A change

Instead of posting my own photo today, I'm going to post a link to a collection of photographs. This collection of slideshows has some of the most moving images of our planet I've ever seen!

Stairs to nowhere

This photo is from a trip a few years ago to Vizcaya. These stairs are behind the mansion and lead into Biscayne Bay. I wonder if they lead to a platform or something that is now covered by the water...

Vizcaya was built almost 100 years ago (in 1916) by James Deerling. It is a HUGE estate with the Villa and gardens. It's now 80 acres but during Deerling's residence it was well over 100. He had an eye for conservation and very much enjoyed the coastal hammock, natural to the area. If you are ever in Miami, it is definitely worth a trip on a nice day. The day we went there were lots of girls doing photographs for their quinceanera. It was quite a sight!

Mississippi River

A blast from the past here - 3 years ago! My family comes from the land of the Mississippi River. My mom from Arkansas, my dad from Illinois. Every summer we went to go visit family and that always meant a trip over the Mississippi River. My parents would always make sure I was awake for the crossing. Some of the bridges are beautiful!

Three years ago we extended the family trip to Branson, MO. It was mostly for my grandmother; she loves the shows. We took an afternoon cruise on a riverboat. It was styled like the ones from the heyday of the Mississippi. The paddlewheel turned but it was just for show, there were motors for propulsion. It was pretty cool to see the refurbished boat. It was quite extravagant!

Of the many times we've crossed the Mississippi, the most memorable was leaving Quincy, IL in 1993. We crossed the last morning the bridge was opened out of town before it was closed before the big flood. I remember driving down the road and seeing the water seeping through the sand bags. I was too young to realize what was going on but I remember the rising waters.

The last time I was by the Mississippi, it was also out of its banks. Not to flood stage though. We were in St. Louis this spring and staying at a hotel on the Mississippi. None of the residents seemed concerned at the rushing waters outside of their banks but it was shocking to watch the big logs fly down the river towards boats and piers and such. But for the millions of residents that live near the Mississippi, I guess the rushing brown water is something you get used to!

YAY!

Today I finished jury duty! I'm off the hook for 8 years!

Jellies!

One of my favorite things to photograph when I go to the aquarium is the jellyfish. They are so graceful. Sitting in front of their display is very calming to me. Aquariums normally do a really great job with their displays with the lighting and backgrounds making photographing them even more fun and interesting. Normally it is quiet dark so a long exposure is needed which gives their tentacles a ghostly appearance with the blur. It's great!

New addition to our family

Just too excited to share any other pictures today except for those our our new dog! Meet Juno. She's a 2 year old Shepherd mix from North Shore Animal League.

Lack of inspiration

Serving jury duty has wiped away any sort of inspiration or creativity I've had - unless it involves ways to kill fellow jurors or get excused from the jury.

So today's picture is of a sail. Thinking of sailing away from jury duty. Only 6 more days...

still visualizing!

I'm still sitting in jury duty so that means I'm still visualizing fun and beautiful things! One reason why I love NYC is the rooftop parties. Here's one from the 4th. Stay cool NYC!

Visualization...

This is what I will be picturing for the next two weeks while I sit in jury duty!!! AHHHH!!

Independence Day

Happy 4th of July! We had access to a rooftop in midtown and had great views of the fireworks. We could see most of the barges for the Macy's show. A lot of our friends joined us for the show and then we went out for a bit after. We continued celebrating the birthdays and celebrating an engagement of close friends. It capped off a great weekend!

These photos were taken with our f/1.8 lens. It worked out great for the photos. I took some others with shorter exposures that basically made the buildings disappear.

Birthday Celebrations

Saturday was filled with preparations for Ben's birthday party that night. We had a rooftop barbecue. Since coming to New York I have quickly realized the rooftop party is quintessentially NYC. We are fortunate to have access to a beautiful roof on the lower east side. We even had access to a wonderful band to liven up the celebration even more. It was a great night. Thanks Flux for helping make it happen!

First panorama!

My first panorama! Yesterday I met a friend in the Sheep's Meadow so of course I took along my camera. I love taking pictures in Central Park. We ended up sitting right in the middle of the field and I just sat and took about a dozen pictures and then used photomerge for photoshop to stitch them all together. Couldn't have been simpler. I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. I wish I had one more layer below it to show some of the meadow, but there's always next time!

The afternoon was great. We tossed a frisbee and just sat and caught up on life. I got some sun too which is always nice.