Just after the first of January I flew to New York City for work. I only had a couple of days and so only had a few free hours each day to take photos. I’m not one to stay out late so instead I got up a bit earlier than I might normally and got out on the streets. I knew I wanted to see the Highline because I have wanted to visit for years. On my first morning that was my destination and I walked over there from my hotel and walked south the length of it from 34th Street to the Meat Packing District. It was a really foggy day and that made for mostly interesting black and white photos. I really loved it. I had the place virtually to myself and took my time exploring almost every inch. I had never seen “The Nest” before and I really enjoyed the public art along the Highline. Near the end you will see a couple of pictures around/near The Village. But here are my favorite photos mostly taken of the Highline and from it.
On the second morning the sun was out but it was really windy and really pretty cold. I made the decision to go back to the Highline to explore with the blue skies instead of fog. This time I started south in the Meat Packing District and walked the entire length to the north entrance. Here are a handful of my favorites mostly in color this time.
On the third morning I decided I needed to try one of NYC’s famous bagels at one of their most famous locations: Ess-a-Bagel. So I walked from my hotel toward their 3rd Ave. location. Maybe I’ll make some enemies from this statement but I found the bagel to be pretty much, “meh.” Sorry, sorry. But on my way back to my hotel I sorta stumbled upon Rockefeller Center – I’m not a person who has much of a sense of direction so I didn’t realize I’d see it on my walk back. It was another somewhat overcast day but I snapped a few photos from that area of town that I think turned out pretty well. Ended up with some in black and white and some in color depending on how I felt.
Overall I loved my trip! I fell in love with NYC all over again and can’t wait to go back!
My adventure this summer was another trip out West first to South Dakota and then a drive through Wyoming to Colorado. In South Dakota we ended up in a freak spring snow storm (May 21) where the area got 1.5 feet of snow. On the first heavy night of snow, try as we might, our rental car got stuck on the side of the road on our way back to the cabin. The snow was very wet and we came to a full stop because we missed a turn off toward our cabin and we just couldn’t get the car (despite 4-wheel drive) back into the rut that would give us the traction to get us home. And so our rental car was stuck on the side of a desolate mountain road for about 12 hours until the locals could come and plow the roads and pull us out. Our hope was to visit Custer State Park and or Badlands and or Spearfish Canyon for hiking and appreciating nature but the snow storm prevented all of that. We did have a wonderful birthday celebration for my sister-in-law and we spent the greater part of one day snowed into our cabin. We had a massive day-long game of family monopoly. It was fun in its own right!
Invariably the snow melted and we headed west and south through Wyoming toward roughly Glenwood Springs, Colorado. Our overnight was in Saratoga, Wyoming and I got the chance in the early morning light to take some photos that are definitely more in my Photos by Frances style. The weather was gorgeous and the town was deserted and the North Platte River is spectacular.
Our ultimate destination was a cabin in Redstone, Colorado and we had the luxury of spending a full day hiking along Avalanche Creek, which was just a couple of miles from the cabin. I fell in love with this area of Colorado and can’t wait to go back! Highlights of the hike included seeing a mama hummingbird in her nest and a bear (!) at the trailhead who was very obligatory toward the paparazzi gathered there to take photos (I didn’t get a good one).
I spent a short weekend in Savannah and, as per usual, it was overcast and rainy. I think I’ve never been to Savannah when it wasn’t. But that is just pure bad luck – for me – for photographing light and lines and compositions and colors (as per my usual style). And so, like Louisville, I threw my camera into black and white mode as we wandered around town. I feel like I got some decent photos (including one or two in color) and so I’ll post here for your perusal.
After our two days in Asheville we continued on to Louisville. I had never visited Louisville before and I wasn’t sure what to expect. We ended up really enjoying our time there. The downtown has changed and grown and there was a lot for us to see and do and a lot to drink and eat within a just a few block radius of the Galt House Hotel where we stayed. Our first day in town we wandered down to the Riverwalk on the Ohio River. The Riverwalk is an outstanding paved trail right along the Ohio that goes for many miles. In fact, an old railroad bridge (Big Four Bridge) has been turned into a pedestrian bridge and takes you over the river into Indiana. The trail goes on for miles and miles. We walked a couple of miles and we also rented shared bikes for one hour and headed over to Indiana. In terms of Photos by Frances photography, the day was overcast so I flipped my camera into black and white mode. I gotta say, it was a dream landscape for me as an urban photographer who focuses on architecture, lines, and compositions. It appears that recently the Ohio flooded its banks (it was still 5 feet above normal) but the effect on the Riverwalk was eerily post-apocalyptic. It didn’t help that we were some of the only people down there. There was debris, trash, and mud still lying on many portions of the walking path and in the main park (Waterfront Park). Here are my favorite photos.
