Author Archives: Bri Duncan

Wine Corks in San Francisco

Posted on December 18th, 2014 by

Different Perspectives

We visited some of Pamela’s relatives in California. Before heading over to the family festivities one morning we stopped for a Starbucks which I have finished by the time we arrived for our visit. One of Pamela’s aunts asked if I would like her to rinse out and save my cup for later. I tossed it in the trash thinking I didn’t want to be a bother. I could tell Aunt Jan was a bit beside herself, but I didn’t realize why until later. I was trying to save Jan work, but she was trying to save waste. A different view of resources exists in California than in the mid-west one that might well be more conscious there than here.

Wine Cork Recycling

These wine corks in San Francisco were both decoration and headed for recycling. There is a consciousness of the scarcity of cork in a land where cork is essential to the wine business. I keep thinking of saving my cork here, but where in Missouri, would you even take used corks?

Wine Corks in San Francisco
Wine Corks in San Francisco

Photo Technical Info

Bâtiment des Forces Motrices Geneva, Switzerland

Posted on December 15th, 2014 by

It was freezing cold and the snow had begun to fall again. I guess you don’t have much to complain about when you go to Geneva Switzerland in January. It was my last night and my last opportunity on this trip to get a photo of Bâtiment des Forces Motrices … I had to go, despite the weather.

The former hydroelectric power plant on Le Rhone caught my attention when I first arrived. It has a stately sort of appearance, one from those bygone eras I love so. It’s now a concert venue and this very night while I was pelted with sleet and show, shivering outside, The Chamber Orchestra of Geneva played Mozart to warm music lovers.

Outside I struggled to keep the water off my lens and a bevy of drunken Swiss youth loitered all to close for my liking given how dark it was on the bridge where I took this photo. I feared what I captured this night was unusable and it took me almost two years to revisit what I had done that night in January 2013, but like I learn again and again with travel…leave your expectations behind and embrace what comes.

Bâtiment des Forces Motrices Geneva, Switzerland
Bâtiment des Forces Motrices Geneva, Switzerland

Photo Technical Info

  • Aperture: ƒ/8
  • Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
  • Taken: 20 January, 2013
  • Focal length: 23mm
  • ISO: 100
  • Location: 46° 12.262′ 0″ N 6° 8.3207′ 0″ E
  • Shutter speed: 25s
  • Title: Bâtiment des Forces Motrices Geneva, Switzerland

Neon Grove Soda Sign

Posted on December 11th, 2014 by

Unknown Location

I sort of know where this sign lives…I found it one year in Austin, Texas when visiting for SXSWi. Where exactly, it’s located in Austin I actually have no idea. If you happen to know a GPS local I would love to add a more specific local! I always get caught by signs like this. Neon is from such a bygone day and I love all the wire and rigging needed to keep these signs from falling down. As you can tell, today is also another experiment…I have a few more planned never fear!

Neon Grove Soda Sign
Neon Grove Soda Sign

Photo Technical Info

  • Aperture: ƒ/4
  • Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
  • Taken: 11 March, 2012
  • Focal length: 35mm
  • ISO: 100
  • Shutter speed: 1/400s
  • Title: Neon Grove Soda Sign

Volcanic Plain

Posted on December 8th, 2014 by

Parts Unknown

I had never been here before, WE had never been here before. The terrain was unfamiliar and looked to me like something from an African Safari. It’s strange how things strike you when your surrounding are not automatically known to you. The mind tries to conjure up something that makes you feel safe even though there was no danger here. We were in the heart of one of Oahu’s most popular destinations, Diamond Head Crater. A long dead head that became inactive some 150,000 years ago.

More Experiments

Today’s photo was another experiment in which I have been dabbling more and more on Battered Luggage. It’s a triptych of sorts, but the images are presented in a nonsensical sort of way. It’s a very basic abstraction, but I found myself enjoying the way my mind spins around then looking at it. I wonder where these photo experiments will take me. Do you enjoy them or do you prefer a more straight forward photo when looking at my work?

