Ryan's "Fall"

I hope everyone will forgive me for my inattention to the photo contest the past few months. I was in the process of planning a wedding, then having that wedding, then having a honeymoon!

We went backpacking in Great Smoky Mountain National Park for our honeymoon. One day we went to see Grotto Falls - a waterfall in the fall.

Fred's Fall

Cory's Fall

One of my favorite parts of Fall is when there's a nice thick blanket of leaves covering everything.  It's that narrow period of time where the leaves have just fallen and are still full of color and before they dry up and just become a mess that makes the ground look so nice.  Luckily, I didn't have to worry about raking these ones up - they were beneath the trees at the Washington Park Arboretum.

Laurie's Fall

I was at Wabonsie State Park and saw these leaves that looked like they had been partially painted red.

My Water

CharDale's 'Water'

Water looks good, especially at sunset - even when it's flooding. Taken from the pedestrian bridge, with Google Pixel XL during the last week of September.

Laurie's Water

This was taken at Viking Lake.  We had a Trumpeter Swan come hang out with us.

Mike's Water

I took a fishing vacation with my dad and two brothers this summer.  We fished at Eagle Lake, near Kenora, Ontario.  This plane or one of it's cousins has been taking tourist further North since we first came here when I was 19 or longer.  We caught our limit here, but it would be an adventure!

Fred's Water

Here's a picture I took as part of a current project on night photography.

Cory's Water

The Arthur Foss is an interesting tugboat.  Built in 1889, it did everything from towing ships to moving logs to long distance shipping of goods during its long service life.  In 1941, it was even the last ship to leave Wake Island before the island was attacked in the early days of the US involvement in World War II.  It finally retired from normal use in 1968 after 79 years of service, and today it lives on Lake Union in Seattle.  It is moored near my office, and I often see it floating there in the water when I take a walk around the south end of the lake.

There's a lot more information about the Arthur Foss on its Wikipedia page.

Fred's "Anything Goes"

A team of fire dancers performed in a local park earlier this week.

Cory's Anything Goes

We've been living in Seattle for the last year now, and I've discovered all kinds of great little spots in the city.  One of those is Bhy Kracke Park, which is a small park built on the side of a very steep hill.  When you walk up to it on the bottom, it's just a playground and a picnic shelter.  But if you walk up the switchbacking sidewalk in the back of the park, you end up at the top of the hill and can look across South Lake Union to the buildings of downtown.

CharDale's 'Anything Goes'

A couple weeks ago I was downtown and spotted this classic. Heart eyes ensued...

Robert's "Late"

This guy was a week late, but we couldn't be happier!

Ryan's Late "Late"

We took a friend to the paintball field for his bachelor party last weekend... this guy ducked a little late.

Cory's Late

We've been hanging out in Minnesota this week, staying with my cousin on the north shore of Lake Superior.  I have been able to watch the Moon slowly rise over the waters a few times so far, with the sound of crashing waves adding the perfect sound track to the scene.

Fred's "Late"

Late at night in Breckenridge, Colorado.

CharDale's Self Portrait

I really don't prefer taking photos of myself. It's annoying to try to do. I took this photo with my phone, dropped the exposure (among other things) and gave it some tint. Let's call it "an artistic self-portrait". Hopefully that idea sells.

If you download the photo, and increase the exposure etc, you'll see an incredible self-portrait of me. Probably not worth the trouble lol.

Ryan's "Self Portrait"

The photo I actually shot for this topic didn't work out, but then I found this one from the same day.

Fred's Self Portrait

Yeah, I'm in there somewhere.

Cory's Self Portrait

I don't always look blocky, but when I do, it's with Lego bricks.  A portrait of a self portrait built using Lego's Go Brick Me set.

Micky's self portrait.

Valentine, NE

CharDale's Outside

Took some graduation photos last month at the Gene Leahy Mall.

June's Topic: "Self Portrait"

The poll is being dumb today. I will try to get it posted tonight.

Laurie’s Outside

Micky's outside.

Fred's "Outside"

Let the outside in!

Through the sunroof of your 1989 Honda CRX Si, perhaps?

(Full Disclosure: A little bit of Photoshop work was needed to get the exposure just right.)

