Tailgating

Tailgating - P-51D Musting in trail behind a North American B-25 Mitchel photograph aircraft. Photographer - Daniel Patterson. Photo used with permission.

1955 Studebaker Pickup Truck - Ethridge, Montana

1955 Studebaker Pickup - Ethridge, Montana. I shot this twice, about four months apart. I think it's a very handsome, though sort of generic looking truck. Certainly, I didn't know Studebaker made a pickup truck till I saw this example. Asahi Pentax SP w/28mm F:3.5 Super Takumar.

Grain Elevator - Collins, Montana

Grain Elevator - Collins, Montana - This facility has a couple mils of track devoted to handling railcars. They seem to arc off into infinity going both directions. Panasonic Lumix DMC LX2 and Asahi Pentax SP w/ 28mm F:2.5 Super Takumar and 20mm F:3.8 Auto Vivitar.

Copper Bar - Price Tower

Olympus 35SP

Leica M4 w/25mm F:3.5 Canon

Leica M4 w/25mm F:3.5 Canon

Panasonic Lumix DMC LX2

Olympus 35SP

Leica M4 w/15mm F:4.5 Voigtlander

Copper Bar - Price Tower, Bartlesville, Oklahoma. The top two floors of the Price Tower are occupied by the Copper Bar and Grill. It doesn't open until about 4:00PM - so when I wandered through around 11:00AM . . . I had it all to myself. I shot with all three cameras. The last photo reflects the atypical layout of the floor. . . It was here that the old Robert Heinlein piece came to mind: "He Built a Crooked House."

Young Wizard

Young Wizard - October 2003. My son Jacob is something of a Harry Potter fan. He even has the requisite scar above the right eyebrow. In his case. it was from colliding with a door jamb when he was three or four years old. I've never read any of the Potter books - but everything I've ever read about them indicate they promote goodness in folks. That's OK with me. Anyone who would ban or burn a Potter book as promoting witchcraft - while still allowing the New York Times (aka "The Grey Whore") to exist, is a raving lunatic. Sony Cybershot DSC-P30

Price Tower - Bartlesville, Oklahoma

The Price Tower - commissioned by Harold C. Price, for use as a corporate headquarters for his Bartlesville company. Frank Lloyd Wright described the Price Tower as "the tree that escaped the crowded forest," referring not only to the building's construction, but also to the origins of its design. The Price Tower is supported by a central "trunk" of four elevator shafts which are anchored in place by a deep central foundation. The nineteen floors of the building are cantilevered from this central core, like the branches of a tree. The outer walls hang from the floors and are partially clad in copper "leaves." The floorplan of the Price Tower centers upon an inlaid cast bronze plaque, bearing the logo of the Price Company and marking the origin of a parallelogram grid upon which all exterior walls, interior partitions and doors, and built-in furniture are placed. The resulting design is a quadrant plan -- one quadrant dedicated for double-height apartments, and three for offices. The materials for the Price Tower are equally innovative for a mid-twentieth-century skyscraper: cast concrete walls, pigmented concrete floors, aluminum-trimmed windows and doors, and patinated embossed and distressed copper panels. The general geometric element is the equilateral triangle, and all lighting fixtures and ventilation grilles are based upon that form while the angled walls and built-in furniture are based on fractions or multiples of the triangular module.
On March 29, 2007, Price Tower was designated a National Historic Landmark by the United States Department of the Interior.

Leica M-4 w/15mm F:4.5 Voigtlander and 25mm F:3.5 Canon

Prescripton from Hell

Prescription from Hell - Dennison, Ohio: 2006. One of the rituals of working up a patient in an emergency department involves going through all of their medication (if the patient or family can be bothered to bring them). Frequently one is confronted with multiple bottles of the same drug - drugs that were prescribed 5 to 7 years previously - and so forth. The contents of this bottle caught us all by surprise. Sony DSC P30 Cybershot

Turret Arch - Arches National Monument

Turret Arch - Arches National Monument, Moab Utah - 24 July 2006. I don't know the person on the left - but she had me take her picture under an arch too. Nikon FE2 w/24mm F:2.8 Auto Nikkor.

Water Wheel - Santa Fe, NM

Water Wheel - July 2006. Shot this at a living history museum southwest of Santa Fe, New Mexico: El Rancho de Las Golondrinas. All I had available that afternoon was a 1.5MP Sony DSC P30 Cybershot.

Community Theatre - "TRICK or TREAT"

The Laugh – This person played the part of Prince Hamlet in a production I saw in 2003. I don’t believe I’ll ever see a better performance of the character. Pentax SV w/135mm F:1.8 Auto Soligor.

Town Vagrant – A consulting engineer (in real life).

Aunt Martha - In real life (a just-retired librarian) took the stage for the first time in this production. She was fabulous.

I’ll Blow the Old Lady Away!!!! – Aunt Martha being menaced by a (in real life) local heating/airconditioning contractor. . .

Don’t Open the Door!

In the Clutches of Endicott – the Living Scarecrow. . . .

