Not a wasted trip after all...

So I was driving 25 miles to the other side of town trying to find a big palm tree I had seen at Costco the week before. Turned out they were sold out so it looked like it would be a wasted trip, but on the way home I took a different route and crossed the Missouri River on a bridge I hadn't been over before. As I crossed the bridge I saw a small park on the rivers edge (Sugar Creek Park), so I turned around and went back. I'm working on a series of photos of bridges and viaducts. I like these two shots. I love how the blue sky is reflected in water late in the day. This is why I try to always have my camera in the car. You just never know when you'll find beauty.

What's in a name?

When I first set up my blog account, I didn't have a name picked out for my blog. Uninspired... so I let it percolate for a few days. I was watching a video of Bob Dylan live at Newport in 1964 on PBS one night, and was mesmerized listening to him sing "Chimes of Freedom" (you can catch it on You Tube). There are so many great poetic lines in that song, but my favorite is the refrain "an' we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing". It set my mind off in a new poetic direction for several hours, and the words "shards of beauty" kept coming to me.

You know when your muse is whispering in your ear you better listen, or else she goes away for awhile. So, my blog is "Shards of Beauty". I do love the words and I love the idea. I feel its connection to my photographic work and the artistic process of abstracting the essence from the original scene.

Anyway, welcome to my blog! I am posting a photo I captured last night at sunset down by the Missouri River here in Parkville. Sunset in front of me, the full moon rising behind me. Reminded me of the Navajo Nightway ceremonial. "Beauty before me, beauty behind me, beauty above me, beauty below me... I walk in beauty."