Bookmark - York Minster Pulpit

As featured in this post in its larger extent, and part of the York Minster series, thought the vertical lines with curvature on top made a pretty good composition.  Enjoyed this one especially because it took a lot of post-capture work to make it look decent.

Bookmark - Thirsk Cathedral Pulpit

One of two pulpit shots captured in England that will be posted here as bookmarks.  This one is on Kirkgate in Thirsk; tomorrow's will be from York minster.

Note that there is a lighter spot at the base.  Explanation here.

Bookmark - Thirsk Cathedral Ceiling Beams

Publishing a few more from the Thirsk cathedral, this one looks straight up at the ceiling beams in the main sanctuary.  Goodness knows how old these are, as the church dates from the 15th century.

Bookmark - Thirsk Cathedral Candles

Another candle shot in the Thirsk cathedral...off to the side, in one of the smaller sanctuaries.  This is the one most likely used by the Wight family for their wedding.

And by all accounts it was a good marriage, lasting more than 50 years until Alf Wight died in 1995.  She was very good for him in that, after multiple rejections of his book submissions, she goaded him into digging them out of a drawer and sending them in "just one more time" until finally - to the benefit of us all - it was accepted for publication.  Love the storybook tales where the wife will not let her husband give up on himself.

Bookmark - Thirsk Cathedral Candle Stand / Our Yorkshire Stay

Ideal for a bookmark.  The candle was not lit, so borrowed the flame from another candle there in the cathedral.

And this the same cathedral where Alf Wight (aka James Herriott) was married.  Amazing that only a handful of folks attended...just a few friends and family members.

I was taken aback, and impressed with where we really were, when a conversation took place during breakfast at an Air B&B in Yorkshire.  Andrew and I managed to find and stay a night in a farmhouse built in the 1700's very close to Thirsk.  This was the bucket-list portion of our journey to England where I wanted to see the surgery and travel the same roads made famous by James Herriot's books.  Since this was an Air B&B there were several other guests, all from other parts of England.  One older couple, who lived elsewhere but whose parents were from Yorkshire, learned of my interest in the books and the reasons we were there.  Very nice couple.  The gentleman then began to tell of how his parents would run into "Alf" once in a while.  I was blown away that these people were speaking of the fabled James Herriot - not as a world-famous author, but as a neighbor calling him by his real name!

The house in which we were staying hit the jackpot in another way upon listening to the lady - who was in her 60's - that owned the place.  Her speech was thick with the famous rural Yorkshire accent that James Herriot had written about, and in fact that he tried to protect his children from by sending them to elocution lessons so they wouldn't end up talking like that (didn't work, according to his son Jim).

Bookmarks - Background Pattern Series, Zhuqi Bamboo and Lumber

 

Bookmarks - Background Pattern Series, Rock Wall

Once a year regular citizens like us get to visit some of the fancy-schmanze houses in River Oaks in what is called the Azalea Trail.  This was a rock wall surrounding one of the yards of those homes, which yielded two different background pattern bookmarks in the same frame.

Bookmark - Background Pattern Series, Banyan Strands

Banyan trees must be some of the most unusual species on the planet, with these strands just hanging in the air.  Didn't get much from my research as to exactly what their function is, but they look neat and make pretty good subject matter in a photograph.

They're all over the world in equatorial and sub-equatorial zones, but this particular shot was taken at the Taipei Zoo.

Bookmarks - Background Pattern Series, Two with Hoizontal Lines

Bookmarks - Background Pattern Series, Three with Vertical Lines

Getting a few more out of the way here...saw a consistency with the vertical lines in these background patterns.  The fence on the left was taken at the Houston Zoo; pencil blanks in Keswick, England; roller coaster in Kemah, Texas, while there on a criminal justice site visit for H-GAC.

Posting more than one vertical bookmark is a hassle in Blogspot, so had to build a template then save them in one file.

Bookmark - Background Pattern Series, Library Entrance

Suppose that almost anything can be made into a background pattern.  This is the entrance to the Houston Library, captured from a higher level of a parking garage.

Must admit that I was nervous taking this one and others from the same vantage point.  Since 9/11 happened in 2001, city officials all over the country get very persnickety when someone starts taking photographs of downtown locations.  Saw an article in the Houston Chronicle one time about some ordinances that had been adopted to address suspicious picture-takers, but could not find it on the internet.  One of these days I'm going to just go into City Hall and ask around.

A unique self-portrait was captured that day from this same garage, to be posted some time in the future...

Bookmark - Background Pattern Series, Shrubbery with Colored Glowing Edges

 

Bookmark - Background Pattern Series, Shrubbery with Glowing Edges

Another one taken at the Houston Zoo...shrubbery with Glowing Edges effect in Photoshop.

Got to playing around with color and used a gradient layer for the edges of the leaves; result to be posted tomorrow...

Bookmark - Background Pattern Series, Dark Leaves

Captured at the Houston Zoo...not desaturated or photoshopped in any way.  Reminiscent of the way they lay out tobacco leaves, but these are no more than 4-5 inches in length.

Bookmark - Background Pattern Series, Lily Pads (I think)

...all growing on water somewhere here in Houston.

