I took this drone photo right after sunrise near Mid-Beach. You can see a few people walking on the beach along with the seagulls. I love the colors, textures, layers and patterns in this photo.
Detroit Urbe Reflections
Happy Friday night. Here is a 2018 throw back from a Detroit urban exploration photo weekend. I captured this photo upstairs in the Cadillac Stamping plant after it rained hard. I loved the refection of all the plumbing, metal work and industrial machinery.
Magic Path
This is the path underneath the Lawrence Convention Center in downtown Pittsburgh. The lights change colors randomly, so as you stand there it will be blue, red, purple, etc…. In warm weather, it also has water running down the walls and on each side of the path, which also make for a unique photo op…. Just a cool spot.
Our Lady Help
This is an abandoned church in Pittsburgh called Our Lady Help of Christians Church. I took this photo back in 2019, but just edited it within the last month. This isn’t a very large church, but it is pretty amazing. Just imagine what it must have looked like back in the day.
Monastery in Kiev
When the world returns to normal, Blair wants to go back to Ukraine to visit Chernobyl again…and I’m ready as well. This is the St. Michael’s Golden-Domed Monastery in Kiev. It has a Cathedral, bell tower, refectory and gates, which are all built in the Ukrainian Baroque Style.
Blair and I visited this spot while completing a huge photo walk around a number of historic locations in the city near the Dnieper River.
Chernobyl School
On this Sunday, I have a photo for you that I took inside one of the many abandoned schools within the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. This specific school was in the city of Pripyat (the town right next to the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant). We explored this school and took a ton of photos of it and frankly everything else we explored during our 4 days within the Zone.
G Wagon
On a cold winter day, I have a Mercedes Benz G550 photo for you. I took this photo last August with downtown Pittsburgh in the background.
Point Betsie
Here is another photo of Point Betsie Lighthouse near Frankfort Michigan. This spot is great. I loved the entire vibe.
PNC Park From Above
Here is a photo I took in late 2019 of downtown Pittsburgh. You can see the baseball stadium (PNC Park), Allegheny River, the three sister bridges (one being renovated), the Lawrence Convention Center and most of downtown.
Shutter Rush Piano
The most common item I find left behind in abandoned buildings are pianos…. I can’t imagine why!! This is from a performing arts theater in Pittsburgh. I captured this during the filming of Shutter Rush - Steel City, which is in production now to be released on Amazon Prime in the future.
South Haven Light
Short post tonight…. Here is an up close view of the South Haven Light via my drone on the Lake Michigan coast.
My Super Bowl Selection
As you’ve probably noticed on my blog before, I’m a Tom Brady fan from his days at the University of Michigan. Plus, my Detroit Lions never win, so I have always needed a back up team. When Brady was in New England, I’d cheer from them. Now I’m cheering for Tampa Bay in tonight’s Super Bowl. I’m assuming the Chiefs will win, but I’ll still cheer for the GOAT quarterback to win….
I took this photo of him back in 2016, when the Patriots were at Heinz Field.
Faena Mammoth
I found this beauty, pre-trip while doing research of cool photography spots around Miami Beach. I almost always research photo spots before traveling. Anyway, I found this guy and put him on my “Photo Wish List”. I did something at this spot that I don’t think I’ve ever done. I went back to this spot three different times in 30 hours, trying to photograph it in the best light. This first time I went, it was late in the afternoon and all I got was reflections off the glass from the sun, which I should have thought about in advance. The second time was right before sunrise the next morning, when I captured this photo. I couldn’t stay as long as I wanted (I was hoping to capture it closer to sunrise), but security ran me off. So, I thought I missed an opportunity and probably didn’t get any good photos. Therefore, I went back again later that day right before sunset, hoping to capture a good shot. I used polarizing filters, wide angle lens, zoom lens, and many other technics to minimize the glare off the glass. Turns out the best time was this shot before sunrise. At least that was the best shot I captured, I’m sure a better photographer would have captured this better all three times.
Note: Artist Damien Hirst created this with a real mammoth skeleton, gold PVD covered stainless steel, powder-coated steel, rubber and gold leaf. You don’t see many Mammoth Skeletons in many hotels….but they have one at the Faena Hotel Miami Beach.
Warthogs
Here is a photo of two cute Warthogs I captured during an animal safari in Kruger National Park (South Africa)…. That was a great trip.
41st Street Lifeguard Shack
Miami has very cool lifeguard stations along Miami Beach. I don’t know how many variations they have, but they are all a wonderful Art Deco style. This is the one at 41st Street during sunrise.
If someone watched me while I photographed this spot, I”m sure they wondered what was wrong with me. I didn’t have time during the sunrise to photograph multiple lifeguard shacks, they are too far apart. So, I probably took 500 photos of this one from different perspective, different light (before, during and after the sunrise), different cameras, etc.. I’m sure they thought I lost my mind….. Maybe I did, but I think the final product was worth it. Oh…and the homeless people sleeping under the lifeguard shack probably wondered about me as well.
Goodbye Matthew
Well, my Lions traded Matthew Stafford to the LA Rams last night. All good things usually come to an end and the Lions got more than I expected for trading Matthew. So, I’ll wish him well and hope that Goff plays well for the Lions.
Salt Pier
I realize I have posted a few Bonaire pictures recently. Normally I try too mixt them up better. Sorry about that. Regardless, here is another one from this beautiful island. This is the Cargill Salt Pier and salt flats. Cargill is an American company that harvest sea salt in Bonaire for distribution all over the world. The salt flats seen in the background turn these pretty pink shades.
Soviet Propaganda
I took this photo these Soviet Statues under the People’s Friendship Arch in Kiev back in 2018. The Arch, you can see a portion of it on the right side, and these Hero’s Statues were constructed in 1982. They are supposed to depict friendship between Russian and Ukrainian peoples (soldiers - left statue and workers - right statue).
After the fall of the Soviet Union, the Ukrainian government announced plans to dismantle the arch as part of their 2016 decommunization laws.
Paradise
I miss traveling to wonderful spots around the world….. How about you? Let’s hope we can start to get out and about in late 2021. In the meantime, I keep using past photos as reminder of good times.
I took this drone photo on Seven Mile Beach in Grand Cayman back in early 2020, right before the world got shut down. By the way, this specific resort is the Kimpton Seafire Resort and Spa.
Bonaire Wind Surfing
I’ve never tried this and probably never will. But I can capture a good photo of someone else doing it while I stand on solid land.
