Through the fog

Through the fog, originally uploaded by Noel C. Hankamer.

Foggy morning view at the Confederate Cemetery in Alvin, Texas was perfect for a B and W study.

Mother Mary in the Grotto

Mother Mary in the Grotto, originally uploaded by Noel C. Hankamer.

This lovely icon stands in the niche of the Grotto at St. John the Baptist catholic church in Alvin, Texas.
Photo done for the Monday Weekly Photo Challenge and Thursday Retread group.
I got lots of good comments for this photo, and it was featured on the front page of the group in Flickr.

Pumpkin and Squash

Pumpkin and Squash, originally uploaded by Noel C. Hankamer.

Grace Episcopal Church in Alvin, Texas has a "Pumpkin Patch" each year and sells some nice pumpkins and squashes. I got this shot and some others before the public was let in.

Fresh Sunrise

Fresh Sunrise, originally uploaded by Noel C. Hankamer.

My schedule has been off lately, but today a storm passed over our town, waking our 14 1/2 year old Dalmatian who is afraid of thunder. So, I was up at 0430 to calm her. My wife gets up at about that time to get ready for work. I am off on Fridays, so I stayed up and when the storm passed, I decided to see if I could get a dramatic sunrise. A few miles from home while heading to a favorite coastal spot of mine, I saw this view, so this is what I got this morning. Back home by 0730.

Acorn magazine cover

Acorn magazine cover, originally uploaded by Noel C. Hankamer.

I made this fake magazine cover using Fd's Flickr Toys from http://bighugelabs.com/
Not a real magazine of course.
This was my entry in this week's challenge by the Monday Photo Challenges and Thursday Retreads ( http://www.flickr.com/groups/1091826@N21/ ) group on Flickr. The challenges are varied and keep a photographer thinking and experimenting.
this week's challenge was to find one of your photos taken last week that you would like to see on a magazine cover.

Last Drop

Last Drop, originally uploaded by Noel C. Hankamer.

For the Monday Photo Challenge-Floral/End of Summer- This butterfly is getting the last drops of nectar in preparation for fall , when egg-laying is its last job in the life cycle. The pollen distributed by the butterfly will be spread throughout the area, and contribute to the new flowers of next Spring and Summer.

Lonely Gull

Lonely Gull, originally uploaded by Noel C. Hankamer.

This photo is a retread of an old one that was not very exciting. I redid it for the "Weekly Photo Challenge and Thursday Retread" group on Flickr. It made the front page of the group's discussion page this week.

Passion Flower

Passion Flower, originally uploaded by Noel C. Hankamer.

Passion Flower
Found in the garden behind E. C. Mason Elementary in Manvel, Texas.

Tool Display

Saturday and Sunday of the Labor Day weekend I set up a display of railroad antiques and old tools for the Alvin,Texas All- American Festival held yearly at our historic Santa Fe Depot in Alvin, Texas.

Places I've Been

This is a cool map you can make. I tried to delete Alaska and Hawaii, but couldn't.

visited 17 states (7.55%)
Create your own visited map of The World or vertaling nederlands duits?

Proud Hibiscus

Proud Hibiscus, originally uploaded by Noel C. Hankamer.

Common red Hibiscus looking proud in its search for sunlight.This one was high up in a garden in front of an antique shop in Alvin, Texas.

Wall Decor and Photos

Wall Decor and Photos, originally uploaded by Noel C. Hankamer.

My entry for Monday's Weekly Photo Challenge- Around Your House. Some of my photos on the piano in front of a wall with my wife's Cat Plates and the sign from a motorcycle shop I once owned. The sign was painted by a Bandido in need of cash.
http://www.flickr.com/groups/1091826@N21/pool/

Fuzzy Buddies

Fuzzy Buddies, originally uploaded by Noel C. Hankamer.

Playing around with some actions available on Flickr. These two stuffed animals are from me to my wife on Valentine's Day.

