Category Archives: shadow Shot Sunday

Shadow Shot Sunday – The Sun is What Makes Shadows

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Last week I had to use photos from my archives for my Shadow Shot Sunday post. Why is that? It was because I wasn’t getting outside very much in this heat. Usually when I am outside, walking, hiking, in the backyard, etc I take pictures of almost everything and almost everything outside, during the day, casts a shadow. If nothing else, I cast my own shadow. Now as I write this, it occurs to me that this is the lamest Eureka moment ever. I’m almost embarrassed for myself. But that is alright. I embarrass everyone I know my mere presence, its okay if I embarrass myself every once in a while.

Garden Shadows

So with my newfound comprehension I went in the backyard and took a photo of this spinner casting a shadow on our fence. I kind of like the light on the spinner also.

Philbrook Decorative Railing Sculpture

A few days later I was at Tulsa’s Philbrook Museum looking at an exhibition and afterwards decided to go on a spin around their gardens even since it was a little early and the heat had not showed up. First thing out the door is this shadow of a decorative feature on the cast iron rails.

Philbrook Gardens Tree Tunnel

And then I turned left and went down this long “tree tunnel” with its shade along the whole length.

Philbrook Shadows

And out into the gardens and first thing is this shadow cast by a planting.

Shadowy Garden Chairs at Philbrook Gardens

And some restful chairs in the shade of the a large tree. I think it would be cool to take a book and read there once it gets a little cooler.

Philbrook's Tandy Pavillion

Philbrook recently opened their Tandy Pavillion out in the garden. It is mainly an event space but I love how much shade is on three sides of the building. Plus the air conditioning is heavenly and they have restrooms. When you are in your 70’s it’s nice to have handy restrooms instead of trudging back up the hill to the main building. They also have a small exhibit of bird photographs on display.

Shadowy Art at Philbrook Gardens, Talisman by Oded Halahmy

They have all sorts of art on display in the gardens. I’ve always loved this. It is called Talisman by Oded Halahmy

Philbrook Veranda

I’ve always loved this structure in the gardens. It has a fountain to the left and it is always shady and restful.

Shadows at Philbrook Gardens

And headed back into the main building I found this shadow on a bit of a patio. I love the contrasting pattern of the shadow and the pavers.

So anyway I have resolved to spend more time out of doors during the day even though my dermatologist tells me that the sun is trying to kill me. Sunscreen and wide brimmed hats are my friends!

And to be clear, many of my fellow photobloggers make great shadow photos indoors. I’ve done a bunch myself.

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Shadow Shot Sunday – 13 September 2026 Edition

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Dog Walking Shadows

One morning during a dog walk

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Eleven years ago when I was still working in downtown Tulsa. Many of the older art deco buildings were empty. They were not abandoned just empty. Many of them, including this building were remodeled extensively for apartments and condos. Downtown Tulsa used to be abandoned after 6 pm and on weekends. It is a hopping place now.

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Son Logan on a hike with me on Turkey Mountain eleven years ago. He finally got old enough to “just say no” to hiking with me. I miss those days. I used to give him a steady dose of dad jokes which I loved and he didn’t appreciate.

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Some old water infrastructure on Tulsa’s Reservoir Hill. I hid a geocache close to that building. The building is still there but now there is a razor wire topped security fence around the whole area. So that is a no go now.

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Shadow Shot Sunday – Town and Country Archives

Today I reach back ten years ago for shadows.

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Trees turning color in downtown Tulsa.

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The deep shadows of Guthrie Green, a popular event space in downtown.

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A shadowy guest house of some family friends out int he country. Notice the chicken!

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Riding bikes on Tulsa’s RiverParks Trails. That’s my wife, Heather, up ahead of me. She is usually ahead of me in many areas besides bicycles.

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A “tree tunnel” at Tulsa’s Oxley Nature Center.

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Shadows from Space to the Neighborhood

Lunar Eclipse on 58/28/2026

Here’s the biggest shadow I have ever photographed. The lunar eclipse earlier this week. I made the image small because otherwise it is just kind of big and blobby. (Blobby is a word here in Oklahoma, just so you know.) Did you get to see the eclipse. Did you get a non-blobby photo of it!

Turkey Mountain lost and found

Here is a Lost and Found shadow. Somebody at the Turkey Mountain Urban Wilderness Area here in Tulsa had the good idea put a lost and found basket at the base of map stand at the park. I think the drilled hole shadows are cool.

Sadie and Alan in the backyard

And here is a trailcam photo of our backyard. That is Sadie the rescue terrier in the sun and I am in the shade behind her. Both our dogs are sun dogs. They love laying out in the heat of the day. Note the temperature, note the burnt grass. Here in Tulsa we average eleven 100+ days a year, so far we have had 22 and we have a solid 7 day forecast for over 100F temperatures coming up this week.

Sadie - Dog walk shadows

The mornings are cooler though so I have been taking Sadie for a walk. I love dog walking shadows.

Sadie dog walking shadows

Here’s a variation on a dog walking shadow, a picket fence shadow overlaid on a dog walking shadow. Who says I cannot do two things at the same time?

Neighborhood Greenbelt Shadows

You can tell it was early. Here’s a long morning shadow of a tree in our neighborhood greenbelt.

