Thursday, June 6, 2013

MO Photos

Including the trip we made last month I've been out to Kansas City with Miranda four times now. And while what I've seen of Missouri is nowhere near as photogenic as scenic California, the area around her parent's house in the suburb of Blue Springs is prettier than the ag lands we have surrounding Davis. I'd done a few hikes around the area the previous times out there but this year I packed the good cameras with me, determined get out and explore with the camera. I even talked Mir into a road trip to see the St Louis Arch, though we eventually ran out of time to do so.

Our first night in town there was a good lightning show. I'd missed the one big storm that had come thru California a few months back and was excited about this one. But I wanted to stay with Abby for one storm since she had talked about the grumbly rumbly noise episode of her favorite cartoon Guess with Jess. Everyone told me 'It's Missouri, there'll be more thunderstorms.'

The place I had in mind for thunderstorm shots was the far eastern part of Blue Springs Lake that runs along the main road into their neighborhood.  Dead trees, killed in the flooding to create the lakes, covered this section and had my attention since the first time I visited.  On the next free evening I drove down to check out the sunset scene. There was one good storm cloud in the sky. I tried shooting it over those trees on the Blue Springs side but the sunset colors were much better over Lake Jacoma. A few sudden downpours but no lightning.

Still the trees called to me. So a few nights later I went down again and hiked down to the water's edge on the other side. I walked maybe a quarter mile, if that. As I set my bag down to get out the camera I noticed a few bugs on my pants. TICKS!!! On our last visit I woke up in the middle of the night and found three of the damned things on me after a short nature hike. This time I was determined not to let the bastards latch on and quickly picked at least twenty off my pants and socks. I had just enough time to get set up before the sun dipped below the horizon. 

The trees I could get close to shore weren't as exciting as I'd hoped. Also there was some kind of new overflow pumping water into the lake that kept it from being perfectly still. Can't decide if I like the rippled effect it made on the reflections or if it would've been better calm and smooth like a mirror. 

Not wanting to deal with any more nasty bugs I looked for a place around the big city to shoot. Earlier in our trip we had passed by the WWI Liberty Memorial Tower after taking Abby to the Crown Center. I searched online, found a few decent shots of it by other photographers, then got it in my head that this was the place I needed to shoot. After a dinner out with friends Miranda indulged be by letting me shoot around at night while she and a sleeping Abby waited in the car. 


The tower now sits on top of the country's only WWI museum and, fitting with KC's image, has a nice fountain at it's entrance. It was a little dark and I was trying to not keep Mir waiting so I only took a few shots. If I had this one to do again I'd try going a little lower to emphasize the ripples in the water more. 

I ran up top and tried another angle.

I like the twinkle of the lights on the stairs. But I had to use a fisheye to get the whole scene in and don't like the distortion it caused. 

Behind the tower there's a great view of the city skyline with Union Station in the foreground. 

I'd hoped there would be some lightning in the area to make the sky more interesting but I only saw one flash far to the east of here. Next time I'll make sure to come back here and do a multi-image panorama like I'd done in San Fran over the holidays. 

The last few days of our trip were spent in Colorado Springs visiting Miranda's brother Marcus who's stationed there. I was happy to sit shotgun for the nine hour drive across Kansas, hoping to take in the scenic glory of the state. I don't think I would've missed anything by watching the roads instead of the view. CO Springs, on the other hand, sits on the edge of Pike's Peak and the Rockies and looked like a much better place for a photographer to enjoy the outdoors. Mir's dad Mark mentioned wanting to visit a park called the Valley of the Gods that was in town. No one else was interested so one afternoon he and I took a 15 minute drive over to check it out. 


The park was pretty cool and everything was in easy walking distance. Several tall rock formations were covered in rock climbers dangling from ropes. While it was great to see it was hard to photograph. The paved trails were all lined with fences and signs telling people to not climb without permits and to respect nature. But all the paving and signs made it hard to photos that looked natural. 

I went up one unpaved trail to a smaller rock overlooking part of the city. Even here there were more signs. Out of the 15 minutes or so I was there I did manage to find a few seconds without anyone in the foreground for a shot. 

I thought this view would be great at night with the city lights glowing and decided to return again that night. I left a little late and missed the nice sunset colors in the clouds at the main overlook. But the red rock made for a nice conversion to black and white. 

I'm still a little upset at not getting the better clouds I would've had by leaving 20 minutes earlier but this one's a little too far away for me to get a do-over now. 

I hiked back up to the overlook for the night shot.


I like the moon as an element in the sky but the shadow it created blocked out a lot of the detail I'd wanted from the rocks. Again, not sure I'll ever get a re-do on this one so I'll have to live with it. 

We flew back home out of Denver with a stop in Orange County. Since Abby is over two she has to have her own seat now. While that hurt the bank account it made the flight more comfortable having a whole row to ourselves. It also guaranteed me a window seat. I kept one camera with me in case there was a good view. I'd hoped to see the Grand Canyon but most of Arizona was covered in clouds. The clouds didn't break until we were back in Cali. It was late in the evening and the low sun combined with the fog and smog in the San Bernardino mountains to give me one final redeeming photo from the trip. 

Next time we head back to KC I'm going to make sure catch the first lightning storm that comes around. And I'm definitely getting a plane seat with a good view. 

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I want to go back for more gar fishing!