Photography by Arthur M. Brady, Jr.

This is the first controversial news event to be posted on this blog.

This photo collection depicts the picket of a memorial service for U.S. Army Sgt. 1^st Class Charles M. Sadell who died on October 24, 2010, as result of wounds received in Arif Kala, Afghanistan, while serving in “Operation: Enduring Freedom”.  The picket was staged by members of the Westboro Baptist Church who have held, by their count, over 44,000 pickets throughout the United States and other countries at parades and funerals stating  “God hates Soldiers”, “God hates America”, and “The World is Doomed”.   As might be expected, this church’s actions have not been received well by most citizens in the United States (or other countries, for that matter).  Many feel that this organization unforgivably intrudes on the grief of those mourning the loss of loved ones and U.S. citizens feel that this church displays

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unwarranted disrespect for the country.  In response,  a statement on the church’s website says that church members lose “zero nanoseconds of sleep” worrying about the feeling and opinions of those that they offend.

The picket shown in this photo collection was short in duration and the members of the Westboro Baptist Church were far outnumbered by the hundred or so members of the local community who came out to show their disapproval.  Both groups demonstrated peacefully.   The picket ended approximately an hour after it began without incident.

On a personal note, I think it is absolutely reprehensible for anyone to intrude on a funeral or memorial service simply to voice an opinion.  The pain and suffering experienced by those who have lost loved ones is immense.  To add to that suffering by insinuating that their deceased love ones are “Hated by God” and are “Going to Hell” is unforgivable.  Further, as a citizen of the United States, I could never condone the actions of those who would actively wish for my country’s damnation.   Too many people have suffered, sacrificed, and died to make sure that I and my fellow citizens have the ability to work and live as we choose.  There are some countries that would not tolerate the statements or actions of the Westboro Baptist Church, and in some cases its members might be in fear for their mortal lives because of their statements against the state.  Such, of course, is not the case here.  Indeed, many who adamantly disagree with this organization’s sentiments may be called upon to risk their own lives to protect the members of this organization and their right to say the things they do.  This not only includes military personnel, but also civilian law enforcement and rescue personnel who might be called upon to intercede and protect the members of this organization should disgruntled crowds turn violent at one of their pickets.  This willingness to protect and defend the rights of all, including those with whom we may disagree, is one of the many reasons why I’m proud to be a United States citizen.

I don’t normally espouse my personal standings in this blog because I don’t want this to become a place for political or ideological debate.  This is meant to be a place where people can come together to discuss and share their enjoyment of photography.  Indeed, that was the true reason for the posting of this photo collection:  An example of photography at a news making event.  However, in this instance, I could not remain silent.

This post marks the opening of a new category called “Emergency!”   The category will contain photographic collections from various fire, EMS, and police scenes.

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Breaking with the general format of this blog, entries in this category will most likely not contain histories about the surrounding area or organizations.  Rather, a short entry will be made to introduce each photo collection and perhaps identify the organizations involved.  All collections exhibited here are posted as a tribute to the fire, EMS and police personnel who respond to various emergencies in an attempt to alleviate suffering, preserve life, and protect property.

In this opening collection, personnel from West Platte Fire Protection District, Dearborn Area Fire Protection District, Southern Platte Fire Protection District, and Central Platte Fire Protection District, battle a residential structure fire in the early morning of September 18, 2010.  All occupants of the structure were able to escape the structure safely and no rescue personnel were injured.

The family which resided in the home lost all of their personal possessions in the fire and a fund for donations to help them through this difficult time has been established.  Contributions can be made through the Bank of Weston.

Further information concerning the fire can be obtained from the website The Chronicle’s report from Tuesday, September 21, 2010.  The Chronicle is the publisher of the “Weston Chronicle” Newspaper in Weston, Missouri.

Photographs from this collection were published in both the web and print versions of  The Chronicle’s report of the incident.

Caplinger Mills is an unincorporated community located approximately six and a half miles to the north of Stockton in southwest Missouri.  As is common in small communities, the residents are friendly and the homes appear to be well kept.  Little draws your attention as you pass through the community until you reach the end of East 676^th street, where you are treated to a pleasant surprise.  The roadway ends with a picturesque

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view of the Sac River being spanned by a seasoned bridge.  Originally part of the roadway, the bridge is open only to foot traffic and serves as a local fishing spot and tourist attraction.  Built by The Chicago Bridge Company in 1895, the bridge is listed in the National Register of Historic Places, and has become the community’s signature landmark.

Situated at the east end of the bridge are the ruins of a grain mill.  Built in 1842 by John Caplinger, the grain mill pre dates the bridge by fifty-three years.  History has not been kind to the mill.  The mill was destroyed several times by fire, notably, twice during the American Civil War.  Several yards to the south of the bridge, the mill’s low head dam still spans the width of the river.  Water cascades over the dam when levels are high creating a small waterfall.   At other times, the entire structure of the dam is visible and water flows through crevices at its top.  Nothing remains of the mill today except the exterior walls, the dam, and some of the mill’s gear works outside of the south wall of the building.  The walls of the mill are covered with the graffiti of individuals wishing to mark their passage through the area.

