a stroll through the gardens

Brooklyn, New York:  Brooklyn Botanic Gardens
I recently spent a Saturday morning with several good friends strolling through the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens.  It's been awhile since I've had my camera out - and it felt good to start shooting again.  Just after Christmas I bought myself a new Sigma 18-250mm 1:3.5-6.3 Macro zoom lens and this is really the first time I've put it to use.  So far... very happy with the results!  We're off to the New York Botanical Gardens in the Bronx later this morning to see the annual Orchid Show - so I suspect there will soon be some dazzling orchids popping up here.

bejewelled

Milan, Italy
Shooting up into the dome of the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II during a recent trip to Milan over the Thanksgiving holiday, I was reminded of a glittering kaleidoscope. Built between 1865 and 1871, it is a classic double vaulted arcade classic of the time. The Galleria serves as an impressive connector between the Piazza del Duomo and Piazza della Scala. This is NOT shopping at the local mall!

cookie porn

A New York Kitchen
CS has become a recipe tester for America's Test Kitchens (Cooks Illustrated). He cooks. I photograph. We both eat. And these were delicious - coconut lime sugar cookies. Coming soon...

this is the end. beautiful friend

Yes, faithful fan(s), this is the end of Exposure Factor as you know it. This website was created exactly one year ago (365 postings) as a means of sharing the fun I have behind the lens but because of my increasingly crazy work/travel schedule, it has made a daily posting become more of a chore at times. And when that happens, it's time to reconsider. So from here on out, I'll be posting on a less frequent basis - not yet sure what that will be. I'm just starting to delve into HDR (high dynamic range) photography and shot alot while I was in Copenhagen this past weekend - so stay tuned. There could be some fun results.

what do you call yourself?

Scharlooweg / Willemstad, Curaçao
A friendly ... There is no name for a person coming from Curaçao. How stupid is that? Someone from America is an American, someone from Venezuela is a Venezuelan, someone from Curaçao is, well, someone from Curaçao.

cow power

Wind Turbine Farm / Quebrada Azul ,Costa Rica
Costa Rica is a country rich with renewable energy. In fact, it gets about 99% of all its electrical energy from clean sources and it’s aiming to be the first country to become carbon neutral. If you've ever stood behind a cow for any period of time you know what kind of wind power they are capable of.

roundabout

Gas Street Basin / Birmingham, England
Even the canal system in city centre Birmingham has a roundabout. I used to refer to them as "suicide circles" when I lived outside of Boston because you required a death wish to enter one - fearing for one's life. Not so here; the Brits are much more civilized about the whole roundabout process - painfully so. Go - will you!

barrelful of.. rumbullion

Needham's Point / Bridgetown, Barbados
Within the walls of an old fortress were a number of barrels - I'd like to think a one point in time they had been full of some good casked Barbadian rum.

stuck on the detail

Puente de la Mujer / Buenos Aires, Argentina
The Puente de la Mujer ("Woman's Bridge") is a footbridge in the Puerto Madero district of Buenos Aires that spans the Rio de la Plata. It is unique in that is an asymmetrical arrangement with a single mast. Cables suspended a portion of the bridge which rotates 90 degrees in order to allow water traffic to pass.

alien adventures

Selfridges @ the Bull Ring / Birmingham, England
Still one of the quirkiest examples of mainstream pop architecture, Selfridges gives off a particularly alien feel at night when the aluminum disks which cover the outside of the structure begin to give off a blue glow - reminding me of some far off one-eyed space aliens. It's a 2 minute walk from my flat in Brum and I never tire of shooting it - always an interesting shot.

sucka

Pollywogg Hollër / Belmont, New York
Beware of the Hollër - 'nuf said!

still life

Somewhere in the Imagination
Figured I'd shake things up a bit from the norm - fun with Photoshop.

oh, what a weekend it wasn't

Circus World Museum / Baraboo, Wisconsin
This mirrored reflection from the side of a circus train car sadly is not a reflection of my wild & crazy weekend here in Brum - I worked all day saturday - it rained all day sunday. Though I did go see Brüno. You know, Americans (or is it just southern rednecks) seem even more stupider when you are watching them in a foreign country. Zahh Brüno izzahh da nutzlich.

wheels of the [circus train] go round and round

Circus World Museum / Baraboo, Wisconsin
A trip to Baraboo, WI is not complete without a visit to Ringling Bros, Barnum & Bailey Circus World Museum - which also served as the former headquarters and winter home of the Greatest Show on Earth. Step right up - spin the wheel - win the little lady a prize!

star power

Woburn Road Gardens / Ampthill, England
And one more from my stroll through the village of Ampthill last weekend. I liked the star pattern - pretty cool.

flower power

Woburn Road Garden / Ampthill, England
In continuing the floral theme I've got going here at the moment, another shot from the english gardens I came across while walking through the village of Ampthill last weekend. Purple is a powerful color in nature - even in this soft and muted shade of violet.

an english buzz

Woburn Road Garden / Ampthill, England
Last weekend while working in Bedfordshire, I took a break and had a nice walk through the quaint village of Ampthill which I am told is quintessential England. I came upon a string of thatched roof cottages - each with lovely english gardens in the front. These bees were equally enjoying the sunshine.

alien beauty

Paget Road / Madison, Wisconsin
Spent a long and relaxing 4th of July weekend in Madison - much of which took place within the beautiful outdoor patio space of our friends' backyard. I'm not sure what these interesting flowers are - but I had a fun time photographing them.

