Shooting Close to Home

I live in rural southern Illinois, only two hours away from St. Louis, Missouri.

Usually, I take the city for granted.  I pass through going to the airport several times each year, or attend an event.  I seldom think of it as a photographic opportunity -- not because it has nothing to offer, but rather because I've seen it thousands of times.  However, with my children's teenage cousin visiting from Spain, we viewed the city through the eyes of tourists a couple of weeks ago. We went to the top of the Arch and toured the museum.  We walked along Laclede's Landing and took in the sights.  We searched for a good restaurant and did lots of tourist things.  But this time I brought my camera and took a few moments to look for something more than a snapshot.

Here's a shot of the Jefferson National Expansion Monument (better known as the Gateway Arch) from one of the cobblestone streets at Laclede's Landing.

The Arch from Lacledes Landing

 It just goes to show that we shouldn't take what we already know for granted.  There's good photography everywhere, even in your own backyard.

Magic

I'm a member of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP).  I was surprised to receive an email yesterday morning from the NAPP saying that my photo Magic was chosen as the Image of the Week.  It depicts a Mayan Indian woman performing an arcane ritual in Chichicastenango, Guatemala.  She is surrounded by misty, white smoke from others also performing magic rituals on the steps of the cathedral only a few feet away.  Chichicastenango is indeed a very mysterious place and avery special place for photographers.

I was also contacted by the editor of Photoshop User magazine about the possible inclusion of the photograph in an upcoming issue.

You can view my website at:  www.tombellart.com. 

Bottle in a Window

This weekend, my family and I drove to Kentucky to visit my Mom.

The spring is early this year, and as usual, I brought my camera.

Soon after crossing over from Illinois, we stopped at the Whitehaven rest stop in Paducah.  Whitehaven is a majestic old mansion, originally built in the 1860s and converted into the mansion it is now in the first decade of the 20th century.  At some point, it fell into disrepair and then into ruins.  However, in the 1980's there was a concerted effort to restore the building, and it is now a beautiful structure maintained by the state as a rest stop and tourist attraction.

While the building looks like something out of Gone with the Wind, we were running late and I didn't have much time.  Instead of running  around the building doing architectural photography, I found a frosted window right outside the men's restroom with a bottle of spring flowers.  I made that my subject.

I was blocking the entrance to the restroom and had to move out of the way several times to allow people through.  But after a few dozen shots, I was satisfied that I had the shot I wanted.

The lesson in the story:  look for the shots wherever they are.  Just because you have a big, beautiful, historic building to shoot doesn't mean you have to do it.  Maybe the shot is sitting in a window, waiting to be discovered!

You can view my website at:  www.tombellart.com.

From my Website to Bauhaus and Back!

Last week, I totally redesigned my website.  The idea was to provide an attractive, user-friendly gallery.  The site skipped the homepage altogether and went directly to the gallery.

My original homepage design is back!

After multiple questions about what happened to my old homepage, it's back!  The gallery is still new and far more user-friendly than the previous one, but the classic look of the original homepage is back.  I agree with the complainers:  the old homepage still works best as a gateway to the new gallery.

Let me know what you think.

http://www.tombellart.com/

From My Website to Bauhaus

I'll keep this post short.

I've totally redesigned my website. 

Please check it out and let me know what you think.

My website is at: http://www.tombellart.com 

The Strange Connection Between Twins

This is another post that has little to do with photography or Photoshop.  However, my twin brother, Bob, and I, who are the main characters in this story, are both photographers. We care deeply about achieving "art" in our photographs. We are also living proof of the strange connection between twins.  As before, this story is just too good not to tell.

In a little less than a month, this is the second strange coincidence that has occurred to me, both defying odds, and proving to me that there is more to life that we can understand.  My brother was not involved in the first incident.  However,  this coincidence is just as true and almost as amazing as the last one I reported.  Please see my entry of a few weeks ago: Mystery of the Miracle Frisbee.  You will understand that there is more to life than meets the average eye. 

An ambulance took my 88 year-old Mom to the hospital a little over a week ago.  It turned out to be a heart attack. She's still in the hospital recovering.  We're hopeful that her recovery will be complete.  The prayers of all who read this are appreciated.

My older brother was at the hospital immediately.  I was able to be there within a few hours.  My twin brother Bob was on a job in Alabama.  We didn't see him until late the following day.

Let me say at the outset that Bob and I are very different identical twins.  We're not the ones who dress alike and call each other every day.  I don't trip when his shoe lace is untied.  We do have a few similarities: we both like old movie serials and old time radio. We also take our photography seriously.  I had last seen him at Thanksgiving, and before that it had been at least two years. 

When Bob arrived at the hospital, I greeted him and he almost immediately went to check on our Mom.  My phone rang and I moved to the hallway to take the call.  It was my wife, checking in to see how my Mom was doing.  I paced around the hallway as I talked.  After a few moments, while still on the phone, I felt a bump on my wrist.  I turned and my brother was holding out his arm to show his wrist watch.  "Same one," he whispered.

I finished the call in a couple of more minutes, then took notice that he was indeed wearing the same watch as me.  Now, this might not be so hard to believe if it was a common timepiece you might pick up at Wal-mart or the local department store. But this is a 21 jewel, automatic movement, black face, see-through skeleton case back, black rubber strap, diver's watch, Invicta model 9110.

My brother Bob on the right of the inset.

As we talked, we discovered that we both had purchased our watches online within about a month of each other, for pretty much the same reasons.  We both wanted a rugged watch that would hold up to being dunked under water.  Neither of us wanted a battery powered watch because we've both had batteries die at inopportune times, only to have the water seal fail after the battery was replaced.  Also, neither of us likes a metal band.  The watch we bought had to be aesthetically pleasing and reasonably priced.  To be honest, that still leaves a lot of watches from which to choose.  Each of us could have chosen from hundreds or even thousands of watches from dozens of different brands.  However, we both choose exactly the same watch.  We were able to document it because we both brought our cameras to the hospital.

I know it's not impossible, but it's also extremely improbable.  I know you've heard of twin connections or coincidences before.  This is another one.  Feel free to post your thoughts.

You can view my website at:  http://www.tombellart.com.

Paintings of Antigua, Guatemala

I though I'd post a few more paintings from my recent trip to Guatemala.  You can click on the images for a larger view.  Navigate between the images with the left and right arrow keys. Press the escape key to return to the blog screen.

Agua Volcano from Antigua, Guatemala.

Cart, Hotel Quinta de las Flores.  Antigua, Guatemala.

Antique Chair.  Hotel Quinta de las Flores, Antigua, Guatemala.

You can view my website at:  http://www.tombellart.com