State Fair'n it

Attending a state fair is always a unique experience. Where else can you find so many options of food on a stick?

The Indiana State Fair is no exception. Scott and I did the whole fair experience last week: Rode the Fair Train, ate tasty-but-bad-for-you foods, and took in the balloon glow.

I found photographing an evening at the state fair a great chance to challenge myself behind the camera. Throughout the evening, I was constantly adjusting exposure settings to compensate for the fading light. For the price, you can't beat the photo opps at the fair!

See the whole set in my Flikr Stream here.

The Greatest Spectacle in Parades

Okay, that's a lie, there are technically two greater spectacles in parades... allegedly... But can you see 33 race car drives, a caveman, and a dragon at the freak'n Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade? I doubt it! Only at the 500 Festival Parade can you take in that kind of diversity.

Here's my fave shots from the day:

That dragon had just eaten a young man and he doesn't chew very well...

This is my very favorite of the day. 

I managed to get the officer's face nearly in focus and capture the movement!

Yes, that is a caveman sitting next to Paul Tracey!

The lengths teams will go to in order to please a sponsor is amazing.

The Monument reflected in a tuba.

The view from our seats.

Photo Week - Checkered Flag Style

May in Indy is an exciting time, so much happening even if you're not a racing fan. And now that I've got the mini-marathon under my belt, I'm ready to take in the rest of the other festivities the month has to offer. So I'm thinking, let's do this thing right with a Black and White Photo Week. You know, Black and White, like a checkered flag...yeah? Who's with me?!

Here's the plan: Shoot all week and post'em on Friday for a photo finish...sorry, had to do it.

What's a Photo Week without a kick off shot? 

A Winter Wonderland (and now I'm done with it!) and #11 (Jan)

When Mother Nature gives you snow, go sledding! This evening we hit the slopes of Forest Park, I use slopes loosely, but seriously, for Indiana, not too bad.

Wipe out by Scott: click on the pic to see it bigger

Wipe out by Steph (and the tailgating tuber): 

Other shots from the outing:

Including a quick portrait (#11) for the 28 for 28 list!

Okay, snow, nice to see you, now go away, and we'll see you next winter!

A foggy tour of northeastern Indiana

Last Sunday we took a trip up to Huntington to pick up Scott's work materials. Here are some quick photos of what we saw during our trip. Good bye, Huntington!

Sam's, the abandoned restaurant, near Elwood

Another shot of urban decay in Marion

The boat ramp at Salamonie Reservoir

The Salamonie dam with the drained lake in the background

Happy Thursday!

Christmas on the Square in Danville

A few pictures from our quick stop in Scott's hometown of Danville on Saturday. 

The Royal Theater, originally opened in 1914

The southwest corner of the courthouse

Jefferson Street strung with lights

Bokeh on the Circle

Throughout the fall, I've been trying to create a light distortion trick called Bokeh.  Here is an attempt to create music notes at the Soldiers and Sailors' Monument last Friday. Since the lights are wrapped around tree limbs, the notes look like they are being sung as they appear to float into the air.  A surprisingly wonderful affect!

Next time, I'll try to put a greater distance between myself and the light source, then hopefully, there will be more whole shapes. More to come...

Thursday - Community (Boiler Up!)

My community for four and half years, the wonderful Purdue University. Just so happens, I was on campus today for a conference, and I took the opportunity to snap a few pictures at lunch with the point and shoot stashed in my purse.

A tree still full of leaves

The new Armstrong Hall

A replicate of Armstrong's footprints on the moon.

Are the college folks getting younger every year?! Still love visiting campus, BTFU!

Tuesday - Exploration (at the Indiana State Museum)

A (holi)day spent exploring the Indiana State Museum. Yay for hometown exploration. As a side note, we also saw the Grand Canyon Adventure 3D at the IMAX, and it was amazing!!

Snowflakes for the Christmas exhibit currently being installed.
Best looking rope light around, right?!

The Foucault Pendlum that was moved from the old museum.

A collection of pins from the 1970's.

The Train Graveyard

Today we visited the abandoned trains parked randomly on the tracks near Cicero. Rest in peace or at least in place, little run down train cars...

And I had to take the Kodak Brownie for the mini-road trip.

The Brownie's are still blurrier than I would like. The empty train was pretty creepy, so I didn't do a lot of playing with settings. Shoot, shoot, and out.