A tale of two shots

I took some time off from work last Thursday and made a brief trip up to Desker's Creek in Preston County.  There was still a good bit of snow on the ground, and I didn't exactly come prepared to do what I did, which was to work my way down into a ravine that held a torrent of icy water.

Not knowing what I'd do next, I fired off a bunch of shots with my camera.  This one has certain aesthetic elements, as I composed it for all of the triangles in the picture:  the fallen tree, the path of the water, the sky, etc.

You can follow certain rules of composition and make the best out of a sow's ear, but this picture is still a sow's ear.  It's too busy.  The snow-covered tree is interesting, but there's just too much going on here.

I mustered the courage to climb up and go back down a little further up stream.  I crawled onto a boulder and took this next shot.

This one doesn't scream "winter" like the other one.  You have to look carefully to notice the snow.  And the composition is pretty straightforward here:  law of thirds, with the top of the falls and the bottom of the falls taking up the middle third.

Still, this picture is way nicer than the previous shot.  It's the one that made it worth falling on my ass for.

...And the flag was still there!

The fourth nor'easter in three weeks was hitting Morgantown this morning.

This is a shot from the 7th floor of One Waterfront Place.

Forward, From the Rear

I had to deliver some papers to the Law Clinic at noon today, so I took my camera along for the ride.
The back of the Law School overlooks Ruby Hospital and the football stadium, but the view was far from grand.  Ronald McDonald house takes up the lower-right portion of the picture.

The light gray building above and to the left of the hospital is the old hospital, which has been converted to a life sciences building.  The white building to the right of the hospital belongs to NIOSH.

If only I could have risen about six feet, I could have been clear the the McHouse.

Morgantown from Atop

Saturday proved to be beautiful day, but I hardly had the chance to get out and shoot any pictures.
I did manage to get this panorama of Morgantown, as seen from the University Towne Center behind the Sams Club.

Colors are still drab.  This picture doesn't have a lot going for it, but it provides a nice view of the Coliseum and the Evansdale campus.  It's a BIG valley in this shot.

Here's a closer view that I like better:

Colors are a little wonky, but I like the play of light and shadows on the various campus buildings.  Besides the obvious coliseum, you've got Ruby Memorial Hospital behind that, and the Towers complex on the right.   Behind the Towers, you can make out Puskar Stadium.

Canadian Nationalism

While photographing a Canada goose, I got down low on a rise and shot up.   The results remind me of nationalistic art.

Here it is, goose-stepping:

And here it is in a heroic art pose:

Stranger in a Strange Land

Last night was one of those rare occasions where I possessed a semblance of a normal life.  Wife and I went to see Foreigner at the Creative Arts Center with a friend.

I don't think anyone from original band was there, but you'd never know if from the sound.  No sign of founding member Mick Jones in last night's lineup.

Front row:  The guy on the far left is Bruce Watson.  Next is Tom Gimbel, master of guitar, flute, saxaphone and keyboards.  The new lead singer is Kelly Hansen, who is a fitting substitute for Lou Gramm.  On the bass is Jeff Pilson.
In the back, on keyboard, is Mike Bluestein, and on drums is Chris Frazier.

After the band returned for an encore, they brought on a chorus of kids (don't know if high school or college) to accompany them on "I Want to Know What Love Is."   That was probably my favorite song, although I've been known to bastardize the lyrics to it.

I want to know what love is.  I want you to blow me.

Look Closer

Late February was not particularly conducive to photography.  There's just not much going on.
While walking down the rail trail toward town the other day, I snapped a picture of some Sycamore tree seed heads.   As you can see, there's not much there, and the river was a crappy shade of muddy.

The one thing that caught my eye was the grouping of seed heads in the middle of the shot.   They reminded me of musical notes.

A little bit of cropping, and I have something a lot more interesting than the original picture:

Still not the prettiest thing, but a whole lot better than the way it started.