Not from Bishop, but from down the road at Manzanar, in California.

A lot of rust happening behind a mechanics garage. Main'y driveshafts and brakes.

Another photo from the Bishop area after the brighter sunset colors had passed.

I’ve only been in Chicago a few days and I’ve already seen a handful of artistic renditions of these unique towers along the river. Locally called the Corn Cob Towers, their official name is Marina City, which also seems odd. More than a dozen of the lower floors are parking and with the upper floors giving way to living space.

I recently upgraded my main camera….my iPhone. The specifications on the 17 Pro looked like a solid upgrade from my old phone. It was worth waiting a few years for better cameras. All the other cool stuff aside, I really want better quality images from my everyday camera. And it delivered. For instance, while this 200mm equivalent image won’t look good printed at 14” wide, it is still 12MP and decent.

Sometimes the picture titles just wrote themselves, no thinking involved. I love how this Northbound train just south of Chicago was hanging out right above pedestrian traffic.

Phoning it in today, playing with the macro lens. I don’t use this handy and useful feature on my phone often enough. Usually you have to spend hundreds of dollars to get a specialty macro lens for a DSLR and now most phones have a decent version. Get out and macro more!

Back to Bishop, CA for more wonderful autumn light. A few sprinkles had started by the time the last of the sun was peeking through the western clouds.

This photo is in the category of ‘Most interesting sunset photos happen from parking lots’. Technically this was in a dirt lot next to a parking lot, but the magic was the same. Had to duck and dodge powerlines.

Today I got to do that fun thing where I play tourist in my own city. With a good friend from out of town visiting, we decided to go to the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. Amongst other exhibits was a section highlighting Director Bong Joon Ho complete with tons of storyboards from his Academy Award winning movie Parasite.

Sometimes when you get addicted to a flower, you just can’t stop. Also, when you get a new camera, even familiar subjects become moments of fascination. In my case, I got the new iPhone 17 after a number of years of not updating because the cameras just weren’t compelling enough for me. Then they made some sizable improvements with the iPhone 17 Pro and I have been hooked on the macro lens for a few days now.

Growing up in Washington, I had never heard or seen a bird of paradise plant. Maybe I saw one once when visiting California, but I wasn’t the kind of kid to remember odd plants. Now that I live here, I take them for granted. Which is a good sign it is time to stop and smell, and take photos of, the flowers.

A small fern nestles against the base of a towering tree.

It's hard to find a Giant Sequoia without some kind of burn scar. Something we think of as a negative is just a way of life for a tree that lasts hundreds of years and has a natural armor against certain fires.

This weekend I found myself in Bishop, CA at more than one auto shop as one of my brothers' car had break issues and he needed help towing a trailer while his car went on a flatbed. He was lucky in that Monday afternoon had his car all better and I also had a bunch of photos of old engines lying around by the shops.

The Sierra Nevada Mountains are phenomenal for afternoon clouds and light.

This time of year can create dramatic sunsets along Highway 395 in California. It just happens that I was in Bishop yesterday and grabbed this image from the road.

It's that time of year/season/computer getting full when I go through an clean out folders. You might see more of this past year's trips for the next couple of weeks. From back in Spring, White Sands National Park has been on my list for a while. Originally I planned on hiking in a ways and camping on the sands to catch sunset and sunrise.

Same as yesterday's Gateway Arch photo, but from a few minutes later and lower.

This is part of what I love about photography: bending reality. This day at the Gateway Arch National Park in the Spring was actually a nice day. But a set of clouds passed by at the right time. Add in some contrast and it's a whole other feel.

After yesterday's photo was taken, two of the Tree Swallows had a chase.