Setup the Camera!

The two pictures of me are from my friend camera. I just want to post these pictures for you guys to see the way I setup my shot.

Sun worshipers

Found these wild daisy like beach flowers enjoying the sun.

Reflection!

Have a nice weekend everyone.

Little more HDR

This is the combination of 3 pictures using the HDR feature in CS4. I tried to make this picture as realistic and true to life as I could though I'm still not entirely sold on whether HDR makes for better pictures or not. Perhaps my technique needs fine tuning... Just the same this seems to be the amount of light/dark I was able to see at the time I took the pictures.

Water Falls

To get this shot, I have to set my tripod in the water, and mounted a ND -8 stops filter. M. exposure, f/16, shutter speed 50 sec., -1/3 exp. comp., and preset white balance.

Small Town U.S.A

For this shot I took photos of two different streets, blending the two sides together and then I painted in the bricks and grass to make it look like an old street. Just kidding Parker!! This is an actual photo. LOL

This was taken with the Sigma 10-20mm. As much as I hate to admit it, I should have been using a tripod on this one so I could set the f stop to 16 or 20. Shooting handheld I could only get to f11 and that didn't give me the focus I was looking for in the distant objects. I just didn't want to be out there that long in the heat!

Yellow Chair

I'm sure looking forward to that yellow chair over in the sun! You can have your shade! LOL

Testing, Parker are you paying attention?

What can I say? It's a hundred frickin' degrees outside so I have to do something.

I can see where this could get me into a lot of trouble! LOL

Derelict hull

Went for a little hike last Sunday mostly to wear the dogs down... By the end of the day they were still full of beans and I was beat! LOL

This is a view of the Coal Harbour Waterfront from the far side of Stephens Bay looking North.

ROUTE 66 LAMP POST

Taking a walk around the Lake Shore noticed this four foot long man made cylinder. Made from formed and moulded concrete, this fluted shaped object seemed familiar.

At one time there was a lighted pathway following the contours of the water along the popular North Shore of Lake Overholser. The famed Route 66 ran a mere few yards from this pathway. Many travellers while taking a break from driving walked this scenic trail. The locals also frequently picnicked and enjoyed an afternoon or early morning walk along the same trail.

It finally came to light to me, so to speak. This familiar object laying at waters edge, was once a piece of one of the many lamp posts which held the lights that lit the path!

Aloha! Mahalo for the Kaua'i chair Q!!

Another mai tai please!

http://player.warpradio.com/player.asp?id=13769&streamType=&streamRate=0

(Aloha Joe's Hawaiian music streamed live on the internet)

I guess since it's too hot outside to take my own photos I will just steal some from somebody else!

I bought a new toy last week to use in my laser engraving business, it's an Intuos 4 pen tablet by Wacom. It's designed to let you use a pen instead of a mouse so that you can get very precise lines when drawing. Come to find out, it's specifically set up for use with Adobe Photoshop (who knew? LOL) so I just had to play with it a little since Q gave me the opening.

Now keep in mind, when it comes to computers I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer so it took me a little while to put this photo together. And by a little while, I mean I could have gotten on a plane and flown to Kaua'i and taken the picture there in about the same amount of time it took me to make this composite. Hopefully I will get better and quicker with practice on this tablet.

Grand Teton National Park.

These are old photos from last year. It's too hot outside to do anything. So therefore, I'm digging out old files to see I have overlooked anything before.

Reserved Seats!

Sunset from South Kauai.

If one of us won the lottery, these seats is reserved for us. However, the yellow seat are for Paul, and the other 3 seats are for me, Parker, and Ron. Paul have luxury living in the cool climate for all of his life, so he needs to be out in the sun. The rest of us need to me in the shade, because we are sick, and tired from the heat wave in the 100's. LOL.

FV Dolphin

Passed this local boat on my way to Quatsino the other day. Just by chance we met up at Cat Face Rocks the only part of the Quatsino Narrows that isn't trees all the way to the water. So I shot it, with my camera of course, handheld at 135mm from a moving platform. (My boat) Turned out not bad if I do say so myself!

