Finishing up what I’m posting of new stuff I’ve conjured up to submit for the Green Exposures photo project with the KCMO Parks Department, I went to the small Pioneer Park in Westport right next to the busy intersection of Broadway and Westport Road. This sculpture group is called “The Pioneers” by Tom Beard. I assume it’s a tribute to the first settlers of Westport before it merged with the Town of Kansas, later to all become KCMO. I see there’s a beer bottle in one shot I’ll need to get rid of in Photoshop before sending it in.

On my brief visit back to the Kauffman Center this past Friday afternoon I nabbed a few new shots of Brandmeyer Great Hall. Progress is noticeable especially from a couple of months back, and it’s now almost complete as the Kauffman Center officially takes possession of the lobby/hall soon.

Another post covering some of my new shots for the KC Parks Department’s Green Exposures photo project, for this I stopped at Garment District Place at 8th and Broadway last week in the early evening. I later went and caught that night’s really good hour of lighting at Washington Square Park by Crown Center which I posted last week, so while at the Garment District I had to make due with less interesting lighting. So admittedly I got a little more free with the editing to manipulate the light as much as I could. First a couple fountain shots…

Then there was this one image that has a real estate sign in the upper left. Just for teh lulz let’s have a look at the stages this photo passes through.

1) Original

Above – this is the original RAW converted to JPG at zero exposure compensation. It’s fairly uninteresting as far as I’m concerned. So since I did bracketing and burst mode with this shot and I have two other versions with a +2 and a -2 exposure compensation I’ll then run them through Photomatix and get this with the sliders a certain way…

2) Three exposures tone mapped in Photomatix

Then I wanted to meddle a bit further in Photoshop now, sometimes you have to fix things that can go wrong when using HDR, but mainly for this I just wanted some color and tone adjustments.

3) Post-Photoshop.

At the end since it doesn’t matter one way or another, and it will make the photo look better, I decided to get rid of that For Sale sign by using the Content Aware Fill function and the clone stamp in Photoshop CS5 –

I stopped by the Dragon Boat Races on the Plaza for a few minutes on Saturday – it’s an event of rowing competitions in boats designed like dragons, organized by the KC Society for Friendship With China in partnership with KC Parks and Recreation.

I went by the Kauffman Center again on Friday the 24th in the afternoon for a little while. One thing I haven’t done before is take out my telephoto lens and point it far across the large Brandmeyer Great Hall lobby area toward the internal cabling and skeletal structuring with glass.

Another few shots of KC parks for my work for the Parks Dept’s Green Exposures Project – this is from Washington Square Park between Grand and Main downtown. You really can’t help but notice a significant homeless presence in the park at sundown when you’re there.

Three more shots of KC parks, this one being Case Park at 10th and Jefferson downtown, for the Green Exposures Project I’m working on for the KC Parks Department – taken Saturday night, June 18.

As part of my work right now for the KCMO Parks Department’s Green Exposures project, I’m grabbing some new shots of places around the city overseen by the Parks Dept. that I don’t have much existing material on. For this post I have nine photos of the Colonnade at Gladstone Blvd and St. John Avenue, ending with a shot at Concourse Park. I’m posting ten images since the curvature of the Colonnade gives you a lot of material to work with when wielding wide-angle and fisheye lenses.

Concourse Park and Fountain

I’m working on a photo project for the KCMO Parks Dept which entails gathering and collecting shots of KC parks and amenities, so Saturday evening I was at Case Park in Quality Hill downtown. At the end I brought out my telephoto lens and aimed it toward the West Bottoms trying to catch that tradeoff between natural light and artificial light. These two pics obviously won’t be submitted as part of my parks project but I wanted to include them in a photoblog posting nonetheless. The narrow aperture of f/18 for both pictures causes the starburst effect from the street lights as the aperture blades inside the lens refract the light onto the sensor.

From Case Park toward the West Bottoms at a focal length of 180 mm.

At the maximum 400 mm focal length on my telephoto lens toward part of the West Bottoms.

The center-point of Old San Juan, Puerto Rico and a hub for the touristy historic area, the public square Plaza de Colón in San Juan.

A placeholder weekend post – a photo from my trip to Puerto Rico back in mid-March. I still haven’t quite finished all the editing work on those photos yet. Another image I shot while there, at Fort San Felipe del Morro, is now listed on Getty Images.

