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Ugh. Here we go.

The big news in photography is from yesterday. Flickr done up and changed it’s layout to something more modern and sophisticated like it should have done years ago. Flickr, for those of you who aren’t aware, is a site dedicated to photographers that want to freely upload images for no reason. We all have our opinions. I use it as a means for corporations and businesses to find images of mine quickly. Flickr is one of the nicer sites in terms of searching; however irrelevant the search comes up usually.

Flickr was scrutinized by everyone years ago when they dropped the ball and didn’t update their site to something more slick and creative. They were hammered by the photography press and users alike. I heard things like Google Plus and Facebook are taking over! True. But to me, Flickr will always be home. It’s where I started. Although I am currently tripping over my own two fingers trying to navigate through the new design I’m sure it will eventually come around. I see a lot of old timers getting angry about it and voicing their opinions. That’s cool. Most people don’t like change. They say they do, but that’s just the cliche way of saying I’m fashion forward while still wearing a fedora.

No one of any importance uses Google Plus. That is my sole belief. Other photographers browse through it, but outside of that I don’t have one friend that doesn’t shoot on it that uses it regularly. That’s a shame. However; I do know a ton of people who use flickr to search for images and research upcoming trips and vacations. It’s a user friendly site to even those who don’t use it like photographers and other artists do.

All I’m saying is give it some time. People complained about the new facebook layouts. People complained about the Industrial Revolution because they didn’t understand it. I think Confucius once said, “Don’t shit without toilet paper because you don’t want to use your hands.” It was either him or Gandhi.

For those of you who don’t regular flickr on the daily or even monthly check out my page and see the new flickr layout. It’s actually pretty dope if you ask me. Check here: BK|Photograffi Flickr.

Took a ride down to Cincinnati this weekend for a night out with my wife. It’s a four and half hour trip from the suburbs of Chicago. The drive is really easy, and also really boring. I had a spot in mind once I arrived in Cincinnati that I really wanted to shoot. In Covington, Kentucky; just over the Ohio River lies a great vantage point of the skyline of Cincinnati. One of the bridges that connect Covington, KY and Cincinnati, OH is called the Roebling Bridge.

The actual name of the bridge is the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge. It was completed in 1865, I believe. That’s what the date on the bridge had read, but I believe it was first used in 1866. It formally opened in 1867, the driver of a horse and buggy were charged a toll of 15 cents to cross. Pedestrians were charged a penny. Over 166,000 people walked across the bridge in the first two days! And 2 people died during construction! That’s crazy. In December of 1866 it was the longest suspension bridge in the world at 1,057 feet main span. It remained the longest from 1867 to 1883 when the Brooklyn Bridge took over for the next 20 years. Roebling is currently the 119th longest suspension bridge in the world.

What I really enjoyed about this bridge is the how well kept it seemed to be after all these years. The entire city of Cincinnati and Covington were designed fairly well in terms of location and ease of parking from what I could tell. Both the ball parks are across from each other within walking distance. Not too shabby of a design job.

I have a decent amount of images from this bridge that you will be seeing over the next year or so. I got really lucky with great lighting the entire night. I can’t wait for my next trip East.

Ah. The weather has risen like the Dark Knight. This is from Butterfly Beach in Santa Barbara, California. I used all the wrong lenses at this spot. I had to crop this to a 1×1. It felt instagramish, but it works better than the original. My wife told me that a lot of celebrities go to this beach, but I’m not sure that’s entirely true because it was really small. The water looks smooth due to a long exposure and a 10 stop Neutral Density filter.

Must get to the Fountain soon. Without Fog. This was last June-ish?

16×9 crop for that ooh wee, son. Get it.

Hashtag Chicago.

I finally got around to re-arranging my galleries to fit my standard of acceptance. Basically, I needed them to be more cohesive. The landscape galleries were really upsetting to browse because they were filled with garbage. So, I changed them to fit their specialty. Take a look here: The New Look.

Now, if only I could get around to cleaning all the images off my desktop and my back up files… That would be great. mmhmm.

The image below was taken at Artists’ Palette in Death Valley. We weren’t sure which backdrop was the palette, but I just assumed the entire loop road they created was it. After google searching for it and looking through images I realize that there is a real spot, and I feel we passed it up right away. Oh well. Tell your kids this is the palette now. So, here’s my take on the palette during sunset. Thescenic loop drive through multi-hued volcanic and sedimentary hills located just down the road from Badwater. This is another take on a rocky abstract than a landscape. I think. I feel. I honestly don’t know what I’m talking about anymore.

Also, I was going to purchase a large series of prints for above the bed, but my wife told me I could spend that money on plane tickets. So, I think she is telling me to go back to Death Valley. Maybe late this Fall?