The Memorial Tournament

Dublin, Ohio

The second day of practice rounds were on Tuesday, May 29th. Since they allow cameras on practice round days only, this was an opportunity I did not want to miss. I was able to get a few shots of two of the most famous and still living golf personalities, Jack Nicklaus (67) and Arnold Palmer (78) during opening ceremonies.

Mayapples

I first noticed Mayapples when I was very young and when I see them each spring, it reminds me where I was when I first took notice of them.

Very green, perfect, and there before the leaves on the trees. The first sign that warmer weather was here to stay - for awhile.

The Bride

I do not seek to shoot weddings. I tell people that I don't care to shoot weddings, but still I've done several over the past twenty five years. This is the bride from my most recent wedding project. She is beautiful and inspired me to get very creative in lighting and angles.

I had to lay on the floor to get this angle. The lighting was supplied mostly by three flash units; two umbrella and a camera mounted flash. We staged photos before the guests arrived to take advantage of natural lighting through the stained glass windows.

Chair by the Red Door

Now and then, when out on a mission there is something else that is easily missed. While photographing a building across the street, this red door and chair was right behind. I was focused on something big, and yet this very simple but attractive setting was right behind me. I turned around-- click!

I didn't miss this one.

The Castle

One of my favorite subjects to photograph is the Castle in Urbana, Ohio.

The Castle was Urbana High School at the turn of the 20th Century, and has since been changed to the Junior High and added on to the North. The new High School was added on to the South in the 1950's.

The building is very photogenic from many different angles. Taking advantage of the bare trees in early spring, I thought this angle might be unusual.

Trillium

We've had some hard freezes since the flowers started blooming. The Trillium, however, are plentiful at Indian Mound Reserve in Green County, Ohio. The reserve is on State Route 42 between Wilberforce and Cedarville.

Early spring hikes are great because there is color but the trees are still bare - allowing a great view of the surroundings. There is life and there is color once again.

Dreams

I like to dream.

When I go to bed I'm hoping to have some good dreams. Last night I had a pretty cool dream.

I was entering back stage where I expected to meet up with some friends who were about to perform. There, in the midst of my friends, getting into the zone and mentally preparing himself for the performance was Jerry Garcia. Of course I wasn't expecting to see Jerry for obvious reasons, but nevertheless, he was there. I was actally looking for his very close friend, his life long friend, David. Although David and I call each other friends, David and Jerry were FRIENDS for a long time.

David was kind enough to give me a picture of him and Jerry when they were still teenagers. David and I have known each other only for the past six years.

Anyway - Jerry was there, getting ready to play.

Billy Laymon, still recovering from Typhus and wasn't able to perform and Pete Sears wasn't able to make it. So guess who they wanted to play bass? Yep, yours truly. So, I had my '72 Guild and my B15 all set up and ready to go and was going over some of the cords with Barry Sless and Mookie Siegel. I was feeling extremely apprehensive when David finally showed up. We had been waiting for him to arrive before we started.

He asked me what I wanted to start out with, and I said I was feeling queasy so let's start with some 3 chord rock-n-roll to warm up. Jerry said, "Here's something to warm up with." And turned to me so I could see the chords he was playing.

I picked right up on it, and started playing. Sorry, I don't remember the song or if it really was a real song. But there I was folks, a fill in for David Nelson Band with Jerry Garcia, Barry Sless, Mookie Siegel, and a drummer I'd never seen before. Man, I just realized, where's Charlie?

The photo is one I took of David when we were in PA a few years back.

Eldean Road Bridge

Between Troy and Piqua, Ohio, visible from US 25 (County Road 25A) where it intersects Eldean Road, is the Eldean Road Bridge over the Miami River. Previous photos that I made were just before the renovation. It looked great - it looked old. Now it looks very nice but perhaps lost some of it's historic value.

It is a long bridge and to cross over the timbers in you car is safe, but it sure doesn't feel safe. I also tried out some of my panorama techiques while photographing from the side. Check it out at http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/thumbpage.aspx?e=2661970.

Rike's Parking Garage

The last remnants of Rike's is being demolished. The department store and the newer parking garage was demo'd a few years ago. This was their parking garage that was built at the corner of Main and Monument Avenues in Dayton, Ohio after the demolitian of Steele High School around 1960. It outlasted Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.

Wet Tracks

It is important to be on the right track AND going the right direction. That is all.

Now - the photo.

This was taken just south of Tipp City, Ohio on obviously a dreary day. I went to Tipp City to work on my Smallvilletonberg project. It started raining so I went in a tavern. You can get a feel for the community as you listen to folks talk about the latest news (which for Tipp isn't too good today), sports, some political figures, and their ideas on human and racial relations.

Then I left and drove south along the old Miami Erie Canal. I turned right on Evanston Road and stopped at the tracks. It stopped raining momentarily so I got out and took a couple of dozen photos.

I tweeked this one with Photoshop. On the color version the grass became just a bit greener, the light-brown buds became a little brighter, and the dark woody bushes were brightened to give a little more detail. Of course, then I changed it to Black & White, brightened it just a tad and treated the contrast the same.

The Todds

I was given the opportunity and the priviledge of photagraphing this family. Of course, this being a very public blog, I will not get into the personal details. But, each one of us are faced with challenges from time to time and this families challenges has been a great encouragement to others.
What can we suffer that would be so great that would be greater than the lessons we can learn? If our intent is to learn - to grow - to be more than what we are, what is it that we would not be willing to indure?
Gold is refined in fire and diamonds are created under great pressure.

Summer

When we were children,
especially young children,
summers lasted.
The heat was rarely noticed.
Running in a field, throwing stones in the river,
or wading up a wooded creek flipping rocks and catching salamanders.
We did those things randomly,
spontaneously.
There were no calendars,
no schedules,
no itinerary,
but somehow ever day was filled with activity -
and everyday moved slowly
allowing us to fit in enumerable accomplishments.
Now I'm told,
if I want to play golf,
I cannot do it spontaneously,
I have to play it on purpose
scheduled at least a week in advance.
Recreation is best if it is on an itinerary
with multiple other commitments.
It must be rationed
and redeemed
with regularity -
part of a strict regimen.
That's what I'm told.
We looked forward to summers
when we were young,
didn't we?
I'm looking forward to summer again.
I want to watch the children play.
See if I can learn something.