I took these two telephoto shots the same night as the two wide-angles from my most recent prior posting. I had gone that night to 18th and Jefferson to train the telephoto lens on the Kauffman Center for a scheduled lighting pattern inside the building, but that didn’t go as planned – plus I think if I’m to ever get any decent shots of the building from that location I’m going to have to rent a lens that extends farther than the 400 mm maximum focal length on my own telephoto lens.

Downtown Kansas City skyline on Monday night, June 13…

I had reasons to be at 18th and Jefferson Monday night for photos, but those plans didn’t work right so instead I went beyond the open fence on the open plot of land where the “L-Shaped house” used to sit and did a couple shots with the trees and the I-35 traffic and the skyline with the new Kauffman Center building being shown off in the distance.

My friend Tony’s Kansas City has recently taken to referring to Kansas City as a “wicked little town,” on occasion. Which I think is hilarious. So much so that I think the Convention and Visitor’s Association should be a bit riskier and  re-brand our city as a wicked little town – which could boost tourism and conventions, furthering the downtown renaissance which we could then give Tony credit for in the end.

Anyway, two pics from Monday night June 13, a wicked little town in the early summer…

Three pics from Sunday at Loose Park, KCMO. These are all tone-mapped single raws, so the color and tone of the crow gackle grackle bird in the first two photos is exaggerated somewhat via computer effect.

Three new pics from downtown on Friday night right just as the rain started moving in.

The world’s largest skateboard is in town on Grand Avenue for the Street League Skateboarding tournament at the Sprint Center this weekend. There were more people visible in this first scene but they don’t show in the photo due to the long exposure time –

Then down to Truman and Grand, looking north back toward the downtown loop…

The following is from pointing the camera with my fisheye lens affixed toward the overpass fence glass and seeing what light from whichever directions shows up and where – looking eastward along Truman and Grand –

A view from around 18th and Wyandotte near the Arts Incubator in the Crossroads District back on June’s First Friday, 6/03/11. There were a couple dancers performing in the street and traffic was running pretty slow through this crowd. I kind of think they should consider closing off that block at 18th between Baltimore and Wyandotte during First Fridays in the warm weather months.

Two shots from around the Brandmeyer Great Hall in the soon-to-be completed Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Kansas City. They’ve just launched their Twitter feed for the 100 day countdown to the grand opening, https://twitter.com/#!/KauffmanCenter

Above: Near what will be the bar area on the upper level with a view toward the south.

Below: One of the elevators with a bit of the KCMO skyline in the distant background (City Hall, Jackson County Courthouse, Bolling Federal Building, Sprint Center).

It’s a good idea right now for me to collect some images of events and city scenes around KC for eventual stock licensing use, so I did a few shots at First Friday in Kansas City’s Crossroads District, evening of Fri. June 3, 2011.

This morning (Saturday June 4) a protest by local Catholics took place across the street from Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception at 11th and Broadway in downtown Kansas City, MO due to revelations of a Kansas City Diocese cover-up and consultation with their own lawyers over the discovery of child pornography on Father Shawn Ratigan’s computer in December 2010. Bishop Finn, who is being called on to resign, was inside ordaining deacons. More info can be found here. I got word of the protest this morning via this article on Tony’s Kansas City.

Two shots from last night, 6/2/2011 of the recently installed “Ferment” stainless steel tree sculpture by artist Roxy Paine on a hill in the southeastern portion of the lawn of the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, MO.

above – wide angle lens

below – fisheye lens

EDIT: Six later photos from December 22, 2011.

Two new shots depicting the recent updates at the Kauffman Center construction site, slated to open this September. Photos are from my most recent visit last week.

above – The engraving of the building’s name on the front took place recently.

below – How the on-site landscaping is coming along.

The annual Celebration at the Station took place last night leading into Memorial Day with a concert from the Kansas City symphony at Union Station and Liberty Memorial. The warm weather brought a big turn-out. I’ve made a habit of getting new shots of this event each year for five years in a row now. Photos shown in chronological order, Sunday evening May 29 on Memorial Day weekend.

I went back in the Kauffman Center for another photo tour on Thursday May 26 as the building nears further completion.

