Author - Paul Schatzkin

Partly since I have no idea when I’ll ever get back there again, I’ve been going through some of the photos from my last trip to the UK in October, 2014.

I spent the first few days on this trip in Glasgow, mostly because I wanted to see Glasgow Cathedral after learning of its architectural semblance to the Rosslyn Chapel (which was a pivotal factor in this whole quest, for reasons that I’ve outlined elsewhere).

But I didn’t really feel comfortable the whole time I as in Glasgow. I stayed at a nice enough AirBnB not far from the Cathedral, but the city doesn’t have the kind of visual focus that Edinburgh has around its looming castle. I took the open-air, double-decker bus tour, I could see it was a vibrant and creative place, but personally I just never quite connected with it.

Nevertheless, I made a few attempts to capture some of its essence. I put on my “street photographer” hat a few times, and this is one of the results:

Steel Bubbles

December 4, 2015

Holiday decor at the Pioneer Plaza Shopping center in Portland, Oregon:

Just How Bad Is It?

December 4, 2015

commentary, Digest

If you recognize these people, you’re a “boomer.”

So, there’s been a lot of shit in the news lately. I have not had a whole lot to say about it.

But last night just before I went to bed, a friend posed a question on Facebook:

I am not old enough to recall another time in my life when I was so profoundly and regularly struck by how fucked up the world seems. For those with the blessing of decades greater than my own, has this happened before? Do you recall times like this? If so, how and when did it pass?

I actually found myself pondering that query as I fell asleep, and it was fresh on my mind when I woke up this morning.

So here is my answer to David, posted as an essay on Medium.com. I’ll leave it there so I don’t have to monitor/edit multiple copies.

The Great Nashville Sunset – Weds Nov 18

November 19, 2015

Digest, photography

You would have had to be dead or blind to miss the sunset that blanketed Nashville the evening of Wednesday, September 18. It has been raining most of the day, and the storm cleared just as the sun was going down, and the resulting visuals were pretty impressive in whatever direction you looked.

The first thing I saw as I came out of “my Starbucks” in Belle Meade was the very unusual cloud formations to the east. So I ran to the car, got my camera and a wide angle lens and started shooting. Being in a parking lot, I didn’t have a whole lot to work with in the way of foregrounds, so I pretty much just shot the sky.

So here’s what it looked like to the east:

..and this is what it looked like to the west, looking straight into the setting sun:

As the evening wore on, the social media lit up with photos from all over the city. The “event” was so widely covered that the next day the Tennsseean ran a post on their website with some of the photos they’d found.

– – – – – – –

Last night’s epic sunset in Nashville, TN
@NashvilleTN #nashville #nashvilleguru #musiccitysunsets #igersnashville #nashvilleTN #nashvilleinstagram #nashvillegram #nashvegas #tennesseeinstagram #musiccityliving #musiccityusa #musiccity #nashvillescene #nashvillesky #nashvillelife
#sunset #photooftheday #thebest_capture #ig_masterpiece #nuriss_tag #awe_inspiringshots #editoftheday #capture_today #waycoolshots #featuremeinstagood #igcapturesclub #ig_masterpiece #ig_great_pics©2015 [email protected] aka @driver49

Autumn at the Faerie Pools

November 8, 2015

No, I’m not in Scotland. Didn’t get across the pond this year. <*sigh*>

We have a digital photo frame on the counter in our kitchen, and it plays a continuous rotation of photos from our trip to Scotland in October, 2012.

I saw this one a couple of days ago and it reminded me that fall is mostly faded now. Here’s a glimpse of how the season looked back in that October, at an area on the Isle of Skye called the Faerie Pools:

The Faerie Pools – Isle Of Skye, Scottish Highlands
As fall fades… A look back at October, 2012 @IsleOSkye @visitscotland
#Scotland #photooftheday #thebest_capture #ig_masterpiece #nuriss_tag #awe_inspiringshots #pro_ig #global_highlights #igworldclub #ig_select #editoftheday #capture_today #waycoolshots #featuremeinstagood #igcapturesclub #ig_masterpiece #ig_great_pics #tweegram #picoftheday #instadaily #jj #beautiful #bestoftheday #followforfollow #f4f #like4like #likeforlike
©2015 [email protected] aka @driver49

My Obligatory Autumn Photo…

October 27, 2015

…with a barn and a tree.

It was also along the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia.

So I was just driving along the Blue Ridge Parkway last week, when I saw this little barn… and this big, red, tree…

@BlueRidgeNPS @BRParkwayFDN @Interior @usinterior
#blueridgeparkway #friendsbrp #blueridge #photooftheday #thebest_capture #ig_masterpiece #nuriss_tag #architectur #travel #awe_inspiringshots #pro_ig #global_highlights #igworldclub #ig_select #editoftheday #capture_today #waycoolshots #featuremeinstagood @instagood #igcapturesclub #ig_masterpiece #ig_great_pics #sunrise #virginia
©2015 [email protected] aka @driver49

Sunrise on the Blue Ridge Parkway

October 23, 2015

I went up to Virginia again last week, this time to visit a guy who is building a nuclear fusion reactor. More on him later.

I stayed in Floyd, Virginia, in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The day I headed home, I got up before dawn and headed to the Blue Ridge Parkway, and saw this sunrise from the first overlook:

Blue Ridge Parkway near Floyd, VA – October 21, 2015

@BlueRidgeNPS @BRParkwayFDN @Interior @usinterior
#blueridgeparkway #friendsbrp #blueridge #photooftheday #thebest_capture #ig_masterpiece #nuriss_tag #architectur #travel #awe_inspiringshots #pro_ig #global_highlights #igworldclub #ig_select #editoftheday #capture_today #waycoolshots #featuremeinstagood @instagood #igcapturesclub #ig_masterpiece #ig_great_pics #sunrise #virginia
©2015 [email protected] aka @driver49

This is Anna

October 13, 2015

photography