THOMAS MARTIN SMITH - writer & photographer

 
IN THE LONG RUN - A Hopeful World Odyssey
            
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This is the famous promenade guard rail leading your eye to a wall of mist that billows out of the frothy abyss.  Directly ahead, just inside the mist, is Table Rock House, the closest building to the Horseshoe Falls.  (I'm privileged to have a 24" x 30" framed edition of this print displayed in Table Rock House.) The mist coats everything it lands on and here encrusts all in ice.  To the right, just out of frame, is the Niagara River, just before it plunges over the Horseshoe Falls. You can see light from the sun just risen to the right.

Another winter scene at the falls including the promenade guardrail.   You are looking across the Niagara Gorge, just down river a hundred yards or so from the Horseshoe Falls.  The falls bathed in red are the American Falls.  The narrow falls to the right of the American Falls, bathed in brilliant white light, are the Bridal Veil Falls.

It was early morning, and these two local men were paddling across the calm waters of this beautiful Himalayan lake.  In the haze just, beyond the blue foothills, is the Annapurna Range, which includes Macchapuchhare - the "fish-tail" mountain.  On the east shore of the lake is the town of Pokhara, a travelers' crossroads where you can rent rowboats and enjoy the serenity of this remote paradise.

This shot creates a timeless image of this real-life hero of Spain.   Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar - "El Cid Campeador" (The Lord Champion) liberated Spain from the Moors in the 11th century, AD.  What you don't see in this image is small the traffic-embattled plaza where this statue is situated.

Abstract in the Performing Arts Center (formerly The Music Centre), Los Angeles, California. 

The richly textured round building to the right is the Mark Taper Forum.   Behind it is the Ahmanson Theatre. Opened in 1967, the Ahmanson  has presented a wide variety of dramas, musicals, comedies and classic revivals, including 13 plays by Neil Simon (six world premieres) The Mark Taper Forum is one of America's top regional theatres and a number of the plays presented on and off-Broadway and across the country began at the Taper.

I'm sure many of you movie fans know this place on sight -- by the stars that come out once a year -- alighting at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles, California -- a favorite venue for The Academy Awards.  Opened in 1964 and part of the Performing Arts Center complex,  the 3,197-seat theatre is the home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Los Angeles Opera and Lost Angeles Master Chorale.

I spent an pleasant, balmy  afternoon and evening wandering around the complex. After sundown, searchlights sliced through the sky and limousines arrived, dropping off  attired patrons there to see a performance by Sergio Franci ("One of the greatest Romantic, Popular Tenors of the 20th Century")   Me, I had a blast doing my photographic thing!

Southern coast of Oregon.  Just a timeless image of a a beautiful, unspoiled seashore.  Such scenes... does it entice you  to forget your worries for a while and take a walk along the beach beside the soothing sea.   Solitude.  Reflection.   Inspiration.

A winter's night walk along Ridge Road in my hometown (village, actually) of Ridgeway, Ontario, Canada (This was in 1984.  Dell's and Brodies have since been replaced by other commercial enterprises.)

The Horseshoe Falls at Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada.  The Falls are bathed in coloured lights for the pleasure of the millions of tourists that visit Niagara Falls each year.  Here a time exposure captures a kind of patriotic tribute to our American neighbours in red white and blue light.

This remains one of my favourite places in whole world -- POINT ABINO LIGHTHOUSE, Fort Erie, Ontario.   You will find this place mentioned a few times in the Odyssey story, notably in Voula, Greece, where I found a point of land that reminded me of Point Abino, at least in spirit.  Anchored to a rock shelf on the shore in Lake Erie, it was built in 1917 to replace a lightship. I got to know the last of its keepers - Louis Anderson - in the years before he retired, just after the lighthouse was automated.  He often allowed me free access to this beautiful lighthouse... so you will be seeing more images of it, in different seasons and weather. Look also for images of it's elegant Fresnel lens.

And here it is again!  You'll need to see the large image of this one to get the full impact... and to see POINT ABINO LIGHTHOUSE, Fort Erie.  The lighthouse can be seen at the tip of the land in the distance.  I was standing on the beach near The Comet (once the world's largest rollercoaster, Crystal Beach Park) as I saw this dramatic scene beginning to unfold...a storm had just passed over the area and the clouds were breaking apart.  I had no camera.  I drove two miles each way to get my camera, returning just in time to get this image of a sunburst directly over top of the lighthouse.

...many more images are being prepared for display here in Tom's Odyssey Photo Gallery!