Category Archives: Photography

Ganesha, Lord of Obstacles

Posted on by Bill Chance

Ganesha, Lord of Obstacles. From the Crow Collection of Asian Art

Ganesha, Lord of Obstacles, Lord of Beginnings
India, 10th Century
Stone
Clever Ganesha

Ganesha and his half brother Skanda were promised a boon by their parents, Shiva and Parvati. The prize would go to the one who returned first from circling the universe. Skanda, a keen warrior, geared up for his voyage and took off with great speed. Ganesha fortified hmself with a modaka, his favorite sweet, and respectfully circumambulated his parents. Long before Skanda returned, Ganesha was awarded the prize.

Adapted from the Siva Purana, trans. Paul Courtright

 

Sculptures at the Crow Collection of Asian Art

Posted on by Bill Chance

A couple of photographs I took the last time I was at the Crow Collection of Asian Art in the Dallas Arts District.

 

Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge

Posted on by Bill Chance

(click to enlarge)

An HDR photograph of the Calatrava designed Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge across the Trinity River near downtown Dallas. I was setting up the tripod when the train came steaming along over the trestle between me and the cable-stay bridge. I had to rush the picture before the train went by and didn’t get the focus right… better luck next time. This is a tone-mapped image taken from a single RAW exposure. Since the train was moving at a pretty good clip, I couldn’t use a three-exposure HDR image – I tried it and there were too many strange effects around the train because it was in different spots in each exposure.

Grazing in the River Bottoms

Posted on by Bill Chance

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HDR photograph taken in Trammell Crow Park in the river bottoms, Dallas.

This is the spot where, years ago, Lee and I came down to do some sketching in the river bottoms. We walked to the levee in the background of this picture to draw the downtown skyline. Lee was a bit distracted, but I managed to sell my drawing to a local magazine – so all was not lost. It took me a while to get this picture – it’s not the most savory area and a young couple were drinking heavily and stumbling around between the cows and getting in the shot. Since this HDR is a three shot combination – I needed stationary subjects – like the concrete cows.

As I was leaving, I was lugging my camera and tripod back to the parking area when a group of three – an older photographer (walking with a cane), his assistant (carrying a folding reflector and a camera), and a model (wearing a long dress, but wrapped in a large thick shawl – it was cold) walked the other way. They were obviously going to get the last bit of light as the sun set. The man said Hi in a nice conspiratorial way, making me think I was actually also a photographer, instead of simply an idiot with a tripod.

I thought they were going to head to the cow sculptures, but they walked right out into the open area…. I’m not sure what sort of shot they were working on.

I sort of wanted to sit in my car and watch them work – I like watching fashion shoots – but I had things to do… so off I went.

Under a Trinity River Bridge

Posted on by Bill Chance

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I drove down to this little roadside observation park on the Oak Cliff side of the river to take pictures of the new Calatrava Bridge that is nearing completion. I couldn’t resist a little stroll in the river bottoms and took this 3-shot HDR image of the underside of the Commerce Street Bridge. It is amazing how quickly polite society and organized civilization disappears in places like this. 
 
The top side of the bridge.
An article and slideshow on the graffitti.
 

Borg Cube

Posted on by Bill Chance

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This HDR picture of the top corner of the Wyly theater was taken from the same spot that I took yesterday’s photograph of the Winspear Opera House.

I have always been amazed at the strange appearance of the Wyly, of its clockwork like theater machine interior, and was very happy and impressed when I saw The Tempest there. It is surprising how inexpensive the productions are (if you are willing to go for the cheap seats – which are still pretty damn close) and I can’t believe that the shows aren’t selling out.

It’s probably the economy… and people simply don’t think of doing stuff like that. I’ll tell you, it’s hard to find folks that want to go to plays, live plays, even if they cost about what the newest 3D Googleplex Shopping Mall crap does.

Opera House

Posted on by Bill Chance

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Ever since I moved to Dallas thirty years ago, I have yearned for the city to have a center, a heart, a place where people gathered. The city planners and developers, such as they are, want that too – but there are the challenges of weather, history, and the city’s car-based culture to do battle.

Now, with the emergence of the city’s Arts District with it’s line of award-winning buildings there is some hope that the vision might be completed. I have been going down there a lot lately (sometimes to simply watch ice melt) and it is a place of varied and interesting attractions.

The heart of the district may be the plaza outside of the Winspear Opera House. The huge elevated grid of aluminum louvers is surprisingly effective at suppressing the roasting summer sun while still allowing a breeze and light to penetrate.

This HDR tonemapped image shows the opera house plaza with a couple of the melting blocks from the transcendence art project.

It is depressing though – most of the times I go down there, in the midst of billions of dollars worth of buildings and artwork, carefully planned, constructed, arranged and maintained – I have the place to myself. It can be a gorgeous, lonely world.

The Raven

Posted on by Bill Chance

Ravens Pharmacy

500 West Jefferson Boulevard, Oak Cliff, Dallas, TX

Ravens Pharmacy, Oak Cliff

And the raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting

On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;

And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon’s that is dreaming,

And the lamp-light o’er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;

And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor

Shall be lifted – nevermore!

The Raven (last stanza) – Edgar Allen Poe

New Orleans Architecture – Lower Garden District – Kayak Storage

Posted on by Bill Chance

In art – in the life worth living – there is always a struggle between beauty and functionality. I love finding examples that combine the two.

In the Lower Garden District – St. Andrews and Chestnut – Someone is using a beautiful old wrought iron balcony to store a couple of kayaks. I’m not sure why, but I really like that.