R. Doug Wicker's Blog, page 80

The Christmas Lights of Eastridge

Colors of Christmas past from our locally famous Eastridge neighborhood here in El Paso. Here are some more photos from 2012:

Photographing Outdoor (and Indoor) Christmas Lights

It’s the Christmas season.  That means it’s camera time, because you won’t see this much nighttime splashing of color again until July 4.

Taking pictures of Christmas lights requires special care and preparation.  Regular readers of my blog know that I don’t usually advocate taking the camera out of JPEG and shooting in your camera’s Raw format (especially for beginners or those who haven’t the time to fool with post-processing the conversion), but this may be an exception.  The biggest reason f...

Fun Photo Friday — Circumnavigating New Zealand; Te Papa Tongarewa Favorites

Portrait Panorama

Today’s Fun Photo Friday selection is of the more artsy aspects inside Te Papa. Next week I’ll be rerunning some of my Christmas photography blogs, and we’ll return to circumnavigating New Zealand the week after that. Until then, have a wonderful Holiday Season and an absolutely great New Year.

Circumnavigating New Zealand — Te Papa Tongarewa Museum; Browsing

Ursula outside the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

Today it’s going to be mostly photographs of the Te Papa, and the area around it, such as this different view of Circa Theatre next door to the museum:

Circa Theatre, 1 Taranaki Street

During our visit inside the Gallipoli exhibit, the museum fire alarm sounded, which prompted a rather lengthy wait outside before we could resume our tour:

Waiting outside after the fire alarm sounds

A word of caution about visiting Te Papa ...

Circumnavigating New Zealand — Te Papa Tongarewa Museum; Gallipoli Exhibit

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

Over the past several weeks I’ve brought to you our 2019 Wellington, New Zealand experiences aboard Majestic Princess. This week we return to Wellington with images of our 2020 excursion aboard Radiance of the Seas. We arrived in Wellington on 10 March 2020, and this time headed off to the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa at 55 Cable Street, which is the national museum of New Zealand (pictured above). Sharing the walkway with the museum is the p...

Fun Photo Friday — Circumnavigating New Zealand; Wellington Favorites 3

Bolger Park

And here are todays Fun Photo Friday favorites of Wellington:

White on Green with a Splash of Yellow Cenotaph Rosy Red Wellington Reflections Seddon Memorial at Bolton Street Memorial Park

An Essay on Oaths and Duty to Country — And How We Are Being Failed Today

The oaths I took upon joining the U.S. military and, later, the Civil Service of the federal government were remarkably similar to the one taken by every senator and congressman. But do members of Congress take seriously those words that they recited? Do they truly accept the responsibilities they supposedly acquired when they swore or affirmed their oaths of office?

The actual requirement for members of Congress to take an oath is derived from this:

The Senators and Representatives before...

Circumnavigating New Zealand — More Buildings, and more flowers

Wellington Cenotaph base

The area around the Wellington Cenotaph is home of a lot of neat imagery. To get there, along Bowen Street, take the segment of the City to Sea Walkway that leads from the Wellington Botanic Garden. Along this route youll pass the Bolton Street Memorial Park, formerly known as the Bolton Street Cemetery:

Bolton Street Memorial Park along the City to Sea Walkway

Past the cemetery, almost directly across the street from the Beehive, lies Turnbull House. It houses the...

Circumnavigating New Zealand — Around Parliament, and more flowers

[image error] Wellington Botanic Garden

As you may recall, we ascended high atop a hill over looking Wellington via the Wellington Cable Car:

[image error] Wellington Cable Car

From here we then proceeded downhill on foot via the Wellington Botanic Garden. Exiting the garden we headed east, joined Bowen Street, and set forth for the New Zealand Parliament. Our first view of the buildings associated with parliament was that of the Beehive, the Executive Wing of New Zealand Parliament buildings. The Beehive houses the...

Fun Photo Friday — Circumnavigating New Zealand; Wellington Favorites 2

[image error] Blurring Reality

Here are todays Fun Photo Friday favorites of Wellington:

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