 

Above: The grand lobby/Brandmeyer Great Hall from the lower level of the lobby on looking toward the southwest.

Below: On the upper level of the lobby. Because of the glass and light reflections you can see the Hyatt and the Lathrop & Gage buildings reflected in the glass next to the Bartle Hall Skystation pylons to the left.

 

Two more shots from Sunday, April 3rd in Philadelphia.

above – Independence Hall in Old City, Philadelphia, where the Declaration of Independence was signed.
below – The base of the new Comcast Center skyscraper in Center City, Philadelphia.

Continuing where I stopped from this post a few days ago we have downtown KC with storms coming in on the night of May 11th. Visible from left to right are the Crown Plaza Hotel, the One Kansas City Place building, Town Pavillion, Power and Light Building, 1201 Walnut with the Stinson sign, and a sliver of the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts with one of its parking garage cranes.

A couple more photos from my Puerto Rico trip back in March – I still haven’t finished the editing work on the last few shots.

View down two streets in Old San Juan

Inside a sentry lookout at Fort San Cristobal, San Juan Puerto Rico.

Four more shots of the Kauffman Center construction site in downtown Kansas City, MO. taken the evening of Sunday, May 15, 2011.

Two shots from last night near the Kauffman Center construction site at 16th and Broadway. The Broadway overpass above the southwest part of the loop has been removed so there’s a detour set up.

Above: Detour

Below: North side of the Kauffman Center

-evening of Sunday, May 15, 2011.

Six shots from today’s Seventh Annual Troost Festival at 31st and Troost, organized by Reconciliation Services.

1) Down the street at pavement level.

2) Kauffman Center Ambassadors table at the fest.

3) Dancing in the street at 31st and Troost

4) Music down the street.

5) Hula hoop usage with my fisheye lens and cropped.

6) Father Paisius Altschul, main organizer of the Troost Fest, of Reconciliation Services at 3101 Troost.

The following are shots on my portfolio site from last year’s Troost Fest, which was better attended due to the warmer weather last year. It’s stuck in the 50 degree F range in KC this weekend.

A couple of pictures from the inauguration picnic of Kansas City MO Mayor Sly James at Starlight Theater this past Saturday.

After my taekwondo class ended I grabbed my camera bag last night and ran out to the plot of land that the “L-Shaped House” used to sit on, intending to get some Kauffman Center construction telephoto shots. Instead I was more fond of the general downtown skyline pictures I nabbed, until it started raining so hard I had to stop. Hopefully the Canon 5D Mark II camera is weather sealed really nice, as it did get rained upon quite a bit in my mad dash back to the car.

Above: Part of downtown including the Bartle Hall Skystations and the One Kansas City Place building, Kansas City, Missouri not long before it started raining hard.

Below: A view across the Crossroads District toward Crown Center and Liberty Memorial. I-35 traffic in the foreground.

-Evening of May 11, 2011.

A couple more shots from April 3, 2011 in Philadelphia, PA –

Above: Rowhouses in Philadelphia’s Society Hill area.

Below: In the pedestrian walk-through area of Philadelphia’s City Hall building in Center City.

A couple shots from my visit to Puerto Rico back in March that I just now processed…

Above: Inside Castillo de San Cristobal in the Old San Juan National Historic Site.

Below: Cll Odonell next to Plaza de Colón in the heart of Old San Juan.

Above – at the top of a garage at 9th looking south down Central St. toward the new terminal view of the north side of the Kauffman Center with the Bartle Hall Skystation pylons.

Below – in the garage elevator bank looking through the glass with the camera and tripod viewable in the reflection at left.

For the first shot it made geometric sense to keep the camera/tripod level, while in the second photo a different angle was needed given the interior combined with a wide angle lens.

-evening of Sunday May 8, ’11.

A couple shots from Saturday afternoon at the Guadalupe Center for their weekend-long Cinco de Mayo festival. I took shots at the Sly James inauguration picnic at Starlight Theatre, so hopefully I’ll be able to post a couple of those coming soon as well.

Above: Looking east down Avenida Cesar Chavez past the Guadalupe Center and several blocks, with a view toward the side of Union Station with the I-35 bridge running in between.

