I'll be leaving home early tomorrow morning for my last photo trip of the year...

2014 will conclude with a December road trip to the Capital Cities of the Southeast! This trip will cover 8 capital cities (Nashville, Atlanta, Montgomery, Tallahassee, Columbia, Raleigh, Richmond and Charleston). There will also be other stops along the way, including Charleston, South Carolina and Charlottesville, Virginia. In the end, I will travel more than 3,000 miles and stay in Hampton Inns for at least 20 nights on this journey.

2014 was another great year for travel. The year consisted of four photography trips: Texas, Desert SW, Smoky Mountains and the SE Capital Cities. By the end of the year, I will have been on the road for 70 nights. Most days, I start my morning with an early breakfast in the lobby of the Hampton Inn. There are usually a number of other people eating breakfast--dressed in business attire and preparing to leave for work. I'm always thankful that I no longer travel for business. It's much more fun to be traveling as part of a photography trip.

If everything goes according to plan (and the weather and road conditions cooperate), the map of State Capitols that I've photographed will expand from this:

State Capitol VisitsThis map illustrates my progress in my attempt to photograph all of the state capitols in the Lower 48 states (and possibly all 50 at some point). Currently, I've visited 31 of them. To this:

State Capitol Visit StatusAs of January, 2015, I have visited 39 of the 50 State Capitols. 9 of the remaining Capitols are in the Northeast. Then, there's Alaska and Hawaii. I will also need to revisit Minnesota as I only captured an image of the exterior of that State Capitol.

Next July, I have preliminary plans to visit many of the Capital Cities of the Northeast. Eight months from now, there's a chance that I will have photographed all the State Capitol buildings in the Lower 48! Then, onto Hawaii...

To view my favorite State Capitol pictures to date, please CLICK HERE.

Over the past few years, I've been visiting State Capitol buildings throughout the United States. The Colorado State Capitol in Denver represented my 30th capitol visit! Colorado has since been followed by Arizona:

State Capitol VisitsThis map illustrates my progress in my attempt to photograph all of the state capitols in the Lower 48 states (and possibly all 50 at some point). Currently, I've visited 31 of them.

Unfortunately, I didn't visit Colorado at a good time. The State Capitol was experiencing significant reconstruction during my visit. I postponed my visit once before as I was aware that the dome was under repair for a few years. When I learned of the completion of that work, I thought it was safe to visit. But, much of the interior was torn up. Scaffolding was present throughout both the Senate and House of Representatives chambers and much of those rooms were covered with drop cloths. The public had no access to the chambers.

At first, it looked like I would have to settle for a photograph of the exterior of the golden dome as well as one of the staircase in the rotunda:

Golden domeNewly renovated golden dome of the Colorado State Capitol building at 200 E Colfax Avenue in Denver, Colorado on July 24, 2014 Colorado State CapitolStaircase in the rotunda of the Colorado State Capitol building at 200 E Colfax Avenue in Denver, Colorado on July 24, 2014

However, I always participate in the guided tour when I visit a new Capitol. During my tour of the Colorado State Capitol, I picked up a valuable tip that saved the day for my photography. The tour guide told us about Ralph Carr, a former governor of Colorado. Carr stood up for rights of Japanese Americans--who were being discriminated against after Pearl Harbor was attacked in World War II. Many historians believe that Carr's unpopular stance promoting racial tolerance ultimately cost him his political career.

So, how did this story of Ralph Carr save the day for my photography? I also discovered that a building located across the street from the Capitol was named in honor of Carr--the Ralph L. Carr Colorado Judicial Center.

While I was walking around the Capitol grounds, I decided to take a look inside the Judicial Center. I was stunned by the beauty of the modern architecture of the building. And, I was pleasantly surprised that the security guard granted me full access to the building. For the next couple of hours, I photographed amazing architecture: the rotunda, two courtrooms, and a staircase:

