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Once in a while my work will show up on other photography websites. There is no specific regularity to the appearances, but anything that is seen elsewhere is also posted here on this page.
One of the primary places my images can be found is Pentax Forums where I post (screen name AggieDad) with a number of other black and white photographers who also use Pentax cameras.
I am also a guest contributor to Monochromia , a wonderful site dedicated to black and white photography. The contributing photographers come from around the globe.
Finally there is a neat little website, The Weekend in Black and White, that allows folks to share some of their black and white photographs each weekend. The website's host is located in Ireland, and the folks who participate come from the world over.
I encourage you to visit all of these sites and enjoy some wonderful monochrome photographs.
This lovely Snow Egret was sitting by the edge of a small pool of water. Its eye never left the pool as it carefully watched for little creatures that might make a good midday meal. The little scene took place in the wetlands of Galveston Island.
Monochromia
Shiny and silver, it soars over the Mississippi River and St. Louis. Visually it is far farther from top to bottom than it is from side to side. But that's not the case; its height and width are the same. Its shape is that of a weighted catenary, a lovely curve that is clean and elegant.
There are few things as quintessentially Texan as longhorn steers. This good ol' boy belongs to a friend of mine who keeps about 6 or 8 of these beauties as a hobby. I was standing at the fence looking at him while he was just relaxing in the grass and looking back at me.
When you quietly wander along through a field by yourself, you have time to think the little thoughts and see the little things that are often ignored or overlooked. This is when you see something as simple as a stalk of dried thistle and think that it should be a photograph.
One lone stalk of prairie grass, just jutting up a little higher than all the stalks around it; just against a clear and cloudless sky. Nothing more.
Sometimes birds just like to get together. Meet and greet. Have some face time. What better place for all the birds to congregate – flock together – than in a tree with few leaves? This bird convention was a December meet-up on the wetlands of the bay side of Galveston Island.
They scurry along in the sand at the edge of the water, back and forth in sync with the waves. They move so quick their legs blur as they move along foraging for little creatures.
"The woodpecker pecked out a little round hole
And made him a house in the telephone pole."
Elizabeth Madox Roberts
"...their fearsome crowns of bolts, trusses,
struts, nuts, insulators, and such"
John Updike
"I am a copper wire slung in the air,
Slim against the sun I make not even a clear line of shadow."
Carl Sandburg
Utility poles are a part of our life. They line the towns' streets and the narrow, 2-lane rural roads. They may carry just one or two wires or they may hold a host of them. Until we look up, we don't know. And they are so ubiquitous that we seldom look up. But some people do look up, and so we have poems.
An iconic Chicago landmark since the 1920s, The Wrigley Building with its clock tower is located on Michigan Avenue at the Chicago River. This picture was taken during a pilgrimage to Chicago to see the Burlington Zephyr at the Museum of Science and industry.
In an old, defunct graveyard that had its last burial almost 80 years ago, there is this grouping of wooden crosses, weathered and askew, in a small family plot. The crosses are complete with little American flags that were perhaps put there by some Boy Scout troop or veterans association. Look closely and you can see a bit of the plot's old fence under all the weed and vine.
These ragtag wooden crosses are throughout this small old cemetery, someone's one-time effort to rehabilitate it.
This is Number 9900, the original Zephyr, built by the Budd Company in 1934. It is the first diesel train. It set speed records and new standards for style and comfort. It changed rail travel forever. Number 9900, the complete train, is in the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry.
After a day at the beach, this young lad along with his little brother and his mom, who was carrying all of their beach stuff, climbed the steps to the top of the seawall. Once they reached the top, this little guy apparently told his mother he had to pee. All packed and ready to walk to their rooms, she sent him back down the steps to take care of things quickly.
It is not unusual for a raptor that is being bothered by a human (inside its comfort zone) to raise its tail and give a visual warning. Frequently they will take flight afterward. I don't think I was too close to this guy as I took the picture from our boat with a long lens. However, I do know the bird took off soon after.
It was 50 years old in 2015, and it still looks as clean and elegant as the day it was completed in 1965. There are probably millions of pictures of this magnificent monument, and probably 99% of them are essentially the same straight-on full arch view. I have tried for a different perspective.
At the Galveston train yards there is a group of tracks used as storage for BNSF (Burlington Northern Santa Fe) locomotives. Some of the locomotives look as though they are ready for service while others look as though they may be nothing more than a source for parts. In all, I would guess there are near to 150 engines stored on these tracks. I just put on my yellow safety vest and go wandering through the yard taking photos.
Frequently when on a spring birding trip to Galveston Island, we will try to visit one of the known breeding areas for egrets and spoonbills. I managed to capture this image of a lovely Great Egret, still in breeding plumage, tending to its chicks. The original photo was made with a 500mm lens as the egrets nest on a small island in the middle of a pond. The island is protected from predators by alligators and is just overflowing with Great Egrets, Snowy Egrets, Roseate Spoonbills, and Cormorants.
Few places have as much beautiful scenery as Yellowstone National Park. With over 2 million acres there are opportunities to see almost everything nature has to offer. This charming little lake with the hills reflecting in it is but a small example of the beauty that seems to be everywhere in Yellowstone.
A local Corvette club was having an outing at the Babler State Park in Wildwood, Missouri. Their cars were all carefully parked in a line with all of the cars facing out. I asked if it would be okay to take some pictures, and this beauty is one of the results.
I saw this magnificent bird at a zoo in Colorado. This bald eagle is a rescue and has been in captivity for several years. But living in a structured environment does not seem to have affected its dignity and imposing bearing. It kindly posed in profile long enough for me to take this portrait.
By May of 2020 the pandemic had pretty much closed down most public places and activities everywhere. Here is the closed and empty day-tripper picnic area at Galveston Island State Park on the Gulf Coast of Texas. Fixed rows of picnic tables with canopies and charcoal grilles silently waiting for families to return.
The Weekend in Black and White
Pentax Forums
Monochromia