chapel dulcinea

chapel dulcinea, wizard academy, austin, texas, 2007

now a few recent images. last year i won a scholarship to wizard academy, a communications training school just south of austin, texas. in december i attended the magical worlds communications workshop, presented by the wizard himself, roy williams. this is an amazing open air chapel he built on the academy’s 22 acre campus that’s available free for marriage ceremonies.

first 100

after 26 posts, i seem to have settled upon once-a-week updates. have been scanning through my old slides and negatives for hidden gems, and now have more than a year's worth of material that i'm anxious to share with you. in addition, i'm also continuing to make more images, which will appear here soon.

thanks for your comments, critiques, and encouragement, and for helping soloaperture.com cross the threshold of 100 visits!

* * * Chris

yosemite 4

half dome, yosemite national park, california, 2000

half dome rises above the valley, as seen from 6,936-foot yosemite point.

yosemite 3

yosemite falls, yosemite national park, california, 2000

taken on my last visit to the park, a camping trip with friends to the valley floor. i slept in my sleeping bag in the bed of a pickup truck. this view of upper yosemite falls through a frame of trees is only accessible along the trail leading up to the falls. it was a hot, late summer day when we made the 9.4-mile round trip from the parking lot to the top of 6,936-foot yosemite point.

yosemite 2

yosemite valley, yosemite national park, california, 1994

a dizzying view of yosemite valley and half dome from glacier point on a sunny summer afternoon.

yosemite 1

winter storm, yosemite valley, yosemite national park, california, 1995

first in a series of images taken in the most beautiful location on earth, yosemite national park. i first visited the park around 1976 at the age of 7, and was fortunate to spend the entire summer of 1979 at camp wawona while my dad did maintenance for the camp.

this view of the valley, just a short walk from the tunnel view parking area, was taken as a february storm blew through, dusting the higher peaks with snow.

merry-go-round

merry-go-round, thomas, mt. tabor park, portland, oregon, 2006



revisited the northwest during the summer of '06 for a family get-together in portland. enjoyed the cool, misty air of mt. tabor park, let the kids play, walked several trails, and posed for family group portraits.

point no point

point no point lighthouse, puget sound, washington, 1997

a picturesque lighthouse just south of hansville on the northern tip of the kitsap peninsula, protecting boats in puget sound between here and whidbey island. taken one fall afternoon after a brief snow shower, this is one of my wife’s favorite photos.

canyon creek falls

canyon creek falls, trinity alps wilderness, california, 1991

one of my favorite college classes was backpacking. the class culminated with a 4-day pack trip up the canyon creek lakes trail, not far from weaverville. pitched camp near the river in a small grove of trees at the top of canyon creek falls, day hiked to stonehouse, and swam in icy boulder creek lakes.

fire

fire training exercise, centralia, washington, 2000

happened upon firemen honing their skills on a practice burn just blocks from my house. orange flames hungrily licked up the old wood frame structure, and the intense heat dried out my contacts from a hundred feet away.

firemen, centralia, washington, 2000

st. augustine 3

st frances of asisi statue, nombre de dios cemetery, st augustine, florida, 2005

wandered through the ancient grave yard, looking at the rain-stained gravestones.

st. augustine 3

reflection, the great cross, st augustine, florida, 2005

this 208-foot stainless steel cross, built in 1966, stands above the marshes of the matanzas river, on the grounds of the mission of nombre de dios.

st. augustine 2

worship candles, our lady of la leche chapel, st augustine, florida, 2005

one weekend we stumbled on festivities to celebrate the 440th birthday of the city of st augustine. we just missed a reenactment of the menendez landing, but did attend mass (it was held on sabbath!) in the prince of peace church, then walked through the grounds of the mission of nombre de dios.

lake eola

goslings, lake eola, orlando, florida, 2004



our family used to enjoy sabbath afternoon outings to downtown orlando's lake eola. we'd stroll the paved path circling the lake, feed the ducks, swans, and pigeons, watch the beautiful spray from the fountain, and let the kids roam the playground. unfortunately, rising crime and roming homeless detracted from the safe, family atmosphere. we bought a family membership to nearby leu gardens, and haven't returned to lake eola in more than a year.

klischies' house

thomas, screen door, orlando, florida, 2007

aunt barbara and uncle herb have lived in this house by the railroad tracks since 1968. a lot of our immediate relatives get together often for 'family night' which happened to be at their house just recently. my three-year-old and i had just watched an amtrak rumble through their back yard, and i snapped him opening their creaky screen door, like i may have done at his age.

tokeland, washington

crab shack, tokeland, washington, 2001

during a day of bird watching along washington’s central coast, my wife and i took a side trip to visit tokeland, a small fishing village on a salt marsh peninsula jutting into the northern part of willapa bay.

seattle 3

produce vendor, pike place market, seattle, washington, 2005

we arrived right at the market's closing time. grabbed this shot before they shooed us out and locked the doors.

seattle 2

pike place market, seattle, washington, 2005

squeezed our rental car into a vacant stall in a third-story parking garage, then ran through the rain to pike place market. bought a coffee mug at the original starbucks store, then braved a group homeless people huddled in the doorway of a nearby subway restaurant where we ate a sandwich supper.

