Tonight, I have a photo from the roofs of downtown Pittsburgh. I can’t say much more than that about it.
Pittsburgh Skyline
Here is a slightly different Pittsburgh perspective. I took this down near the Clemente Bridge on top of an abandoned building last year. It was a great evening and we captured some great pictures that night.
To view a larger version, click here: https://500px.com/photo/191115243/pittsburgh-skyline-by-brook-ward?ctx_page=1&from=user&user_id=3695440
Pittsburgh Skyline
St. Maarten Rooftopping
When we visited St. Maartin, we stayed at the Simpson Bay Resort and Marina. The resort has a wonderful roof access that allows for a beautiful 180 degree view of the famous Simpson Bay. So I took advantage of this and took a ton of photos of the bay. But to be honest, this photo I took looking straight down at the resort pool was one of my favorites from this location.
To purchase a print or view the entire gallery, click the photo above.
Top Of The Rock View
Quick post tonight. Prior to our trip to NYC, we purchased tickets in advance so that we could be at the Top Of The Rock observation Deck (Rockefeller Center) at sunset. I heard from another photographer that it would be very crowded. So as soon as we got there, I should find a spot at the railing and not leave that spot. Otherwise, I’d never get a spot to photograph from again with all the people.
And I can tell you, that was great advice. We got up there about 1 hour before sunset and almost didn’t get a spot. Once I secured my spot, I couldn’t really move even if I wanted to. It was so crowded up there and at times it was six people deep all the way around the observation deck. MJ was a super wife and patiently waited at the top of this building with me for over two hours while I took over 900 photos. I photographed the skyline as it changed from full sun, to sunset, then blue hour and finally to full night sky. I just took a ton of photos as the sky changed. I loved it. MJ tolerated it, but as always she didn’t complain.
To purchase a print or view the entire gallery, click the photo above.
Top Ten Photo Moments of 2013 (for me)
Below is a list of what I consider my top ten photographic moments for 2013. Most of them made the list because I enjoyed the environment, liked the history, cherished the experience and/or just had a great time. As you look at the list, I’ve included links to former blog posts (which includes pictures) from these events. Feel free to browse the list and leave a comment below about your favorite 2013 photo moment.
10. Pittsburgh Skylines – It is hard to get a bad photo of the Pittsburgh skyline. Over the last year, I probably photographed it from a dozen locations at all hours of the day.
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9. Pitt vs. FSU – Little did I know when I photographed this game early in the season that I was watching the next Heisman Trophy Winner – Jameis Winston. He played a great game against Pitt. By the way, I enjoyed all the Pitt football games I photographed.
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8. Abandoned Facilities with Brad and Dave: We photographed an abandoned school, abandoned hospital, and Pennsylvania’s Abandoned Turnpike. These were my favorite locations among the tons of locations we visited. My favorites over the year were the urban explorations we did at these three abandoned locations. I love any old abandoned facility that has cool old architecture, a history, etc… They just don’t make buildings like they used to!
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7. Eastern State Penitentiary – This was a special treat. I had an entire day to myself in Philly, so I went to the one place I wanted to see. I spent about 5 hours wandering around this old facility examining every room, learning the history and photographing some amazing locations.
6. San Francisco – This was our first visit to San Francisco and we had a great time. I had a huge list of potential locations to visit, but we ran out of time. Some of the highlights from this trip were photographing the Redwood Trees in Muir National Monument, the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz.
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5. Rickett’s Glen State Park – Before I moved to Pennsylvania, a past coworker (Melissa) told me about this state park. So for three years I waited for the right time to visit this park. MJ and I took a weekend to visit this amazing location. During the late 1930’s this place was supposed to become a national park. A little thing called World War 2 interrupted this transaction. My reason for visiting was to hike the waterfall trail. This 3-mile loop has 21 named waterfalls ranging in size from 15 to 94 feet tall. Plus there are dozens (maybe more then a 100) small waterfalls as well. I was in North America waterfall heaven.
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4. Bull Shark Scuba Diving – Something about sharks is always a cool experience in my book. I’ve dived and photographed Tiger Sharks, Great White Sharks, Reef Sharks, Lemon Sharks, Nurse Sharks, etc… In December, we had a great trip to the Puerto Morelos area of Mexico and the cherry on top was photographing Bull Sharks at 60 feet deep.
3. New York City Skyline from the Brooklyn Bridge Park – This was a very cool experience. I was down at this park around 11pm on a Saturday night. I met another photographer at that spot (who I’ve maintained contact with) and of course I got some great shots of the city skyline along with other great pictures of the city over the course of our trip.
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2. Lions vs. Steelers – I don’t get to see my favorite team (Detroit Lions) in person very much. So to get the opportunity to photograph this game from the sideline at Heinz Field was great. While at the game, I got to visit with an old co-worker and friend (Steve), who I haven’t seen in almost 13 years. To bad the Lions lost, but I loved it anyway. I also had a great time photographing all the Steelers games I covered all season long.
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And the top photographic moment of 2013 is:
1. Iceland – Our trip to Iceland was an amazing experience and I loved every photographic moment. Afterward, MJ admitted that it was beautiful, even though she wasn’t excited about this location. I snapped thousands of photos and made the most of the limited time we had in this impressive country. Some of the highlights were the beautiful Puffins, thousands of waterfalls, glaciers, hot springs, amazing vistas, and great people. You have to visit this country and it is only a 4.5-hour flight from Boston. So what’s your excuse for not going??
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Thanks for continuing to read my blog. I hope you enjoyed 2013 and my Top 10 list as much as I did. Don’t forget to leave a comment below about your favorite moment. Thanks and Happy New Year.
To purchase a print or view the entire gallery, click the photo above.
Special Post Tonight
I usually update this blog about every two or three days and I wasn't planning on a post tonight, since I posted a picture last night. But I got some fun news today. HDR One Magazine selected one of my pictures as part of their Top Five HDR pictures on Facebook this week. Not a very big deal, but I am proud regardless.
You can read their entire article and see the other four HDR photos at: http://hdrone.com
HDR One Magazine article on their top five favorite HDR photos on Facebook this week.
Here is my picture of Phipps Conservatory that was selected as part of the top five photos.