A Personal Amateur Photography Blog
From 1875 until 2016 there was a small zoo in the middle of Buenos Aires. With progress, the larger animals were relocated to nature reserves, and the area was turned into a park.
The park retains many of the old zoo buildings (some is less than pristine condition) as well as some of the small animal and birds, while being enhanced with a return of a more natural setting.
Also scattered throughout are many sculptures. Overall it is a pleasant setting to stroll around for a couple of hours.
This photography blog started out as a way to share some photos with friends, but after a number of years it has reached a milestone – posting number 1000!
To celebrate I give you my favorite 40 photos of all time. (I tried to make it less but could not)
Scottsbluff, Nebraska
Milwaukee sunrise
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Michigan
Duluth, Minnesota thunderstorm
Yellowstone National Park – All Hail the Geyser Gods
Pagosa Springs, Colorado
Mendocino County, California
Cambridge, Ohio lumberjack contest
Cincinnati Renaissance Festival
Loudonville, Ohio – Native American Pow Wow
Alaska Peninsula
Columbus – Krampus
Chicago
New York City subway art
Cincinnati – Rosie the Riveter Contest
Lanai, Hawaii – Cat Sanctuary
Haleakala National Park, Hawaii
Waimea Canyon Park, Kauai, Hawaii
Columbus – Krampus V2
Washington DC – Embassy Day
Houston – Lucky Land
Amarillo, Texas – Cadillac Ranch
Cleveland – Parade the Circle
Columbus Zoo
Montreal
Olivos, Argentina
San Antonio De Areco, Argentina
Buenos Aires – Casa Rosada
Bariloche, Argentina
Buenos Aires – Retiro Train Station
Buenos Aires – Recoleta Cemetery
Los Glaciares National Park, Argentina
La Leona, Argentina
El Calafate, Argentina
Buenos Aires – Palacio Barolo
Igauzu Falls, Argentina
We spent two wet days in the rain forest of Argentina and Brazil at one of the world’s natural wonders – Igauzu Falls. Generally considered one of the two or three best waterfalls in the world, it is in reality 250+ separate waterfalls.
The challenge of photographing such a vast scene, in the drizzle and mist, was daunting. In the end the lighting and coloring provided many interesting views. – resulting in a long posting of 40 photos.
We also met a few new friends.
A great year of sights – these are my favorite 30 photos of 2019, with brief explanations why they are my favorites.
Chicago – Willis (Sears) Tower. The perspective of people out of their elements.
Washington – The former Capital Columns in the Arboretum. The morning lighting with the wildflowers and contrast of the columns.
Washington – Embassy Open House Day – and a young lady’s perfect timing next to their logo.
Near Frankfurt, Kentucky – I have a thing about old, seemingly abandoned buildings. This however had been reclaimed and re-used for it’s original purpose – bourbon storage and aging.
New Orleans – Mardis Gras World. It was like stepping into some psychedelic movie.
Avery Island, Louisiana – The symmetry of the rice fields with another old building.
Houston – The home of quirky art. This is from Lucky Land, a very cool place.
Houston quirky art part 2 – Giant President Heads.
San Antonio mission. Symmetry and historic architecture.
Amarillo, Texas – Cadillac Ranch, but after a storm where they appeared to be in a pond.
Columbus Zoo and a zoom lens. The statement in the face and amazing beauty of the animals.
Montreal – Ferris Wheel in Old Montreal – Perfect timing and lighting (just lucky on the timing).
Marietta, Ohio – Sternwheeler festival.
Chicago – Open House and another fantastic ceiling/light.
Buenos Aires – obviously the extended period spent in Argentina has opened a new world of photo possibilities. Recoleta Cemetery is the most popular tourist spot in the city, and I had the good fortune of some young lady there for (I suspect) a photo shoot when she ran by the row I was in, turned and posed for me! Who doesn’t want a photo of a young lady running through a cemetery with a knife.
Recoleta Cemetery provides so many great shots – the cob webs are natural, not staged.
The tomb of San Martin.
The La Boca neighborhood is known as a working class neighborhood in love with their team – La Boca juniors. The old car symbolizes the working class neighborhood and it was parked in front of the soccer practice fields with their bright colors on the walls.
Chacarita Cemetery is not as famous as Recoleta, but still a very stunning place.
The sunrises and sunsets can be amazing.
An hour drive out of town to San Antonio de Areco, and their gaucho festival was the event of the year. 4000 people and horses dressed for the occasion.
The Jacaranda trees are fantastic in bloom.
On a walking tour of street art the passer by’s sometimes fit the theme.
The Casa Rosada. A great courtyard and a bemused guard.
Hockey in Argentina – bring that soccer passion inside and combine it with hockey.
Finally – Bariloche, a beautiful mountain and lakes region.
Rain in the morning, sun in the afternoon meant a less crowded day at the zoo – perfect for wandering around and getting some close ups. There is so much expression in their looks and body language.
Our major museum visit this trip was to the Field Museum of Natural History. It is known as one of the premier natural history museums in the world, and attracts millions of visitors per year.
We were here to learn about natural history.
As we entered the lobby we stopped by a small kiosk with a display of bugs.
Our first hall major exhibit we toured was the Hall of Ancient Americas. This wing covered both North and South America.
Each region featured pottery, sculptures, jewelry and more, and started with South and Central America cultures such as the Aztec and Inca (and many more)
The final section included the Northern Cultures. While similar to the southern cultures, these featured more large scale sculptures like the totem poles.
The second level featured Griffin Hall – a large dinosaur exhibit.
The most famous is Sue – the most complete T Rex ever discovered. For some reason there was unusual lighting on Sue when we were there.
One the main display the head is a cast of the original, which is in the next room in a display so you can inspect it closer.
We paid a brief visit to the cultures of the Pacific
Our final stop was an Egyptian display, including mummies.
It’s December which means the annual Columbus Zoo ‘Wildlights’ is back.
We arrived early enough to check out the aquarium.
The penguin habitat was still open (it closed at 5).
They apparently were ready to go in for the night as they were honking very loud and often.
The Reptile Building was open. Most of them were very active.
The ‘Farm’ was open as well, as it was inside of a barn.
Finally we passed a sleeping bear.
A quick stop by the historic carousel…
And it was sunset.
Time for the lights.
The lights are nice, but the animals are always the best part.
