St. Francis Xavier parish, the oldest church congregation in Indiana, was founded in 1732. The first resident pastor, Rev. Sebastian Louis Meurin, S.J. arrived at St. Francis Xavier in May of 1748. The present church building, the oldest in Indiana, dates to 1826. From 1834 until 1877, it served as the Cathedral church for the first four bishops of Vincennes, who are buried in its crypt.
The Mississippi Queen was the second largest paddle wheel driven river steamboat ever built. The ship was the largest such steamboat when she was built in 1976 by the Delta Queen Steamboat Company at Jeffboat in Indiana and was a seven-deck recreation of a classic Mississippi riverboat. She was later owned by the Majestic America Line. The Mississippi Queen had 206 state rooms for a capacity of 412 guests and a crew of 157. It was 382 ft long, 68 ft wide, and displaced 3,364 tons. The Mississippi Queen was laid up in New Orleans at Perry Street Wharf after being gutted, initially for renovation. Instead, however, the steamboat was sold for scrap in May 2009. She was towed for the last time to Morgan City, Louisiana on March 24, 2011 to be cut down. Dismantling had begun by April 7 of that year.
Since the D800 is a full frame DSLR while the D80 was DX, I had to also purchase a full frame lens to use as my main walk around lens. I decided on the Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR Zoom. It has turned out to be a great combination for me.
A little more about the D800: A FX-format model that offers a noteworthy effective pixel count of 36.3-million pixels. At its core is superior image quality equal to that achieved with medium-format digital cameras. The D800 is also equipped with a number of new functions for a high level of added value, all in a compact and lightweight body. In addition to a new Nikon FX-format CMOS image sensor and the new EXPEED 3 image-processing engine, specifically optimized for Nikon digital SLR cameras, the D800 is equipped with a new 91K-pixel (approximately 91,000 pixels) RGB sensor that supports the Advanced Scene Recognition System with its noteworthy advances in scene recognition performance. The camera is also equipped with a number of new functions, including Multi-area mode Full HD D-Movie that enables movie recording using either the FX-based movie format or the DX-based movie format.
My New Nikon D800
My New Nikon D800
My Old Nikon D80
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]]>The Archabbey Church of Our Lady of Einsiedeln is the heart of the Benedictine community of Saint Meinrad Archabbey. It was completed in 1907 and underwent a major renovation in 1996-97. The first stone for the building was laid in 1899 and construction continued for nearly eight years. Workers from the monastery and the local town hauled large sandstone blocks, using horses and mules, from the abbey's own quarry a mile away.
"Archabbey Church of Our Lady of Einsiedeln" Focal point of St Meinrad Archabbey.
"Archabbey Church of Our Lady of Einsiedeln"
"Archabbey Church of Our Lady of Einsiedeln"
"Inside the Archabbey Church of Our Lady of Einsiedeln"
"Inside the Archabbey Church of Our Lady of Einsiedeln"
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"Sloppy Joe's Bar" Ernest Hemingway's hangout.
"AtlantiCat" High speed ferry from Marco Island to Key West.
"Southernmost Pointe" 90 miles from Havana, Cuba.
"Duval Street" Where the action is!.
"Gulf of Mexico Sunset" On the way back to Marco Island.
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"Lee County Georgia" Located in Leesburg, Georgia, and was built in 1917.
"Schley County Georgia" Located in Ellaville, Georgia, and was built in 1899.
"Marion County Georgia" Located in Buena Vista, Georgia, and was built in 1850.
"Meriwether County Georgia" Located in Greenville, Georgia, and was built in 1904.
"Clarke County Mississippi" Located in Quitman, Mississippi, and was built in 1912.
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Boner Bridge is thought to be one of only five of its kind in the United States. The 260 foot, one-lane, iron bow, string-trussed bridge has sandstone abutments, iron bents and a wood plank floor. It is unique because it is known as a three-span bridge as it contains three arches. The two arches on both ends of the bridge measure 50 feet in length. The middle arch is the bridge's longest, measuring 160 feet.
The Ford Center is bounded by Main Street, Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Sixth Street, and Walnut Street. As planned, it will eventually connect to a new convention hotel and the existing convention center. The $127.5 million arena was approved by the Evansville City Council on December 22, 2008.
In 2008 the zoo finished a major expansion including the $15 million tropical rainforest exhibit and a new entry complex. The new exhibit was credited with drawing more than 38,000 visitors in its first month. One of two existing lakes in the zoo was filled in to make the exhibit, which added more than 150 animals to the zoo.
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The Beanblossom Covered Bridge crosses Beanblossom Creek on Covered Bridge Road, Brown County. This single span modified Howe Truss structure has a length of 60 feet, or 69 feet including the 4-foot 6 inch overhang at each end, with a portal clearance 12 feet wide by 13 feet high. Built in 1880 by Joseph Basley at a cost of $1,175, at the north end of the structure is a 36-foot ramp. In days past, this bridge was on the main road to Nashville, Indiana, until bypassed by in 1936 by State Road 135. Because of its location in Brown County, and thus a proximity to the famous local art colony, this structure probably has the distinction of being the subject of more covered bridge paintings than any other in Indiana.
However, at the end of the 2008 season, the Delta Queen ceased all service due to the loss of an exemption to the law prohibiting the operation of overnight passenger vessels with wooden superstructures. On February 11, 2009, the Delta Queen arrived in Chattanooga, Tennessee to become a floating boutique hotel.
The Delta Queen is 285 feet long, 58 feet wide, and draws 11.5 feet. She weighs 1,650 tons, with a capacity of 176 passengers. Her cross-compounded steam engines generate 2,000 indicated horsepower, powering a stern-mounted paddlewheel.
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The American Queen was retired in November 2008 due to the failure of Majestic America Line (her owner). As of April 2011, the American Queen is under contract to HMS Global Maritime, based in New Albany, IN. The new operator, The Great American Steamboat Company announced plans to return her to Mississippi River service from a port in Memphis, TN. In April 2012, the American Queen will begin a season of three- to 10-night voyages out of a variety of southern and Midwest homeports, including New Orleans, Pittsburgh, Louisville, Cincinnati, St. Louis and Memphis.
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"Autumn Reflections" taken in October 2009, at the lake located in Audubon State Park in Henderson, KY
"2nd & Main Streets" taken in August 2009, at twilight in Downtown Evansville, IN as part of a contest in the local camera club. Object was to capture motion in low light.
"Barge Waits at Sunrise" taken in October 2008, of a barge waiting its turn to lock through the dam on a foggy Ohio River in Newburgh, IN with the sun just lifting above the horizon.
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