Colorado Judicial CenterRalph L. Carr Colorado Judicial Center at 2 E. 14th Avenue in Denver, Colorado on July 24, 2014 Colorado State CapitolColorado State Capitol building viewed from inside the Ralph L. Carr Colorado Judicial Center at 2 E. 14th Avenue in Denver, Colorado on July 24, 2014. This photograph consists of five exposures blended together to create a high dynamic range (HDR) image. Colorado Supreme CourtColorado Supreme Courtroom in the Ralph L. Carr Colorado Judicial Center at 2 E. 14th Avenue in Denver, Colorado on July 24, 2014. This photograph consists of four exposures blended together to create a high dynamic range (HDR) image. Library courtroomThe "Library" Court of Appeals Courtroom in the Ralph L. Carr Colorado Judicial Center at 2 E. 14th Avenue in Denver, Colorado on July 24, 2014. This photograph consists of five exposures blended together to create a high dynamic range (HDR) image. Judicial staircaseStaircase featuring Thomas Sayre's "Scintillation" sculpture in the Ralph L. Carr Colorado Judicial Center at 2 E. 14th Avenue in Denver, Colorado on July 24, 2014. This photograph consists of five exposures blended together to create a high dynamic range (HDR) image.

Whatever disappointment that I felt during my visit to the Colorado State Capitol building was more than offset by the amazing photo shoot that followed at the Ralph L. Carr Colorado Judicial Center.

During the planning stages, I referred to my last trip as the "Fall Colors Road Trip." By the time the trip was over, I titled it the "Smoky Mountains Road Trip". The reason for this change is that there was such little color to photograph! Click here to view the pictures from my trip.

For a while, the chances for a colorful trip looked very promising. Many sources, including websites dedicated to autumn colors (such as the Foliage Network), predicted peak colors during my stay in the mountains. Sadly, this wasn't the case.

Although the science of predicting autumn colors is not all that advanced, we know that high winds aren't helpful. And, torrential rains are another negative factor. Both heavy rains and high winds started storming through the Tennessee and North Carolina mountains the day that I left Chicago for my two day drive to the cabin that we rented off the Blue Ridge Parkway near Boone, North Carolina. It was still storming when I arrived at the cabin!

By the time I arrived, the damage was mostly done. A good portion of the leaves had blown off the trees at the higher elevations--where the colors were vibrant. Yet, the leaves had not yet become colorful at the lower or most middle elevations in the area. We drove more than an hour south to Asheville--but the colors were mostly dull there as well.

Fortunately, there was one area along Grandfather Mountain where the color was retained enough to allow for a nice, autumn photograph! This is a picture of the iconic Linn Cove Viaduct:

Linn Cove ViaductLinn Cove Viaduct is a 1,243-foot concrete segmental bridge which carries the Blue Ridge Parkway around the slopes of Grandfather Mountain in North Carolina on October 15, 2014

I would like to thank Earl Evans, a photographer friend of mine, for guiding me to this location and to such an effective vantage point for composing this image. Please click here to view Earl's website.

Although the colors didn't cooperate overall, there are always things to photograph. In the Great Smoky Mountains, I concentrated on images that didn't require a lot of color from the leaves--such as with images captured during twilight:

Great Smoky MountainsSunset from Clingmans Dome in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee on October 20, 2014

And, interiors don't require much in the way of autumn colors:

Cades Cove Missionary Baptist ChurchCades Cove Missionary Baptist Church (1839) in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee on October 19, 2014

Little Greenbrier SchoolLittle Greenbrier Schoolhouse (1882) in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee on October 20, 2014

Timing a trip to a distant destination to coincide with the arrival of peak Fall colors takes some luck. The more trips that I take to capture Fall colors, the better chances that I have of capturing it. So, I plan to keep trying for optimal Fall colors in the upcoming years.

During my visit to Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry, I enjoyed capturing several images--particularly in the Mirror Maze exhibit.

Neon ForestMirror Maze of the "Numbers in Nature" exhibit in the Museum of Science and Industry at 5700 S Lake Shore Drive in Chicago, Illinois on November 12, 2014

There's not much light in many of the exhibits, so a tripod is almost a necessity for getting good images. Fortunately, I was able to enter the museum with my tripod in hand without being questioned. The woman at the information desk said that the policy states that tripods are not permitted--but that the policy is loosely enforced.

I used my tripod during most of the morning. I collapsed the tripod during my time in the Omnimax as photography isn't permitted in theater. Then, I used my tripod again during the early part of the afternoon.

Just as I was getting ready to leave, I had my tripod set up to capture one last picture of the following scene of a 40 feet indoor tornado inside the "Science Storms" exhibit:

Science Storms"Science Storms" exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry at 5700 S Lake Shore Drive in Chicago, Illinois on November 12, 2014

I was prevented from taking a second shot of this scene by a security guard who asked me to put my tripod away. Fortunately, my first photo of the "Science Storms" exhibit was acceptable. Even better, I had several hours of photography with my tripod before being asked to put it away.

