Tag Archives: Woodward Park

Redbud Skies and More

Several days ago I was on Turkey Mountain checking out the Monarch Waystation. I water it when needed but it hasn’t needed a drink in weeks with all the rain and cool weather we have been having. I sowed some native prairie seeds a couple months ago and I was trying to see if any of them were coming up.

I don’t know a thing about wildflowers, and it looked like a bunch of weeds coming up to me. I guess that may be what some people call wildflowers. It may take a few more weeks and somebody who knows what they are looking to see if we are successful or not.

And then I ventured down the paved path and hung a right on the dirt road to the redbud grove. It is beautiful a whole hillside covered with redbuds. There are lots of the trees around town but I don’t know of any that are all together like this.

And then I ventured on the new Lo Chi trail. The old one was cool but kind of frustrating because it was an out and back along the base of the east side of the Mountain. I hate out and backs so I would do what other people did, climb up the side of the mountain to another trail. I’m too old for that foolishsness now.

And there is no need, the trail builders have made a loop out of with all sorts of cool switchbacks and other features to make it fun. You can enter and exit at different spots from the paved trail. Loops are fun, out and backs are boring.

So back on the paved trail I took a shot of the railroad tracks on the base of Turkey Mountain, next to the Arkansas River. They have only one customer now, a big Kimberly Clark Plant. So every once in a while, you can see a freight trail lumbering slowly along these rails. I am not a railroad expert at all but I would not think that these sketchy rails, ties, and roadbed could handle much of a load.

And then fast forward to Tulsa’s Woodward Park. The flowering is disappointing this year for whatever reason but one could find nice groupings here and there.

So it was worth going to but I wouldn’t travel far to see it.

The tulips looked nice in the overcast late day. I think they are almost at the end.

Tuesday we had dramatic skies in Tulsa so I made this low key photo.

Monday I rode my back on the RiverParks trails. My north turnaround was the Route 66 Sign Park. I took photos and then used the circular app on my iphone to twist them on top of themselves. I love this kind of stuff.

I did another one and it looked like a hot air balloon.

And I have been doing more jigsaw puzzles on my ipad. I love it. So these are not my photos.

I loved this one but it was booger bear. I worked from the inside out. I started at the steering wheel and moved outward. I put on the edge pieces as I found them but I didn’t stress about it.

I loved this one. It was a lot easier with the brightly colored sail and the stratified colors. On this one I started with the sails and the bright green sea.l

So that is it this week for Skywatch for me. I’m linking with Skywatch Friday.

Shadow Shot Sunday – Floral Hand Shadows

A few evenings ago I ventured out to Tulsa’s Woodward Park to check out the azaleas, tulips, and other plantings they have there. I decided to do something dumb that I do from to time. I pulled out my phone and fired up the Hipstamatic App and did some double exposures.

First I hold my hand up to the sky and snap the first shot and then point the camera at something floral and snap the second shot. The flowers fade out in the sun but come out in the dark shadow of the hand.

So I am sure that people were wondering what I was doing but you know, that’s their deal. You do you, people, and I’ll do me.

I may have carried it too far. I don’t know.

I had fun with it though.

For great shadows, check out the Magical Mystery Teachers Shadow Shot Sunday.

Autumn Colors at Woodward Park

Tuesday was a very warm day here in Tulsa. After my yoga class I headed up close to downtown to Woodward Park. Lots and lots of trees here and tons of fall color. So I just wandered around.

I stopped by the Five Moons, Oklahoma’s Native American ballerinas. In the last century these five women, Maria Tallchief, Marjorie Tallchief, Yvonne Chouteau, Rosella Hightower, and Moscylene Larkin were at the top of the ballet world. Hit the link above to find out more. The sculptures are actually on the grounds of the Tulsa History Museum which is adjacent to Woodward Park.

I also stopped by “Appeal to the Great Spirit” to check him out. I love this sculpture. It used to be in a local high school until they tore the school down and the statue was moved to Woodward Park.

Lots of brilliant fall color on disply.

I love this blast of yellow as seen from the shadows.

A similar effect here.

And here is shrub bursting with sunlight.

Stopped by my favorite sculpture of all time. “Poems and Promises” by Rosalind Cook. I used the Hipstamatic and Snapseed App on this.

By now I was getting hungry and I was close to downtown so I headed off to the Arts District.