Bookmark - Background Pattern Series, Tree Trunk

Captured on a jaunt to the Houston Arboretum.  The two-tone bark with the dappled sunlight was a nice effect I thought.

Interesting how you can see the same thing and perceive it so differently at different times.  Another day and in a different mood I might not have even notice something like this, or thought it worthwhile to share.  In order to capture beauty, one must see it first...

Bookmark - Background Pattern Series, Dockside Rope

The weathered, frayed state of this rope was what caught my eye.  Wider view was posted here in bookmark series.

Bookmark - Background Pattern Series, Honister Slate

Know I've posted one or two bookmarks with background patterns, but decided to go ahead and do a series to feature the remainder of those created so far.  This was captured at the Honister slate mines of the Lake District in England.  They say the slate here is unique in that it has a greenish tint that can't be found anywhere else.  Andrew and I picked up a few of these rocks to distribute to family and friends back home.

Bookmark - Gumballs / The Fate of the Old House

Boy this guy brings back some memories.  There was a sycamore tree or two down the street in our neighborhood in Orange, and I can't count the number of gumball fights we had growing up.  The prickles were not hard enough to hurt while throwing, but stung when hit with enough force.  Very handy.

Once a year or so my brother Mike and I will go to Orange and trod the streets of our old stomping grounds there next to what once was Jones Elementary.  Suppose one can get carried away by too much nostalgia, but it's good to touch base with your roots once in a while.

But nothing stays the same, the only certainties in life being death, taxes and change, as they say.  In the 1990's decay started to settle in.  Our old house at 1512 Chapman began to crumble as it went through a succession of owners, until it was finally an abandoned heap.  Even then I was amazed at how many of the things that my father added to the house were still in place.  I would take pictures of this evidence and store them in the digital files.

Things reached a tipping point when Hurricane Rita hit, then Ike later on.  When we were kids my brother Allan planted an elm tree in the back yard, which I had to be careful to avoid mowing the grass.  Well, through the years this thing grew strong and tall, but during one of those storms (think it was Ike) it blew down and clipped the corner off of Dad's workroom in the back.  The owner at the time didn't even bother to fix it.  I considered just buying the place so it wouldn't fall down completely, but better judgment prevailed.

It had to happen one day, I suppose.  Mike called to tell me that the old abode had been torn down completely.  Not a trace of anything is left except the two live oak trees out in the front yard.  I have an urge to go and see this, maybe one day after Orange recovers from more recent storms and hurricanes.  Lord willing...

Another gumball bookmark was created from this trip to Trinity County with the Girl Scouts in 2008, which with the Fuji 7000 was a fairly productive shoot:

Bookmark - Galveston Opera House

Sometimes a photographer will snap a photo that appears to be centered perfectly, only to find out during post-capture that it's off by a few inches.  This one, however, appears to have hit the mark.

Can't look at this pic without thinking about my son when he performed here with his junior high band (Cook).  Not because of any music, but rather because of the clever way he found to avoid having his picture taken, even while on stage.  Story here.

Bookmark - Orange Butterfly

Bookmark - Animal Shelf

My daughter's stuffed animal shelf.  This guy goes way back to the 3MP Fujifilm 3800 days.  A bit grainy so would print better in the 4-inch bookmark size...

Bookmark - Ambleside Felltops

Again, being entirely random here...some felltops in England.

James Herriott wrote of the incredible tenacity of farmers/ranchers that manage to eek out a living among these heights, though in Yorkshire (this was captured in the North Lake District).  This pic looks OK in a 5-inch bookmark, but because it was captured with the Bigger Cahoona a print more than five feet across could be made.

Bookmark - Chair Through Reeds

Back in November a bookmark of Allison through these reeds was posted.  Pretty much the same picture, though with less bokeh.  By now I was seeking opportunities to capture subjects through objects in the foreground.

Bookmark - Jet Ski Through Fence

Taken back in 2008 with the Fuji 7000 point-and-shoot, this is the photo that helped define for me the niche of taking a picture of something through something.  Captured in Topsail Island, North Carolina.  Forget why we were there...probably to give Allison a good beach vacation, which she naturally loved.  Also, my father had recently passed away, and I wanted to visit the spot where his ashes were scattered, an entirely anti-climactic event.

An almost-perfect shot of something through something.  The bokeh is enough to be bokeh but not so much that you can't tell what it is.

Captured in the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs - one of the better zoos in the country - with the Nikon D300s.

Bookmark - Byland Landscape Silhouette

Captured on the incredibly productive Byland Abbey shoot in England.  To top everything else off, this silhouette presented a great opportunity to end our visit on a positive note.

Bookmark - Houston Zoo Ducks

Yes, the cute little duckies.  Not sure what kind they are, but the contrast against the darker background is what made this one a keeper.

A year ago or so someone at church told me that his son was a zoo photographer somewhere up north.  I thought, Wow, zoos actually hire photographers!  This naturally led to thoughts that it would be an interesting job here in Houston, but upon reflection conceded that I wouldn't qualify.  I've been blessed enough to land a few keepers, but am not a true professional, nor a business man...