Below: Performances and dancing in the Guadalupe Center

Last night at dusk I went up the hill from Ward Parkway to Rockwell Lane and Sunset Drive and used my telephoto lens to get a look at the West Edge project as it’s been for at least a couple of years now – unfinished. I thought I heard something about it again in the news again but I can’t quite remember what.

-May 4, 2011

On Sunday afternoon at Mill Creek Park on the Plaza in Kansas City, a rally was organized encouraging the protesters in Syria currently being fired upon by government forces of Bashar al-Assad.

Press releases were sent to the local KC news stations, but none showed up, backing up my own ongoing question of “what exactly would ya say the news stations do?”

Philadelphia's Society Hill

Some rowhouses of Philly’s Society Hill area in and near Center City, taken on my brief trip there for a photo job at the beginning of April. Philadelphia is a city with rowhouses of varying styles everywhere it seemed.

Above: The grand lobby, to be known as the Brandmeyer Great Hall undergoing further construction on April 19, looking toward the northwest. Glass railings will take the place of the current makeshift wood railing.

Below: The under-floor heating tubes are being installed on the floor of Brandmeyer Hall.

Reminder: Photo show tonight at 7 pm at The Hook Gallery near 45th and State Line around the antique and art shops at 1711 West 45th, KCMO, immediately east of State Line. Here’s the Facebook page.

Over the Easter weekend I took some extra time off and went out to my grandma’s place in central Kansas. This shot was taken Sunday at dusk north of Stafford Kansas halfway to Ellinwood in a cluster of trees around a dirt road that I could see from the paved two-lane highway. The deer were hopping around a lot that night and I had to be careful to not total my car in the process of making it back to Stafford in the dark, as there were several deer witnessed on the side of the road. I just paid off the car too so I’m a little extra suspicious of deer right now when venturing into the country.

Don’t forget – Photo show and sale tomorrow night at The Hook at 45th and State Line in KCMO – see the Facebook page for further information.

A dirt road under a tree formation between Stafford and Ellinwood, Kansas taken Sunday evening. The towns are located in Stafford County in the southern central region of Kansas, about a four hour car trip from Kansas City.

A couple more shots from my visit to the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts construction site on Tuesday –

Above – looking southeast with the fisheye lens giving a view toward the Crossroads and Crown Center.

Below – facing the front of the building with a view inside the grand lobby, Brandmeyer Great Hall.

Fisheye lens view of the Kauffman Center's construction progress on April 19, 2011.

I had the chance to go in the Kauffman Center construction site again this afternoon and nabbed this fisheye view of the point as symmetrical as I could get with my tripod. Inside the glass is the grand lobby, to be known as the Brandmeyer Great Hall.

GSA/Federal Building in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico

The Jose V. Toledo Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico on the evening of March 21st, 2011.

Society Hill Rowhouses - Philadelphia PA

On my April 3rd and 4th trip to Philadelphia for a quick photo job I snuck in some time to get some city photos. Rowhouses like these a couple blocks from my hotel are frequent in Society Hill and throughout Philadelphia in various forms.

A street in San Juan Antiguo, or Old San Juan, Puerto Rico

A street scene looking west after sunset in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, back on March 21.

Inside an El Morro Lookout

A fisheye lens scene from inside one of the old sentry lookout points at Fort San Felipe del Morro in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, taken last month on my trip to the island.

Center City Philadelphia

Philadelphia’s Center City area with City Hall at the left. This isn’t all that dissimilar from the one I posted a few days ago, although zoomed in more and tilted to line up with some geometries.

After Take-off

Photo looking out the window of a 6:50 am US Airways flight to Philadelphia taking off Sunday morning a week ago out of Kansas City International, somewhere over the rural Missouri area outside the KC metro, flying toward the sunrise. There’d be less fail in this photo if one of my fingers wasn’t visible in the lower right of the photo, but a fisheye lens is awfully wide.

Photos from the International Pillow Fight Day from the Plaza in KCMO this past Saturday, April 2. I normally would have posted these long before now but have been kind of running around a lot.

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Center City Philadelphia

On Sunday and Monday I was in Philadelphia for a quick photo gig and managed to get in some shots of the city in my off hours, with the help of a couple friends I know who live in Philly and met up with on Sunday. This is looking up Broad Street with a terminal view toward the Philadelphia City Hall in Center City.

-April 3, 2011.