Tag

sunset

June 3, 2013

Queen Mary panoramic gets Explored on Flickr

The Queen Mary panoramic gets Explored on Flickr!!! Woohoo! (if you have no idea what that means, read on…)

I learned a lot yesterday. If you think that the Explore page is just a completely random assortment of photos posted throughout the day on Flickr, you are just as uninformed as yesterday me.Read More

April 2, 2013

This is the world that I know

This is how I view the world. Not to say that every sunset is an explosion of red and gold, but that there is beauty all around us that we take for granted way too often. We find ourselves mired in the petty minutiae of our daily lives. Deadlines, office politics, relationship woes, familial disputes. All of it gnaws away at our personal sense of innocence and wonder and leaves behind something lessened and jaded. Or at least that’s the way I feel from time to time.Read More

January 9, 2013

Twilight Over the Camel’s Back

I had a lot of fun shooting in and around the JW Marriott Camelback Inn while I was in Scottsdale awhile back. I got this shot after a pretty long day of shooting.

The sun had set while I was climbing down Mummy Mountain, so I headed back to the resort for some dinner. I ended up having the steak skewers and guacamole (along with a couple G&Ts) at the hotel bar at the suggestion of the bartender. And kudos to him, because all of it was top notch.Read More

December 2, 2012

“Shine on, winter sun” receives top honors at BMA Lantern Awards

It was a great night, indeed, as the Business Marketing Association of Houston celebrated their 25th Annual Lantern Awards on Thursday, November 29. Brian C. Parks and Mike Killalea, representing the International Association of Drilling Contractors and Drilling Contractor magazine, picked up a Lantern Award for Best Original Photography on Thursday night, the BMA’s top honor. The IADC was previously honored with a Lantern Award in 2007 for Best Magazine and has also taken home numerous Awards of Excellence for editorial and design in the years between.Read More

November 14, 2012

Camelback at Dusk

First off, let me say that I am not a hiker. That being said, I will occasionally break out the sneakers and walk a trail or two. Luckily, I had some free time during my recent trip to Scottsdale to do just that. Scaling Mummy Mountain gave me a great view of the JW Marriott Camelback Inn and Camelback Mountain.

I hung out for awhile to catch what little I could of the sunset from my vantage point. Having missed quite a spectacular Arizona sunset the night before, I was determined to shoot one before I left. Unfortunately, the sunset this evening held only a fraction of the extravagance from the night before. But we do what we can, so I set up the tripod and started shooting away.Read More

October 30, 2012

Remember the Alamo?

Every time I visit San Antonio and have the opportunity to, I always make a point to visit the Alamo. Aside from the remains of the structure itself, I’ve always been fascinated by the monument across from the it (the Alamo Cenotaph, as it’s known). According to the San Antonio Ghost Tours, it’s one of the only monuments in the nation that features a spirit or ghost (and prominently, at that). The front of the monument features what appears to be a ghostly figure rising from the fire (the “Spirit of Sacrifice”).

On the other side is a sculpture of a woman (who I misinterpreted to be an angel) who is supposed to symbolize the state of Texas.Read More

August 27, 2012

Sunset over Tyler Tech

I witnessed an amazing sunset the other night behind the Tyler Technologies building while I was out for a walk. There was a storm brewing which made for some amazing contrasts of color.

Unfortunately, by the time I ran inside to grab my tripod and camera, I had missed most of the really cool stuff…Read More

August 20, 2012

Carnival of Madness

This past Friday the Carnival of Madness tour rolled through town with a stop at the Lubbock Events Center. Though Evanescence was the headliner, I was really anticipating seeing Chevelle and a group I’d only just started listening to, Halestorm. I missed the first two openers, Cavo and New Medicine, though I heard good things about them.

Chevelle didn’t disappoint! Despite hitting some technical issues with the guitar setup midway through (in which I was really hoping for a kick-ass bass/drum combo jam), they managed to put on one of the more impressive rock performances I’ve seen out of a trio. In my opinion, their performance was more powerful than Evanescence (Amy Lee’s vocals seemed drowned out for the most part by the four-piece and various synth orchestrations backing her up).Read More

August 10, 2012

Chaves County War Memorial, Roswell, NM

Here’s another shot from Roswell, NM. Directly in front of the courthouse is the Chaves County War Memorial, which was unveiled late last year.

It’s taken me forever to process these HDR shots. For whatever reason, the contrast of the blue-gray clouds and the setting sun created such a strange mix of colors. Every time I processed them and started editing, I would waste so much time trying over and over again to get it to look right.Read More

August 8, 2012

Sunset Boulevard, San Diego

This was a throwaway shot I took near the bay in San Diego right across the street from the Star of India. It was another of those moments when I’m shooting away at the setting sun, then I turn around to notice, “hey, there’s stuff going on behind me.”

I loved the way the sun was reflecting off the buildings, bathing them in yellow and orange. It was a nice contrast to the darkening blue sky. I probably could’ve waited a few minutes for a more dramatic sky, but might have lost some of the color reflected off the windows. Oh well, I was late for dinner, anyway.Read More

August 7, 2012

Roswell Courthouse by Lamp Light

The courthouse in Roswell, NM was (sadly) one of the most interesting things about the city. I, of course, was imagining a place where little green men run loose on the streets instead of being locked up in underground facilities. Oh well. Aside from a few kitschy alien-inspired gift shops and the random UFO floating around (not literally), there isn’t much to see. Even the restaurant we picked didn’t have a UFO theme to it (and, we later discovered, wasn’t even exclusive to Roswell).Read More

July 23, 2012

Boats At Bay

I had seen a photo like this (albeit one much more masterfully crafted) a long time ago and was fascinated by the juxtaposition of clouds and sea with rows of boats sandwiched between and reflected in the water.

In that photo however, the water perfectly reflected the boats in such a way that you could flip it 180° and not be able to tell the difference.Read More

July 20, 2012

Seaport Village Sunset

Seaport Village along the coast of San Diego, California is a bustling area full or restaurants, shops, and outdoor markets. Arriving there just in time for the sunset, I was treated to a plethora of colors reflecting off the water and rocks surrounding the village. I continued walking along the coast, but this was one of the more spectacular sunset shots I got.Read More

May 12, 2012

Skies Over Roswell, NM

Overall, Roswell was pretty disappointing. Being a big alien geek, I was expecting so much more from the way it’s depicted in movies and TV shows. It had a handful of neat alien-themed gift shops, a rather lackluster UFO museum, but that was about it.

They did, however, have a pretty nice courthouse (which is right behind me in this photo). The sun was setting and the storm clouds gathering, so I set up the tripod and started snapping away at the courthouse. If I hadn’t turned around when I did, I would have missed the sunset completely.Read More

January 16, 2012

Photo of the day

So I’ve recently started taking Trey Ratcliff’sHDR Tutorial and have been itching to get out and take some photos. We’ve been having some gnarly weather here between the cold and the extreme winds, but I braved the elements this evening to venture out and snap some shots of the technology building across the street. Keeping the camera/tripod stable was a challenge, but I think the results turned out quite good.Read More