Written by Kevin Greene on March 2nd, 2010
Piney Wood Park in Durham, NC
Piney Wood Park is a small city park in Durham. There are a couple of these unusual buildings with locked blue doors, which I assume are some sort of storage facility.
As part of my forensic pathology fellowship, I get to spend a week rotating through the various parts of the SBI Crime Lab in Raleigh, NC. Here are some of the things I’ve learned:
- The only thing dumber than committing a felony is bragging to your “buddies” about committing said felony (audio analysis).
- “State of the art” video security systems are often equipped with low end cameras (video analysis).
- The ever expanding capacity of hard drives is essentially there to accommodate large porn collections (computer analysis).
- Proprietors of clandestine labs who emboss their product with an original logo get an A for effort (drug chemistry).
Work on my HDR tutorial is progressing nicely. I hope to have it published by the end of the weekend.
Posted in Durham, North Carolina, buildings, mysteries, parks | No Responses »
Tags: blue, building, city park, crime lab, door, Durham, enigmatic, forensic pathology, hdr, high dynamic range, lab, laboratory, locked, mystery, North Carolina, park, pathology, Piney Wood Park, Raleigh, SBI, sky, storage, unusual, winter
Written by Kevin Greene on February 25th, 2010
The Rotunda on The Lawn at UVA (Charlottesville, VA)
This photo was taken back in September of 2008. We took a day trip up to Charlottesville to show Kate where she was born and where she spent the first year of her life. She didn’t remember any of it, but she had a good time.
We caught a lucky break with the weather. After it rained nearly the entire drive up to Charlottesville, the weather improved when we arrived. In fact, we were greeted by some really nice clouds.
Charlottesville is a neat town. Graduating from medical school on The Lawn is something I will always remember.
Posted in historical, parenting | No Responses »
Tags: Academical Village, autumn, campus, Central Grounds, Charlottesville, cloudy, college, fall, hdr, historical, rainy, sky, The Grounds, The Lawn, The Rotunda, university, University of Virginia, UVA, Virginia
Written by Kevin Greene on February 24th, 2010
Pullen Park in Raleigh, NC
I have a half marathon coming up soon. I originally intended to start training 12 weeks out. Then, 12 weeks became 10 weeks. Then, 10 weeks became 8 weeks. I finally forced myself to go for a run this morning. It was nothing to brag about (2.5 miles), but I have to start somewhere.
Posted in bodies of water, parks | No Responses »
Tags: autumn, bridge, colorful, fall, hdr, inertia, NC State, North Carolina, park, pond, Pullen Park, Raleigh, reflections, water
Written by Kevin Greene on February 23rd, 2010
The Sailboat Pond at the North Carolina Museum of Life and Science in Durham.
We make it out to the North Carolina Museum of Life and Science on a pretty regular basis. The ‘Catch the Wind’ exhibit features a neat little concrete enclosed pond where visitors can captain radio controlled sailboats. In this photo, I was fortunate enough to capture three of the sailboats in a staggered formation. The boat reflections turned out well and are enhanced by the gentle ripples on the pond’s surface.
I’m working on an HDR tutorial which I will debut in the next week or two. I also have several exciting photography opportunities coming up over the next couple of months, if I can break away from doing autopsies on moldy exhumed bodies long enough to take advantage of them!
Posted in bodies of water | No Responses »
Tags: autumn, catch the wind, colorful, Durham, exhibit, fall, hdr, museum, NCMLS, North Carolina, pond, reflections, sailboat, science museum, toy
Written by Kevin Greene on February 20th, 2010
Animal Kingdom Park in Walt Disney World
While making our way from the Asia portion of the park to the Africa portion, we ran into DiVine at the beginning of one of her performances. Performing on stilts in front of a crowd takes some impressive talent. At one point, she paused to pose for pictures which allowed me to get this photo.
Posted in amusement/theme parks, vacation | No Responses »
Tags: Animal Kingdom, costume, Disney, Disney World, DiVine, fantasy, Florida, hdr, Kate, performance, stilts, talent, theme park, vacation, Walt Disney World
Written by Kevin Greene on February 7th, 2010
Cinderella Castle at the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World
Up until this point in the trip, I had not had much luck with the clouds. There were either no clouds, or the entire sky was gray, or the clouds were puny and blowing by too fast. I happened to be at the right place at the right time to get this shot.
One of the benefits of having the Nikkor 12-24 mm lens, is that I can walk right past everyone and get photos without people in them. I’m sure I’m in the foreground of a lot of people’s vacation photos. 
