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A couple weekend ago, Rich and I went to an antique car show, something he use to do with my dad on a regular basis. Sadly dad is long gone, and Rich hasn’t gone to many shows since. However, I agreed to go with him to a show in southern NJ. While he enjoyed all of the beautifully restored cars, I was far more interested in the rusted relics strewn along the property edges. They, along with the late afternoon glowing sunlight, had me climbing through all kinds of weeds and trees to take shots. I found it all peaceful and beautiful, the way the autumn coloring so complemented the decay of the cars.  In that junkyard of sorts, I found beauty and even some hope.

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Some of the images I took while in NYC with Benedicte.  I love the contrasts, reflections, lines, and so on.  So many ideas for artwork, too!

On Thursday, my mom and I took a train to NYC to meet up with my sister, her  childhood friend, Debbie (mom was also friends with her mom), her husband, and her husband’s mom.  Our eventual goal was visiting the 9/11 Memorial downtown.  However, first we walked the High Line Park (like I did last Thursday with Louis). We then stopped at The Ink Pad so I could buy a few things, and then we took a subway downtown.  The photo of the bird isn’t on the High Line, rather I took it at a park in the West Village. I have a lot of cool shots that I took while strolling of the park. I added a bunch on my Facebook page from last week. I may add more.  I will add photos from the Memorial later or tomorrow in my next post.

Louis Kettle is Derry’s very cool nephew. He is currently on a whirlwind holiday going to various destinations around the U.S. for the next month. He started his journey in NYC, and I had the pleasure of spending all of Thursday with him.  After a quick bite to eat, we walked to the start of the High Line on West 34th, which is a public park build on a 1.45 mile elevated area that was once a freight rail line.  It was a lovely stroll, lots to photograph and take in, and the weather was hot and felt great. We walked to the end in the meatpacking district.

From there we walked through the Flatiron district, eventually heading up Fifth Avenue where he had his first NYC pretzel from a corner vendor.  We went into the Empire State building, got a ticket for the NY Skyride, which was fun, and then continued along Fifth, making a detour at Rockefeller Center. Back on Fifth we carried on to the fountains in Central Park. Afterwards, we walked to Times Square, stopped for more food (and his must have “I heart NY” t-shirt), and then eventually made our way back to Penn Station where I said goodbye and headed to NJ.  He is already off on the next leg of his journey to California.

I do believe he is taking his first picture of the Empire State Building.

At the start of our walk on the High Line.

A great day for a stroll!

Farther along our walk.

Taking in the sights.

Me doing the same.

In the lobby of the Empire State Building.

Taking pictures of Rockefeller Center.

Fifth Avenue near Central Park South.

Near the foundations in Central Park.

In Times Square.

For the benefit of his family, I put an album of these and some additional pictures on my Facebook page.  I may add some additional scenic shots here another day.

At a Wells Fargo bank

Washington, D.C. building

Washington, D.C. building

Washington, D.C. building

Notice the reflection of the Washington Monument in the bottom row of windows.

Washington, D.C. building

Metro station

Metro station

Metro station

Metro station

Union Station

Union Station

Union Station

I like the title, Reflections and Perspectives.  It sounds like a good name for an exhibit or a book.  Hmm … mental note to self.  In any event,  I’m hoping that some of these photos provide inspiration or even end up in future artwork.  We’ll see!

I took these pictures in and around The National Portrait Gallery in Washington D.C.

The White House

The Jefferson Memorial

The Courtyard of The National Portrait Gallery

The Air and Space Museum

The Potomac River

The Lincoln Memorial

The Lincoln Memorial

Lincoln Memorial

The Butterfly Pavilion at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum

The Washington Monument

The Washington Monument

I’ve been away in Washington, D.C. to attend Photoshop World. I’ve been going yearly for more than a decade, but it’s fun. I’ll talk more about Photoshop CS6 in a future post.  Derry and I arrived by train early on Thursday, when the weather was very warm (in the 80s). The pre-conference didn’t start until Friday afternoon; thus we had all day Thursday and a good part of Friday to take in the City. Over the weekend, while we were busy taking at the conference, it rained and was windy. By Monday the rain cleared, the conference was over, and we were able to take in more of the City.  However, by then, nearly all of the Cherry Blossoms were gone!

Mom, me, and Derry

After walking around Birmingham, we found a place to eat — The Duck.  We had an excellent meal and ordered a fudge sundae for two.  We were stunned by the size of the dessert .  Often English people say that American sizes are very large.  Ha.  That sundae was massive!  Even so, we all enjoyed it and the vacation.

After leaving Kenilworth Castle, we headed to Birmingham where we spent one night prior to flying home in the early morning. First we took mom to The Mailbox so she could get a taste of one of Birmingham’s shopping areas.  From there we walked along some of the canals at the Gas Street Basin.  Mom was surprised to learn that Birmingham has more canals than Venice.  The weather was perfect and it was a good way to unwind.

Mom and Derry relaxing.

After leaving London, and on our way to Birmingham, we visited another English Heritage property, Kenilworth Castle and Elizabethan Garden which is in Warwickshire.

After seeing the changing of the guard, we took a tube over to the London Tower.  By then, the weather warmed up quite a bit.  As time went on, however, the weather changed again with a light rain.  The first time I went to the Tower, Derry and I climbed more stairs going into the various towers.  However, we’ve been giving mom quite a work out and so decided not to climb as many stairs.  Besides, we also walked across the Tower Bridge.  And, after we were on the other side realized that the tube station we next wanted to go to was on the north side, meaning another walk across the Bridge.  By then, mom and I were holding each other up to make it across!

The building on the far right is The Shard, which will be Europe's tallest building to date when completed.