Bookmarks - Medicine Bottles with Glowing Edges (Abstracts)

The tops of some of these bottles were made into another bookmark posted here in the Rustic series, and the originally posted series can be found here.

Bookmark - Taipei Zoo Mobile (Abstracts)

Taken of a mobile-type art installation from an indoor staircase at the Taipei Zoo...

Bookmark - Taipei Toy Pile (Abstracts)

Love the color in this.  We were walking around a Metro terminal in Taipei and when I saw this pile of toys in a store couldn't resist snapping a few.  Applying Find Edges in Photoshop brings out the color in a better way, I think, than the original pic as captured.  And the result makes it abstract-y enough to place it in that category.

Must admit that I operate with more sneakiness when taking pics of products in stores as compared to a decade or so ago.  Guess age makes us more cautious in lots of areas in life...

Bookmark - Emancipation Statue in Austin

Ah, the best for last.  Posted originally in my latest series from Austin, and as stated at the time, this is probably the best statue I've ever seen...in both an artistic and social sense.

Thus ends the series on pictures of statues made into bookmarks, at least the ones I've done so far.  Think I'll post some more abstracts next.

Bookmark - Herriott Statue in Thirsk

Statue of my hero storyteller in Thirsk - that of the famed Jim Wight, a.k.a. James Herriott.  The man really made a difference in the lives of millions.  With as great a facility as he had with language its easy to imagine that he just sat down to write down his stories and there they were.  Not the case at all!  He worked hard at his craft all his adult life, and as fate would have it was given an opportunity to share them with a grateful world.

Bookmark - Honister Eagle

Another from Honister that I overlooked the other day - really an incredible piece of art.  All made from the slate mined in the hills of the area, supposedly unique in its greenish tint and crystalline structure.  Picked up a few to take home while we were touring the place.

Bookmark - River Oaks Poolside Statue

Another one from River Oaks, this one in the backyard of one of those stately mansions.  Pure art...

Bookmark - River Oaks Garden Statue

Captured with the Bigger Cahoona on the Azalea Trail here in Houston a couple of years ago.  To me it's always been interesting that these rich folks actually open their homes up for tours for a few days out of the year.  A chance to see how "the other side" lives, and get a few shots that wouldn't be available otherwise.

Some would say it'd be so nice to have big homes like these with lush gardens full of statues, hedges and beautiful pathways.  But I've never been at all attracted to such a lifestyle, feeling much more at home in rundown, lower- to lower-middle class surroundings.  This is why I was more at home in the little countryside villages of Mexico; there's something alluring about the day-to-day struggle for survival, and the people are more real.  The irony is that we've done very well for ourselves and, Lord willing, are set for a comfortable retirement...but I'm a little out of my element and do miss being in such places with such folks.

Bookmarks - St Max Statuary

 

Bookmark - Honister Pyramid

One more from Honister.  It was chilly that day, but the fog made for some good shots...

Bookmarks - Honister Silhouettes (Silhouettes)

 

Bookmark - Honister Statues (Silhouettes)

Also captured during our trip to the Lake District in England, this one at the Honister Slate Mine.  Lots of potential for lettering here...

Bookmark - Lady Justice (Silhouettes)

We were on top of the steps leading to York Castle (a.k.a. Clifford's Tower) and balked at the price of going inside, so I swept the horizon for shots that could be gleaned from our position.  Silhouettes being a favorite subject, this was a no-brainer...

Bookmark - Corona Bottle

I like this one a lot, with the glass and light shining through the amber brew...captured on a Bahamas cruise some years ago (not mine, by the way).

Bookmark - Food for Birds

Took this with the Fujifilm 7000 at Kleb Woods here in Northwest Harris County.  This is a highly cropped-in slice of a larger picture that I was quite proud of until I realized - where's the bird?  A photographer who had more time would have waited with tripod until a cardinal or bluebird perched on the little stand, adding color and interest...

Bookmark - Food for Humans #3

Taipei steam pots, posted in its larger extent here.

Bookmark - Food for Humans #2

Thought this was neat...at the Austin County Fair in Bellville.  The County Judge there at the time, Carolyn Bilski, told me how great it was so I brought the kids and one of their cousins.  A good day, and a good opportunity to give my Fujifilm 7000 some exercise.

Other bookmarks from this same excursion were posted here, here and here.

Bookmarks - Food for Humans #1

 

Bookmark - Corpus Bank Building (Reflection Shots)

 

Bookmark - Reflected Sunshine Strip (Reflection Shots)

Also captured in Houston, with a handy strip of sunshine right down the middle.

Bookmarks - Glass Buildings in Houston (Reflection Shots)

This is a cityscape but also a reflection shot, so I'll segue into reflection shots now.  Taken with the Fuji S7000 point-and-shoot from a parking garage in Houston.  The picture below shows a reflection of me in same:

Bookmark - Taipei Memorial Cityscape (Cityscapes)

A cityscape view captured from the grounds of the Chung Kai Shek memorial grounds in Taipei.

There are easily hundreds more cityscapes that could be made into bookmarks, but this is all I've taken the time to create so far...

Bookmarks - Skyline from Minute Maid (Cityscapes)

One of my favorite cityscape shots of all time, this was taken with the Fujifilm S7000 from inside Minute Maid stadium during an Astros baseball game.  This is the kind of thing I do during a baseball game, though at times I do focus on the field, per the bookmarks below:

 

Bookmark - Galveston Dockside (Cityscapes)

Several bookmarks have already been posted of this scene in closer-up shots of the tall ship and the restaurant to its left.  This is a wider perspective of the Strand district in Galveston along with the taller downtown buildings.

Though the beach is crappy in Galveston, I've always enjoyed going - as a kid to Sea Arama with my family, and much later interacting with the locals in my job as Criminal Justice Planner.

Bookmark - Houston Medical Center (Cityscapes)

Think yesterday's post makes a good segue into the cityscapes category.  This also is in Houston adjacent to the zoo, a swing-around from the bridge bookmark posted a few days ago.  If you've seen very much of this blog you've seen lots of cityscapes, as it's a favorite subject area along with fog shots, silhouettes and taking pictures of something through something.

Bookmark - Sabine Street Bridge (Architecture)

This was either a bridge shot, a cityscape, or a people shot...but I decided to make it a bridge shot so that it could be included here.  Pre-wedding pictures of my son and his then-fiancé, Ellen.  This bridge, being an antiquated structure with the gleaming Houston skyscrapers in the background, is a very popular spot for wedding photography.  Many times I've seen professional setups here, complete with tripods, umbrella reflectors and assistants helping manage it all.

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Today is my wife's birthday.  Happy birthday Sweetheart!

Interesting that Chenjean and my first fiancé have two things in common: birthdays just one day apart, and both subordinate twins.  Must be providence...and thank God the first one didn't work out!

 

Bookmarks - Trinity River Bridge (Architecture)

 

Bookmark - Tokyo Bridge (Architecture)

This could have fit in the upcoming cityscape category, but decided it was more bridge than cityscape.  Interesting that some of the stand-in coverage for the recent Olympics took place in the very place I was positioned to capture this photograph.

Bookmark - Louisiana Briadge (Architecture)

Taken in Louisiana, but forget exactly where.  Probably New Orleans, where we departed for a cruise one time...

Bookmark - Hermann Park Bridge (Architecture)

While at the Houston Zoo we'll go back to bridges to round out architecture.  This was in Hermann Park adjacent to the zoo property, a highly cropped-in capture with the awesome Nikon D850.