Posted in amusement/theme parks, travel, vacation | No Responses »
Tags: Cinderella Castle, cloudy, Disney, Disney World, fairy tale, fantasy, Florida, hdr, Magic Kingdom, theme park, travel, vacation, Walt Disney World
Written by Kevin Greene on February 5th, 2010
Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge at Walt Disney World in Florida
This was the view from our balcony every morning. Pretty awesome, huh? On one of our last days, there were five giraffes outside of our balcony at sunrise.
This photo almost never happened. As always, the days leading up to the trip were hectic. And, as a result, I put very little effort into making sure I had packed everything I needed. Last year when we went to Disney World, I forgot to take my camera battery charger (and no, I’m not yet sophisticated enough to have a backup battery). Fortunately, the battery life with my Nikon is incredible. This year, I remembered my battery charger, which I again didn’t need. And, I remembered to take my tripod; however, the tripod does little good if the quick release plate is back at home over 500 miles away. After unsuccessfully searching my BlackBerry for local places selling quick release plates that would match my tripod model, it was off to the closest Wal-Mart to purchase a cheap, and I do mean cheap, temporary solution. Not to worry though, I kept the receipt…and I got this photo.
Posted in life's unexpected challenges, nature, vacation | No Responses »
Tags: Animal Kingdom Lodge, Disney, Disney World, Florida, hdr, resort, savanna, sunrise, vacation, Walt Disney World
Written by Kevin Greene on January 30th, 2010
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World
About 24 hours after our visit to Buena Vista Urgent Care for Kate’s bronchitis/ear infection, she bumped her forehead while riding BTMR and developed an impressive abraded contusion. I was told that she was fiddling with her headband and that somehow cause her to bang her forehead as the train hit a bump or curve. She’s tough, and it didn’t slow her down, but I think she was lucky that she didn’t get a laceration and end up right back at urgent care for stitches.
We felt a little cursed at this point. Unbeknown to us, we would have one more serious close call towards the end of the week. I’ll probably get around to telling that story later.
As for the above photo, I was holding Natalie in my left arm and operating the camera with just my right arm. Anyone who has ever held a D200 with a lens attached will tell you that this is no small accomplishment. Fortunately, Natalie wasn’t squirming.
Posted in amusement/theme parks, parenting, vacation | No Responses »
Tags: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Disney, Disney World, Florida, hdr, Kate, Magic Kingdom, roller coaster, theme park, vacation, Walt Disney World
Written by Kevin Greene on January 27th, 2010
Disney’s Hollywood Studios at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida
After spending part of the morning at a local urgent care getting antibiotics for Kate’s bronchitis and ear infection, we headed over to Hollywood Studios. Kate was a trooper. We spent most of the day carrying her from place to place.
It was an exhausting day for everyone. As we were nearing the exit of the park, one of the "cast members" approached us and asked the girls if they wanted something special. She led us to a backstage "dressing room" where the girls got to meet Mulan, Jasmine, and Aladdin.
The girls look tired in this photo, but they were very happy. I think it was just what they needed at the end of a rough start to the vacation. I give a big thumbs up to Disney for doing this kind of thing.
Posted in amusement/theme parks, parenting, vacation | No Responses »
Tags: Aladdin, backstage, Disney, Disney Princesses, Florida, hdr, Hollywood Studios, Jasmine, Kate, Mickey Mouse, Mulan, Natalie, Walt Disney World
Written by Kevin Greene on January 26th, 2010
Expedition Everest at Disney’s Animal Kingdom
We just got back from a trip to Disney World. Our trip started out kind of rough. We spent the first morning in a local urgent care where my oldest daughter was diagnosed with her first ear infection. I felt so badly for her. Fortunately, the antibiotics had her feeling better very quickly.
Getting back to this photo, Expedition Everest has now overtaken the Tower of Terror and Splash Mountain as Kate’s favorite Disney World ride. In fairness to Splash Mountain, it wasn’t operating the week that we were there.
Posted in amusement/theme parks, vacation | No Responses »
Tags: attraction, Disney World, Expedition Everest, Florida, hdr, ride, roller coaster, theme park, vacation, yeti
Written by Kevin Greene on January 3rd, 2010
The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh, NC
I took the girls to the Natural Sciences Museum in Raleigh today. We’ve been there several times before, but I got a couple of new and interesting shots today. This is shot from the second floor, overlooking the Coastal North Carolina Exhibit. The giant whale skeletons are pretty amazing. I’ve never had much luck shooting up at these from the first floor.
