Cow Canyon Trading Post in Sepia

Cow Canyon Trading Post
Originally uploaded by Dornoff Photography

While yesterday I presented a photo in Black and White, today's photo is brought to you in Sepia. What Sepia does is make the picture look like an old time photo. I especially like using this technique on older and abandoned buildings.

This shot screamed to be done in Sepia. This building sits on the north side of Bluff, Utah along US Highway 191. Apparently the building is used as a restaurant but was closed during our visit. The old car in front of the building gives a feeling of abandonment.

No Gas

Gas Pump with no gas
Originally uploaded by Dornoff Photography

Here is another shot from anniversary trip my wife and took down to Durango, Colorado in May, 2008.

One of the towns we drove through was Bluff, Utah and while droving through I found a closed gas station and decided to take some pictures of it.

There is so much detail in this picture including the hand made sign saying no gas, the 2006 State of Utah inspection sticker, and even the taped and hand written covers to designate dollar amount.

Also, I thought that Black and White set the perfect mood for this shot.

The Forest Gump milepost

For those of you that have seen the movie "Forest Gump", there is a part of the movie in which Forest decides to start running after an incident in his life. After a while he has a large number of people who are running with him thinking he is on some noble quest or something.

One day he stops turns around, says that he is tired and starts walking past the other runners and down the highway.

This is milepost 13 on US Highway 163 just north of the Arizona/Utah border where that scene in the movie was filmed. My wife and I took a vacation in May, 2008 down to Durango, Colorado for our anniversary and stopped here on the way back.

In the background you can see Monument Valley which is not only famous for its many natural formations, but has been the site of numerous television and movie productions over the years.

Whether your a movie buff, photographer, or just like seeing interesting places in our beautiful country, you need to make a visit.

Character

House in Olympus Cove
Originally uploaded by Dornoff Photography

Yesterday I had a couple of hours to kill so I decided to take a drive and see what I could find to photograph.

While driving around I found myself in the Olympus Cove area of Salt Lake City which lies to the east of Interstate 215 the eastside belt.

Olympus Cove is an interesting mixture of older homes that date anywhere from the 60's? to Mcmansions that have been going up in the area.

I spotted this house and had to take a picture of it. This home has so many interesting architectural details including the curved main level. Even back then there was plenty of boring tract homes being built but only a few really seem to have "character". You have to wonder in this age of "Wal-Mart" homes, will any of them live to say they have "character" in 40 or so years. I doubt it.

Why I haven't posted more lately...

Our Loving Room after "the move"
Originally uploaded by Dornoff Photography

This photo is taken today, September 4th from the far end of our new living room.

In late July the opportunity came up to move into a bigger apartment in our current complex.

In the past month we have been going through everything getting ready for a yard sale we are planning to have on September 12th.

Hopefully in a couple of weeks this scene will be gone and our living will looking livable. Sorry for not posting more but I plan to get back in the game this week.

Venetian Pool in Coral Gables

Coral Gables Venetian Pool
Originally uploaded by Dornoff Photography

I took a trip down to Miami, Florida in November, 2007 in order to make a presentation to Railvolution that was being held in Miami Beach that year.

On one of my free days I rode the Miami Dade County transit system to sights around the area. On top of my list was the Coral Gables area that I heard a lot about.

After getting off a Metro Rail train, I took a bus and got off in front of the Biltmore Hotel which is a beautiful hotel. I then walked over to the Venetian Pool which was only a few blocks away.

The Venetian Pool is a historic landmark and is a popular spot in the area. The water was looking very temping considering it was in the high 80's and humidity that match if not higher.

Marlin Hotel in Miami Beach

Marlin Hotel
Originally uploaded by Dornoff Photography

Remember in the film days, you would have that roll of film that you meant to get develop for some time but it just seemed to sit and sit way beyond the expiration date?

Well with digital photography we do not have to worry about expiration dates anymore but there still seems to be those photos that just sit and sit and then one day after much procrastination you finally decide to do something with them.

Well that is where this photo comes from. In November, 2007 I did a presentation at Railvolution which was being held in Miami Beach that year. I did my presentation on Saturday November 3rd and by noon I had the day to myself.

