Puss Puss

It's time once again for the First Annual Companion Animal Portrait featuring his inimitable self.... Mr. Daisy. He acquired his name because when he was a kitten I thought he was a girl. He wasn't. I hate learning new things so daughter and I added the "Mr.". He doesn't know the difference. He's 15. Above is the, "And exactly what are we going to be doing here pose."

Above, standard profile with eyes glazing longingly toward the horizon. Below, moderately threatening look which I receive 10-12 times a day and every time I fetch the cat carrier.

Above, alert, forward facing... standard for Urban Feline Uprising ID photo. Below, pensive and/ or "this is crap" look.
Below, good headshot with a nice steady gaze that seems fairly neutral. No animals were hurt in the making of this series although we came really, really close once.
All studio shots with the Nikon D3 and 105mm macro lens... 1/250th at F16 ASA/ISO 200.

Indian Mound 360

Giant and really pointless 360 view from the top of Indian Mound at Gladstone Boulevard and Belmont Avenue. The left and right edges of this image would join together if this was circular. It's composed of 15 images all of them F7 at 1/400th of a second, ASA/ISO 800. The large white building center left is the old Wards Catalogue Center and now Super Flea... The Mound itself is of Indian origin (thus the name) although I believe it is just the result of generations of Native Americans living at the site and was not deliberately constructed for any specific purpose. The original Mound was only five feet above grade and numerous digs in the last century and earlier turned up animal bones and charcoal from fires and a few tools and such. In the 1930's the original Mound was covered with layers of dirt that resulted in the larger hill we see today.

Indians occupied the ridge that is Gladstone Boulevard for years and years with ample artifacts having been found in various locations and even a dance floor found when the excavation for Gladstone School was begun in 1913.

This image is 8 inches by 46 inches and 368 megabytes.... greatly reduced before uploading to the blog.

My home is in the Indian Mound Neighborhood Association which takes its name from.... yup.

http://clvr.eu/k6r

Above is a link to view the panorama close up and in 360 degrees.

Panoramarama

Lately obsessed with the genre.. if it can be called a genre. Above is the view from Cliff Drive north about a 1/4 mile east of yesterday's shot. Right foreground is the Purina plant (I've heard they make dog food there). The red-brick buildings left of center are what's left of the old Heim Brewery which operated under that name from 1887 to 1905 when it merged with another organization... it stopped operating with the advent of prohibition. Just north of those buildings was the original site of Electric Park. A turn-of-the-last-century amusement park operated by the Heim Brothers.
Above, I've shot this many times before... is the hill directly above Scarritt Point looking northeast.

East Bottoms Rail Yard

View from the bluff at roughly Sunrise Drive and Gladstone Boulevard looking north. Yard for assembling trains. Busy 24/7. Nikon D5000 six images stitched together.

Peter

Peter is two weeks old.... we just did his first photo session. Very cooperative and patient.

All photos taken with the Nikon D3 and 150mm macro lens... ASA 200 F16... two flash heads.

Why We Live in Northeast

A video I prepared to highlight the reasons we live in Northeast Kansas City.

It runs 13 minutes.

Slow Walk Snow Walk

Last time I walked was last year... business and weather have conspired to keep me in the cabin. Ventured out Friday to visit Scarritt Point and Cliff Drive.... above and below the Point.

There are, not unexpectedly, a large number of animal tracks in the snow.... it's somewhat reassuring to see that the deer paths from last year are still in use.
Above the view up from the Point... below the view from the Point.... Pendleton Heights is on the horizon.



Above.... this portion of Kessler Park, in which Scarritt Point is located, is in the Reduced Mowing Program... which at first I didn't like but now do because of the more natural appearance it brings to the hillside. Below down on the Drive.... which really, except for the sky, is totally monochromatic.





Very rugged and stark all winter..... all photos taken with the D3 .... five exposures of each image sandwiched softwarily to give higher dynamic range. All taken with the 24-70 zoom at 400 ISO.
This month, Jan 6th in fact, marks the second anniversary of Hyperblogal.... time flies.