Ryan's "Outside"

Cory's Outside

In 2003, I got my first grown-up bike: a Trek mountain bike that I used mostly for getting between the UNL campus and my apartment on the south end of Lincoln.  I kept using it for commuting when I moved to Chicago after school, but its adventures also branched out to include rides on wide biking paths and single-track trails.

In 2014, while I was living in New Mexico, I figured it was time to double the number of bikes I owned by getting a dedicated commuter bike.  After that, the mountain bike was used mainly for what its name implied: riding around on mountain trails, looking for weird things out in the forest.  Meanwhile, I used the commuter bike every day during the summer to get between my house and the lab.

Today I'm living in Seattle, and the mountain bike spends most of its time in the garage while the commuter bike gets me to and from work every day, rain or shine.  I'm also making more frequent trips to other cities than I was back in 2003, so I have yet another bike use case to fill: one that I can take anywhere with me.  This spring I splurged on a Brompton, which strikes the best balance for me between all of the variables inherent to a folding bike - it rides really well, and it folds down to a size that can fit in a (large) suitcase.  My plan is to take it with me whenever I go on a week-long trip for a conference or to do work so that I can take it out and explore the city in the evenings.  Here's a nice shot of it on a terrace overlooking Lake Union when I took it outside for a spin over the weekend.

Robert's "Outside"

Most of the summers of my youth were spent poolside. Despite the sunburns and the constant smell of chlorine in my hair, they were happy times. I look forward to sharing those moments with my own children, and Audrey seems like she will too. We bought this the just the other day, and figured Memorial Day was the perfect time to try it out (with temps in the mid 90's!). 

May's Topic: "Outside"

Spring has sprung! Some of us were apparently so busy we forgot to post a photo for April...

Go outside and take a photo. Or stay inside, and take a photo of "outside". Or take a photo inside of the outside of something... or something.

Laurie’s Future

This is my 1967 Impala Super Sport that I am hoping to get into the body shop this summer.

Fred's "Future"

This may look like a model of an old car, but it actually represents the future of a massive project that you'll find out more about in the months (and years?) ahead.

Robert's "Future"

I thought a wedding was a perfect place to capture the "Future" theme, and I just happened to be at a wedding over the weekend, where I snagged this image as the dance floor thinned out. The chandelier provided just enough light on the bride and groom to pull them away from the background, though the lighting still proved challenging without a flash. The couple has been dating for over 8 years, and finally decided to tie the knot, so their future as a married couple looks bright!

Michael's Future

If I told you that this picture was taken in the future, I would admittedly be late for this submission.  I do however believe that all of my lost socks go there, leaving the other half of the pair in this dimension.  Thank you H.G. Wells.

Cory's Future

In 1962, the Seattle World's Fair happened not far from where I currently live.  Actually named the Century 21 Exposition, it was a six month showcase of the future that we now live in.  Preparations for the expo involved building several new buildings, some of which still exist, as well as a monorail and the iconic tower you see here: the Space Needle.

The Space Needle is 605 feet tall at the top of the spire, and includes a restaurant at the top that slowly rotates in a complete circle. As you can see in this photo, it doesn't look all that great right now - ever since last fall, its been under an intense renovation that will replace the entire observation deck and restaurant floors with glass.  When that's done, I suppose it will be ready for the next phase of its future.

And I can't write something about the world's fair without including a bonus photo: there's a wall in the basement of the house that we are renting that is covered in old hand-written phone numbers.  If you need to call up the World's Fair or the Space Needle Restaurant, just dial away!  But you might need some operator assistance with those numbers.

Micky's underestimate. ( It was super cold.)

Ryan's "Underestimate"

I underestimate things all the time... how difficult it is to nail focus on near macro images when you're too lazy to set up a tripod, how many rings it takes to get married....

Fred's "Underestimate"

Kitten food level seems about right?

Cory's Underestimate

The Fremont Bridge, built in 1917, is a bascule bridge that crosses the Fremont Cut in Seattle.  Long before Europeans started moving into the area, Lake Union and the Puget Sound were connected by a small stream that ran from the lake into the sound.  As the population increased, a canal was eventually cut to connect the bodies of water, which eventually made it possible to all of the way from the sound to Lake Washington by water.

