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A very short trip to Birmingham, AL.

goofrygoofry Registered Users Posts: 103 Major grins
edited April 16, 2008 in Journeys
Well, on this trip, work had me heading to Birmingham to visit a few customers. I arrived mid afternoon and decided to go to the Botanical Gardens and/or Zoo and then to the Vulcan for sunset.

I tried the zoo first and was very excited when I reached the parking lot as there were not many cars there. I thought, great, I can get in, get some pictures and get out in no time. So I go to get in and therein is the problem. Seems they close at 5:00 pm. Time to move on, thank goodness, the Botanical gardens are just around the corner.

Not much blooming here,
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But they do have a nice Japanese Garden.
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With the sun dropping below the tops of the trees, I decided to move on out and go to the Vulcan.
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This is the worlds largest cast iron statue. The vulcan was the Roman God of fire and forge. This ties in with Birmingham's history in the steel industry. It has been standing on this ridge since 1904 and has received a renovation from 2000-2004. It provides a 360 panoramic view of downtown and the surrounding areas. And, a great place to watch the sun set.

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As the sun goes down and night approaches, I get the opportunity for the longer length exposures that yeild the the long headlight and taillight streaks on the highway. This view is looking over the UAB campus at I65.
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And now a different view of the Vulcan at night.
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One last shot with downtown in the background.
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So that's it for my short trip to Birmingham. Looking back, I wished I had gotten some shots of the Vulcan from the downtown area, but it was late, I was cold and I ended up eating ribs at Dreamland BBQ. I could actually smell the hickory BBQ smoke from atop the Vulcan and couldn't pass up the opportunity to get some ribs to warm up with.

Thanks for looking, I hope you enjoy.
Goofry

http://www.spotlightpicture.com

A bunch of Canon Stuff.

Comments

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    summerzsummerz Registered Users Posts: 494 Major grins
    edited March 16, 2008
    Looks like a nice place to visit, thanks for the tour.thumb.gif
    I'm especially fond of night shots.iloveyou.gif Love the lights.:D
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    goofrygoofry Registered Users Posts: 103 Major grins
    edited March 18, 2008
    Thanks for the comments Summerz. I was hoping for some more dramatic shots, but I was pretty happy with what I got. I did some panarama shots as well, but unfortunately, there was movement in some of the shots so the panas are no good.

    Mostly these are the tourist spot shots, but when you don't have much time, you get what you can.

    Thanks for looking,
    Goofry

    http://www.spotlightpicture.com

    A bunch of Canon Stuff.
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    DogdotsDogdots Registered Users Posts: 8,795 Major grins
    edited March 21, 2008
    Thanks for sharing. It looks like a nice place to visit. I like the red bridge...it really sticks out.
    Mary
    www.Dogdotsphotography.com
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    bhambham Registered Users Posts: 1,303 Major grins
    edited March 22, 2008
    Yep the red bridges are a popular spot to get shots for portraits, mainly due their uniqueness. The botanical gardens is a favorite spot of mine to do some on location shooting. There are a couple areas in the garden that are awesome when they are in bloom.

    Next time you are in town and want to get out and shoot some, drop me a line.
    "A photo is like a hamburger. You can get one from McDonalds for $1, one from Chili's for $5, or one from Ruth's Chris for $15. You usually get what you pay for, but don't expect a Ruth's Chris burger at a McDonalds price, if you want that, go cook it yourself." - me
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    RobinivichRobinivich Registered Users Posts: 438 Major grins
    edited March 23, 2008
    The light on the second statue photo does it for me!

    Nicely done, you've reminded me I need to visit the local Japanese gardens soon!
    http://taylorinlight.com
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    DogdotsDogdots Registered Users Posts: 8,795 Major grins
    edited March 23, 2008
    bham wrote:
    Yep the red bridges are a popular spot to get shots for portraits, mainly due their uniqueness. The botanical gardens is a favorite spot of mine to do some on location shooting. There are a couple areas in the garden that are awesome when they are in bloom.

    Next time you are in town and want to get out and shoot some, drop me a line.

    I'd love to go out taking photos with someone who also shoots -- that would be so much fun wings.gif
    Mary
    www.Dogdotsphotography.com
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    bhambham Registered Users Posts: 1,303 Major grins
    edited March 23, 2008
    Well dogdots if you ever come to Birmingham, AL pm me. Me and another dgrinnner Dixie have gone a shot a couple times together and are gonna go again this week.
    "A photo is like a hamburger. You can get one from McDonalds for $1, one from Chili's for $5, or one from Ruth's Chris for $15. You usually get what you pay for, but don't expect a Ruth's Chris burger at a McDonalds price, if you want that, go cook it yourself." - me
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    DogdotsDogdots Registered Users Posts: 8,795 Major grins
    edited March 23, 2008
    bham wrote:
    Well dogdots if you ever come to Birmingham, AL pm me. Me and another dgrinnner Dixie have gone a shot a couple times together and are gonna go again this week.

    I will do that thumb.gif
    Mary
    www.Dogdotsphotography.com
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    goofrygoofry Registered Users Posts: 103 Major grins
    edited March 25, 2008
    bham wrote:
    Yep the red bridges are a popular spot to get shots for portraits, mainly due their uniqueness. The botanical gardens is a favorite spot of mine to do some on location shooting. There are a couple areas in the garden that are awesome when they are in bloom.

    Next time you are in town and want to get out and shoot some, drop me a line.

    Bham, I will keep your offer in mind. I am sure there are some other great locations to shoot and I would love to get out with a local. I'm usually just over for a day or two from Atlanta with not much time to get out. I did at least get to eat Ribs at Dreamland for dinner after spending time up on the Vulcan. I wasn't sure what I was going to eat for dinner until I smelled the BBQ Smoke from below the ridge.

    Later,
    Goofry

    http://www.spotlightpicture.com

    A bunch of Canon Stuff.
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    bhambham Registered Users Posts: 1,303 Major grins
    edited March 25, 2008
    Yep, great ribs there. Please drop me a line when you are headed over.
    "A photo is like a hamburger. You can get one from McDonalds for $1, one from Chili's for $5, or one from Ruth's Chris for $15. You usually get what you pay for, but don't expect a Ruth's Chris burger at a McDonalds price, if you want that, go cook it yourself." - me
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    gagodfathergagodfather Registered Users Posts: 73 Big grins
    edited April 16, 2008
    bham i will be in town fri sat and sun for the ama race at barber but thought about doing some night shots of bham after the races are over for the day. if you would be as so kind to give me a few good places to go i would greatly appreciate it. directions from barber motorsports pak would be very helpful and appreciated too. thanks
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