Continuing in the theme of this weeklong photography showcase, I’d like to show off some of the nighttime photography that I captured this week downtown. My friend, Tina and I, have just finished a 4-week long course on photography as part of the Des Moines Community Adult Education Series. Nighttime photography is one of the areas that I would like to get really good in. These pictures are from one of my first evenings venturing out to try some of the new techniques that we have learned. I think the images that I got turned out pretty good for a beginner. I hope you enjoy them.

As promised, here are some downtown fall photos that I took this past weekend. Enjoy!

As part of my photography hobby I was looking into panoramic photography and came across a website called 360 Cities.net. I found that a local Des Moines resident, Thomas Hawbaker had photographed downtown Des Moines in three different locations in full 360 degree panorama.

His locations include:

• Downtown Library at Night
• Nollen Plaza at Capital Square
• Capitol Building Complex

You should check it out, but I warn you, you will end up spending some time looking through these, as the detail that he captures his totally amazing. I would love to learn how to do this and capture even more areas of downtown.

I recently updated the websites header to rotate through a collection of images. Here’s the ones I currently have. I hope to make more from fall and winter photos soon.

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Which of these would you rather see?

A creative use of walls in the skywalk, like this picture of the skywalk through the Financial Center from Wells Fargo? or	Another bland white wall as recently done for the Des Moines Building skywalk?

As the cold weather season approaches more and more of us will be spending more time in the skywalks getting to and from work, shopping, dinging and running errands. For most of the three miles we have nothing interesting to engage us except for the few lighted billboards that are scattered here and there. So here’s my idea to the powers that be:

• Use the blank white walls as a showcase to display Des Moines centered art or art from local Des Moines area artists

Ideas of what could be put on the walls:

• Murals on the walls, that show case Des Moines History, Des Moines Skyline, or scenes from Iowa or local attractions.
• Display photography groupings, similar to what’s done for the Iowa State Fair photography exhibit.
• Display canvas or mixed media art done by local artist and make the skywalks like an art gallery.
• Local galleries could also sponsor a wall or an empty store front window to display art. There’s a lot of empty store fronts, especially in the Kaleidoscope, why not allow local galleries to hang items in those windows along with the “For Lease” signs, again more foot traffic equals greater opportunity for leasing space. A good example of this is the bottom floor of the Liberty Building, an artist from the Art Dive showcases work in an empty retail front.
• Learning walls, for example, allow local non-profits, like Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Iowa to display items promoting their organization, telling their story in words and pictures.

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One of my favorite hobbies is photography. I’m no Herb Ritz nor do I ever expect to be. I am just a guy with a digital camera who takes as many photos as he can. I tend to focus on architecture, signs and other random elements of life. I’m usually out every week taking photos of something downtown. I think our city is extremely photogenic, and the variety of photographs that I’ve come across on the internet, leads me to believe that’s a pretty common belief.  So I thought I would share with you some great links to some really outstanding Des Moines photography.

One of the best local photographers of city buildings and skylines is absolutedsm.com. I see their pictures all over the place, in advertisements, skywalk billboards and has reference shots in web postings. Here are a couple of links to my favorite galleries:

• Downtown Galleries
  
• Downtown Construction Projects
  

If you like aerial photography, www.urban-photos.com specializes in aerial photography of city skylines and of course Des Moines is one of the featured cities. Their Des Moines gallery has some truly outstanding images that could only be captured from a helicopter high above the city. I think these three are my favorites:

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Did someone steal the the 4-ton 25-foot tall Nomeade sculpture from Western Gateway Park? No, but if you drive down Locust Street right now, you won’t see it. That’s because it has been temporarily moved to the Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Arrangements for loan of the art were made prior to purchase of the piece. Prior to being in Des Moines, it was in Miami, Florida at Miami Beach’s Lummus Park.I used to walk in that park all the time, when I lived in south Florida. It’s will be back this coming spring as part of the Pappajohn Sculpture Park that is currently being developed between 13th and 15th Streets and Locust Street and Grand Avenue.

The Nomade was purchased in December 2007 by John and Mary Pappajohn and placed in a temporary location in Western Gateway Park. This piece and 16 additional sculptures by world-renowned artists are being donated to the Des Moines Art Center. John and Mary Pappajohn, local Des Moines philanthropists, are donating a collection of outdoor sculpture valued at between $20 million and $30 million for Des Moines’ Western Gateway Park. This donation is believed to be the largest single public gift in Des Moines’ history.

The Pappajohns’ sculpture donations include:

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Are you looking for something different to do this weekend or the next three weekends? 

Just outside of downtown, on the east-side we have this annual Des Moines Renaissance Faire and this Labor Day weekend kicks it off. For the next three weekends, you can join in a celebration of European history & culture with 10 stages of entertainment, a vast food court, beer garden, wine villa, hundreds of costumed characters, rides, games of skill and authentic equestrian jousting — all within a replica olde English castle town. This year there will be about 300 costumed characters, along with 50 artisan merchants and food vendors and more than 100 performances daily.

Here are some schedule highlights:

• August 30, 31 & September 1 (Labor Day) - Pirates, Heroes & Daring Duels (1st Weekend)
  The good folke of the Des Moines Renaissance Faire invite you to walk the plank August 30 and 31st as well as September 1st! Rub shoulders with the scurviest dogs you’ve ever met this side of the high seas. Or toss back a tankard with the prettiest and liveliest wenches in all of Christendom. Aaargh, mateys!
• September 6 & 7 - Highlanders, Celts & Lucky Lasses (2nd Weekend)
  Honor is not dead at the Des Moines Renaissance Faire! Partake in the pageantry of noble knights vying for fair damsels. Compete in games of skill and chance and show off your prowess. Collect tokens of esteem and be dubbed “the most chivalrous man or woman” by Queen Catherine. Proudly sport your clan’s tartan colors and proclaim your heritage September 6th and 7th! All hail the Queen!
• September 13 & 14 - Romance, Wine & Royal Revelry (3rd Weekend)September 13th and 14th can be also called the “weekend of wine, women, and song”—for these are the days to celebrate the best in grape-stomping, romantic-nuzzling, and nuptial ceremonies. Come, join in the authentic English court dances, savor fine wines and ales, and steal kisses from the one you love! Yonder comes my lover!

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Another year for the Des Moines Art Festival has come to a close. This year’s attendance was over 210,000 for the three-day festival. Living downtown for the first time this year, I made several visits down to the Des Moines Art Festival this weekend with my friends, Rob, Rob and Todd. I even made a purchase of a piece of art that I thought was very unique from an artist by the name of Beau Tudzarov.

This year’s event took place again in Western Gateway Park. Based on guest and participant surveys from last year’s Des Moines Arts Festival, there was even a “green” theme present to emphasize recycling.

Art was featured from 175 visual artists from across the nation and Canada. Art was judged in 14 categories: 2-D mixed media, 3-D mixed media, ceramics, digital, drawing/pastels, fiber, glass, graphics/printmaking, jewelry, metalworks, painting, photography, sculpture and wood.

I really had a great time looking at art, listening to live music, seeing some live theatre performances and just mingling and socializing with friends and acquaintances. I’m already looking forward to next year’s event. I’m marking my calendar for June 26-28, 2009.

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