Category Archives: Cool Photos

Cool Pictures That I’m In or That I Took: “Just Because” Edition

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Here’s another in a series of posts I’m going to make when I find some of these treasures. Some will be captioned, others will not. The only criteria for posting in this series is that:

a.) I’m in the photo or…

b.) … I took the photo.

This was taken at the wedding reception of my classmate, Cassie Brewer, and her new husband. Seated to my left, classmate and close friend, Crystal Starks Daniel, and to my right, another classmate, Chris Kavanaugh. Crystal, Cassie, Chris, and I were all members of a multi-semester cybersecurity study group at Stark State College. This weekend, Cassie and I are on a cyber forensics team competing in a one-day hack-a-thon contest at the college. Cassie and I both graduate in less than a month!

This is a photo of Jeff Tobin, KC3NJE, and me, KN4FYR after we both passed our FCC License exams a couple of years ago. (Photo by Jeff’s wife, Laura)

Also from a few years ago, a group of Westminster College radio station WKPS alumni gathers at our local hot dog hangout, MP Coney Island, in New Castle, PA. Noteworthy is the presence of Mark Klinger III, our professor and faculty advisor who passed away recently at age 78. (Photo by WKPS’s Charlie “Pretzel Man” Weisel.)

A screen shot taken from an 8mm movie transferred to video, me as a freshman member of the East Pennsboro High School marching band in 1970, I believe, not too long before moving from Camp Hill, PA, back to Fostoria, Ohio.

A Graphic Birthday (and Other Lies)

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Over the years, I’ve been asked to do some digital photography as part of my employment. Since I’m not a very good photographer, by necessity, I’ve learned to use Adobe Photoshop. As gag projects, I’ve created parody movie posters for Beth Geyer’s birthday and on occasion, for the rest of the family and others.

Below is a compilation of these posters. Click on the image to show the full-ish resolution version.

Click to see Nate with his favorite group of Friends.
This was created as a gift from Beth’s friend, Nisha, for her husband’s birthday.
This is the poster that started it all. And here is what started it.
Garrett as a cherub for
the Deadpool 2 poster.
Original photo of Tobin and Wolfe with the Space Shuttle Enterprise in the background.
Photoshopped photo of Tobin and Wolfe with the Starship Enterprise in the background.
Vazquez Rocks, CA, aka. the Gorn Planet from Star Trek: TOS. Frank Simons and me in photos taken 30 years apart.

Cool Pictures That I’m In or That I Took: Stuff-I-Should-Have-Posted-Earlier-But-Didn’t Edition

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Here’s another in a series of posts I’m going to make when I find some of these treasures. Some will be captioned, others will not. The only criteria for posting in this series is that:

a.) I’m in the photo or…

b.) … I took the photo.

In the summer of 2017, Nate, Garrett and I went on a biking tour of the National Mall in Washington, DC. We stopped at all the sights – and there are many. Here’s some select snapshots from the trip including the Lincoln Memorial, The White House, The Ohio column at the World War II Memorial and the Capitol.

Here’s a video of the ride.  It’s 15 minutes long and the battery gave out, but it captures the event.

I was sitting at a soccer game last year and turned my head to see this dog relaxing on the sidelines.  Glad I had my good camera with me!
The solar eclipse in August of last year swept across the United States. Prior to this event, no solar eclipse had been visible across the entire contiguous United States since June 8, 1918; not since the February 1979 eclipse had a total eclipse been visible from anywhere in the mainland United States. The path of totality touched 14 states, and the rest of the U.S. had a partial eclipse.*

The boys and I road-tripped to South Carolina to the home of Lisa Shuler, who graciously hosted us for the event.  This is an edited version of the photo I took at totality. The only change was to add color to the corona, as that’s what most people expect.  However, the actual corona was pure white.

This is an oldie but goodie.  I shot this in 2009 at the Dog Paddle in our community pool.  At the end of summer upon the closure of the pool to humans, the pool is open for one day for dogs to come splash around and enjoy the water.  These two were observing the action from a comfortable distance.

* Most of this paragraph was excerpted from the Wikipedia Page.

Cool Pictures That I’m In or That I Took – Alternative Facts Edition

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Here’s another in a series of posts I’m going to make when I find some of these treasures. Some will be captioned, others will not. The only criteria for posting in this series is that:

a.) I’m in the photo or…

b.) … I took the photo.

#alternativefacts: I am neither in nor did I take any of these. Unless that’s not true. Then maybe I did. Or not. Click on any photo to enlarge in a new window.

This has been posted on Facebook before but I was surprised to learn that I’d not put it anywhere on this site. This is my Dad in 1949 right about the time he started working for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in our hometown.

F-Tower was the railroading equivalent of an air traffic control center. Dad routed trains through a complex network of five different railroads traversing Fostoria. This was his professional home for 30-plus years, not counting his multiple times on active duty in the Army. He retired from the B&O on December 16, 1980.

I have no idea how to credit this, but it looks like a publicity shot perhaps for the new electronic traffic control system at F-Tower.

 

Last post, I showed you photos of the pups that have blessed me with their presence over the years.  This one is also Addie, the Wire Fox Terrier, with my Mom in 1952 in Germany before he, Mom and Dad returned from duty in Europe.

My guess is that Dad took this one.

 

I miss the days when you got photo prints with the month and year on it.  Makes it easy to identify.

This was taken at the Camillia Apartments in Columbus, GA while Dad was stationed there for the Infantry Officers Advanced Course. We lived there for a number of months, but as I was just three at the time, I have virtually no memory of being there. That’s my sister, Bobbi Jo and my Mom in the photo with me. I suspect Dad took this one, too.  He was quite the shutterbug.

When I went back to Fort Benning for Airborne School, I had the strangest, spooky feeling when I walked through certain areas of the post, as if I had been there before, but had no real, solid memories. When I went there again with BJ in 2003, I warned her that she’d have the same spooky experience and she didn’t believe me until it happened.

This one was among my Dad’s photo collection so I suspect this is his. It’s a guess, but I’d bet substantially that this is from the old Cleveland Municipal Stadium. A quick photo search on Google seems to indicate that this is the case.

That’s Chief Wahoo up there, by the way, who remains the mascot for the Cleveland team, for better or for worse. 

 

Cool Pictures That I’m In or That I Took – “Long Time, No Post” Edition

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Here’s another in a series of posts I’m going to make when I find some of these treasures. Some will be captioned, others will not. The only criteria for posting in this series is that:

a.) I’m in the photo or…

b.) … I took the photo.

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From a few years ago when Nate and Garrett and I went to the Potomac Nationals game. They got to run the bases afterwards and this was taken shortly thereafter. Fun night!

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I took this at the STEM Symposium this year. Tom was checking out one of Turner-Fairbank’s connected vehicles that was on display.

Group

Fun selfie from nephew Andy’s graduation from the Army’s CGSS, which I presume means “Command and General Staff School,” but I don’t really keep up with such things anymore. To my left, Emily, Andy’s spousal unit; Andy himself; my sister and Andy’s mom, B.J.; and in the back, Andy’s’ Dad, Michael and stepmom, Brenda. ‘Twas a nice graduation conducted in the typical Army fashion.

HoC

Me in a Marine Corps uniform on the set of “House of Cards” season four.  It was a tense moment.

(A couple of these have already been on Facebook.  Yeah, this is a lazy man’s post today.)