad=-

Cool looking reflective building in downtown Phoenix. -=ad=-

...he kept watching my camera, and then ate the button off of a jacket when we got too close... -=ad=-

Double-ended fire staff. -=ad=-

Mantises (Manti?) are so much fun to shoot...and it definitely helps to have a not-so-squamish assistant, too. -=ad=-

...very soon now, I'll be uploading pictures from my new camera...*grin* -=ad=-

Curved building in downtown Phoenix. -=ad=-

Petrified Forest, Arizona. -=ad=-

...what do you get when you cross a camera with a pool table...? Lots of motion blur! -=ad=-

...it may look like mid-morning, but this was actually taken at least a half hour after sunset, on a breezy day. The extra-long exposure smoothed out the ripples in the water, and brought back the reflection. Not as rich or vibrant as the London Bridge shot, but I still like how it turned out. -=ad=-

...and we move from fire in the hands to fire in the sky... I actually shot this out of a car window, because I loved the texture in the clouds. But when I pulled it from the camera, it didn't look like I remembered...so, I used Photoshop to darken it until it looked like I remembered. -=ad=-

...gotta love the swirls and shapes of a fire-spinner pic... -=ad=-

...used Photoshop to bring out the color and sharpen a bit. This was part of a fire-spinning performance by the Wizards of AZ, a troupe in Phoenix. -=ad=-

I finally got around to creating my Flickr account. http://www.flickr.com/photos/allandavisjr/ Looking forward to meeting everyone there... -=ad=-

...no, I'm not even sure where this was... I snapped this on a cross-country drive from Phoenix to Colorado Springs--the same trip as the Paria Rimrocks visit, the same trip where I went over Vail Pass in a blizzard...all of which is a story much too long for one of these quickie Pix of the Day posts. Anyway, this was somewhere in the Utah/Colorado area, and I neglected to write down the name of this particular hill and body of water. If anyone recognizes the place, feel free to let me know; I'd love to add a clearer label to this picture besides "...um...some lake...near some mountain...somewhere near Colorado." -=ad=-

One more from Paria Rimrocks, though I'm not going to add any more commentary to this one...I'll leave that to your imagination. -=ad=-

Same rock formation, different view. The Fist of the Gods is the tall skinny rock on the right. ...if you're stuck with contrails in your picture, make them part of the composition... -=ad=-

Paria Rimrocks, just across the Utah border from Arizona. Great little place that no one seems to know about. It's just a pullout from the highway, plus about a two or three mile hike to a bunch of fantastic rock formations. I'll try to post several of the set over the next few days. This is one of my favorites, though, because you can actually see the fingernails... -=ad=-

Mental note: When the wife decides to grow sunflowers in the front yard, grab the camera and follow the hose when she waters the plants...because water droplets make cool pictures. -=ad=-

I love "shortly after sunset" photography. Just keep that shutter open for a good ten or fifteen seconds, and see what you get... ...this was actually right around Christmastime (note the sleigh and reindeer on the right). -=ad=-

Okay...this has been quiet for a long time (hey, I've got wife, kids, day job that occasionally involves nights and weekends, sometimes I don't get back here all that often...). So, I think I'll set this challenge for myself...to try to start uploading a picture and a quick commentary every day. Shorter posts, less time involved, hey, it's worth a shot, right...? I'll start things off with this... ...sunset, in the mountains just outside Cottonwood and Jerome, about an hour's drive from Flagstaff. I like how the sunset brought out the color of the rocks against the blue sky background. Any comments? Suggestions? Criticisms? Pic requests...? -=ad=-