Tag Archives: Flickr

May 21, 2014

The Iron Fence and the Family Plot

Is it the ornate designs? Is it the worn and aged look? Maybe it’s the lichen that seems to glow in the sunset? Or maybe it’s the fact that fencing a family plot so beautifully is a thing of the past? Whatever it is, I couldn’t stop photographing them this last weekend.

All above photos are from a recent return visit to Machpelah Cemetery in my hometown of Lexington, Missouri. For more photos from this shoot, please visit the Machpelah album on my Flickr page.

Cemetery of Immaculate Conception of Dardenne, Missouri

By Patrick Keller

On Wednesday of this week, I made some time to sneak away after work to find a few places to take some photos. I decided to stop by a small Catholic cemetery that I pass by often when I’m coming home from work. This was the first opportunity I’ve had to take colorful spring photos with my new camera. Having colors to play with is a whole new experience. On this Good Friday, and especially for those of you who celebrate Easter, I hope you enjoy the powerful monument that depicts the crucifixion of Jesus. It clearly caught my attention.

For more of my photography, including cemetery photos like these, please visit my Flickr page.

A few recent cemetery posts you might like:

Francis Howell Cemetery, St. Charles, Missouri (Big Séance)

Perfectly Lonely and Snowy City of Souls – Return to Bellefontaine Cemetery, St. Louis (Big Séance)

6 Comments | tags: big seance, catholic cemeteries, catholic cemetery, cemeteries, cemetery, cemetery photography, cemetery photos, cross, crucifixion, crucifixion of jesus, Flickr, grave stones, grave yard, grave yards, gravestones, graveyard, graveyards, head stones, headstones, historic cemeteries, historic cemetery, historic grave yard, historic graveyard, immaculate conception of dardenne, immaculate conception of dardenne missouri, immaculate conception parish dardenne, jesus, lichens, mary, metal cross, monument, mother mary, mother mary statue, nature, paranormal, photo, photography, seance, spirit communication, spiritual, spring, spring photos | posted in Cemeteries, Photography

March 27, 2014

Belvoir Winery/Odd Fellows Home, Liberty, Missouri: The Photos

By Patrick Keller

Introducing the artsy-fartsy photos from my weekend at Belvoir Winery, formerly the Odd Fellows Home, in Liberty, Missouri. These photos can also be found on my Flickr page.

Belvoir Winery, a former orphanage, hospital, nursing home, and school, was featured on Season 9, Episode 10 of SYFY’s Ghost Hunters, and titled “Vintage Spirits”. For more information about Belvoir Winery and its history, visit their site at BelvoirWinery.com.

You Might Also Like:

I’m Baaaaaaaaaack! (Big Séance)

My Favorite Historic Architectural Styles: A Field Trip (Big Séance)

15 Reasons to Befriend a Paranormal Nerd Today! (Big Séance)

10 Comments | tags: 1900, abandoned, abandoned hospital, abandoned nursing home, abandoned orphanage, Belvoir Winery, belvoir winery liberty missouri, belvoir winery liberty mo, belvoir winery/odd fellows home liberty missouri the photos, big seance, blogging, cemetery, Flickr, ghost hunters, ghost hunting, haunted, history, hospital, Liberty, liberty missouri, liberty mo, missouri, nursing home, odd fellows home, odd fellows home liberty missouri, odd fellows home liberty mo, old windows, orphanage, paranormal, paranormal investigation, paranormal research, photography, pictures, rundown, seance, season 9 episode 10, spiritual, syfy, taps, TAPS weekend, vintage spirits, windows | posted in Cemeteries, General, Haunted Spots, Photography

March 24, 2014

I’m Baaaaaaaaaack!