Volcanic Plain
Volcanic Plain

Photo Technical Info

House of Body Art

Posted on December 4th, 2014 by

I spend a lot of time wondering what IS art? What makes something worth attention. What makes it worth looking at, and does that matter in today’s world where Kim Kardashian has 25 Million followers on twitter. I keep thinking back to a post Trey Ratcliff wrote about snapshots. I’m not sure the photo hits the mark in that case, but the sentiment is all too familiar, at least for me. I wonder if what I do matters to anyone, then I wonder if I really care if it does or not. Art is medicine for my soul, but it never seems to quell the questions or the doubt.

On a happier note, today’s photo is from DISNEYLAND! I really enjoyed the Cars area in Disney California Adventure. It’s true you can see everything there in a day, but its a great time and I luckily had the park hopper pass so I could bounce around freely. It’s something very easy to do at the California parks, but almost impossible in Florida!

House of Body Art
House of Body Art

Photo Technical Info

Kauai Sunrise

Posted on December 1st, 2014 by

One morning I followed the beach around away from the resort on Kauai and found this wonderful beach to watch sunrise. I met a WONDERFUL character who was here fishing and also photographing sunrise. We chatted about life and his feelings of Kauai and Oahu and discovered his family lives in Missouri…but that is perhaps another story (ask me sometime).

After parting with my new friend, I photographed a bit longer. I was so enamored with the sky, I forgot the importance of elemental balance, the ocean was all but too kind to remind me it too is a powerful force. I ended up completely soaked on my right side. I just got off this photo before yanking my camera to safety!

Kauai Sunrise
Kauai Sunrise

Photo Technical Info

Veins of a Dark City

Posted on November 27th, 2014 by

Dark City

I visited Tokyo almost a year ago and I long to return (spoiler I am at least twice in 2015). It is a vibrant place with more energy then one city should be allowed on its own, but I don’t think Tokyo could be any other way. This rendition is from the window of my hotel room, looking over a city that never seems to end. The highway struck me and I was looking for a way to make it stand out more in the photo as it did when I was there.

Veins of a Dark City
Veins of a Dark City

Photo Technical Info

Sailboat on Lake Como, Italy

Posted on November 24th, 2014 by

Sunny Sailing

Truth be told it was pretty cold this day. It was spring in Italy, but Lago di Como has some good winds that whip through the canyon over the lake. It undoubtedly makes for great sailing as this boat wasn’t the only enjoying the hazy, but sunny day. I was glad I had a warm insulating layer or I would have frozen to death.

Did I Just Steal the Train?

Coming home for Varenna, the train station was closed. A number of people got on at the same time I did, and insisted you could just pay the conductor. There was no conductor. I later found out the bar in Varenna sells tickets (of course it does) after the train station closes. Luckily I didn’t get myself in a bunch of trouble as my Italian isn’t so good and Italians are SERIOUS about their train etiquette!

Sailboat on Lake Como, Italy
Sailboat on Lake Como, Italy

Photo Technical Info

Lotus Blossom at Wat Pho, Bangkok Thailand

Posted on November 20th, 2014 by

The Spark of Potential

Where does potential lay?

I sit here wondering that now looking at this lotus blossom. Thailand was a struggle for me. It was hot. I wore long pants. I fear I was on the brink of exhaustion (very common for me traveling).

Where do struggle and potential cross to make something beautiful. The lotus flower is a metaphor, did I miss it in Thailand? Perhaps my struggle was in vain in that place and time. Perhaps I should go back and try a new.

Lotus Blossom at Wat Pho, Bangkok Thailand
Lotus Blossom at Wat Pho, Bangkok Thailand

Photo Technical Info

Somewhere Along a Washington State Highway

Posted on November 17th, 2014 by

Unexpected Landscape

When you travel, you sometimes have preconceived notions of a way a place is or should be. Often you find a place or its people are nothing as you imagined them in your mind. Something quite different emerges that takes you completely by surprise. I gave away the surprise with the title of my post, but looking at today’s photo would you think it was along the highway somewhere in middle Washington State?

When I used to think of Washington I envision Seattle (or maybe something out of the Twilight novels), but like California, all of the Western Coast of the United States is WILDLY diverse. Would it surprise you to also learn during this same drive I saw my very first tumbleweed? The scenery just kept changing as we drove from the coast to Spokane. I try not to let my paradigms and prejudices color what I expect, but even after all this travel, things continue to surprise me.

Somewhere Along a Washington State Highway
Somewhere Along a Washington State Highway

Photo Technical Info