Tag Archives: Reflections

Arkansas River Reflections

Rowers on Arkansas River - Topaz Adjust

View from the west bank of the Arkansas River here in Tulsa of some rowers in the late afternoon last Tuesday. Tulsa has an active rowing community and I see them often out on the river practicing. It looks very hard work to me.

Logan is in production on the play he is in at Clark Youth Theater, “Romeo and Juliet Live From the Underworld.” This is a musical version and … “Romeo and Juliet awake in the after life, confused and unaware of their deaths. With the help of those in the Underworld, the lovers watch as the events of their lives replay before them, eventually making peace with the choices that led to their demise.” The play is very different and I am glad that I saw it twice as I did not understand at all what was going on the first time.

It takes a little to get an ear for Shakespeare especially when done to rap rhymes in Iambic Pentameter. The kids are doing a great job. There are some really talented and accomplished actors among the teenagers. Logan has a small part and does really well with it.

Anyway that is it for now.

Skywatch Friday – Spider Island

Spider Island - Oxley Nature Center

I had a few hours to myself last week so I went to Oxley Nature Center north of Tulsa’s airport. I only found one cache but the enjoyment is mainly in the looking. I walked up to one of the lakes and too this shot. If it looks familiar it is because it is taken from near where my blog header shot is taken. I’ve probably got two dozen pics of the same scene over the years, summer, winter, fall, spring, cloudy, clear, cold, hot, with Heather and Logan, mostly without. If there is a law against repeat photographs then I’m in for a long sentence.

I’ll have plenty of company though if I’m sent off to blogger jail. The bloggers I regularly read do similar things. A pretty or attractive scene tends to stay that way. What about you, do you repeat yourself a lot? Going back to the same scene I mean.

Linking with Skywatch Friday

Returning to the River

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Wednesday night after work I went to go running on the trails along the Arkansas River here in Tulsa. It was the first time I’ve since I tripped and fell on Turkey Mountain during a night run. It didn’t feel bad at the time but my side hurt and kept getting worse especially when I ran.

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I finally did the miracle cure for stuff like that. You want to know what the miracle cure is for almost anything. I bet you already what it is. You make an appointment to go see the doctor about it and you get cured about an hour before your appointment. It works every time!!

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Anyway, Wednesday night was kind of cool but there was hardly any wind and the river was very smooth.

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I ran past the University Club Tower. Just so you know, it is the eighth tallest building in Tulsa. You never know when a little tidbit of knowledge like will come in handy.

Where East Meets West

I got up to the far north end of the River Trails and went over to check out “Where East Meets West” a sculpture in honor of Cyrus Avery, the father of route 66. I approached it cautiously because at night I didn’t want to be accosted by homeless people looking for a handout. I got close and I was about to take this photo I saw this guy walking quickly over in my direction with a big smile on his face. I knew what was going to be next. A pitch about some plight he was in and an invitation to help. I’ve been through it a million times and no thanks, I don’t want to go through it again especially in an isolated area in the dark.  So I snapped the pic and went back across the street and continued my run.

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It was my first run in two weeks and parts of the trail were blocked off for construction so I called it quits after three miles.

So, the question of the day is: Have you ever experienced the miracle cure?

Weekend Reflections – Glassy Building

TCC Building - Topaz Glow

I’m experimenting with a new Topaz Labs product “Topaz Glow.” I thought it made the reflection in the building pop out quite a bit. They have a 30 day free trial program on almost everything they sell which is quite handy.

Do you use Topaz products? What do you think of them?

Linking with Weekend Reflections

Shadows and Reflections

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It was colder than you know what today and the windy was up but I bundled up and went on a walk today. The sky was clear and I was enjoying the sun. My employer has a new plaza in front of the building and I love it. It replaced a lot of odd 1980’s planters and design features with and open concept area with shade and seating areas with interesting shadows. See the light areas above? They are supposed to look like natural gas flames like on a stove or a gas light. Yeah, I know you gotta use your imagination. Since I work for a gas company I think that it is a nice touch. Too bad they don’t have some gas fireplaces out there.

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I went to the north end of downtown. I like the reflections of our all glass city hall on the back of the performing arts center. It gave the the all beige concrete exterior a little “liquidy” look. Liquidy is a word in Oklahoma, just so you know.

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This is our brand new state of the art drunk driver proof fountain at Bartlett Square.  You know the Bartlett Square with the Circle Drive (or roundabout, my British readers may say). It is all so confusing to me. It must be confusing to drunk drivers also because our two previous conventional fountains got totalled by the drunks ramming into them at night. This new one has a low profile so they can drive right over it plus it has flashing lights. We cater to our drunks here in Oklahoma.

You can see how cold it is. At high noon there is still a lot of ice around the fountain.

Linking with Our World Tuesday

Philbrook Museum’s Tempietto

Tempietto Topaz Impressions Colored Pencil I

Sometimes I think I take too many photographs of some scenes. LIke the  tempietto in the gardens at Philbrook Museum of Art for instance. I think it is one of the most beautiful scenes I’ve ever seen especially with the reflecting pool in front of it.

Based on a tip from Spare Parts and Pics I downloaded the  Topaz’s Impressions program. It converts photographs to look like a painting or drawing. The above pic uses one of the “Colored Pencils” presettings. The program is a little expensive, at least for me, so I’m “messing” with it on a 30 day free trial. Let me know what you think of it. For comparision the original photo is below. It is not SOOC though. It is an HDR composite. Just in case you are new to this blog I need to tell you that I don’t worship pics straight out of the camera (“SOOC”).

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Let me know what you think!

Linking with Water World Wednesday

 

Foto Friday Fun – 918 Edition

#brick #reflections #downtown #tulsa #918

This is an office building in downtown Tulsa. I like to wander around town during my lunch hour taking photographs of what I see. I use a variety of cameras. I took this one with my Apple Ipod Touch using the Hipstamatic App. I love using different filters and effects and Hipstamatic has quite a few to play with. I’m not much of a purist when it comes to “SOOC” and I don’t think that the term has any meaning any more with all the various things that can be done “in camera” with images. I also love posting images on Instagram. Check the sidebar for my latest Instagram photos.

I’m participating with Gaelyn’s “Foto Friday Fun” meme. Go check it out, come up with a number and she’ll match the number with a photo from her archives. And her archives contain tens of thousands of great photographs.