As is true of many communities, Caplinger Mills holds a forgotten place in American history.  In 1863, Caplinger Mills and the surrounding area lay along the route taken by Confederate forces during “Shelby’s Great Raid”.  Departing from Arkadelphia, Arkansas, on September 22, 1863, Colonel Joseph Orville Shelby set out with a force of 600 cavalry troopers, twelve ammunition wagons, and two artillery pieces, and headed toward southwestern Missouri.  As they proceeded toward Missouri, Shelby’s raiders recruited an additional 800 troopers. Over the next 30 days, Shelby’s raiders entered southwestern Missouri and proceeded to harass Federal forts and troop encampments, capture Federal livestock, and destroyed Federal property and supplies.  Caplinger Mills lay along Shelby’s path of advance and the grain mill was set alight by his raiders.

Shelby continued his destructive raid northward until October 13^th when his forces encountered Federal General Egbert B. Brown and his contingent of 1800 men on the outskirts of Marshall, Missouri.  Brown succeeded in halting Shelby’s advance at the daylong “Battle of Marshall”.  Attempting to encircle Shelby’ just to the east of the town, Brown had hoped to either capture Shelby’s force or to so severely damage it as to make it ineffective.  Indeed, the latter was mostly the case.  Brown forced Shelby’s cavalry to split into two separate columns and retreat back to Arkansas.  While fleeing from Federal forces, one of Shelby’s columns, lead by Colonel DeWitt Clinton Hunter, retreated through the Caplinger Mills area and again set fire to the grain mill.

The raid officially ended on October 26, 1863, when Shelby’s reunited columns reached Washington, Arkansas.  Overall, the raid was considered a success.  Shelby’s after action reports indicate he succeeded in destroying ten Federal forts and capturing or destroying an estimated million dollars of Federal property and supplies.  However, Shelby’s forces suffered heavy losses.  One in six of his raiders would never return home.  On the larger stage, Shelby’s actions in Missouri prevented the Federal forces stationed there from reinforcing General Rosecrans’ army which was besieged at Chattanooga following their stunning defeat by Confederate forces at the “Battle of Chickamauga Creek”.   For his efforts, Joseph Shelby was promoted to brigadier general.

The photographs presented here are a compilation of shots I took during a trip to the area over the recent Independence Day holiday and my first visit to the area seven years ago.  During my original visit to the area, I had not started geotaging my photographs so several of the pictures will not have global coordinates associated with them.  The pictures are from Crabtree Cove at Stockton Lake, an old scenic bridge 11.4 miles to the northwest of Stockton, an interesting stone fence 12 miles northwest of Stockton, and of course, Caplinger Mills.

I hope you enjoy the photo collection! 

Sixty-four years ago, on August 14^th, Alfred Eisenstaedt found himself in New York’s Times Square amid an expanding crowd caught up in the spontaneous revelry that sometimes accompanies momentous occasions.  Being a photographer, and not wanting to miss an opportunity to

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record an historic event, Eisenstaedt began snapping candid shots of the people gathering in Times Square. One of those photographs, titled “V-J Day in Times Square”, was exhibited in “Life Magazine” a week later and was destined to become an iconic depiction of the end of World War II.

Sixty years later, sculptor John Seward Johnson II, created a 26 foot high, Styrofoam statue based on Eisenstaedt’s work.  The sculpture, later cast in aluminum, has become a source of controversy in the Sarasota bay front area.  Entitled “Unconditional Surrender”, the sculpture has been intermittently displayed in Sarasota, Florida’s Bayfront Park since 2005.  Almost immediately upon its display, the sculpture drew critics.  Claiming the sculpture was “over-sized” and an “eye sore”, critics felt the statue detracted from the beauty of the Bayfront Park area.  Others felt the sculpture was disrespectful of World War II veterans and argued for its removal.  Supporters argued the statue was a tourist attraction and drew visitors to the area.  As proof, supporters cited the many photographs taken by families at the base of the statue which had begun to appear on various photo web sites.  Supporters also noted the number of special events that were scheduled to take place at the statue’s base.  Thus they argued the statue should be allowed to remain.  The Sarasota City Commission, however,  agreed with the critics and voted to have the statue removed from the park.

In an effort to save the sculpture and prevent its removal, supporters created a petition and placed it on the web at www.savethesailor.com.  That grass roots effort obtained over 4000 supporting signatures.  Additionally, World War II veteran John Curran offered to purchase the sculpture for $500,000 and donate it to the city with the stipulation that it would remain on display in Bayfront Park for 10 years.  The “Save the Sailor” petition, John Curran’s offer of donation, and the efforts of others in favor of keeping the statue, caused the City Commission to reconsider it’s decision.  In early 2010, the City Commission voted to keep the sculpture in Bayfront Park according to the terms suggested by John Curran.  At the end of 10 years, ownership of the sculpture will transfer to the City of Sarasota,  and the city will be free to sell, remove, or retain the sculpture in place.

