Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum

A group of photographers from our church met at the Heart Of Dixie Railroad Museum in Calera, AL last Saturday. Here's the rest of my decent shots. 

Seen Better Days

Lovely Patina on Degrading Paint

Lost Key, Bring Out the Acetylene

Still In Use, But Not Today

Lake Ainslie

Painted Canyons of the Train Car Graveyard

Greasy Bent

Dried Out Wood In the Midst of Rust

Even the Rubber, Paint, and Rust Is Rusting

Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum

There's not a lot of shiny at the railroad museum, mostly just rusting hulks of old train cars and engines, but there was one car with a very shiny coat of paint and it gave a nice reflection of the station building.

Vulcan Sundown

Our small group from church went to the Vulcan Statue overlooking Birmingham last evening for some photography. I tried to compose a short time lapse of the lights coming on, but with a bunch of photographers and others walking around the observation deck, it was too shaky. I thought just the last frame was better straight out of the camera than the whole time lapse.

St. George Island Crowds

There was one small stretch of the beach that was crowded, down where the houses were crammed together only a few feet apart, but mostly it was empty (see here).

If you crop way in close and throw in a filter, it starts to get a little pixilated and the crowded section of the beach looks sort of like a water color.

Pardon Me!

Did I use my deodorant this morning?

Back to St. George Island for a few photos

The Gulf seems so awesomely BIG from the shore.

Rose of Sharon

We were supposed to think "outside" the box for this one, so by thinking "outside" the box, I decided to put the flower "inside" the box I made from a frosted Sterlite tub and daylight LED lamps.

Moss Rock Preserve, Barred

As a couple of us from the photography small group at church hiked in for some waterfall shots, this barred owl watched and posed.

But if it hasn't rained in several days, the falls are a trickle and a pool. I need to go back when there's some water.

St. George Island Lizard

About the only wildlife we saw on the island were birds, crabs, and this guy. He lived in a palm tree outside our door. I believe he's a Carolina Anole, just like the ones we have around here, or very similar anyway.

There were a number of firsts for me on this trip, though. I saw my first Osprey and it was diving in the Gulf for fish (camera battery had just died). I saw my first pair of bald eagles in the wild (too far away to photograph them). I saw my first sea turtle nest, no turtle, just a nest (picture later). I saw my first momma and baby dolphin, just a glimpse on our boat ride and no good picture. I saw my first funnel cloud, two of them from the same storm, but they never touched the water or land and I only had a point and shoot. Maybe I'll put that up.

Brown Pelican 1 and 2

There were plenty of these guys just enjoying the breezy weather on St. George Island. The wind (15-20 mph) was such that they and the gulls could hover effortlessly, or soar for miles without a wing flap.

St. George Island, Memorial Day Weekend

Love the Crowds