which way to the beach

Sandland / Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
This is where I should be. Basking in the sun, lounging about making sandcastles.
Sandland in PEI was worth the visit (hope they bring it back this year). It was an outdoor sculpture museum - seasonal of course. It wasn't a big place, but they did have some impressive pieces as well as a little sandpit for the kiddies. It'd be a shame if they discontinued it.

ka-boom

Barbados Hilton Hotel (Needham's Point) / Bridgetown, Barbados
Invading sailors, beware! The Barbados Hilton Hotel will take any means necessary to keep its azure oceanfront waters protected from limeys.

disconnected

Pollywogg Hollër / Belmont, New York
A weekend without internet access makes me a little bit stir crazy.

freebird

Temple Bar / Dublin, Ireland
As grey and dreary as Dublin can be at times, the colors of the Temple Bar area always serve as a "pick me up" - lots of happy drunks.

reopened for business

Washington Square Park / New York, New York
The first phase of the Washington Square Park reconstruction, which began December 10, 2007, was reopened last month. Phase two will include substantial landscaping and some regrading to improve sight lines across the space. About the only object that is not being touched by the reconstruction is the marble arch, modeled after the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, constructed in 1892.

chinese lanterns

Canal Street [堅尼街] / New York, New York
Unlike most other urban Chinatowns, Manhattan's Chinatown is both a residential area as well as commercial area. Most population estimates are in the range of 90,000 to 100,000 residents making it the second most populous Chinatown after San Francisco. Canal Street, west of Broadway (especially on the North side), is filled with Chinese street vendors notoriously known for selling imitation perfumes, watches, and hand-bags, which are largely purchased by tourists.

pick a peck of peppers

Wilhelmina Bridge / Willemstad, Curaçao
These Venezuelan growers load their boats full of produce very early every morning and travel the forty some miles from the Venezuela coast to Willemstad to sell their fruits and vegetables at the open air markets.

tiny people

Tobago Cays / Southern Grenadines
Big boat - tiny people. Embiggen (click to enlarge) to find the lil' ones.

red bicycle

Ulica Kanonicza / Krakow, Poland
One of Krakow's most picturesque streets, Ulica Kanonicza, up until the 14th century was lined with mansions of noblemen. Then the palatial residences of Krakow's canons and prelates moved in with a number of buildings still belonging to the Church. From 1951 to 1963, Father Karol Wojtyla (Pope Paul II) dwelled at 19-21 Kanonicza.

scrummin' - on a sunday afternoon

Wards Island / New York, New York
What better way to spend a summer Sunday afternoon than scrumming with a pack of your best mates. Me, I'd rather be on the sidelines watching.

park with a view

Letenske Sady / Prague, Czech Republic
Just underneath Prague Castle, there is a sloping hill that goes from one park-like garden to another. The biggest of these gardens is Letenske Sady. This is a view from the park looking out over Old Town Prague and the River Vltava. Under the Communists, the park was used mainly for May Day parades, and once housed the largest statue of Stalin in the world before it was blown up in 1962.

water nymph at rest

Margit-szigete / Budapest, Hungary
Otherwise known as Margaret Island, this park land area is a 225 acre, 1.4 miles long island in the middle of the Danube, conveniently located between Buda and Pest. The Japanese Gardens are particularly striking - and tranquil.

reflections of progress

Livery Street / Birmingham, England
Reflections of something old, something new, and something yet to come. Not sure what the "something yet to come" is but the cranes were busy at work. Perhaps when I am back in Brum next week it will be identifiable.

passionately purple too

La Fortuna de San Carlos, Costa Rica
Another - to go with the other.

passionately purple

La Fortuna de San Carlos, Costa Rica
As anyone who has visited the tropical climates knows, the colorful floral vegetation is always an eye catcher. Living in Manhattan, even on the edge of Central Park, one doesn't see much in the way of colorful natural vegetation - other than green. Perhaps that's why all of the corner bodegas throughout the city seem to have flower stalls; allowing us to bring some natural color into our spaces.

the clan

The Leonard Farm / Canfield, Ohio
Just returned from a weekend of great fun where the Buchanan and Veach clans united for yet another raucously fun time - lots of drinking, music, celebrations, catching up with old familiar faces and meeting new younger faces for the first time. As I work on wiping away the haze and face a Monday morning: family - you gotta love it!

urban waterfalls

Brooklyn Bridge / New York, New York
Last summer, parts of New York City were bathed in giant waterfalls when the grandest public art project since Cristo's Gates in Central Park, hit the "water" (no pun intended). New York City Waterfalls, a $15 million art project paid for with private donations, ran from mid-June through mid-October. Four mechanical fountains were installed on the shores of Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Governors Island standing from 90' to 120' tall. This one was running under the Brooklyn Bridge.

perfect fit

Old Town / Bucharest, Romania
While walking through Old Town Bucharest, I happen to notice the reflection of this older structure against its newer counterpart across the street. And what a perfect connection it made to the roof line of the building next door.

of things to come

George Street (Jewellery Quarter) / Birmingham, England
The Jewellery Quarter is an area of Birmingham City Centre that is synonymous with the manufacture of jewelery and coins in Birmingham and has been the birthplace of many pioneering advancements in industrial technology. By the mid-1800s, the jewelery trade was considered the most lucrative in the city with jewelers being some of the best paid workers. There were more people employed in the trade than any other in Birmingham. The majority of the British Empire's finest jewelery was produced in the Quarter. The Jewellery Quarter's importance in the international jewellery industry has declined much throughout the 20th century and is now being transformed into a vibrant urban village and hub for creative businesses, eateries, and other support services. Numerous mixed-use developments are underway with most involving the refurbishment of existing manufacturing buildings no longer in use.