Dancing Water

This is one of many dancing fountains in Disney World, this one in Downtown Disney.  The kids can get wet at this one, if you let them and if they don't dodge it well enough, even if their clothes are  in a suitcase already on the way to the airport.

Mason didn't quite dodge the fountain and a new T-shirt had to be purchased for the trip home.

Namesake

Met my blogosphere namesake while at Disney World.

Really had a silly grin, didn't I?

Merry Christmas To All, And To All, A Good Night!

Disney goes all in, and I have a feeling it keeps on building throughout the month.

Been Away

Spent the end of last week and the weekend in Orlando, well, actually in Disneyworld.  Good time for the grandkids, but hectic. The weather was chilly, but very cooperative.

The Castle

The Sphere, Spaceship Earth

52 Photos Project: Vintage Architecture

Bella's challenge this week at 52 Photos Project is Vintage Architecture.  

This is a date plaque on the bridge with the LED lights in an earlier post.

And this is an old smokestack at the old Powell Street power and steam plant downtown in the same area as the bridge.

Candlelight

We practiced shooting by candlelight last night at our small group.  Props included candles, a pre-civil war book on politics, and Mark.

Railroad Rosemary

If you need some fresh rosemary for a holiday recipe, I know where there's plenty, but it's probably against the law to harvest it.  

Railroad Park in downtown Birmingham has lots of very large rosemary plants/bushes/trees growing near the fountain area, and this sprig caught my eye last Monday night as our Catchlight small group was shooting in the area.

Blue Water Whirlpool

Actually, this is the reverse of a whirlpool.  The water is bubbling up into the pool at the fountain at Railroad Park in Birmingham and the blue LEDs lighting the waterfall are reflected in the pool.

Light Tunnels and Brad

Railroad tracks run right through the center of Birmingham, dividing North from South.  Only some of the streets cross the tracks, some above on bridges, and about five below, through tunnels.  The city has chosen to light those tunnels with ever changing colorful LED lights, which definitely makes for some interesting night photography.  Our Catchlight Small Group from church visited the tunnels closest to Railroad Park last night.  

Both the roadway and walkway tunnels have gotten this colorful treatment.

While we were there, Brad from Oregon stopped by to chat and sing us a song or two.  Thanks, Brad.

Weekend Reflections

Last January we were briefly at the Dallas Zoo with the grandkids and their parents - our kids 8-).  This pool at part of the lemur exhibit had a wonderful sky and trees reflection.

Check out other reflections at James' blog here.

Beauty Before The Storm

52 Photos Project, Point The Camera UP!

Bella's challenge this week at 52 Photos Project is Point The Camera UP!

Feeling Woozy!

Woozier!

Owww!

Day 5 Black and White Challenge

I was nominated to participate in a 5 day Black and White Challenge by Rob Napola.  The object is to post one black and white photo every day for 5 days, and nominate another photographer to participate each of those days.  Today I nominate Debby Andreas.

Five Points South at dusk, Birmingham, Alabama.

Day 4 of the Black and White Challenge

I was nominated to participate in a 5 day Black and White Challenge by Rob Napola.  The object is to post one black and white photo every day for 5 days, and nominate another photographer to participate each of those days.  Today I nominate Terrie Broom.

Also, Bella's challenge this week for 52 Photos Project is "Numbers," so I'm also using this for that.

Day 3, Black and White Challenge

Day 3 of the Black and White Challenge.  Rob posted an urban decay shot, so I thought I would do a rural decay shot.  Shelby County, Alabama.

Day 2, Black and White Challenge

The Canada Geese have taken over some of the small lakes around here.  Sometimes there are hundreds of them at a time, especially when someone feeds them every day like at Star Lake in Hoover.

Day 2 of The  Black and White Challenge: I was nominated by Rob Napola.  The theme is to post one black and white photograph every day for five days and nominate another photographer to play along each day.  Today it is Scott Cobb's day to be nominated.

Day 1, Black and White Challenge

Day 1.

Morris Avenue is a cobblestone street right in the middle of downtown Birmingham and is a great place to shoot.  Many engagement photos and other portraits are shot there.  Our Catchlight small group was there to practice some night portrait procedures, but I also liked the scenery, sans people.

The Black and White Challenge:  I was nominated by Rob Napola.  I'm usually a colorful guy, so this could be a challenge 8-).  The theme is to post one black and white photograph every day for five days and nominate another photographer to play along each day.  Art Hummel, you are the next victim of the 5 Day Black and White Challenge. Let's see what you've got. 

Moon and Stars

Bella's challenge this week at 52 Photos Project is "Star." Here's my interpretation, shot Monday evening from "Star Lake" in Hoover, Alabama while out with our Catchlight photography small group from church.

Okay, I have a pretty good camera, but it isn't that good.  The stars are from one exposure and the moon another.  I overlaid the moon to hide the blown out one in the shot where the stars were visible.  But hey, it's more like what my eye sees.