Bokeh in the Weeds

Bokeh in the Weeds, originally uploaded by Noel C. Hankamer.

I needed to try to use my 50mm lens more, and I need more practice in capturing Bokeh by design rather than by luck and chance. Shooting in Aperture Priority and manual focus, I managed to get some results like I was looking for. The reddish clumps out of focus are some dead leaves.

Bergman Wrench Set

Bergman Wrench Set, originally uploaded by Noel C. Hankamer.

I finally put my set of Bergman Queen City wrenches in a display box. These were made by the Bergman Tool Co. in Buffalo, N.Y. Patented in about 1912. I believe these five are all the curved ones they produced.

Grad and Dad

Grad and Dad, originally uploaded by Noel C. Hankamer.

Our son Patrick graduated from ITT with Honors- First in Class! Here he is with his proud father. Photo by Chris Farmer.

Good Money Chasing Bad

Good Money Chasing Bad, originally uploaded by Noel C. Hankamer.

Sometimes I remember to buy Lotto tickets. I never seem to win anything though!

Santa Fe Collectibles

Santa Fe Collectibles, originally uploaded by Noel C. Hankamer.

I have a dozen or so of these Santa Fe RR shop rags with the safety saying on them- "Wipe Out Axy Dent on the Santa Fe".
One of my forum members saw the picture of Axy Dent, and sent me some safety buttons he had. Two say "Safety Committeeman", and "On guard against "Axy Dent", with the little guy in the center.

J J Hankamer

J J Hankamer, originally uploaded by Noel C. Hankamer.

In 1970 or 1971, I took a photo of my father in his recliner. This was his custom in the late evening, to sit and read or watch television.
I put the photo together with his letterhead and made a wooden plaque for him. This plaque has been on my wall or a shelf since he died.

B&W Hibiscus

B&W Hibiscus, originally uploaded by Noel C. Hankamer.

Beautiful in color, but in my opinion also beautiful when shot in black and white.

Daddy's Cedar

Daddy's Cedar, originally uploaded by Noel C. Hankamer.

My mother and I went up to Arkansas in 1971 a few weeks after my father died, to visit the cabin they had built there. She and I dug up a small cedar to bring home for a Christmas Tree. My father had brought home a tree every Christmas for each of us five children and planted them in our front yard. Three of them survive to this day, and this tree for daddy has survived, but never grew right. It has had plenty of problems and has been struck by lightning. It is so bad that now I am going to have to remove it. I will save a lot of the wood for projects and mementos.

B&W Wheel

B&W Wheel, originally uploaded by Noel C. Hankamer.

Here is a B&W shot of the front wheel of my BMW motorcycle. Can you tell I was bored?

Simi Knife Replica

Simi Knife Replica, originally uploaded by Noel C. Hankamer.

A friend is a knife maker and I asked him last year to make me a replica of a Simi Knife as carried by Maasai Moran in East Africa. I had one on my backpack on my way home from East Africa in 1969, but lost the knife in Yugoslavia, somewhere between the border with Greece and Zagreb.
He made me this one, shown here displayed with some Maasai mementos I brought home.The cloth is a Kitambi, worn when lounging around, it is wrapped on you like a sarong. This is one that I wore for several years while in the Peace Corps. Also shown are a snuff pouch made from grass to be worn as a necklace, a beaded wrist band, and a beaded necklace that was worn by young Maasai girls. I traded a dollar pocket watch for it.

Knife and sheath made by Thunder Forge
rm-250@cox.net

Shaw Alligator Wrench

Shaw Alligator Wrench, originally uploaded by Noel C. Hankamer.

Shaw Propeller Co. of Boston made these alligator wrenches patented in 1910. They came in several sizes and I have a few of them. This one is only 4" long, and may have been a salesman's sample. It was gifted to me by a member of my Tool Talk forum.

Crawfish!

Crawfish!, originally uploaded by Noel C. Hankamer.

