My Favorite Monument

Last October I had the opportunity to visit my sister in Washington DC. We spent the week taking in the sights of our nations capitol. It was so much fun to see things I've only ever seen on TV or in the movies. By far my favorite thing to see was the Washington Monument. I'm not sure why. Maybe because it's one of the things I remember studying in school. I remember talking about the line on the monument where they had to stop building for a while. Several years later they started again and the color between the bricks still shows today. Maybe I liked it so much because no matter where we were I could get a decent photo of it. Or maybe because after the long flight and dealing with the stress in my life, the first thing I saw when we left the airport was the Washington Monument and I immediately calmed down.  :)

 I was so excited to see the Washington Monument reflected in the Reflecting Pool. To bad the pool was under construction. (Taken from inside the Lincoln Memorial)

 My niece Beth . . . she has a clear view of the monument. I don't think she was impressed as I was. :)

I don't know why, but I let my sister take a picture of me . . . . .

Old Idaho Penitentiary

I've always been fascinated by old things. Old objects and buildings make me wonder. I wonder about the people associated and what their stories were. When it comes to crumbling buildings I wonder what series of events lead to the state they are in. I wonder what the people who occupied the buildings were like. 

Last June (I know I'm way behind), I had the opportunity to visit an old Idaho prison. It was a fascinating place for a photographer to visit. There were lots of angles, textures, details and perspective shots to get. However while taking my pictures I couldn't help but wonder about the men who occupied these cells and the guards who watched over them.

            There is nothing like a jail for a good perspective shot :)

                       I can just imagine lines of men waiting . . . .

                                   OK, I thought this was funny :)

 I love the shape of the light on the floor coming in through the windows.

 He He He!!! I've always thought these kind of grave stones were fun

The following photo's were taken along side the freeway on the drive home. I have no idea what this old plant did, but its crumbling state makes me wonder . . .

Escape to Hawaii

Going into this last Christmas season without my boys was just to hard to think about. So I decided to run away! I ran far away . . . to a place where it didn't feel like Christmas in any way . . . . Hawaii! It was warm, beautiful and full of people everywhere, even on Christmas day. Hawaii turned out to be the perfect place for me to get through the holiday season without going crazy.

                       This was about as festive as it gets in Hawaii

 This was not something I was expecting to see in Hawaii. But it was a beautiful and fun place to shoot. :)

 The tour guide had a fancy Hawaiian word for this place, when translated means "eye sore". Also, the crazy tour guide asked if we wanted a 5 minute picture stop. 5 MINUTES!!! He must be crazy, that's not near enough time. :)

 I so wanted to try and ride this guy . . . like the kid did in the old "Swiss Family Robinson" movie. Of course that kid was much smaller than I am.

 I was so excited when I found out we were stopping at the Dole plantation. I LOVE fresh pineapple and was excited about the opportunity to take some photos. However we only had 15 minutes and I had to try pineapple ice cream, that didn't leave much time for shooting. But the ice cream was well worth the missed photo ops. :)

For all the LOST fans . . . . .

While in Hawaii I had the opportunity to take a "LOST" tour. For 5 hours I rode around in a Humvee (yes we did go off road) checking out places where the the TV shot Lost was filmed. Being a big fan of the show (I own all 6 seasons on DVD) I had a blast!! To see places like Locke's Dad's house, the place where Jacobs cabin was, the Other's island, the dock, Hurley's golf course and many other places was so cool.

There are a lot of pictures . . . . sorry I had a hard time choosing. If you make it to the end, you'll see the fun photo's the tour guide took. :)

 In the photo above you can see The Other's island. Also, if you look really close, you can see the dock where Jack, Kate, Sawyer and Hurley were captured by The Others

The photo below doubled for at least 2 different places. They used the inside for Jin's Dad's house. The outside was used when Mr. Ecko was selling drugs.

 These photos are on the other side of the building above. This area was also used for scenes in "Tears of the Sun"

 Above is the dock for Hydra Island and below is the infamous Darma Sub! :)

 Above is Richard's home . . . where his wife died. The photo below is from a set for a movie they just finished shooting. It's a sequal to "Journey to the Center of the Earth"

 Me sitting on the log AnnaLucia sat on while talking to Goodwin, just before they got into a fight resulting in Goodwin's death.

 The tower that held the atom bomb is still there! Interestingly it was also the communication tower where Jack called the freighter from . . . . they just filmed from a different angle.

                                             The Atlantis set . . . . .

 Above is the hill Hurley used to jump start the old 1960's VW van. Of course if Hurley was there today, he'd push the van into the Atlantis set. :)

Below is the view just to the left of Hurley's hill. If you watch the first or second episode . . . where Jack, Kate and Charlie are going to find the cockpit, you'll see this exact view.

                       Any direction you look, Hawaii is beautiful!!

 They also filmed scenes from Godzilla in this location. Can you find the 4 Godzilla footprints in the photo below. I have to admit it took me a long time to find them . . . . and I was there!

 The last 4 photo's were taken by the tour guide. He had a lot of fun photo ops! However the tour guide, who was an extra in "LOST" and many movies, was not impressed with my acting abilities . . . . or I should say, lack of acting abilities.

                                      Giving Hurley a push . . . . .

                                          Being chased by a polar bear

Giving Hurley a kiss. And my favorite, shooting at the smoke monster!