My Love for Kansas City

I have mentioned before that I absolutely love photography - and it was a very sad day a few months back when our laptop hard drive crashed and we lost every photo from the last 3-4 years {minus a few I had given to my family}. And yes, some of them are on facebook and whatnot but its not the same quality which is kinda a big deal to me. And yes, we learned our lesson big time and now own an external hard drive. And yes, we tried very hard to save it and took it to the best of the best computer nerds people in town, but the hard drive itself was so physically damaged that nothing was salvageable. That's our sad story. So with the lost pictures were vacations, family, friends, and some Kansas City photos that I had taken and had plans to hang in my home very soon. With the pictures being lost in the dark universe of lost hard drive information, it was time to go out and take some more pictures. So, last week on my day off I decided to be a crazy person and wake up at about 5am {which really is considered sleeping in for me compared to the days I work and get up at 4:30} to catch the sunrise from the best spot in the city to take Kansas City skyline photos. The place {I think} that is the best is Liberty Memorial that is directly in front of Union Station, south of the downtown area. I made it there just in time and set my camera up on it's tripod and just before the sun showed its face over the horizon the sky took on the most beautiful pinks/purples/blues that I couldn't have created in photoshop if I wanted to! And here's the result:

This is my un-cropped version, but I can't wait to hang this one in my home!

Here's a few others I took that morning:

Black & White of Union Station/Skyline

Liberty Memorial - I'm so glad the clouds were there that morning to provide an interesting backdrop!

I even went down to the plaza to get a couple of shoots, although this fountain one didn't turn out exactly how I had hoped, but I did get to use my tripod and use the slow shutter speed to get that flowing water effect:

Plaza Fountain

I really love my hometown of Kansas City, even though I hate the winters, snow and pretty much anything cold weather related, I couldn't imagine myself anywhere else. Taking pictures is such a fun pass time for me and I hope I can find more time this summer to learn more things about my camera, the settings and Photoshop too!

Tragic side note: Making national news last night and today is the story of the tornado that went through Joplin, Missouri yesterday evening and took the lives of many. Caleb and I have a few friends that live there and we are so thankful they are safe. Specifically, our friends Josh & Shelby and also our friends Aaron & Mckenzie - whose wedding is scheduled to be this weekend and that Caleb is a groomsman in. Caleb's brother who lives in Oklahoma City also happened to be in Joplin in the midst of everything and was able to take shelter and remain safe, praise the Lord. We are overwhelmed with sympathy for everyone involved and will continue to lift our prayers to God regarding this incident.