Two shots from Philadelphia

Yesterday my wife and I traveled via Amtrak from BWI airport to Philadelphia to visit the Mütter Museum and do a small amount of general tourism of the Philadelphia area. The museum was smaller than I expected, it was pretty interesting, but I did not expect it to be so small.

After spending a few hours looking at the exhibits on display we took a cab to visit Calumet Camera (for me), then walked toward the "historic" area around Independence Hall. Unfortunately Independence Hall is under construction, so I wasn't able to get any shots of the building. As we walked toward the building holding the Liberty Bell we came across this waiting area for horse-drawn carriage rides. There were probably about 5 total carriages waiting in line, but this horse was the definitive star. I noticed the Phillies hat immediately and had to have a shot of the horse. It wasn't until I started processing the shot I also noticed he was wearing a tie. Although I did not get many shots (no photography is permitted in the museum and we spent a majority of the day there), this shot of Philadelphia is my favorite that I took yesterday.

Horse wearing people clothes

The second shot I took after getting back to 30th Street Station. It is across the bridge and river from the station. I decided on this angle because I was also able to capture the building in the background that was illuminated in scrolling Christmas lights. I upped the ISO on this shot so I could capture it quicker and retain more of the original coloring (rather than over-saturation from the scrolling lights). Once I started processing I will admit I used Viveza to enhance the reds and greens on the building (once again, Control Point technology is worth the price of the tool alone!) The reflection in the water is completely untouched, so I did my best to match the coloring on the building with the water reflection.

30th Street Station and Christmas building