Monthly Archives: June 2014

Day and Night PIA!

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Monday morning Peoria greetings to one and all!

Well it’s one of those holiday weekends coming up that’s a long weekend and that means this week is a short work week for most of us! The 4th of July is this coming Friday and I know that a lot of you will be traveling or are already traveling for the holiday! Make it a safe one on your travels and also make it a fun one! I know that having a long weekend sure is nice and we can put work aside for a couple of days and have a little fun is even better!!!!

I’m always very proud of Peoria and I think we have a great city here in the Midwest! Last year we won the All-American city for the fourth time in the history of those awards! There’s lots going on in Peoria and also a lot to see and do!!!! We should all be proud that the city is moving forward and not remaining stagnate! The Peoria skyline along the Illinois River has always been a wonderful view from across the river in East Peoria and it’s fun to watch the sun go down and see the lights of city come up!

Here’s a day and night shot of our city!!!!

I hope that you have a safe and wonderful 4th of July this coming weekend and thanks as always for checking out my work!!!! 🙂

Kev

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No words!

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Monday morning greetings from New York City!

I’m out East for a quick gig this week in New York City. We got in on Sunday and had some time to walk around and see the city. I think the last time I was here was 45 years ago, so it’s been awhile. Getting out and walking across the Brooklyn Bridge from Manhattan to Brooklyn was pretty neat and to see everyone out on a beautiful Sunday afternoon was pretty good! There was a lot of activity and people were out enjoying the wonderful weather and enjoying life.

The hotel that we are staying at is in the financial district of the city and we are about five blocks from ground zero. On Sunday night we walked over to see the 9/11 memorial. I don’t think I could come to the city and not get over to see it. There really aren’t any words that can describe the area and the memorial. For someone like me that’s not from the city, it’s not like I can come to the memorial and remember what different buildings were there before the attacks. To me the memorial is a place of solitude and remembrance! I hope it is a place that people will visit and never forget what happened there on September 11, 2001.

Here’s a few of my snaps from the 9/11 memorial in New York City. In the vertical shot you can see the new Freedom Tower in the background of the 9/11 memorial.

Thanks so much for taking the time to view my work and it’s very much appreciated by me!

Kev

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2014 Canton Cruise-In

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Monday morning Peoria greetings to one and all!!!!

This past Friday in Central Illinois we had weather that can best be described as “Chamber of Commerce” type weather. For those of you that haven’t heard that phrase it means a day that is so nice and perfect that people visiting the city would want to move there because the day was so beautiful and comfortable! So to have a day in Central Illinois in June that was Sunny, low humidity and 75 degree temperatures is just about perfect! Well this past Friday was one of those days and it was a perfect day for a car cruise in!!!

This is the second year that I have made it down to Canton, Il. for their annual “Cruise-In”. They had a great turnout of cars and it takes up a good portion of the downtown area! It’s a nice show in the sense is it’s not all the same types of cars, so there’s a great variety from old to new! One of my biggest challenges as a photographer and shooting this for the second time is to try and come away with photos that are different from last years photos. I did see a fair number of cars from last year, so I tried to look at them in a different light and come up with some angles and looks that were different. That’s a great challenge, but it’s also a lot of fun! Here’s a link from last years Cruise-In and you can see how I approached the photos and then compare them to this year! http://blog.kevinmay.com/2013/06/17/canton-cruise-in/

Here are this years photos from the 2014 Canton Cruise-In! I hope you like what you see!!!

Thanks as always for taking the time to view my work and it’s very much appreciated by me!!!! Have a great week to come as always!!!!!!

Kev

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Utah Rt. 128

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Monday morning Peoria greetings to one and all!

When I was out West in April, I got to drive one of my favorite drives! Rt.128 in Utah is one of the most fun drives you’ll ever have in a car or on a motorcycle. About an hour and half west of Grand Junction, Co. along I-70 is where you’ll find Rt. 128. This is one of the roads that will take you to Moab, Ut and it’s probably the most spectacular route! When you leave I-70 and head south on Rt. 128 the area is fairly flat and level. Off in the distance you can see the La Sal Mountains and after about 15 miles, you reach the Colorado River and that’s where the fun begins! Rt. 128 will follow the Colorado River for the most part all the way down to Moab, Ut. about 25 miles away. The thing that is so much fun is that you are in the canyon of the Colorado River and on either side of you is cliffs that are over 2000 feet high. The colors of the blue sky and the red of the sandstone rock is incredible. By the time you reach Moab, you’re ready to turn around and do it again!

Here’s one of my shots from the drive to Moab, Utah along Rt. 128. In this shot you’ll see the Fisher Towers formation on the left with the snow covered La Sal Mountains in the background!

I hope that you have a great week and thanks as always and thanks for checking out my photo!!!!!

Kev

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Stax Museum of American Soul Music and 300,000 hits

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Monday morning Peoria greetings to one and all!!!!!

I’m always blown away by the number of views that I get on my photography on the Flickr web site. Last September I hit 200k views and now here we are just eight months later and I’ve hit another 100k views and that to me is amazing. I’ve got over 3700 photos in 14 different categories on a wide variety of subjects! If you’ve never checked it out or haven’t been there been to the site in awhile, here’s a link for the different albums. https://www.flickr.com/photos/kevinmay/sets/

Over the Memorial Day weekend a week ago, beside checking out the Metal Museum, we also went to the Stax Museum of American Soul Music. This is another one of the many great things to see in Memphis, Tn. and well worth your time if you enjoy all kinds of music! I remember listening to AM radio when I was a kid and listening to Otis Redding to Isaac Hayes to Booker T. and the MG’s to the Staple Singers all on the Stax record label. The Museum presents all the different artists from the Stax label, but also covers the history of soul music from Detroit to Chicago. One of the things that I really enjoyed was reading and hearing the stories of the different artists and where they came from and who were their influences in music. The Museum has done a really nice job in presenting the material and the displays are fabulous! It’s another one of those places that’s worth checking out when you’re in Memphis the next time!

Here’s a few of my shots from an afternoon spent at the Stax Museum of American Soul Music!

I hope that you’re going to have a great week as always and thanks for taking the time to check out my photos!!!

Kev

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