seattle 1

for two winter weeks we traded sunny florida for cold, rainy washington, visiting my wife’s family. took a side trip up the kitsap peninsula to seattle via the bainbridge island ferry.

seattle, washington, 2005

nearing coleman dock i shot in the windy darkness with the camera balanced on the ferry’s outside handrail, to capture a unique view of the glittering skyline. the voyage brought back many memories of 1997-98 when i commuted via ferry from bremerton to seattle six days a week.

europetrek 3

fruit crates, alley, rothenburg ob der tauber, germany, 1995

i spent a day walking the streets of rothenburg, buying fresh fruit from a farmer’s market, exploring passageways that ran above the town wall, admiring a church with huge flying buttresses, and climbing a dark, circular staircase to the top of the town hall tower's dizzying spire to view the courtyard far below.

europetrek 2

swans, pond, dinkelsbühl, germany, 1995

dinkelsbühl is a walled city along germany's romantic road. people built their towns with homes, businesses, and churches located in fortified clusters within strong walls, as protection from attacking enemies. much of the area around these enclosures is still mostly empty farmland.

europetrek 1

during the summer of 1995 i spent 11 days car camping in europe. germany was my favorite country, with its autobahn, lush forests, medieval walled cities, and romantic castles.

neuschwanstein castle, schwangau, germany, 1995

this is one of crazy king ludwig’s famous fairytale castles, nestled in the mountains of the black forest. walt disney modeled disneyland's sleeping beauty castle after this one. i hiked the steep wooded trail from parking lot, took the tourist tour of the structure’s inside, then marveled at the panorama from the marienbrücke.

oregon coast

following a particularly stressful week at work, our family took a quick weekend to the oregon coast to relax.

waterfront, astoria, oregon, 2002

spent the first night in a really nice hotel in astoria (with an in-room whirlpool!). after supper we took a walk in the rain along some railroad tracks that ran behind the hotel and along the columbia river, astoria’s old industrial waterfront.

haystack rock, cannon beach, oregon, 2002

threaded our way down the coast, visited rainy fort clatsop, beachcombed at exclusive cannon beach, sampled cheese and ice cream at the tillamook cheese factory, then headed home after a stop at the portland rei.

more from st. petersburg

two more images from our anniversary trip.

abandoned store, st. petersburg, florida, 2007

we ducked under the awning of a strip of small, unique store fronts, to avoid rain drops. dodged several homeless people playing cards, also hiding from the shower. with their easy proximity to downtown i’m not sure why these buildings couldn’t be renovated into a line of upscale boutiques and shops. instead, they’re soon to be torn down to make room for new condos.

seaweed, wave, siesta beach, sarasota, florida, 2007

spent the afternoon on the sand in beach chairs beneath a beach umbrella, just steps away from the gulf of mexico. caught this glowing clump of seaweed just before sunset.

st. augustine

tower, castillo de san marcos, st. augustine, florida, 2005

st. augustine is one of our favorite areas in florida. it’s only three hours away, and we’ve been five times. the historic fort, the restored downtown buildings with quaint restaurants and unique shops, the picturesque waterfront, nearby wildlife areas, and the uncrowded beaches all make this northeast part of the state a worthwhile destination.

mount rainier area

today's post goes back to the eight years i spent in the northwest.

eagle peak, tatoosh range, mount rainier national park, washington, 2000

taken in spring on a trip with friends to the paradise visitor center. the roads were unusually clear for being early in the year, and the view was spectacular.

this is an early shot taken with my then-new olympus d-450 digital camera. a whopping 1.2 megapixels!

avalanche lilies, tolmie peak trail, mount rainier national park, washington, 1999

taken during my first and, sadly, only hike hike from mowich lake to tolmie peak. it was summer time, and after enjoying our lunch we cooled off with a swim in eunice lake. along the trail up to the fire lookout we found a steep, snow-covered hill, where we just had to glissade on our jackets!

this patch of lillies grew beside the trail, and i spotted them on our 3.25 mile hike back to the car. it's one of my all-time favorite photos, from one of the last rolls of film i took with my olympus om-2, before transitioning to digital.

great smoky mountains

chief motel sign, cherokee, north carolina, 2005

two summers ago our family spent a rainy three days camping beside a creek, while exploring the cherokee area and the great smoky national park. we passed this sign at a dilapidated, yet still operational, motel on our way into town.

wagon wheel, great smoky mountains national park, north carolina, 2005

between showers we managed to tour a reconstructed farm, with a cabin, smoke house, barn, and other outbuildings, working garden with ripening corn, and a very muddy pig sty.

saint petersburg

more from our anniversary trip. we spent a leisurely morning poking around st. petersburg's art quarter along central avenue.

outdoor cafe, snell arcade, saint petersburg, florida, 2007



gate, arch, alley, snell arcade, saint petersburg, florida, 2007

tampa

this new blog is my attempt to share some of my best past and recent images, and inspire me to continue developing as a photographer. i welcome your comments.

in honor of our fifth wedding anniversary this year, my wife and i took five days to explore some of our favorite spots along florida's central gulf coast.

railroad drawbridge, hillsborough river, tampa, florida, 2007




minarets, historic former tampa bay hotel, tampa, florida, 2007