Downtown Kansas City
Downtown. Spring has begun to show its face again after hiding for a few weeks. In the mid-west it is one of the best, if not the only, time to enjoy the outdoors. In a few weeks we will be sentenced to 4-5 months of heat that wouldn’t be as bad if we didn’t have the secondary sentence of the heavy weighted humidity to accompany it. Though that looms in the short distance, we still have a few more weeks to enjoy outside, or even inside with the windows open. I took to the downtown streets and just let my camera take me where it led. I ended up walking a few miles around the downtown area on this pleasant, partly cloudy night. 
It led me over the bridge, and up the hill to the site of what would have been the third hall of the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. The hall would have housed the Kansas City Ballet, but funding fell through and they ended up in a great building down across from the IRS and next to Union Station. I really like this perspective as it is a great “spring” skyline shot.
Then it took me right to the front door for the Kauffman. I couldn’t resist taking a longer exposure to enhance the streaky, fast moving clouds. This building, if you can’t tell, is one of my favorite subjects in Kansas City….it also doesn’t hurt that I live within walking distance.
The final stop was as I walked back into downtown and the way the light was cast on the metal clad bridge stating it’s location. The skyline beyond was giving way to night, and the buildings begin to light the streets. Overall it turned out to be a fun springtime walk, and I have these to share!
Australia (Kangaroo Island)
Our third stop in Australia was one that most people could easily overlook, but ended up being our favorite stop on our 17 day excursion. Located about 15 miles off the coast of South Australia, sits the third largest island of Australia. It only takes about 2 hours to drive across the island, but there are plenty of things to distract you from driving straight through. There are only two major towns on the island, both of which are quaint towns with a view of the ocean from the main street. You have to be something of a nature lover to really enjoy a place like this because there are not a whole lot of places to entertain you, but the natural beauty and native wildlife of course. The island is aptly named for its large population of Kangaroos, but don’t believe that is the only wildlife you will experience, as there are seals, sea lions, koalas,echidnas, wallabies, and a ton of others (you will see at least one of these even if you don’t try that hard, these are just the ones we saw). We spent two days on the island at the Wildlife Retreat on the Flinders Chase National Park side, and loved evey minute of it. We hired a car to drive around and were warned right away that despite buying the extra insurance, that we were not covered between sunset and sunrise because of the shear numbers of Kangaroos out at night. It was a great place to relax and enjoy some gorgeous wildlife and scenery. Let me know what you think.
Fall (Part 2)
“Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all. ”
~Stanley Horowitz
Every season evokes an emotion, and that emotion comes to life in the form of memory. The very nature of the season is slowing, and life taking a pause until the days can grow longer and it the sun shows its warm face again. The breeze rustles through the branches clinging to the colorful jewels it took all season to create, and gently carries it to the ground. I have been lucky over this season, to be able to be an audience to such quiet events. I will share with you today, what I have been witness to in the past few days. Take a deep breath, relax and enjoy the fall season.
Ryan Estes Photos 