My hotel was outside downtown Miami so since I had taken the bus over to Miami Beach, I figured I might as well just take a nice walk around the area and get some pictures.

First of all I look way out of place because I did not bring a change of clothes with me and I was still in my suite (at least I was smart enough not to wear the coat!)

Here is one of the pictures I captured that day which is of the Marlin Hotel that sits on Ocean Blvd. As many of you probably know I love to take pictures of transportation but one of my other interest is architecture and Art Deco has to rate at the top so I was in heaven during my Miami Beach stay.

You can see more of my photos on my Facebook or Flickr pages (there is more on Facebook).

A classic McDonald's...

McDonalds in Downey California
Originally uploaded by Dornoff Photography

It is no surprise that car loving Southern California was the birthplace of many of the fast food places we know so well today including McDonald's, Del Taco, Taco Bell, Carl's Jr, Wienerschnitzel, and In 'N Out.

For many, it may surprise you to find out that McDonald's did not always have those big restaurants with the play rooms and inside seating. Instead they started out like many fast food places of the time with just walk up windows and outside seating.

This paticular McDonald's still retains its classic 1950/1960's styling. It is not a retro restaurant but a authentic time machine to the past. The sign at the intersection of Lakewood Blvd and Florence hasn't changed in decades. It is a throwback to a time when McDonald's weren't the generic, boring, poor quality (OK, personal opinion) fast food place we know today.

It has been many years since I had driven by this restaurant but since my wife and I were in the area we decided to drive by and see if it was still in its original form and sure enough, there it was.

So if your driving through Downey, California be sure to get off the freeway and take a quick trip to this relic of the past. You never know when it may disappear.

A photo turns special

Ross Dress for less and Metro Hybrid
Originally uploaded by Dornoff Photography

In my last entry I mentioned the day my wife and I had in Seattle while visiting a friend between taking different Amtrak trains. After visiting the Pike Place Market my wife and I headed toward Seattle's bus tunnel in order to catch a bus down to the International District in order to find some Chinese Food (we were not impressed with the Chinese Restaurant at Pike Place on a previous visit).

My wife decided to run into a Rite Aid for a couple of things so I decided to get the camera out and take a couple of pictures hoping I the Seattle Police department wouldn't arrest me (there was an incident with a photographer in Seattle shortly before the trip).

I took this picture of a Metro Articulated Hybrid which were still fairly new at the time in front of a Ross Dress for less store which I used as a background because of the design.

Later when looking more carefully the building look as though it could have been a former Woolworth store which was confirmed my someone on Flickr.

My father worked for Woolworth's for many years and would supervise their construction projects across the west. It then hit me that this was the very store that my father was working on when I was born which is another funny story in itself.

I was way over due in the days before they induced labor. My mother had to return to California so at the last minute she hopped a Greyhound bus for Los Angeles (yes Greyhound used to be respectable and safe to ride).

I was born about a week after my mother arrived back in Southern California and for some strange reason the buses arrived early at every driver change point.

You never know when a random picture might turn into something special...

Pike Place Fish Company

Pike Place Fish Company
Originally uploaded by Dornoff Photography

Here is another picture from the vacation my wife and I took back in November of 2007.

We flew down from Salt Lake City to Long Beach on Jet Blue, spent a couple of days with family, then took Amtrak's Coast Starlight up to Portland then the next day we continued onto Seattle via Washington State's Cascade service Talgo.

The day after we arrived in Seattle, we took Sound Transit buses to downtown and spent the day in the area until our next train depart at 4:45pm to Seattle.

We took a long walk around the downtown area before ending up at one of my favorite places Pike Place Market. We look around before I stood in front of the Pike Place Fish Company for a few minutes taking pictures.

The Pike Place Fish Company is famous because of the way they throw around the fish when someone buys one. Well I waited several minutes but was not able to get a picture of them throwing the fish. My wife was getting hungry so we left and headed back towards King Street Station and the International District in order to have lunch.

Here is the best of the fish company pictures. You can see several people looking at the fish but none of them bought any while I was there.