iPhone fun in Nashville and OKC
Last week was a busy one for me, traveling to Nashville and OKC and firing quite a few shots along the way. Today's post is a summary of that trip, with all photos taken and processed on my iPhone. I haven't had time to process anything from my real camera yet, because I am on the road again. Pop on in and see what's cooking!
Last week I was in Nashville and then Oklahoma City - 6 flights, 2 hotels, 2 rental cars, and countless photos!
My first night of the trip and I was rewarded with this stunning sunset over Nashville!
I couldn't resist taking out the iPhone when I looked out the plane and saw these clouds.
It was a great week, although I was extremely busy. Luckily I found time each day to get out and shoot (even though I had a conference call one evening during sunset - doh!). I enjoy my visits to both of these cities. I have been to both of them many times, and still find plenty of new stuff to shoot. They are interesting cities, and beautiful in their own ways. These (clearly) aren't the "big name" American cities, but I still find a lot to like about them.
I stumbled across this in an alleyway in Nashville
A different view of that first night's sunset in Nashville
So today's post is a quick iPhone highlight tour of my travels last week. There is no theme, other than they are all iPhone shots processed in Snapseed. I hit my usual haunts in those cities and found some new ones. I shot some cityscapes and skylines. I was (mostly) out at sunset. I stumbled through some alleyways and found some new graffiti. It was a good week, all around.
I am on the road again, but this time with the family, and heading West instead of East. More to come from this current adventure (and I will find some time to process shots from Nashville and OKC that were taken with my lovely Olympus). I have already captured about 1000 photos this week. You can take a look at my current iPhone shots on Flickr. We are currently in Arizona and heading further West. More to come about our grand summer family adventure! (and yes, I will find time to process all the photos I am capturing, and there is a lot more shooting coming my way!).
Also, I am only planning this single post for this week. With it being a short week for those of us in the US, and with me being on the road with sketchy wifi access, I figured it would be easiest to just spend time with the family and my camera and enjoy life a bit. So follow me on Flickr to see current iPhone pics from the road, and come back next week because I have a lot to share!
I hope you enjoy the shots, and thanks for stopping by today!
another alleyway find in Nashville
on Route 66 in OKC
part of a mural in OKC
golden hour over LP Field in Nashville
the OKC Memorial
where the thunder rolls!
cool stuff i found in nashville - of course it is music-related in that city!
i love trains and graffiti - shot this in the gulch in nashville
another view of Lp field in nashville
from okc, another part of an extensive mural downtown
i spent some time driving along route 66 in okc - not a lot of great finds but loved this spot!
another scene from another alley in nashville - i just love grungy scenes like this. and i love peanuts too!
the golden hour over lp field was impossible to pass up!
Blue hour reflections
Despite being a Texas guy, I actually enjoy visiting Oklahoma City, primarily to go stand in this spot. It certainly isn't for the football team :). Each time I go, I try and swing by the OKC Memorial and take a few shots. I am a fan of shooting the same subject multiple times, because with seasons and the light changing, you never get the same thing twice. On the evening that I took this one, it was a quiet and peaceful blue hour, and I was nearly alone there. I say nearly because if you look closely, you can see a gentleman walking down the right side of the frame. Due to the multiple exposures, he sort of ghosted a bit, but it seemed appropriate to leave him since there probably are ghosts here of all those that died here on that tragic day.
Winter at the OKC Memorial
I like shooting in winter, when the trees are empty and the sky is dark. There is a certain moodiness in the air, and it is fun to try and capture that with my camera. I attempted just that with this shot, which was taken in Oklahoma City, OK on my recent travels through that town. I had the OKC Memorial nearly all to myself that afternoon - another benefit of shooting in the winter, which is that the tourists are mostly at home - and was able to wander carelessly about the grounds of this place.
When I originally looked at the brackets I took, I saw this image in sepia, but after going through the HDR process I also really liked the color, especially the gray/blue of the sky and how it plays against the yellow of the wintered earth. I am a big color guy at heart and I find it hard to give that up. But, the sepia just kept calling me, so I thought I would ride the fence and offer up both today. Enjoy and thanks for looking!