Saturday we went to the Liverpool Volunteer Fire Department Crawfish Boil and auction. Mudbugs were great and the auction was a success, though I did spend a bit of money bidding in the auction! All for a good cause, of course.

Bottle Brush Bush

Bottle Brush Bush, originally uploaded by Noel C. Hankamer.

I saw this in passing this morning, just had to turn around and shoot it. It is a Bottle Brush Bush ( Callistemon ), over 8' tall and beautiful. I am told hummingbirds love this plant. I saw several honeybees around it.

My Tree Photo in a museum

My Tree Photo in a museum, originally uploaded by Noel C. Hankamer.

One of the fun things you can do with dumpr.net , a free photo manipulation program.
Makes it look like one of my photos is in The Contemporary Art Museum.

Hibiscus on Easter Egg

Hibiscus on Easter Egg, originally uploaded by Noel C. Hankamer.

I hope everyone had a good Easter. This artwork is one of my photos on an Easter Egg, a fun thing to do available on www.dumpr.net .

Red Hibiscus

Red Lily, originally uploaded by Noel C. Hankamer.

I sure like this big red Hibiscus that grows at my niece's house.

Bluebonnets

Bluebonnets, originally uploaded by Noel C. Hankamer.

Bluebonnets are out all around Texas this early Spring, but we are not traveling much, so I shot these outside Joe's Barbecue in Alvin, Texas Saturday morning after breakfast.

Collage for Jack

Collage for Jack, originally uploaded by Noel C. Hankamer.

A collage I made for the friend and co-worker from whom I bought a BMW. He was sad to see it go, so I put together the three antique plates he had had on it along with a shot of him and one of the bike.

BMW R100

BMW R100 , originally uploaded by Noel C. Hankamer.

I bought this BMW from a friend and co-worker Sunday. It will be great to have a regular ride again. It is a 1978 BMW R100/7, an antique according to the State of Texas, so it has antique plates.

Down the county road

Down the county road, originally uploaded by Noel C. Hankamer.

Early morning looking down the county road while watching for a sunrise.

Garden glove hands

Garden glove hands, originally uploaded by Noel C. Hankamer.

Mama wanted some "Garden Glove" hands like the black one I made last week.

Wrench glove

Wrench glove, originally uploaded by Noel C. Hankamer.

We had a spill at work last week-nothing dangerous. Just some plastic pellets. I saved a box full to see if I could make some use of them. A cheap pair of gloves, plastic pellets, a round piece of wood and some staples and I have a glovehand to hold a wrench. I might use it for pictures on Ebay. I sell vintage wrenches on the web. www.papawswrench.com

Roark windows

Roark windows , originally uploaded by Noel C. Hankamer.

This shot was achieved by playing around with "Edge Detection", an action available in Irfanview, a post processing software available at www.irfanview.com . Irfanview is freeware.
The building is the old Roark Auto Supply store in Alvin, Texas. It has been empty for a few years, and was recently to be restored as a restaurant, but Hurrican Ike damaged it so much that the city has decided that it should be demolished.

Kalanchoe Macro shot

Kalanchoe Macro shot, originally uploaded by Noel C. Hankamer.

These little flowers bloom each year just outside our back door. I have sort of disregarded them until I started doing Macro Photography.

Anhinga

Anhinga , originally uploaded by Noel C. Hankamer.

This Anhinga was perched on a fallen tree in the lake at Camp Mohawk in Alvin, Texas. Now that I have Mondays off, I hope to go out shooting pictures more often.

Floyd Tillman's Bus

A friend of mine has a junk yard in Santa Fe , Texas, and he has a very nearly lost treasure of the music industry.

For over 40 years, this was Floyd Tillman's tour bus. Tillman, two time Country Music Hall of Fame Awards winner (for both song writing as well as recordings), passed away in 2003, in Bacliff, Texas. Tillman was respected by audiences and the entire country music industry, and was known as an inspiration and mentor to none other than the legendary Willie Nelson.