Today, this bridge crosses the canal and connects Seattle's Queen Anne and Ballard neighborhoods.  The canal sees a lot use from both small and large boats, and since water traffic has right of way, it opens and closes very frequently throughout the day.  All a boat has to do is whistle to get the bridge operator to open it!  According to a few sources, it is the most frequently opened bridge in the US.

When opening a drawbridge for a boat to pass under it, you certainly don't want to underestimate the height of the boat's mast. 

Underestimate - Robert

It's always interesting trying to see things through a baby's eyes. In this case, it looks like she was contemplating whether she had climbed too high (she underestimated the height?). For me, it was a little terrifying to let her continue to crawl up the stairs, as the railings were not "to code," and she could have easily fit through them. Fortunately, she's starting to get a little more cautious, but I'm learning, as a new parent, that I don't want to underestimate what she's capable of doing without any kind of warning.

CharDale's Underestimate

I got this shirt at last year's Big Omaha event. I totally underestimated the quality of this shirt. It's been worn and washed at least a dozen times. The pic was taken after 8 hours of use. And believe it or not, it had virtually no lint when I snapped the photo. It's practically unedited. 🤔How can this be possible on black fabric? Amazing!

CharDale's Forgotten

Everyone wants to drink vintage beers and aged whiskey. The classic bottle of Clearly Canadian always gets forgotten. With Clearly Canadian, you're instantly placed back in the 90's, where so many good drinks were swallowed.
Don't just enjoy this photo, go get yourself one because they've been resurrected from the dead!

Quentin's Forgotten floors

I've spent much of the past month trying to save these 1-1/2 inch maple floors.

Ryan's "Forgotten"

In 1968 a couple guys started digging a hole in a cornfield along the Missouri River... and found an old steamboat.

The Bertrand sank after preemptively reenacting the Titanic story with a dead tree on April 1, 1865 about 30 miles up river from Omaha. It was hauling merchandise to the gold fields in Montana, including a large shipment of mercury. I believe the people that found it were searching for that mercury.

It seems that most of the mercury was recovered soon after the sinking. Enough other cargo, including these cannon balls, lay forgotten underground after the river shifted to fill a museum at the DeSoto Bend Nature Preserve.

The story is more interesting than the photo.

There are a few more photos here.

Annemarie's "Forgotten"

I love the ghost signs that can be found all around town - especially the Old Market. This corner, covered in dead overgrowth, used to be part of the original Greenberg Fruit Company building. The sign reads "Wholesale Fruit and Commission." The artist/designer in me would love to see what these buildings looked like originally.

Micky's forgotten

Fred's "Forgotten"

As Robert alluded, St. Joseph is full of neglected buildings, like this. This building once housed the livestock exchange offices. Now it's falling apart. It looks like someone's trying to save the dome at the center with scaffolding to keep it together, but that's just a fraction of work needed on this relic.

Cory's Forgotten

Every day on my way to work, I ride my bike past these old railroad tracks on the western shore of Lake Union.  They were used pretty heavily in the early and mid 1900s, but today they are abandoned and forgotten.

I had a hard time finding information about what this section of track was used for when searching on the web, but as far as I can tell the spur was build in about 1911 and was used until the mid 1990s.  It was one of the spurs of the Northern Pacific Railway, which seems to have a colorful history in Seattle in the late 1800s and early 1900s.  One of the few photos I could find is from 1915, when this stretch of rail was a nice trestle just off shore of Lake Union.  Today the land has filled in and is butted right up against it, but there is still a bit of a dropoff between the ties. 

Somebody else has done more sleuthing than I have and has some more information on the tracks at http://lakeunionwatershed.com/?p=377.  I also ran across a higher view of the area from 1916.  This section of track is just out of view on the curve, very close to where the road bridge crosses the rails.

Robert's "Forgotten"

I chose to interpret "forgotten" in the sense of "neglected." This detached garage belongs to a house in Saint Joseph, MO. that (I believe) is still inhabited.

February's topic is "Forgotten"

Don't forget to take a picture for it!

Micky's vintage

• Lucky find on 48th and one block north of L