“Trick or Treat” – Round Town Community Players – October 2004. I didn’t get a part – I was very disappointed - so I shot everyone in the production – repeatedly. These are a couple of my favorites. Want to photograph people (ultimately) having fun? Do theatre photography. You’ll have a ball too. The only thing that’s more fun than shooting actors is being one. All but “The Laugh” were shot with an Asahi Pentax SP w/85mm F:1.9 Super Takumar.

Tobacco Barn - Belfast, Ohio

Tobacco Barn – Belfast, Ohio - 16 December 2006. On the return leg of a day trip to the Great Serpent Mound in Ohio, we passed this spot. I pulled over and shot because I liked the texture of the tobacco leaves hanging and the siding on this barn. Asahi Pentax SP w/135mm F:2.5 Super Takumar

Approach - Phoenix, Arizona

Approach – March 2007 – Phoenix, Arizona. One of the advantages of digital shooting is being able to get shooting angles out of the aircraft that are just not possible with conventional film cameras. This was one of about twelve images I shot in rapid succession while my Boeing 737 was descending towards Phoenix Sky Harbor. SONY DSC P30 Cybershot - click on image.

Sturmwind - Stoutsville, Ohio

Sturmwind – July 2008 – Stoutsville, Ohio. This is another one of my daytime time exposure shots made possible with an ND400 filter that cuts film speed by a factor of 400. There was a lot of wind off a thunderstorm that was passing just to the north of the house. I like what long exposure does to moving things like trees being tossed back & forth by wind gusts. Leica M2 w/35mm F:1.5 Canon.

Little Boy & Big Wind - Sandpoint, Idaho

Little Boy – Big Wind – 15 August 2000. We drove up to the Schweizer Ski Resort above Sandpoint, Idaho. It was very windy up on the mountain. Jacob was four. Nikon FE2 w/35-70 Sigma.

Abandoned Truss Bridge - Muskogee, Oklahoma

Trees are already overrunnng the approach. Panasonic Lumix DMC LX2.

The tree sort of mimicked the bridge. Panasonic Lumix DMC LX2.

Leica M4 w/100mm F:2.0 Canon

Leica M4 w/15mm Voigtlander

Turquoise Road - New Mexico

Turquoise Road – Cerrilos, NM – 13 December 2003. My son Jacob and I went on a short day trip from Santa Fe, NM down to Madrid. On our way back, I spied this scene. I don’t know if the Chevrolet was parked out there next to the turquoise sign on purpose – but it worked for me. Nikon FE2 w/35-70mm Sigma. (Click the image)

Winter Barn

Winter Barn – January 2006. It began to snow – so I grabbed my gear and went out looking for subject matter. Shooting when it is snowing gives depth to landscapes and adds visual interest. Click image. This is a barn about twelve miles southwest of Lancaster. There was snow with blowing wind. I looks like winter repose for the Allis-Chalmers Gleaner. To be honest – it probably hasn’t moved since this was taken. Leica M2 w/25mm F:3.5 Canon.

After the Fire - Williamsport, Ohio

After the Fire – July 2008. The upper storey of a friend’s house burned. They were able to save the house – but almost everything on the upper floor was damaged or destroyed. Here his son surveys the damage, his posture one of resignation. Leica M2 w/35mm F:1.5 Canon.

Zen Magpie - Lander, Wyoming

Zen Magpie – Lander, Wyoming - 14 January 2004. Starting from Riverton, Wyoming – I headed for Lander via the wrong road - Route 26 - which would have eventually have taken me to Dubois. When I got to 132 I turned southwest and drove through Ethete. When I hit 287 I turned south and drove to Lander. I drove out to the Sinks and the Rise where I took a few pictures while the sun shone a few minutes. This picture was my favorite. It has a Zen look to it. It’s interesting to me how much I liked Lander the first time I’d visited a few years back. Maybe it was the winter weather but I was wholly unimpressed on this visit. I just didn’t feel like I belonged there at all. Asahi Pentax SP w/200mm F:3.5 Super Takumar.

Wind Turbines - Ethridge, Montana

Wind Turbines – Ethridge, Montana – 16 October 2008. Driving between Cut Bank and Shelby one encounters a low spot in the road called Ethridge. It’s got a post office, a farm equipment dealership (including a great collectionon of old trucks), and a small grain elevator. To the south, dominating the horizon, is a wind turbine farm. When I shot this, it was not yet operational. Panasonic LUMIX DMC LX2.

Derelict Dodge Pickup - Conrad, Montana

Derelict Dodge Pickup – Conrad Montana – 24 April 2009. I have no idea when this beast was made – looks to be the in the 1940’s. I notice old pickup trucks everywhere I go in Montana. With luck – someone will find this one and restore it. I’ll bet it was classy ride in its’ day. Right now, it is a study in rust and decline. Panasonic LUMIX DMC LX2 and Asahi Pentax Spotmatic w/28mm F:3.5 Super Takumar.

Clouds on Mountains - Stevensville, Montana

Near Stevensville, Montana - 13 November 2008. The weather was very touch and go all day. While wandering through the Les Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge south of Missoula – the weather went well and truly into the crapper. Before it did, however, the sun popped out for about ten minutes. Bight sunlight and very atmospheric clouds over the mountains to the west. Panasonic LUMIX DMC LX2.