The Shard Reflection

During my London visit, Robert showed me this cool alley to capture some wonderful images of the Shard, which is what they call the tall skyscraper in this photo.  I liked this version from the numerous I took in this area.  For this photo, I moved the camera right up next to a glass building to get this reflection. 

Tower Bridge

During a trip to London, I got a chance to visit a few amazing sites, conduct business and visit with friends (Karl and Robert).  I am very thankful to them for showing me the city and sharing a few pints.  A couple days after our nice visit, I met up with Robert again before sunrise (he wasn’t happy about getting up early) to capture some photos around Tower Bridge on the Thames River.  I got some great photos that morning.  Here is one from the street at the beginning of the bridge before sunrise.  I’ll post some more photos from this morning in the future.

 

By the way, I had a great time with my work peers, our attorneys, and the Howden insurance brokers as well.   

Cresson Prison Tunnels

During our time at the abandoned Pennsylvania SCI (State Correctional Institution) Cresson prison facility, I spent a little time exploring the underground tunnels by myself.  No electricity, so my flashlight was the only light source.  Just a little creepy.

Mardi Gras Sunrise

I took this photo at the stern of the Carnival Mardi Gras right underneath the roller coaster… (as you can guess by the title of this post) at sunrise.  I love how all the different colors in this photo play with your eyes.  I think it works in a weird way.  I don’t think you’d walk past this spot normally and think “photo spot”.  But on this morning, it caught my attention.

Panama Canal

Here is a series of photos I took a few years ago while travel through the Panama Canal on a ship.  It is an exciting and boring experience all at the same time. You can tell by the photos below, it takes awhile to travel through the canal…we started around noon and it was dark towards the end.

Razor Wire

Here is another photo from my recent exploration of the abandoned prison in central Pennsylvania.  The SCI Cresson campus is interesting for a number of reasons.  This photo isn’t the typical prison photo, if there is such a thing.  But I liked this perspective.

Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen

Today I’m sharing a photo series of the Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen Formula 1 team.  I captured these photos at the 2021 FIA Formula 1 U.S. Grand Prix which took place in Austin Texas. 

The #7 car was driven by Kimi Raikkonen and #99 by Antonio Giovinazzi.  Neither driver is with the team this season.  Kimi retired and Antonio was not offered a contract at the end of last season.  He ended up moving to the FIA’s electric racing car league for 2022.  The team didn’t do well last year, but they had one of my favorite livery (paint scheme).

Miami Beach Lifeguard Shack

I’m taking a break from urban exploration and Ukraine photos for a second.  Here is something a little happier. 

I took this series of photos during a past trip to the beach.  Per my normal routine, I got up early several mornings to capture the sunrise.  This was a great morning and the lifeguard shacks helped make for an interesting subject.  I also posted a behind the scenes video below of this morning.

Pre-War Chernobyl Factory

Continuous depressing news coming out of Ukraine.  Not that Russia is making much progress (that’s the good news), but more along the lines of more and more people getting hurt, killed and displaced.  So needless. 

Here are a few photos from the Jupiter Factory in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.    

SCI Cresson

Yesterday I got a chance to explore the abandoned SCI (State Correctional Institution) Cresson campus in central Pennsylvania.  The State closed this prison in 2013.  Along with being a prison it was also a mental hospital in the past (before being a prison) and before that it was a TB sanatorium.  The sanatorium opened in 1912 after 500 acres was donated to the cause.  It was originally known as Allegheny Tuberculosis Sanatorium.    

Towards the end of the day, I found the solitary confinement area of the prison.  All the cells had a normal prison bed, but not this one.  How bad do you have to be to get assigned to this cell?  I’m guessing very very bad.  I can’t imagine being chained to this bed.

2022 FIA Formula 1 Season About to Start

I’m still worried about and tracking progress in Ukraine, but I’m posting about something else today.  That doesn’t mean I stopped caring…...

 

Anyway, here is a video put together from our time at the U.S. Grand Prix in Austin Texas.

  I’m very excited about the upcoming F1 season kickoff.  Anyone else?

Pripyat Culture Center’s Swimming Pool

Here are a few photos (pre-war) of the community swimming pool in downtown Pripyat.  This spot within the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone is very close to the iconic Chernobyl Ferris Wheel.

 

I’m sure that all visitors to Chernobyl visit both the Ferris Wheel and this swimming pool.

 

My heart continues to break for the people of Ukraine….  I’m going to run out of Ukraine photos soon that I haven’t posted already.  I realize that by posting my Ukraine photos, that it doesn’t help the people of Ukraine.  But I hope in some small way, it keeps them and their situation in our thoughts.