Big Pixel Pusher

Welcome

to my personal blog. Here I post examples of my photography and writing. I specialize in making unique and highly detailed photographs. Notice I said making and not taking. Yes I take photos but a lot of time and work is involved in pushing and punishing the pixels in my images to achieve the look I like.

Please feel free make comments about any of my words or photos. I enjoy constructive critiques, learning about locations to shoot or photography techniques. Click on the "Share Article" link to share any of my photos via Flickr, Facebook, Instagram, etc.

Want to use one of my posts in your own blog? No problem, but please make sure it links back to the original post here and do the right thing and give me credit. Don't copy my words, crop the images, remove the watermarks or claim my work as your own. This has happened more times than I can count so I've had to report copyright violations to ISP's and regrettably the violators blog is usually taken down.

Can't we all just get along?

Entries from November 5, 2023 - November 11, 2023

Tuesday

Nov072023

Splendor in the Grass

Tuesday, November 7, 2023 at 12:20PM | in

California,

Car Show,

Cars,

HDR,

San Diego

We often hear it's not a good idea to park your car on the grass while the engine is hot. Your catalytic converter could start a fire. I think this slammed 1930's car is safe as it predates catalytic converters by at least 40 years. The incredibly stylish body and mirror like finish on this car is what stopped me in my tracks at the San Diego, Chicano Park car show on this day in 2023. I just love the exuberant styling common to cars of the late 1930’s. Maybe after the trials of the great depression, exuberance was needed. Things would not be the same after World War II concluded. To poorly quote William Wordsworth:

Though nothing can bring back the hour of splendor in the grass, glory in the flower.
We will grieve not; rather find strength in what remains behind.

Punk in a City Storm

Monday, November 6, 2023 at 8:08PM | in

Poetry,

Writing

Run Silent, Run Deep

Monday, November 6, 2023 at 7:05PM | in

Chicago,

Chicago Science and Industry Museum,

Museum

During our recent trip to Chicago, Kathy and I visited the Science and Industry Museum. While I had wanted to go to the museum on prior trips, this was my first visit. In my planning for our vacation, my research revealed that the museum had a World War II era German U-boat submarine in their collection including the sub's enigma cipher machine which enabled it to communicate securely with the German Wehrmacht Kriegsmarine headquarters in Berlin. The captured sub also included a full complement of 22 torpedoes. If this were not enough, the museum has created a submarine pen resembling those built by the Nazi's in France at Saint-Nazaire. The photo below does not do justice and cannot convey the scope and scale of this world-class exhibit. The sub itself is about 250 feet long while the pen is longer than the length of a football field. Enormous! We purchased a timed ticket to tour the interior of the sub which was very interesting. The crowded interior was somewhat unexpected given how huge the exterior appears to be. This panoramic image is comprised of 3 sets of 9 HDR sequences for a total of 27 individual images. I want to return and try to find a way to shoot with my gorillapod since tripods are verboten!