FLICKR FRIDAY Project116*3: The NEWLY PAINTED Castle

In an effort of doing a double upload this week, I go back to the Disneyland trip well (I really can only draw blood from this stone one last time).

During our 8th anniversary, and the first day we arrived, they removed the scrim and scaffolding and what you see is the new paint scheme for the Sleeping Beauty castle. Now to be fair there are some who wanted more muted colors but for me and my wife, we loved the saturation. The shade of blue with the gold was so punchy and the way the sun hit the castle right at that time of day, it was....just magical.

I'll have an upload again, how so ever the blog entry for Shutter Speed for the "Understanding Exposure" blog series is on hold while I recoup an injury and get ahead of some obligations personally. Thanks for understanding and see you again soon!

FLICKR FRIDAY Project116*3 : Stickney Mansion

Those of you not from Illinois or if you are from Illinois, aren't around the NW suburbs of Chicago probably know nothing of this house. Certainly not threatening this house was converted into the sleepy town's police station. That is were the limited knowledge at perception would end. In reality, The Stickney Mansion is haunted. As the legend goes Mr. Stickney made this house with the conviction of making the house with no 90-degree corners. In truth, he practiced "Spiritualism" which was based on corners keeping spirits caught in a room. This was important since he and his wife practiced many seances in the house. In legend, he found one corner made in his house and hung himself, but in reality, he died of heart complications facing the corner.

The house went from owner to owner with reports of paranormal activity, until finally became the property of the town of Bull Valley in 1985 and became a police station from there. Several officers have quit over the activity, and the police chief even has a tale or two himself to tell over his experiences.

As I was getting ready to shoot this my battery died, how so ever it was half charged for that matter, and while there was some color correction done to this HDR the flares that you'll see around the photo is just that. This does challenge me to make an effort to take photos of certain haunted places and key areas. That, however, will have to wait until the end of Project116*3. Thanks for stopping by!