A Bricktown Christmas
I sure hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas this past weekend! It was great fun for us. Family, food, fun - it was all there. A little too much food maybe :). I wanted to share this shot which I took on a recent trip to Oklahoma City. In their old historic district downtown, called Bricktown, there is this river that runs through it and it is all lit up for for the holidays. I made my way through there, following the river and snapping lots of HDR's of each scene. I am a sucker for reflections, and when you throw in some Christmas lights I find it impossible to resist. Hope you enjoy the shot, hope you had a wonderful holiday season, and thanks for stopping by today!
Memorial reflections
I took this shot at the Oklahoma City National Memorial, which is a wonderful spot and a fitting tribute to those who lost their lives in the bombing of the Federal building there. It's a great spot for photography, because it has this long shallow pool of water, which can yield some fabulous reflections. I spent quite a while there, snapping away happily, and eventually the nice clouds you see here turned into an amazing sunset.
You can find more images from this spot by looking in the "Categories" sidebar on the right, and clicking on "Oklahoma City" - including some sunset shots from this Memorial. I will be visiting OKC again soon, and hope to explore more of the unique spots this city has to offer!
In case you are wondering, the structures you see under the trees are actually sculptures of chairs, with each one representing someone who died that day. Each one has a name inscribed on it, and there are even small chairs to represent the children that died that day - very sad actually, but a fitting tribute.
Sunrise on the Oklahoma Capitol
When I was in OKC for business, I got up early one morning to see if I could catch the sunrise, and I also wanted to see about getting some shots of their Capitol building. I like Capitol buildings, and I like morning light, so it made for a great combo. Only problem was that it was really cold! Anyways, I did manage to get a few shots in and around the Capitol, which is a nice place, and upon my departure I was rounding the building from the back when I saw this scene. I just had to get it.
Sunset in OKC
Here's another version of the beautiful sunset I experienced while in OKC recently. This is the full, wide view of the Oklahoma City Memorial. There were some folks walking around off to the left side, and they ghosted a little bit if you zoom in, but it seemed fitting to leave them. The sunset was miraculous and the color in the sky amazing that night. I was happy to witness it and capture this HDR.
Christmas in Bricktown
Bricktown is the old historic district in downtown Oklahoma City, OK. It's a fun little area with a lot of restaurants and the like. On my recent trip up there, I wandered around one evening and found that they were ready for the holidays. There is a little river that meanders through the area and I just followed that, taking shots here and there and here and there. It was fun, but I like that sort of thing. In this shot I was happy to find both some cool reflections as well as a wet sidewalk - two things I always enjoy photographing.
The OKC Memorial
This is the Memorial in Oklahoma City, OK which was created to honor those who died during the bombing of the Federal Building there, all those years ago. It is a beautiful memorial - very peaceful and quiet too, as you would expect - and I was lucky enough to experience it during a magical sunset.
Reflections at the OKC Memorial
Here's another view of the OKC Memorial from my recent trip up to Oklahoma City. The sun was setting somewhat behind me and to the right, and cast a nice warm glow on that building, accentuating the orangish hue. It was a wonderful sunset and having that wide pool of water there for the reflections just made it for me.
OKC Decay
I was driving in downtown Oklahoma City, OK and looking for a place to park so I could visit the Memorial, when I saw this abandoned old building. I quickly swerved into a spot and got out the Nikon. I like gritty, urban scenes and this place was interesting. I could not get in but definitely got some shots of the exterior and some through those broken windows. I only had a few minutes though because it was nearly sunset and I wanted to get to the Memorial, so I fired off some shots and got back to my real mission that day!
The memory of trees
I hesitate to Google it, but I think the title of this shot is also the title of an album by Enya. Must have been buried somewhere deep in my subconscious. Anyways, about the shot. It was nearly sunset, and I was in Oklahoma City at the Memorial there for the Federal Building bombing that happened years ago. There is this wonderful shallow pool and these trees lined one side of it. Reflections are something I always chase with the camera, and this scene just screamed HDR to me. All those little things behind the trees are chairs, representing the fallen victims. There are small chairs which represent the children - oh and there are names on each chair. It's very sad actually, but a touching and beautiful tribute.