Passing Storms

                                          http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESzdynlBaRA

Stationed myself on the west side of the Kansas City Museum Sunday afternoon and set the camera to do interval shooting.  One shot every 15 seconds.  Ended up with 697 shots which I merged into one video in Final Cut Pro X.  A little over two hours are covered.  I stopped when the rain started :)   The Kansas City downtown skyline is visible in the distance.

A Familiar Sight

This scene has been recorded countless times, but I never grow tired of seeing it.  Taken from the Liberty Memorial.

Prom

                                                     Saturday night at Liberty Memorial

Sunset, Bluffs

Low Down On Kaw Point

 Went on a photog-safari today with some new friends.  Took them to Kaw Point.  Water is very low  
                                                 there too due to the on-going draught.

 All the bank showing in these pictures was under water last spring. Above, Kaw on the right, Missouri River on the left.

Above, Kaw River flowing into the Missouri River KC Skyline in the background.

Mighty Mo Gettin' Low

Above, a view of the Missouri River looking west towards the KC Skyline.

 Above, the view a year ago from this past summer... bank full.  Below, the view on Sunday of this week.

Sunset from Scarritt Point

 Before heading inside the Museum's Carriage House last night to meet the Princesses, took a couple of skyline/sunset shots .

Downtown

 Downtown for a shoot today with my good friend Danny and fired off a few while I was waiting.

Skyline Summer

Nice clouds today and less heat which means less haze and nice shadows.   Went to the Summit Street Bridge to capture the skyline.  Nikon D800 F11, ISO 100, multiple shots sandwiched (7)....  slight enhancement in the blues.  Nikon 14-24mm lens at 14mm.

River City Dos

RiverCity

Taken yesterday in-between rain showers (sort of).

Summer Sundown

From North Terrace Park

Byway Summer

The Cliff Drive Scenic Byway has never been more lush.... with the wild grape, above, clinging to everything and the trees arching over the roadway, below.

Above and below.... you'd think a variety run amok and called "wild grape" would at least produce fruit.

KC Parks and Recreation has created areas in our parks that are less traveled designated for reduced mowing.... the result is landscape that, toward the end of summer, looks a little like it probably once did before it was mowed at all. Above and below views of Scarritt Point that are in the RMP... or, Reduced Mowing Program.

Above... the skyline barely visible above the trees in the distance....

Fall Photo Forgotten

Fond memories of cooler times. This photo, which I forgot about, was taken last fall and shows the skyline view from the northeast. Pretty clouds that day.

Moon Rise From Kaw Point

Friday night was the last time the moon would be full-full... from now on it will start losing its roundness. Above is the dusk view of the skyline with the relatively newly installed metal sculptures of Lewis and Clark. The Kaw River is on the right and the Missouri is on the left. Both are high and moving fast from all the spring rains.
It's a view that lends itself to black and white as well as color... above and below the skyline just after sunset.

Above...taken at 9:45pm..... the moon rose at 9:44pm and made its first appearance (below) at 10:10... preceded by a decided glow around the building. Fortunately what few clouds there were dissipated before moonrise.

The moon is very bright in relation to its "surroundings" and the only way to get detail in it is to sacrifice outlines and shapes in the buildings.... above is such a shot.
All these shots, except the last one, were taken with the 70-200 f2.8 zoom at F16... I varied only the shutter speed in capturing the images and it ranged from 2 seconds to 8 seconds at ASA 800 on the Nikon D3. A tripod and cable release were used to make sure everything was perfectly steady.


Fiddled with the color balance on the one above. Others are pretty much as seen by the naked eye.

Above shot was taken with same settings as before but using the 24-70mm zoom... it was a parting shot on the way back to the parking lot. The park is easy to find... just take the Lewis and Clark Viaduct (appropriate) west and take the Fairfax exit... then look for a sign on the right with an arrow saying "Kaw Point". You travel through a shipping yard parking lot to get to it... just follow the signs.

One Ballroom, Many Lives

This downtown Kansas City building has more lives than a cat. Originally it was to be a hotel but construction was begun in 1912 but not completed. The Kansas City Athletic Club then bought the unfinished structure and completed it in 1923. It remained the club until bought by the Continental group which converted the structure to a hotel.... the Athletic Club remained in the building until the 60s or 70s when it moved to Kansas City Kansas. During the Continental period the Kansas City Playboy Club was on the 22nd floor. Purchased again the building was refurbished for office space and is now known as the Mark Twain Tower. Now under new management several new leases have been signed.

The elegant room shown below was the ballroom for all the buildings incarnations. Today it is the Sawyer Room and is popular for weddings and other events. Each of the windows in the room has a unique design/logo in the center. I'm assuming those date to the Athletic Club Days and are logos for different teams.... although if someone knows for sure help me out!

President Truman used the club regularly before, during and after his Presidency. He was very keen on physical fitness.

Remnants of the old club facilities remain and the current management hopes to restore some to their former glory.

Below is first the exterior of the building at 11th and Baltimore. Then the entryway. The Ballroom takes up the fifth and sixth floors.

More pictures later including rooftop views (if we EVER get warmer weather). The building is the 20th tallest building in Kansas City at 24 floors.

Many thanks to Dawña the building manager who allowed me to photograph this treasure!