(At the time of this posting, “Unconditional Surrender” had been reportedly removed from the park and sent to Mercerville, New Jersey, for repairs to the sailor’s shoulder.  It is scheduled to return on or around July 11, 2010.  For more information, please see the Sarasota “Herald Tribune’s” report.)

On a recent trip to the Sarasota area, I happened to drive past the statue and it immediately attracted my attention.  In fact, when traveling along the border the park on North Gulfstream Avenue or along North Tamiami Trail, your eyes are inexorably drawn to it.  The statue towers above everything else in the park.  Because of the way the statue drew my attention and because of the controversy surrounding it, I decided to name this photo collection of the Sarasota area in the sculpture’s honor.   The photographs in this collection depict views of Lido Beach, Casperson Beach, Myakka River State Park,  Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, several of the keys surrounding Sarasota, Bayfront Park and, of course,  the controversial sculpture “Unconditional Surrender”.

I hope you enjoy the collection.

I spent a few hours yesterday evening exploring the shore of one of our local lakes for subjects to photograph for the “Micro World” project.  I had a bit of success and found several plants to photograph and got a couple of good shots of some wildlife as well.

As I expected, I’m having as much fun looking for “Micro World” subject to photograph as I am actually putting the project together.

Photos to follow in a future update….

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Yesterday, I sent a brief message to a friend of mine to give her a bit of a hard time about not keeping her blog up to date and to inquire if she was going to add a post anytime in the near future.  After sending the message, I realized that it had been some time since I’d updated my blog as well.  Not wanting to be accused of  living in a glass house and throwing stones, I decided I’d better post an update to my blog as well.  

This post will be the initial entry to a new sub category I’m opening called “Travel”.  As the name suggest, this category will consist of photographs that I’ve taken while traveling.  It is my hope the photographs in category will not contain the usual fare of “tourist snapshots”, but rather will convey some of the unique qualities of the various locations depicted.

The first entry in this category is a collection of photographs that I shot while visiting Florida during March of this year to attend a business conference.  As I didn’t have to return to work until a week after the conference ended,  I spent an additional five days exploring Florida’s gulf coast.  The photographs posted here were taken mostly during those last five days of that trip.

The title of this photographic collection was inspired by the conquistador, Juan Ponce de León.  Most famous for the apocryphal story of the search for ” The Fountain of Youth”, Ponce de León was looking for the Bimini islands when his expedition landed on the Florida peninsula in 1513.  Arriving during the season of “Pascua Florida” or “Flowery Easter” and impressed with the many plants which bloomed throughout the land, Ponce de León christened the area “Tierra La Florida”.  Although the area has been called by many names over the centuries, the name bestowed by Ponce de León has endured.  Today, the name “Florida” holds the distinction of being the oldest surviving European “place-name” in the United States.

Despite the name of this collection and the various flora found in the area, the photographs here contains very few images of flowers.  Instead the focus here is on the beaches and birds found along the gulf coastal area.

The collection opens by either clicking here or by clicking on the image above.

I hope you enjoy this collection of photographs from “La Florida”. 

While at work last Saturday evening, I started thinking about doing a photo shoot of the small world.  (New plant shoots, the occasional insect, etc.)  Those things that surround us on a daily basis, but that we rarely take the time to look at and consider.  I thought I might spend a little of my free time considering these subjects and photographing them as a found them.  I don’t know if this will be a successful photo shoot or not, but I figured that I’d have a fun time with it.

Besides, isn’t that the whole point anyway.  Find a subject, explore, and have fun!

We’ll see how this turns out over the course of the next couple of weeks.

I’ll keep you posted…

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For the past couple of weeks I have occasionally driven past a small patch of daisies growing wild along a local road.  Several times as I passed the wild patch of daisies, I thought “That would make a great subject for a photo shoot”.  Unfortunately, my camera was never on hand. (More proof as to why a photographer should have a camera on hand at all time!)  Yesterday, however, I was prepared. While I was out taking care of other errands, I finally managed to stop, shoot, and geotagged 68 photos of the daisy patch.

Attached is one of the photographs I took.  I thought it would make a great first post for this blog.

I Hope you enjoy it! 

Additional photographs can be viewed by clicking here.   – Sys Admin.

Welcome to Art’s Photo Blog!

Art’s Photo Blog is a place to discuss photography for fun and enjoyment.

I’m starting this blog to discuss photography and to enrich my knowledge of photography and photographic technique.   I will, from time to time, post my own photography here, post and discuss the photography of others that I find interesting or fascinating, and post notes on photographic technique that I discover either through research or my own trial and error.

I hope you will join with me and explore the interesting world of photography!

Art.