Kuromon Ichiba Market

I thought a fisheye photo looking up seeing the skies through a Japanese market's skylights would make a fun Skywatch Friday photo.

Stone Mountain

When we were in Georgia over the holidays we spent a morning at the famous Stone Mountain park. All photos were taken with my phone.

It's just what it sounds like, a stone dome standing 825 feet above the surrounding area.

It's a pretty walk up.

It's very different from my local mountains, and easy to climb given the high elevations my lungs are used to.

There's also a tram to the top.

The views are certainly impressive.

It's definitely worth a visit if you're in the Atlanta area.

Our World Tuesday

Foxton 1979 (2)

Osaka Buildings

For Skywatch Friday, here are a couple of famous buildings in Osaka. The first is self-explanatory.

Our hotel was right next to the Umeda Sky Building (梅田スカイビル), which is actually two connected 40-story towers.

Completed in 1993, it's one of the most interesting buildings I've ever seen. I used my ultra-wide-angle fisheye lens for the next couple of shots. (Yes, I was an obvious tourist carrying my DSLR and bag of lenses all around Japan and Seoul.)

Unfortunately we didn't get time to go up it as we did so much else in the area in the couple of days we were there.

Kuromon Ichiba Market

There are some famous street markets in Japan, and we visited Kuromon Ichiba Market in Osaka while we were there.

It's a lively, covered market with lots of food.

I thought it was fun to wander around, although I'm sure we were obviously tourists.

There are lots of interesting alleys nearby too.

Our World Tuesday

Foxton 1979 (1)

Here's a 1979 photo from the small village of Foxton, England.

Snowy Mountains

Here's a simple B&W Skywatch Friday shot taken from our porch after 7 inches (18 cm) of snow this weekend, looking towards the cloud-covered mountains. There were no Pikes Peak views that morning!

Osaka Castle Views

Here are some photos of the Osaka skyline taken from the top of Osaka Castle.

It's an attractive, modern city.

Of course there are lots of tall buildings.

You can see a castle decoration in the foreground of this one.

Our World Tuesday

Cute Laika

It's not the best quality shot, but it's cute so I'm posting it. Our little dog Laika loves to snuggle.

Camera Critters

Pets Forever

Saturday's Critters

Osaka Castle Skies

Skywatch Friday

Osaka Castle (2)

Continuing with our visit to Japan last year, here are some more photos taken around the Osaka Castle (大坂城 or 大阪城) grounds, starting with its moat, which didn't have water in this part.

In other places it was full.

The walls were impressive.

And a final fun shot with a very wide-angle fisheye lens.

Our World Tuesday

Colorado 1999

Here's a random 1999 photo (scanned from a print) from somewhere in Colorado for the weekend. I'll never tire of the ever-changing scenery in my favorite state!

Floral Friday

Another Sunset

A Happy New Year to all my readers! Last weekend was quite the weather roller-coaster. According to the nearest official weather station (at the United States Air Force Academy), Saturday's low was -8 °F (-22.2 °C). But by Sunday afternoon we'd rebounded to 54 °F (12.2 °C). That's a change of 62 °F (34.4 °C) in just over a day! Here's a recent cellphone sunset Skywatch Friday shot to start 2019.