I got some coneys from James Coney Island. It’s been in Tulsa for over a hundred years. I get them with cheese, chili, and onions and add a healthy splash of hot sauce and pepper them chili powder. Don’t knock it until you try it.

They sky was clear Tuesday night so I took this shot. It’s the Beaver Moon at 93% waxing gibbous so not quite full.

I hope everybody is having a great week!! I”ll be linking with Skywatch Friday, come check it out!!

Our World – Springing in the Rain

It was a wet soggy day here in eastern Oklahoma on Sunday. I felt the need to go take some photos so I loaded up my camera and drone and in search of photos to take. I found these trees blooming at the Tulsa’s Woodward Park. I love the blooms, don’t tell me what they are because I was too lazy to wander over and look at the labels under each tree.

Next I got a few minutes of non-rain at the RiverParks. It was wet and soggy and the Arkansas River was up quite a bit.

Got this glimpse of a guy doing what I should have been doing, running on trails. Maybe next time.

Instead, here is me standing on the trail, in the rain. If I’d of waited a couple of hours, the sun would have been out. Kind of reminds of an old joke but I’ll spare you.

I’m linking with Our World Tuesday today. Come join in!!

And a musical interlude, with Gene Kelly, Singing the Rain. I couldn’t find “Drone Piloting in the Rain.”

Shadow Shot Sunday – Saint Francis Edition

Our Health Club is part of Saint Francis Hospital here in Tulsa. The hospital has tons and tons of Francis imagery everywhere including going into the gym. I keep wanting to get a photo of him with Dallas Cowboys cap but I don’t want to trample the garden to get to him and my wife works there so I don’t to do any CLMs on her behalf (“Career Limiting Moves”)

Nothing makes better shadows than wrought iron. This example is at Woodward Park.

Oklahoma has lots of cool stories. In my opinion, one of the coolest is of the Five Moons. Five Indian Ballerinas from Oklahoma who achieved international acclaim for their dancing. Read more about them here. Above is Moscelyne Larkin.

So that is my Shadowy doings today. Check out Shadow Shot Sunday 2

Adventure Lab Geocaching at Tulsa’s Woodward Park

Those of you who have followed me for a while know that I am into geocaching where I search for hidden “caches” hidden by other people (and I have hidden a bunch also.) It’s a worldwide game with millions of caches in almost ever country. (Check out geocaching.com for more information.) An essential feature is that there is a container that is hidden. Well, that is not appropriate in a lot of places. Geocaching.com has added a new twist to the game that doesn’t require a hidden physical object to find.

They have started something called “Adventure Labs” where one goes to particular places learns something about the place and answers a question. It is on a smartphone app that uses the GPS functionality of the phone to make sure that you are at the right place. Learn more Adventure Labs by clicking the hyperlink.

There are several Adventure Lab geocaches in Tulsa right now. The first one I attempted was at Woodward Park. A very old and very beautiful park in mid-Town Tulsa loaded with features such as gardens, ponds, a rose garden, Tulsa Garden Center, and so on. There are five steps to completing the cache. None of which are shown here lest I spoil someone’s experience. Attempting the lab cache I got to see all these sights though.

Woodward Park was built back in the 20’s I love the stone steps. I am sure that each violate hundreds of safety rules. I will tell you when they are wet they are as slippery as ice.

It took about an hour to complete the five steps. I could have done it quicker but it’s not a race, and I was in it for the experience. You have to be within a certain distance before it will let you see what the question is for a given area and your answer has to be exact. It was fun. I already knew the answers to most of the question and I learned some new stuff as well. There are conventional caches and this Adventure Lab cache both at the park now.

So this is my nerd finding for the week. I was just glad to get out of the house after baby sitting contractors for two weeks!!

I am linking up with Our World Tuesday.

Our World – Tulsa’s Woodward Park

Saturday, my wife Heather and I went to Tulsa’s Woodward Park. I wanted to check out the Azaleas. That’s Heather above with her hands on her hips like she is ready to do something. She is always ready to pitch in!

The Azaleas were nice but not like last year but we loved it anyway. Above is a photo using my lensball. It is a spherical piece of glass that I keep in my car. It sure makes for nice photos, once I learned how to use it. One trick is that most of my photos with are inverted since it inverts the scene in front of it.

2019-04-27 Woodward Azaleas Topaz Studio Impressions

Here is a two tone photo of Azaleas in the shade. I have learned how to do manual exposure and blah, blah, blah with my camera but I forgot to set the white balance to shade and it is hard (for me) to correct for that after the fact. Oh well, I’ll take it anyway.