Winter in Athens has been wet and overcast and apparently that was no different in Asheville. When we traveled there for spring break, folks were congratulating us on having a couple of pretty days while we were in town. Happily I had the opportunity to get out with my camera one sunny morning and wander for a couple of hours. I don’t presume that I take the best photos of any given city but I do most certainly take photos in my own style. That style focuses on tight compositions, colorful details, and the way lines, shadows, and light interplay. I’ve uploaded here what I think are some of the best of what I took from my wanderings downtown and up by the Grove Arcade area.
I bought a new Sony A7II in February and by April its performance had deteriorated. It took awhile to figure out the mystery of what was happening. At first I thought the battery was dying incredibly quickly, like after 10 photos. But then through experimentation I learned that the battery was not indeed dead it was just “disconnecting” from the camera. If I turned the camera off then it would not turn back on. It was totally dead: the shutter wouldn’t click and the screen was black. But if I removed the battery and reinserted it – while the camera was still on – then it would start up again. I contacted Sony in May and sent it in for repairs – twice! Twice it came back to me with the exact same problem. Perhaps at their repair center they could not recreate the problem? Finally I convinced Sony to send me a replacement camera and it arrived today! The long national nightmare has ended! I will say that I hope I *never* hear the customer service hold music again. I could probably whistle it in my sleep I was on hold with them for so long and for so many calls. It was a little frustrating but in the end they did the right thing by replacing the camera. I clearly got “a lemon” the first time around.
Today I felt like taking photos but also going for a hike so I took the new camera to the Botanical Gardens here in Athens and took some abstract, black and white nature photographs. Here is the set. I hope you enjoy.
I always absolutely love exploring a new city with my camera. We went to Birmingham, Alabama for a business trip and the days were beautiful and Birmingham proved to be a clean, friendly, and walkable city. We stayed mostly in Downtown Birmingham. We didn’t make it to Five Points South unfortunately. We also explored Uptown a little bit – although that is a brand new area of town, apparently.
The architecture was inspiring! It was a very interesting mix of old and new buildings. New cities always provide me with new perspectives, new angles, new light, and new lines. All in all, it was a great trip for taking photographs. Here is a smattering.
Probably one year ago Steve started working with a tour company to provide a Civil War Battlefield tour called: In the Footsteps of the Civil War Soldier. That work came to fruition last week when 22 Civil War buffs –including myself – embarked on a five-day tour with Steve as their peerless leader. I actually didn’t get very many photographs. As you can tell from my website, nature shots aren’t really my thing. But Antietam and Gettysburg Battlefields are incredibly beautiful – and I’m sure my photos don’t do them justice anyway. First I’ll share some pictures of Antietam.
The third morning of the tour I got some time in downtown Gettysburg to do some of my more typical photographs of the urban environment. I was so lucky that the light was absolutely amazing and the town was full of interesting textures and angles. I really could have spent hours there but only had around 50 minutes.
My last day on the tour (I only got to tag along for 3 days) included a morning at Gettysburg battlefield and the stories we heard were absolutely amazing: both shocking and heartbreaking. If you’ve never been then you need to go to Gettysburg and talk with experts about the battlefield and the battle that changed the course of the Civil War. (At least I think that’s what they said.)
My photos are only meant to give you the briefest taste of the beauty of these National Parks. Both of these battlefields are maintained by the National Park Service. Thank you to the NPS for doing such a spectacular job!
I traveled to Idaho for the 2017 Great American Eclipse and I brought my camera – though I had no intention of trying to take eclipse photos. I decided to enjoy the experience and leave the photos to the experts.
But I did decide that I had to spend one good, long morning in downtown Idaho Falls, Idaho and take some photosbyfrances of my birthplace and old home town. The sun was behind the clouds most of the morning so I switched into black and white. But when the sun re-appeared I snapped a few color photos. Here they are! Take a look. Thanks!
I made one of my semi-regular trips back to Idaho Falls this late summer. This was the first time I’ve taken my camera and so I got up Wednesday morning and went to downtown with the intention of doing my photosbyfrances thing in the great urban city of Idaho Falls, Idaho. Unfortunately, the sun was mostly behind clouds all morning so I couldn’t get any of my signature light and shadow shots. I was disappointed about that, but I switched my camera into black and white and think I got some pretty decent stuff.
A little bit later in the morning the sun came and out so I’ll share a post with color photos next….