I’m working on integrating my Facebook, Flickr, Digital Photo Project, and Imagekind websites. What a pain in the ass! I need more time to devote to this stuff. I’d better cut back from 5 hours of sleep a night to 4.
Posted in historical, nature | No Responses »
Tags: fossil, hdr, indoor, museum, Natural Sciences Museum, North Carolina, Raleigh, whale
Written by Kevin Greene on October 25th, 2009
The 2009 North Carolina State Fair in Raleigh, NC
We waited until the last day to go to the state fair this year. Aside from the weather being a little on the cool side, it worked out very well. The crowd was small (people were pouring in as we left). The ride lines were short. The food smelled amazing, as always. The giant turkey leg was delicious. And none of the rides fell apart while we were on them. I’m already looking forward to the ‘10 state fair.
Natalie was handling the cold pretty well up until the point this photo was taken. It was very overcast and in the mid-50’s, which is not terrible, but there was a chill in the air. We were walking away from the Ferris wheel when she stopped us to proclaim that she was cold. She was making some adorable faces so I had to stop and capture the moment.
Posted in amusement/theme parks, parenting | No Responses »
Tags: cloudy, cold, funny face, hdr, Natalie, North Carolina, Raleigh, state fair
Written by Kevin Greene on June 1st, 2009
Miniature Golf (Course #1) at Frankie’s Fun Park in Raleigh, NC
This was the first time that Kate and Natalie (really) played miniature golf. I say "really" because they played on a tiny course at a resort in Disney World one time. They both had a blast. I abstained from playing. Instead, I chose to keep them in line and to snag a few RAWs.
There are three courses. We played the first one. It’s actually kind of a neat course. There are several tropical themed faux buildings. Also, there are several very pretty fountains and cascades with really vivid blue water running through the courses. Sure, there is an inherent amount of color enhancement that occurs with my processing technique. But, the color of the water is true to life. It’s a really cool visual.
When we approached the 18th hole, I anticipated a problem. "Kate and Natalie are going to freak out when their balls disappear when they go in the hole." I walked Natalie up to the hole and showed her that there was no bottom. I explained to her that she wasn’t going to be able to get the ball back this time, and I explained to her why the 18th hole is set up that way. She seemed to get it. But, throughout the rest of the evening, she asked about 12 times why her ball disappeared on the 18th hole. I think it frustrated her a little bit.
Posted in parenting | No Responses »
Tags: Frankie's Fun Park, hdr, miniature golf, North Carolina, parenting, Raleigh
Written by Kevin Greene on May 25th, 2009
This photo of Kate was taken about 2 years ago. I can’t believe how much she has grown since then. Her cap and gown graduation from kindergarten is right around the corner.
Posted in parenting | No Responses »
Tags: home, Kate, mirror, portrait
Written by Kevin Greene on May 23rd, 2009
The E.B. Bain Water Treatment Plant in Raleigh, NC
Natalie, my soon to be 3-year-old, fell down about 13 stairs tonight. She seems to be okay. Actually, I think she walked away from it without a scratch. I know that kids are resilient, but I’m very surprised (and so relieved) that she’s not hurt.
I was downstairs and everyone else was upstairs. Natalie broke away from the herd to come downstairs, presumably to get her sippy cup full of water. It sounds like she made it successfully down no more than one or two stairs before she fell. All I heard was a series of thuds that just kept going. It was a sickening sound and I honestly can’t get it out of my head. There were no screams or anything like that, just thuds. I started running to the stairs as the sound stopped. There was silence for about a second, then terrible screaming. The kind of screaming that scares you to death as a parent. I expected to find Kate (my older girl) when I rounded the corner. I was shouting, "Kate, Kate" as I was running to the stairs. Kate has fallen down 2 or 3 stairs before, but certainly nothing like this, not from the top. When I saw Natalie’s little hair covered face on the ground, it felt even scarier.
She was crying, which was a good thing. That ruled out a couple of really bad things right away. I got her to hold pretty still and to quit crying enough to be able to talk to me. She said the only thing that hurt was her head, she pointed right to the top of it. She seemed to be limping a little at first, but after a couple of minutes, she was walking just fine.
Even though she seemed unhurt, because she said her head hurt we decided to take her to the pediatric ED to get her checked out. I knew they probably wouldn’t do any diagnostic tests, but it was okay, I felt better getting her seen anyway.
Posted in historical, parenting | 1 Response »
Tags: accident, art deco, emergency department, hdr, indoor, Natalie, North Carolina, Raleigh, The Bain Project, urban decay