View From The Deck

It is unbelievably hard to focus my mirrorless Sony NEX-7 under this kind of lighting conditions. The lenses don't have any hard stops at infinity or the other end like my old lenses, so there is a lot of guess work.

Belle's challenge on 52 Photos Project this week is "End of the Season."  The stars are changing every night, just imperceptibly, but the view is a little different from one season to the next.

Light Trails

At the Catchlight Small Group meeting last night, we went out to try our hand at some light trails.  I tried adjusting my shot several times to get some interesting scenery with trails through it, but when I got them in the computer and got the crop tool going, I decided I liked this one with just the basics, the road, the divider, and the lights, especially those flashing LED tail lights.

Supermoon From the Church of the Highlands

Taken from the parking lot of the Church of the Highlands during our Catchlight Photography meeting tonight.  It was a little cloudy and the supermoon was peaking through the trees and clouds.

52 Photos Project: the sign says

The challenge this week at 52 Photos Project is: "the sign says".
Well, what does this sign say, a crow on a cross?  
Crows have all sorts of supposed symbolism and meaning.  It ranges from very good to very bad, depending on where you look, but I couldn't find anything specific on the web about a crow on a cross.  There were lots of pictures of crows on crosses though, perhaps implying that at least photographers feel it should be saying something, but I guess we're not exactly sure what.  What do you think it means?

I See You!

Some of the little ponds at DeSoto Caverns Family Fun Park are inhabited by large bullfrogs.

Num, num, num . . .

The Sedum blossoms were attracting a bunch of insects yesterday that were oblivious to my presence.

Too Little To Eat

These little fellows are between a nickel and quarter in size and inhabit the sugar white sands of the Florida panhandle and Alabama beaches (at least).  They don't seem to live in the water, but in the dry sand above the tide line, although they may be under water too and I just don't know.  They are hard to see against the sand and are quick to scurry back into their little sand tunnels, but the kids love to catch them, put them in a bucket, name them, and then let them go.  This one was Nicki or Nicole or something like that.  I don't know what they really are, but we call them sand crabs, and they are decapods, so I suppose they are members of some crab family.

52 Photos Project: {Somewhere You Visited}

Bella's challenge this week at 52 Photos Project is {Somewhere You Visited}.  In May we went to Sea World Orlando while visiting my son.  This poor turtle was severely injured years ago by a boat prop and can never be released into the wild.  At least she's alive and doing well at Sea World.

C'mon, Keep Up! - 2

C'mon, Keep Up!

The New Gull

I don't remember seeing these on the beach from my trips years ago, but the last few years there seem to have been more and more of them.

52 Photos Project: Stairs

Belle's challenge this week for 52 Photos Project is {stairs}.

Columbiana is the county seat of Shelby County Alabama and it's a relatively old little town.  At several locations throughout the city you can find these stone stairs that lead from the street to a vacant lot, obviously remnants of homes that have either burned or been torn down for some reason like general neglect and decay.  Each of these sets of stairs has many stories to tell, I'm sure, and there are a few people around town that might be able to tell them, but they are dying out fast and I don't think anybody is writing them down.  Soon they will be gone.

Creepy Crepe Crawler

Found this beautiful young lady hiding down in the Crepe Myrtle blossom.  I've never seen one like this before.  

52 Photos Project: Summertime Refreshments

I've been at the beach for a few days, thus I'm a little late posting to the current 52 Photos Project: Summertime Refreshments.  Normally I don't drink much water.  Sixty four ounces a day is way out of my realm.  In fact, I get almost all my fluids from coffee, an occasional Diet Coke, and a glass of wine.  Water is for when I'm sweating, so when I'm sitting in the 95 degree heat, and the sand is bouncing the sun back up at me, it's hard to beat a cold bottle of water.  Hard, but maybe not impossible.

Not My Favorite Part, But . ,

 . . a crowded day at the beach is still better than a day at work (as I recall, since I don't work anymore).

Photobombed!

I was trying to get a good shot of the butterfly (unsuccessfully) when he got photobombed by a bumblebee.

Sweet Blue

We picked blueberries at Mountain Meadows Farm in Columbiana, Alabama this week.  It is just down the road from my house.  Although it is getting a little late in the season, Jim still has a ton of very sweet and delicious blueberries.

Weekend Reflections: Birmingham, Alabama from Railroad Park

This is Birmingham, Alabama reflected in the pond at Railroad Park near downtown and Regions Field, home of the Birmingham Barons baseball team.

This is one frame from the time lapse I put together here, and except for minor sharpening is straight out of the camera.

For other Weekend Reflections from around the world, visit James's blog.

Hope you have a great weekend.

52 Photos Project

The prompt for 52 Photos Project this week is: "Happiness is"

Go to the 52 Photos Project site for other interpretations.

Weekend Reflections: Japanese Gardens

The classic photo everyone takes when they visit the Birmingham Botanical Gardens, perhaps with a young couple walking across.  I was there, so I did.

Have a nice weekend and visit other Weekend Reflections here.