Shaving the Yeard

Blue Door

Stone house in St. Andrews, Scotland.
January 2014

Taymouth Castle

On a recent trip to Scotland over new years, I visited Taymouth Castle near Loch Tay in Kenmore. We stayed at the Kenmore Hotel right next to the entrance to the castle grounds on the west side and overlooking Loch Tay. We thought we could catch a sunrise but we quickly found out that you can't see the sunrise in Scotland. The sky just gets gradually less gray.
 We took the shorter walk to get to the castle from the east gate off the A827. Its a nice walk along the river and over two stone bridges. The castle appears through the trees on a large green in front of a sloping mountain ridge. The castle is closed to the public currently but there were some other people jogging and biking around. There's a golf course in front on the castle which makes for a nice green foreground. The castle is currently being renovated but plans for it to become a luxury hotel seemed to have stalled. Its an amazing structure and I'd love to see it open to the public in some form.

It was very dark but I was able to sneak up for a peek in the window. I wasn't expecting such a rich interior. 

Reading Terminal Sign

The blinking arrows on the Reading Terminal Market sign in Philadelphia. 

Dead Horse Bay

Went to Dead Horse Bay to check out the washed up bottles. We arrived at low tide and the whole beach was strewn with tons of old bottles and shards of glass. I couldn't believe how many bottles had washed up on shore and continue to do so. The bottles are the result of a breach in the land fill caused by a hurricane. I'm sure hurricane Irene and hurricane Sandy did a good job of stirring up more bottles and junk and depositing it on the shore. We spend a good chunk of the day combing the beach for our favorite bottles.

Day and Night at the Jefferson Monument

Epileptic warning! Too late.

The Rotunda at the US Capitol Building

Some shots of the United States Capitol Building inside the main chamber looking up at the rotunda. The murals are really high up, so its hard to see the details. The tour guide pointed out that one of the artists, Filippo Constaggini  painted his face into the base of the tree trunk in the Frieze of American History. I used my 300mm zoom to get in close. Constaggini's signature was is very elaborate as well, tucked behind a fern.

Washington looks very kingly in this shot holding a sword glaring down at the viewers.

Coney from Above

Arial shot of coney island just before landing at JFK. I never realized how much Surf Ave curves around the whole area. 

Just Stop It

I've had enough of these posters already. They're fucking everywhere. The trend is beyond dead so just stop. Please and thank you.

The Lincoln Memorial

In honor of the holiday here are some shots of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC.

Cupcake

Just the tip of the cupcakeberg. 

Bokeh Road

Windmill Creatures

Mirrored images of windmills create these strangely biomorphic creatures of wood and brick. Large and heavy although lacking any grounding elements that create the illusion of flight.

Mac Monster

Mac and Cheese monster.
Eat it before it eats you.

A view from the middle.

Happy National Donut Day!

Apparently this is a real thing.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Doughnut_Day

Iced Whisky

The ice sphere was a bit big for the glass. 

Skulls

Brooklyn Botanic Garden

Lauren took me to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden last weekend. It was overcast which created a really nice diffused and gentle light for shooting the flowers. We also got in for free with our old Pratt id cards. Extra Bonus!
I was shooting with my Canon T3i and Lauren was using her Nikon with one of my old prime lenses. Even though I'm not the biggest fan of Nikon I really like how they have maintained the same lens mount.

Most of the shots are of the Bluebells from the Bluebell Wood, my favorite part of the garden.