Tillman's song writing and recording efforts produced sales of over 50 million albums and records.
A Paranormal researcher in Alvin, Texas says it is haunted, but his supposed recordings of voices are not convincing to me.
www.paratexas.com/hauntedbus.htm

Floyd Tillman's Bus

Gnarly Old Tree

Gnarly Old Tree, originally uploaded by Noel C. Hankamer.

This old tree in Sealy Park here in Alvin, Texas looks old and dead, but I think it is just waiting for spring to bloom again. I will watch it and photograph it again when it does.

Sunrise over Galveston

Sunrise over Galveston, originally uploaded by Noel C. Hankamer.

Left work early to go down toward Galveston, Texas, just to shoot the sunrise.Taken from Bayou Vista, just before the causeway over Galveston Bay.

One of my Photos published

My photo of an Ankole Cow was chosen to be included in the Listing for Bayou Wildlife Park on the Houston Schmap Guide!

Leaning Cross

Leaning Cross, originally uploaded by Noel C. Hankamer.

Crown Hill Cemetery, Pasadena, Texas-in the middle of the vast Chemical and Refinery area along Sims Bayou and Buffalo Bayou.

Permanent settlement of this area began about 1891. Lot sales in the new town of Pasadena began in 1893, and the town was officially platted three years later. The first recorded burials in this vicinity occurred about 1894, although the exact locations of the graves are unknown. This graveyard, originally known as Pasadena Cemetery and the town's only community burial ground, was established in 1906 on a knoll overlooking Vince's Bayou and Buffalo Bayou. The first person buried here was E. P. Pomeroy, who died on October 24, 1906. Those interred here include many of Pasadena's early settlers and community leaders, and veterans of the Civil War, the Spanish American War, World War I, and World War II. The graveyard became known as Crown Hill Cemetery following World War I, possibly as a result of its proximity to the Crown Central Refinery. It has also been referred to as the Mexican Cemetery due to the numbers of Mexican-American farmers who were interred here beginning in the 1920s. Although surrounded by 20th-century industrial development, this cemetery survives as a link to the area's pioneer heritage There is a slideshow of photos taken there Tuesday, January 6, 2009, on my Flicker Site- link on the right sidebar.

Wooden Marker

Wooden Marker, originally uploaded by Noel C. Hankamer.

This could be the marker for this blog! I have kept it up for a long time with so few visitors that sometimes it doesn't seem worth doing.

Ankole cow

Ankole cow, originally uploaded by Noel C. Hankamer.

This photo of mine has been chosen on a short list to possibly be the header photo for Bayou Wildlife Park near Alvin,Texas by Schmap ( http://www.schmap.com/guides ). I will know by January 9, 2009.

Backyard Squirrel

Backyard Squirrel, originally uploaded by Noel C. Hankamer.

I threw out some old pecans while we were cleaning house in preparation for Christmas decorations. This little guy came by for lunch.

Christmas Teddy Bear

Christmas Teddy Bear, originally uploaded by Noel C. Hankamer.

Christmas is just around the corner, so this Teddy Bear has already done his shopping.

Pampas grass and other shots from our trip

Muted North Carolina sunset


Fall colors in Lineville, Alabama


Mad Indian Creek

Vacation

My wife, my sister, and I took a little trip up to Philadelhia over Thanksgiving to visit our 98 year old uncle, Rolland Madara. He is a fine old gentleman with a lot of history. His mind is still sharp, unlike his hearing and eyesight. Uncle Rolland was in the Navy in WWII in many capacities, mostly communications, and saw the world. After retiring from the Navy, he went to work for GE in Philadelphia until retiring, and has since worked at The Franklin Institute. He has been a ham radio operator for many years, and still logs on as W3PWG.
We drove up from Texas and drove by the Great Smokies, The Appalachians, etc. into Amish country, then over to Philly.
I will post some pictures soon.