In fact, the timing couldn't have been any better. The no tripod policy wasn't enforced until a few seconds before I was planning to finish taking pictures for the day! Although, this doesn't bode well for my next visit.

Edit: I made my next visit a few days later! This time, I was aware that my use of the tripod needed to be very strategic. I waited until the very end of my visit before attempting to capture a photograph of the "Christmas Around the World" exhibit. Before moving into a more visible position in the center of the floor, I made sure that my camera settings were accurate and that the camera was placed securely on my tripod. I then quickly moved into position and had just enough time to grab a couple of images. Security was very quick...and that was the end of my shooting for my return visit. But, once again my timing couldn't have been much better.

Christmas Around the WorldChristmas Around the World and Holidays of Light exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry at 5700 S Lake Shore Drive in Chicago, Illinois on November 17, 2014

I recently visited Columbus, Indiana for some architectural photography. Click here to view the images from my trip.

While in Columbus, I climbed the tower at Mill Race Park to capture an image of the city. Since purchasing the Nikon D800, I rarely shoot panoramic photographs. The resolution of the D800 is high enough that I usually have enough pixels to create a decent panoramic image from just one shot!

But, I decided to create a panoramic image of downtown Columbus from the tower:

Downtown ColumbusDowntown Columbus panoramic photo from the tower in Mill Race Park at 50 Fifth Street in Columbus, Indiana on October 22, 2014

To better appreciate the power of using multiple frames to create a panoramic image, I am providing the following link to the version that is nearly 17,000 pixels across. This higher resolution version was created by taking five vertical photographs across the scene and then stitching them together in post processing.

CLICK HERE to view the higher resolution file.

Once you've opened the file (be patient as it might take some time to load), your internet browser should allow you to zoom in and out. I find that when I zoom in enough it's possible to read the street signs. So, zoom in and take a look around downtown Columbus!

Recently, a company purchased one of my photographs. The image will be printed very large (10 feet across) and will hang in the lobby. As part of this process, the company's representative hoped that the colors in the picture could be adjusted to better match the lobby decor.

Here's the original image:

The lobby is painted in a shade of purple which the client believes clashes with the red color of the shadowing in the above image. So, I asked the client to provide me with the color of the paint in the lobby. Fortunately, the client was able to provide specific color information from Sherwin Williams:

After opening the original image in Photoshop, I created a new layer to record my color adjustments. From there, I clicked on Image >> Adjustments >> Replace Color. In the upper Selection box, I grabbed the eyedropper and selected the reddish color of the shadowing color:

After making that selection, I then entered the Replacement color information. I did this by entering the RGB values (from the Sherwin Williams paint chip) in the Replacement color box (R-98, G-63, B-84). At this point, any reddish color throughout the entire image is replaced with the new Mature Grape color:

I applied a black mask to the layer to remove the effect and then used a white brush to paint the replacement color selectively over just the shadowing areas of the frame. Note how the shape of the white area in the black mask mirrors the shadowing area of the picture:

At this point, the color of the shadowing matches the paint of the lobby's interior precisely--making this very large print coordinate more naturally in this interior space.

This morning, my "Mesa Arch" picture won Imaging Resource's "Photo of the Day". CLICK HERE to view Imaging Resource's Photo of the Day page.

Capturing this photograph involved getting up at 4:30 AM, driving for over an hour from my hotel in Moab to the trailhead, and hiking a 1/2 mile or so. The trail was lit only by my headlamp!

This marks the 22nd time in the last 24 months that one of my photographs was recognized by Imaging Resource as its "Photo of the Day".

I recently completed an 11 day photography road trip to the Smoky Mountains. The trip included segments of the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina, Asheville, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Knoxville, Abraham Lincoln's Birthplace in Kentucky, and Columbus, Indiana.

In the end, I drove my Prius 2,075 miles. The car used 37.8 gallons of gas--achieving an average of 54.8 miles per gallon. That's not bad considering that a fair amount of mileage was in the mountains. The cost of gas has been declining in recent months. At $2.85 per gallon, my total cost for gas on this trip was $108!

Just over $100 for gas to cover over 2,000 miles--not bad at all.