By Patrick Keller

I’m back from the greatest and most eventful spring break I’ve had in years… and maybe ever! But I’ve been itching to get back to this computer, since I’ve never had such a long absence from this blog! I have so much to share with you, including TONS of photos and stories from my T.A.P.S. and Chip Coffey weekend at Belvoir Winery in Liberty, Missouri… but I feel I should share chronologically. Plus, I just now got back home and must now return to a busy real life tomorrow, and I have much to go through in order to work up some Belvoir posts. I’m so excited though, because I have plenty to share, including meeting more para-celebs and some great new friends! Also, perhaps some video clips from our large group investigation from Saturday night! So stay tuned…

THE PARANORMAL PORTION OF THIS POST

So here’s a little update. I wrote the first part of this post yesterday and intended to publish it last night. I’ve been recovering from a cold and some kind of a bug since returning from Cancun. Suddenly in the middle of this post, I began getting chills that within an hour became more intense than I’ve ever experienced. It was horrible. I stood in a hot shower for a ridiculous amount of time, and when I forced myself to get out, I curled up in blankets on the bed. I couldn’t get warm enough. As I began to shiver myself to sleep, I either straight up hallucinated or dreamed that I had physically jumped inside my iPhone (not easy for a fat man) and was cruising through my Facebook feed. So… very… bizarre. I ultimately ended up sleeping for a few hours and woke up at bedtime, of course. Was I visited by the ghost of Montezuma? Did Trixie at Imos add some fairy dust to my pizza? (Oh you KNOW I’m totally going to put “fairy” and “faery” in the tags to this post now.) I really don’t know, and I’m feeling much better today, but I stayed home from school to be sure (after several late night hours of creating substitute teacher plans, of course). One thing is certain, last night was not fun.

THIS CONCLUDES THE PARANORMAL PORTION OF TODAY’S PROGRAMMING

For now, though it’s not very paranormal, I wanted to share a few photos from our spectacular trip to Cancun, Mexico! For the rest of my artsy-fartsy Cancun photos, feel free to visit my Flickr page.

You might also like:

Greetings from the Smoky Mountains! (Big Séance)

Two Smoky Mountain Cemeteries (Big Séance)

11 Comments | tags: abandoned, abandoned hospital, abandoned old folks home, abandoned orphanage, adam berry, amy bruni, beach, belvoir, Belvoir Winery, big seance, britt griffith, cancun, Cancun photos, celebs, chills, chip coffey, dream, faeries, faery, fairies, fairy, Flickr, ghost, ghost hunters, ghost hunting, ghosts, hallucination, haunted, historic, I'm back, liberty missouri, liberty mo, montezuma, ocean, odd fellows, odd fellows home, paranormal, paranormal celebrities, paranormal investigation, paranormal television, paranormal tv, photography, seance, spirit, spirit communication, spirits, spiritual, syfy, taps, TAPS event, update, vacation | posted in Dreams, General, Haunted Spots, Paranormal Fun, Paranormal Investigation Topics, Paranormal TV, Photography

January 29, 2014

Lessons in Photography & Other Nerdly Stuff

By Patrick Keller

I wanted to be inspired to blog about something exciting tonight, but it turns out my brain (and my body) is tired from long work days this week. How about some more photography from two new cemeteries? While at the second cemetery, I captured a killer sunset that just took my breath away. I’m not entirely sure I did a great job of capturing it, but it was fun trying.

Fifteen minutes later I caught this one with my iPhone in the grocery store parking lot.

Back to the cemeteries… Bellerive Gardens in Creve Coeur, Missouri and Thomas Howell Cemetery in St. Charles, Missouri.

.
While I’m at it, I’d love some constructive criticism from any experienced photographers. I had a chance to talk photography with a colleague at school today. He’s a “retired” administrator and former music teacher who has been doing some long-term subbing in our building. He does photography on the side, and so I took advantage of the opportunity to ask him some of those silly questions that a new photographer might ask when they’re learning lingo and the how-to. You know, like when do I need to switch lenses? What’s ISO? Things like that. I’ve found that he is GREAT at explaining things to me and making me not feel stupid. Ha! (He’s really great at explaining new sound systems too, by the way.)

A lot of times when I’m shooting in a cemetery, I have the urge to lay on the ground for several shots. If you don’t know me, physically, crawling across the ground, under trees and bushes, and straining to get back up again is not the greatest activity for my back and will almost always result in breaking out the good pain pills. It’s also funny when you stop by the grocery store on the way home and realize you have twigs and leaves clinging to you everywhere. It’s totally worth it, though.

Anyway, I’ve suspected this, but I’ve learned that I think I tweak things like the saturation and contrast a little too much in Photoshop Elements. I need to find a balance. You learn as you go, I guess. Here’s the link to most of my favorite recent photos from the new camera.