Snowy oak leaves

Oak trees seem to like to hold their leaves, and hold them though the snow and cold of winter. 

Morning walk in fresh snow

Since retiring most mornings I take a walk. Around my home I have a number of directions I can go but all have become familiar. The challenge is to keep looking for the interesting and unexpected. Of course fresh light snow always presents new perspectives.

This way to fun

Merry Christmas

Wishing all a happy and safe holiday... hope Santa is good to you. And a have a joyful new year too.

And at night

After dark the Steel Stacks (see earlier post) are lit, this time of year, for Christmas. If you look closely you will see stairways and walkways up into the works, providing a self-led tour of the parts and process of steel making. Unfortunately it was 20F and windy while we visited so I did not attempt the tour.

I shot this as a four exposure series and back home attempted an HDR composite. It was not to my liking. I created a better result by taking the best single exposure and working on local adjustments. I have found the dynamic range of most modern cameras often provides all that is needed, even in difficult exposure situations.

Steel Stacks

Bethlehem Steel ceased operations 1995 and left behind a large industrial site including these blast furnaces. Although there was talk of tearing them down to recover the site, it was eventually decided to leave the stacks as a backdrop for a redevelopment effort. It is now a music, arts and festival site for residents and tourists. The project was in part aided by the approval and development of a casino and hotel on part of the property. It appears to have been a successful transformation despite the sometimes detrimental downside that a casino can bring.

Main Street Bethlehem

No, not "O Little Town of Bethlehem"... this is Bethlehem Pennsylvania, the former home of Bethlehem Steel. Although this is not that Bethlehem it does takes inspiration from the original and is know as Christmas City.

Big slingshot

Stone porch

Hookah bar

I do not know much about hookah bars but it seems to me that the combination of hookah bar and oxygen bar might not be the best match.

Batcheller mansion

The Batcheller mansion in Saratoga Springs is a Victorian inn with distinctive style and character. According to the website, it has hosted "U.S. Presidents, European Royalty, Dignitaries and Hollywood Celebrities."

1000th

This doorway is a lingering photo remaining in my "selects" from the Italy trip. For some reason I never posted it back when I was putting up pictures from my travels, but today Blogger is telling me this is my 1000th post. Somehow a doorway seems to be symbolic of my Second Look project as it has been a point of entry into a sustained way to do something with my photos. Photography can be a pretty private affair if the work only collects on a hard drive and seen only by the photographer. Of course pictures can be printed and displayed, but there are only so many walls.

Ironically the pictured entryway has no door handle, no visible way to open. Not sure what that means, but I do intend to continue with posting my images.

Christmas at Hattie's

'Tis the season to decorate windows and doors and anything else that can hold color and lights... which brings some color and sparkle to an otherwise often gloomy time of the year.

Morning walk

It was a gloomy day in Saratoga Springs but still a good day for a walk.