The Linnaeus Demonstration Gardens at Woodward Park had a butterfly garden. Heather had her notebook out and was making notes. I think we might have one in the near future.

Woodward Park had some iris’s also. I love them!!

We saw lots of flowers, and stopped and chatted with a couple from out of town who asked about what to see in Tulsa. A great time was had by all!!

I am linking with with Our World Tuesday

Skywatch Friday – Mid May 2018 Edition

Well May is well on its way and it has certainly warmed up around here and it is about time.

I apologize but I am going to bombard you yet again with a barrage of action cam shots from my bicycle rides. I have ridden over 200 miles this Spring. I do it every chance I can. I love it and it is a lot easier on the knees than running was. It is not near as good for cardiovascularwise. It is hard to get your heart rate up.

Heather has joined me a lot also. She teaches Zumba and other exercise classes so often times she rides after teaching two or three classes and she is still ready to ride a bunch of miles.

On one of my rides, I got to the literal “End of the Trail.” Most trails end a little more gracefully than this. The end at a road or something. Oh well.

Lets get out of the sun for a little bit and head to Tulsa’s beautiful Woodward Park. The azaleas were in bloom recently. The park’s shrubs got freeze damaged a few years ago so they are re-establishing the vegetation and doing a very good job of it in my opinion. It is not up to what it used to be but it is on its way.

I know nothing about flowers, and blooms but I know what I like. It was opportunity for me to practice what I learned about depth of field and making have a “soft” background.

More practice!

The season doesn’t seem to last too long and the strong winds that we have been very hard on the blooms.

What have you been up to lately?

I’m linking with Skywatch Friday!

Our World Tuesday – Nature Photography Class – Spring 2018 – Chapter One

I am all excited!! I did a one day Nature Photography class by Tulsa Community College. We met early in the morning and then headed off to several venues, the Linnaeus Gardens, Tulsa Garden Center, Tulsa Botanic Gardens, and Oxley Nature Center.

So the over a dozen of us, clicked and snapped away and we walked, and walked. My little garmin wrist device tells me that I walked 7.76 miles today. I believe it. My dogs are barking, you know what I mean. I do trail running, and this was about the same except I had a camera and was clicking happily away.

This is at Wooward Park, before the class really even started. So what do you like best, pink tulips in front, with yellow in back?

Or the other way around? Without cars in the background. Ignore the cars in the background.

Or how about the Redbud Trees.

How about some ancient stone steps.

At Oxley, do you like the little snake my fellow students found?

Or do you like the bigger snake a few hundred yards away. They said, don’t worry, no triangular head, and the eyes are round so it is not venomous. Like I even cared. Who is going to get close enough to snakes to figure out the roundness of its eyes?

I forget where this is from. It is pretty is all I know.

I love this also. No idea what it is.

Anyway, the more I learn about this photography thing, the more ignorant I get. I am firmy entrenched into manual mode, and metering the photos and all that but the complicated things get me. Like the above. Sunny on one side, shady on the other, overeposed on one side, under on the other. Who you going to call? Nobody, suck it up big guy, figure it out.

Or focus on the blossoms. The yin and the yang. Big picture, small picture. I am so confused.

Here is a redbud up close.

Linnaeus Gardens

How about a flag reflection. The reflection looks okay, but the sky is blown out. No editing done anywhere on this post by the way. Haha you say, we could tell that.

That is all for now. I took over 200 photos and I store them all in cloud and it is painfully slow to get them there. I used to store them on an external hard drive. Big, huge mistake. It cratered.

I really enjoyed the class. Kudos to my fellow students who really got into it, the various venues, who welcomed us with welcome arms and the instructors, Larry and Natalie who spent a considerable amount of time scheduling us into the various places, and led us around making sure that everybody had a fun time. I’ll be taking more classes from them again.

I am calling this Chapter One because I have so many photos to upload and don’t want to wait until they are all uploaded before I post something. Call me impatient.

I am linking with Our World Tuesday

Outdoor Wednesday – The Flowers are Blooming at Woodward Park

I took my “good camera” to work Tuesday just do I could check out Tulsa’s Woodward Park at lunch. The tulips and azaleas and other plants are blooming right now and the old park was putting on a show.

There were hardly any people there and I had the place pretty much to myself. I ended up taking 72 photos. Makes me glad for digital photography. I love film and have several film cameras but it is an expensive habit to get into.