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Shadows -At Home and on the Trail

Do you have a messy corner in your backyard. Surely not, it’s only us. Where we have utility boxes, stumps of cut down trees, and wheelbarrow. We have that and it has a whirlygig so here is video shadow, a fence shadow, and shadow shadows. Don’t mind the pipeline signs. They are from past employers of mine before I retired.

Tiger Striped Sadie

And a combination dog and fence shadow. Sadie likes to give the yard a good sniffing when she’s back there.

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Also from the backyard. Earlier this month we had the deal we get once in a while at almost sunset and the light takes on a reddish hue. So I thought it was cool and took a photo looking up into the tree. No filter used. I use filters a lot so if I did use I would tell you, maybe.

Trail Shadow on Turkey Mountain

You have heard about the miracle weight loss drug GLP 1, right? Well I am on a clinical trial for GLP 1HX. An experimental variation that makes you lose weight and get taller. It is working fabulously. I hear that is a variation of that called GLP 1HXYX. You lose weight, get taller, and younger. Let me know if you are interested. I will hook you up.

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Finding Cool Places on the Trails

The sun is bearing down on Oklahoma hard these days. Every day is over 100F for the high and mornings are high 70’s/low 80’s. It’s brutal. It’s too warm for a dog walk in the morning especially with our little Pomeranian. I’m trying to get out early on my once or twice weekly hikes on Turkey Mountain.

Fortunately on the mountain it is very shady. And you you shadows make good photographs.

The new part of Turkey Mountain is “The Sanctuary.” It’s off by itself and has the newest trails, all single track and many of them fairly technical. You have to watch your feet is what I say.

This is one of the old landmarks on the Mountain. Everyone but me calls it the washing machine. I call it the clothes dryer cuz is what is if you look closely. But you can ignore me if you want, everyone else does, and call it what you wish.

Turkey Mountain Trails and Shadows

This is the main trail to the Mountain from the lower parking lot.

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ShadowShot Sunday – Hot, Hot, Hot edition

Shadows on Turkey Mountain

I look at lots of blogs every week and in the northern Hemisphere many of them mention the heat. It is hot here in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA also. We are always hot in the summer but there is something about this year that is making it worse.

I like to be outside and so I try and get out early and go hiking on shaded trails like the ones above and below.

I try to be careful. I take lots of water, I go slower, and hike shorter distances.

Backyard Tree Trimming

This is our backyard. We have lived here a long time and we have trees we planted as sapplings that are now huge. This one is on the east side of our backyard so it doesn’t really give us shade in the afternoon and it doesn’t allow enough sun to reach the yard so the grass is very sparse. We had our tree guy come out and trim it up quite a bit so things are better now.

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Shadows of New Mexico and Colorado

Santa Fe Shadows

Mornings in Santa Fe are always cool and shady.

Pedestrian Bridge

A shadowy pedestrian bridge at Bandelier National Monument about an hour or so from Santa Fe.

Chimney Rock National Monument - Visitor Center

Shadows are welcome at the sunny Chimney Rock National Monument near Pagosa Springs, Colorado. The woman on the left is my wife.

Metate and Mano Set at Chimney Rock National Monument

A mano and a metate on display at Chimney Rock National Monument. The metate is the big rock and mano is the small one. These are used by the Ancestral Puebloan People to grind maize, nuts, and seeds into flour. This takes grinding labor into a whole new realm. Can you imagine the work that would be needed to make a meal? As a side note, these stones are found all over the southwest. My brother found one while we were hiking out in the desert of central Utah. I don’t know what happened to it. We moved a lot and these things are heavy. It probably got left near one of the houses we lived in. It’s not like you could throw it away and I don’t think most of them are worth much. Nowadays if I saw one on a hike I’d take a photo and leave it be.

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The Magical Shadows of Santa Fe

The light in New Mexico is different. The sun is intense, the trees in the desert areas are sparse and small. The shadows are wonderful.

Santa Fe Shadows on Canyon Road

A bench with shadows at an art gallery on Canyon Road.

Trail Shadows - Dale Boll Trails in Santa Fe

Tree Shadow we saw on a hike on their Dale Boll Trails just outside of town.

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Also on the Dale Boll Trails, prickly pear cactus makes for interesting shadows.

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Shadow Shot Sunday – Palace of the Governors

One of my favorite places in Santa Fe is the covered walkway at the Palace of the Governors. For my whole life I have seen Native American vendors setting up to display and sell their jewelry. This time I saw a guy, looking like an inspector of some sort, checking out all the vendors and filling out a checklist. I also noticed that each vendor area is numbered so I got to wondering how are these vendors regulated. Was the jewelry made by Native Americans? I had so many questions.

So I checked the interwebs and it turns out the vendors displaying their wares are very tightly regulated via the Native American Portal Program administered by the New Mexico History Museum. The vendors must be a member of recognized tribe and they have to show technical mastery of their skills and crafts. All sold items must be handmade by the vendor or a member of their household, using traditional methods and materials (e.g., turquoise, coral, silver, beadwork). I’m thinking that the jewelry on sale is legit. Up to you to get a good price for it though.

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