Colorado River State Historic Park – Former Military Depot Turned Museum

Yuma, Arizona.

Notice: This post is being written during the COVID-19 pandemic and at this time, the park is closed to visitors. Please stay safe and follow your state or country’s guidelines for travel in your region. More information on the park’s current status can be found here.

Where the Colorado River crosses from Arizona into California, Yuma became a crossing point into the Golden State, never more true than during the gold rush days starting in 1849. One year later, a military post was established at Yuma and by 1858, Yuma experienced a boom as gold strikes on the Colorado River started another gold rush. In 1864, the U.S. Army established a Quartermasters Depot on the site that is now the grounds of the State Park. Materials and goods were delivered from ocean-going vessels to the mouth of the Colorado River where they were carried by steamboat to the depot. From there, supplies were transported to serve fourteen military posts in Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Southern Utah, and West Texas.

Cellpic Sunday – 17 May 2020

Lake Township, Iowa.

Just over a month ago, we headed back from Arizona to our home in Fargo, North Dakota. Normally we take three to five days, visiting family and friends along the way and taking time to capture some “local color” as we go. Given that we are in good health and looking toward the upcoming 14-day state mandated quarantine for snowbirds returning home, we decided to throw some sandwiches in a cooler and drive straight through. Lynn and I alternated driving and napping and we made the trip in 29 hours, stopping only for driver swaps, rest stops, and fuel.

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – Cropping the Shot

This week’s challenge is from Patti Moed. She asks us to focus on one of the basic “first steps” in bringing out the best in an image. She writes, “This week’s challenge is a chance to explore a photo editing technique and the benefits of cropping the shot.  Show us how cropping helped to improve an image and create a desired effect.  Include the shot “before” and “after” so we can see the difference.” You can read her entire challenge post here.

Of course, that first step might also end up being a later step as you evaluate the close-to-final image and discover a different crop might bring out a different look that might even change the photo’s emotional appeal.

But I Digress… Portraits? We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Portraits

San Diego, California.

OK, so I’m not a portrait photographer and I don’t claim to be. Turns out Luminar 4 might just make me a portrait photographer that could make me happy with my work… if I can get the camera to focus on the eyes. I scoured my gallery of images to find snapshots that I could somehow justify in the name of portraiture. I didn’t find any. But I did find some images that were captured at a wedding in San Diego some years ago. The snapshots I found included an of my sister and an in-law, and, a solo image of my wife. The opening image features my sister, Veronica (we call her Babe), and my nephew’s wife Edwina.

Cellpic Sunday – 10 May 2020

Miami, Florida.

It seems like a year ago, but on February 8, we departed Miami on the Carnival Conquest for a western Caribbean cruise. Over the next few weeks, I will be sharing photos from some of the excursions on that trip. If you are reading this on its publication date, Lynn and I, along with my niece and her husband would already be in Rome on our 50th Wedding Anniversary cruise and our first trip to Europe. Of course, you know we aren’t going anywhere far away anytime soon.

Lens Artists Photo Challenge – All Wet

This week Tina asks us to check our archives and share images that are “all wet”, either in subject or colloquially. She writes in part, “…maybe you’ve just given your pet a bath, or perhaps the dewdrops on your garden have given you a smile.  You might also choose the colloquial meaning of the term “all wet” meaning mistaken or completely wrong.” You can read her entire challenge post here. For my response, I chose the literal interpretation as in this image caught on a Nashville street as we stood in the doorway of a local bar while a short downpour was in progress.

McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park – Little Trains Equal Big Fun

Scottsdale, Arizona.

Notice: This post is being written during the COVID-19 pandemic and at this time, the park is closed to visitors. Please stay safe and follow your state or country’s guidelines for travel in your region. More information on the park’s current status can be found here.

In early January, Lynn and I visited McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park in Scottsdale, Arizona. During the Christmas holidays, the park is all decked out with lights and features evening train rides through the park. On any given weekend, the park is quite busy (in normal times, anyway,) and there are lots of activities for kids and adults alike. Though the engine and train cars in the opening photo are full size, the fun happens on little trains.