Shot in the fall of 2008, this is one of my all time favorites. Kind of a niche thing, but I love how it is framed by the trees. Order a print or download now for the astronomer in your life. This photo was taken with my Olympus E-510.
This is a side chapel at the famed San Xavier del Bac mission outside of Tucson, Arizona. From the mission website:
The present church was built from 1783 – 1797 by the Franciscan Fathers Juan Bautista Velderrain and Juan Bautista Llorenz. Little is know about the actual labor of the construction of the church, who was the architect, who were the artisans, but many believe it was the Tohono O’odham who fufilled these roles. San Xavier Mission is acclaimed by many to be the finest example of mission architecture in the United States. It is a graceful blend of Moorish, Byzantine and late Mexican Renaissance architecture, yet the blending is so complete it is hard to tell where one type begins and another ends.
Whether you prefer this color version or the black and white version, they are both available in my art gallery for purchase as prints or downloads.
The image above is of a braided hose line on the primary lift motor of a Titan II missile. In September of 2008 I had the opportunity to visit the Titan II Museum outside of Tucson, AZ. The museum is actually a decommissioned Titan II complex, a relic of the Cold War. This photo is available for purchase as a print or digital download in my Art Gallery.
I took several interesting pictures on that day. It was one of the more fruitful photography days I have had, most likely because that’s all it was supposed to be. No doubt more of those images will make their way here as photos of the week.
More information about the museum can be seen at their website.
On 09.10.08, In Photos, By Chester
Outside of Tucson is this 300 year old Spanish Mission. More information about it is at sanxaviermission.org.
Based on the success of my recent sepia picture, I decided to treat this one the same way. Most historic pictures of the old west are in sepia, so it seemed appropriate. And it is an easy thing to do with Lightroom 2.
Going to get out and shoot some today, working on my real estate photography skills. Conference ends this afternoon, but I am here until tomorrow. Plenty of practice time.
On 09.09.08, In Photos, By Chester
There are so many historical things to photograph out there. Some of it seems more timely than others. With the sabre-rattling going on over Georgia, perhaps a photo of this Cold War relic is a timely one.
This Titan II Missile is standing in a nearly complete missile complex in Tucson, Arizona. Decommissioned in the 1980′s, all but this one were blasted to a depth of 20 feet to ensure they could not be easily reused, and so that the Soviet Union could verify their destruction via overhead satellite passes. This one was spared, for historical purposes, and turned into a museum. They give tours ( http://www.titanmissilemuseum.org/ ) which are interesting and very informative (AAA Members get $1 off the tour admission BTW). This was a fascinating place to me, having wanted to be a rocket scientist at one point in my life. We always joked with the ROTC students that they were just going to be “key turners” once they graduated (they all wanted to be pilots naturally). Mutually assured destruction seems like insanity to me, but it did keep both sides form using these destructive weapons.
Anyway, if you are in Tucson, this is one thing worth checking out. I got some other interesting photos while there, but most are just of the ‘snapshot’ variety to show people what these facilities were like.
As for the photo, I cropped it, selectively reduced exposure in some areas, and then applied an “aged photo” preset, all in Adobe Lightroom 2
On 09.08.08, In Photos, By Chester
Arrived in Phoenix yesterday morning and drove to Tucson to see a few things. This is the underside of the Kitt Peak Solar Telescope.
I am on a laptop with Lightroom 1.3 (might upgrade it to 1.41), and am not doing much work on the pictures while I am down here. I’ll still post pics this week, but there won’t be much in the way of post-processing. I also might do some Synth’s of my room and some other areas here at the Westin Kierland Resort in Scottsdale, AZ.
Off to the desert
Sunday I am flying to Phoenix for 4 days to attend an IT Conference for work (conference is in Scottsdale). I get in to PHX around 9:30am local time, at which time I will head to Tucson. I lived in Prescott, AZ for 5 years in college (Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University) and never went to Tucson. So this time I am going to. Not sure what exactly I am going to do down there yet, but I am hoping to be at Kitt Peak at dusk and into the evening to get some pics of the observatories. I’ll try to get out to shoot every day, and hope to get my images posted here every evening. Keep an eye out, should be some good stuff. Anyone got recommendations on what to see in Tucson?