garrison beau scott

I have a love hate relationship with parking structures and garages. I hate that they’re needed in today’s society. I can’t think of a bigger waste of land than a huge concrete block meant to house hundreds of cars. Worse are the ones that charge insane amounts of money for mere minutes of use. But, in the world we live in, they’re a necessary evil.

So I might as well quit my bitching and make a use of them. Which covers the love portion of my feelings for these things. There are some great pictures to be had walking the levels of your local parking mammoth. The symmetry and repetition of pattern is mana from heaven for my camera.

This was done digitally. I know, I know…

This image, more than any other I show it seems, illicits the question, “What’s going on?” All the clues are there if one looks long enough. So for the first person who can tell me what’s going on…I will declare you smarter than the rest and you’ll have my highest esteem.

For what it’s worth.

Mom, you can’t play.

Bonus points if you know where.

p.s. You don’t have to guess, and I’ll still hold you in the highest esteem. Everybody wins!

One night in Budapest, I was walking (they call it promenading) down by the Danube. Looking to the river, I caught site of a couple sitting on a bench, silhouetted by the light of a bridge against the darkness of the water. It made for a very nice scene, and I thought about walking closer and seeing if it would look just as good in the viewfinder as it did to the eye.

Nope. Besides, I felt just a bit skeevey sneaking up on a couple intent on making the most of their secluded privacy and snapping a picture of their intimate moment. So I began to return to the walkway that follows the river when I noticed this little nugget just waiting for me and my camera.

Tripod down, exposure approximated, cable release attached and one of my very favorite images that I’ve created was born.

Easily the most awe-inspiring building I’ve ever stood in front of. Or inside of for that matter. It is easy to believe in some greater power just standing in its shadow. This is a detail from the rear of the cathedral.

That’s Elizabeth Bridge to those of you not rocking the Hungarian native tongue. Originally built between 1897 and 1903 to span the Danube, The Elizabeth was almost totally destroyed by ze Germans in 1945 and was rebuilt using only the original piers as bases for the towers that hold the suspension cables. This almost total rebuild was completed and opened for business in 1964, and, like the other bridges it hangs with in its mission to connect Buda with Pest, the Liberty and the Chain, the Elizabeth is accessible to pedestrians.

Which was all too cool for yours truly and my desire to explore every inch of this amazing city on foot. Especially considering they actually license rats, cockroaches, and turds with arms and legs to drive taxis.

Seriously, big giant turds drive taxis over there. I’m not kidding.