412 Spring

I hope you have a great holiday tomorrow (4th of July).  For those of you outside the United States, this is the day the U.S. celebrates its Independence Day. 

For your viewing pleasure tonight, here is a photo of downtown Pittsburgh, which I captured this spring.   

To view a larger version, click HERE

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Pitt Wall

I’ve looked online and can’t find anything about this decorative wall on the North Shore of Pittsburgh.  I’ve lived in the area for 9 years and it pre-dates me, but I don’t know the history.  At some point over that time, they gave it a facelift…Otherwise it just been sitting there. 

I took this photo a week ago while Michael and Robert were in town.  We walked around downtown Pittsburgh Friday evening taking photos.  I liked how the river and city behind the wall look in this photo.

 

To view a larger version, click HERE

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Window With A View

This was a fun spot to explore and I loved these windows looking out at the Allegheny River.  Unfortunately, the last time I went, we discovered that someone painted over the windows with graffiti.  I normally love graffiti as an art form, but this artist didn’t have to cover these beautiful windows with it…..  Ugh!!  Well, at least I have my photos from before the graffiti.

To view a larger version, click HERE

Don’t forget to check out my photo galleries.  I update and add to them often.  PLUS….don’t forget you can get a free gift and 10% off great Think Tank camera gear by using this link: http://bit.ly/2FVW0eg

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For Our Children

When MJ and I were in Charlotte, we had some free time to walk around the downtown area.  We found this mural and it called to me.  I don’t know who Rasul Ullah is.  Did he paint the mural or is that his quote?  I don’t know, but I liked the mural.

To view a larger version, click HERE

Don’t forget to check out my photo galleries.  I recently updated them.

Make America Great Again...Black Inventors

On our recent trip to Charlotte, MJ and I wandered around the downtown area.  It was basically deserted, since it was Christmas day.  We found this mural on an abandoned building a few blocks from Marshall Park in the southeast corner of downtown.  I thought it was an appropriate photo following today’s event.

To view a larger version, click here:  https://500px.com/photo/194226185/make-america-great-again-black-inventors-by-brook-ward?ctx_page=1&from=user&user_id=3695440

Graffiti in Charlotte

Graffiti in Charlotte

Pittsburgh North Shore Panorama

Today I have a panoramic picture for you from the North Shore of Pittsburgh Pennsylvania.  If you haven’t been to Pittsburgh, the downtown area is beautiful, safe, and very photogenic. 

I took this photo when Michael (from Sacramento CA) was here for a photo walk with me.  We covered a bunch of the city from mid afternoon to very late that night.  It was fun catching up with him and it resulted in some great photos as well.  This panorama is made up of 25 exposures.

To purchase a print or view the entire gallery, please click the photo above.

To purchase a print or view the entire gallery, please click the photo above.

Curves

This is the Alcoa building on the North Shore of Pittsburgh.  Alcoa Inc stands for Aluminum Company of America and is the 3rd largest producer of aluminum in the world.  From the Pittsburgh operational base, they conduct operations in 31 countries.  Alcoa produces primary aluminum, fabricated aluminum, and alumina combined.  Basically, they are all things aluminum.  You get the point.  Anyway………

It’s a cool building with the unique curves, shapes and style.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.   

To purchase a print or view the entire gallery, click the photo above.

To purchase a print or view the entire gallery, click the photo above.

Alcoa Headquarters

Here is another picture from my photo walk last week with Dave, Brad and Blair.  This is the Alcoa Headquarters building on the north shore area of Pittsburgh.  We had a great “blue hour” that night and this is just another example of the great lighting we had that night. 


Have a great Sunday.

To purchase a print or view the entire gallery, click the photo above.

To purchase a print or view the entire gallery, click the photo above.

North Shore River Walk

Okay, we’re back from Mexico and I am already sick of snow and cold weather.  So I am posting this picture from last summer.  I took this on the North Shore of Pittsburgh on a walk with my son along the river.  He, MJ and I all had a great day.  I love the clouds in the sky that day.

To purchase a print or view the entire gallery, click the photo above.

To purchase a print or view the entire gallery, click the photo above.

Pitt vs UNC at Heinz Field

Well this was almost a touchdown catch, but he dropped it.  Regardless, I liked the picture.  So day one of my big football weekend is done.  I photographed this game from the sideline and will do the same at the NFL Steelers vs. Lions tomorrow.  I am very excited about tomorrow’s game because the Lions only play in Pittsburgh once every 12 years.  I can’t wait to see Calvin Johnson, Bush, and the rest of the Lions in what I hope is a win for them.  I’ll post some photos from that game either Sunday or Monday night.  For now, you can see more photos from the Pitt vs. UNC game at this link: http://brookward.smugmug.com/Sports/NCAA/Pitt-vs-UNC-2013

To purchase a print or see the entire gallery, click the photo above.

To purchase a print or see the entire gallery, click the photo above.

Funky Statue

I have no idea what this funky statue on the north shore of Pittsburgh is supposed to be or represent, but it caught my eye.  So you get the benefit of seeing it here tonight.

Side Note:

  Sorry I missed posting a picture last night.  We traveled to Indianapolis yesterday afternoon/evening.  We got here late, checked into our hotel and grabbed a late dinner.  Then I went right to bed, because this morning I got up early and ran the One America Indianapolis 500 Mini Marathon (13.1 mile half marathon) with a friend who is from the greater Chicago area.  We’ve run this race a number of years in a row together.  His son Adam also came in from California to run with us. 

This half marathon is the largest half marathon in the country with over 30,000 participates.  We survived, finished, didn’t get hurt, and finished with fairly good times.  We’ve done better in past years. 

I hope you had a great Saturday.

​To purchase a print or view the entire gallery, please click the picture above.

​To purchase a print or view the entire gallery, please click the picture above.

Pittsburgh Panorama

As you know last weekend, we went to the National Aviary on the North Shore of Pittsburgh.  It is well worth a visit.  Anyway, between going to the Aviary and hitting a Speakeasy that night, I took a few photos. 

Here is a panorama from the north shore looking back at downtown Pittsburgh.  I’ve taken pictures from this spot many times.  It is a great location. 

Photo Technique:

Multiple HDR images are merged together to create this panorama.  I used a tripod, with my camera in vertical orientation.  I shot 5 sets of brackets (each bracket set included 7 exposures for a total of 35 images).  After shooting each set of brackets, I moved the camera to the right making sure part of my photo over lapped the previous spots.  By over lapping them, I can effectively merge them together later. 

After I download the images, I created the 5 HDR images (each one using 7 exposures) using Photomatix Pro.  The key here is to not change any of the settings so all five HDR images are processed the same.  Once I got that done, I used the Photoshop Automate Photomerge feature to put them all together for one panorama picture.  I finished by cropping and some minor editing.  

​To order a print or view the entire photo gallery, click the photo above

​To order a print or view the entire photo gallery, click the photo above

National Aviary

Yesterday we went to the National Aviary in the North Shore area of Pittsburgh.  They have a great collection of birds from all over the world in bunch of enclosures. 

This photo is of a Steller’s Sea Eagle, which is a large bird of prey.  They live in coastal northeastern Asia (Bering Sea & Sea of Okhotsk in Russia) and on average is the heaviest eagle in the world.  Up close, these eagles are impressive and tough looking.  

To purchase a print or view the entire photo gallery, please click the picture above.​

To purchase a print or view the entire photo gallery, please click the picture above.​