Waimea Canyon, Kauai.

I just want to add this articles along with my photos. I'm sure captain Cook left some treasures in this area that no one have mentioned. This is your chance for Parker, and Ron to strike rich and famous. If you do, please hire me as your personal photographer.

The Kauai island, where the rustic Waimea is nestled, was formed through volcanic eruptions as depicted by the famed Waimea Canyon. The most ancient, if not oldest, among Aloha state's eight major islands, Kauai is said to be the base of an active volcano during the pre-historic times. Historians believe that years ago, the volcano in this island used to erupt every so often. Eventually, the place wasn't able to tolerate more pressure and soon collapsed. The gigantic breakdown resulted in lava flows, the remnants of which are still evident nowadays in Waimea Canyon.

The interesting geological history of Waimea, and Kauai in general, is the subject of several books and journals. Scientists believe that Waimea in Kauai island is actually the original name of the active volcano nestled in the place. After a landslide, which resulted in the massive erosion on the eastern corner of Kauai, an erosion of Kauai's other volcano (named Lihue, also among the booming towns at present) soon followed. Since then, natives from other towns and island relocated to Waimea and the adjacent areas.

In 1778, prominent European explorer Captain James Cook was believed to set foot on the rustic town of Waimea before any other explorer did. Cook's initial visit to the island prompted the coming of foreigners who eventually settled in the island. This triggered feud between the native inhabitants and foreigners, resulting in a series of bloody skirmishes that lasted for years. Kauai island, including Waimea, is among the very few areas in the Aloha state that wasn't manipulated by the great Hawaiian ruler, King Kamehameha I.

Peacock On Kauai Island.

The first 3 pictures are from point and shoot camera Fuji HS10, I was standing about 5' away when I shot these birds. The bottom one are from Nikon D2X with 17-55mm f/2.8 on the tripod.

Hole in the wall

I have probably shared pictures of this place before but this is my most recent picture of this interesting geological feature just around the corner (2 mile hike by rugged beach) from Coal Harbour.

I drive by here all the time with my boat but I wound up hiking an hour or so by beach the other day and took this picture.

Happy Hover Fly!

Found this happy fellow with a great big bunch of flowers all to himself. Don't think it gets much better than this if you're a Hover Fly!

Just Chillin' in Hawaii

Still digging through the old photos. It's actually below 100 degrees today and it rained!

Taken off of Ka'anapali Beach on Maui.

Portley Eagle

Found this rather well fed looking bird up at Quatse Lake the other day while doing my rounds. I suspect that he'd had a good feed on some of the Sockeye Salmon that come up through the Lake on their way to their spawning grounds.
Took this with the Sigma 120-400 at 400mm handheld, manual focus. (Still haven't returned the silly thing for warranty repairs to its focus motor).

Old Map

You mean like this Paul?  :~)

This is an original Jesse James map that was drawn on oil cloth in the 1800's. For obvious reasons I have cropped the photo not to include the entire map. I have the original in a double pane glass frame that I keep covered from the light so it doesn't fade any more than it already has.

Just for Parker

I know this photo doesn't have the aesthetic value that we normally look for in our photos but...

Before I left the refuge Parker and I and one of our friends took a little hike (about four miles I think) and one of our goals was to show this marker to Parker. Unfortunately, our friend developed some health issues and with the heat we had to abandon the hunt early and return to the car before we located it.

I was digging through my old photos this morning and came across this one so I thought I would post it for Parker. This marker stands about four and a half feet tall. I'm still not sure what it's for but maybe I will figure that out next year. I apologize if I'm boring the non-treasure hunters.

Sharing the beach...

I can bearley wait to see what made this footprint....

SIGMA 10/20 SIGNATURE

On an outing last year Ron and I were visiting Buzzards Roost in Western Oklahoma. As we were driving there we were talking cameras and Lenses. Seeing that we were both using Nikons, he graciously offered me the opportunity to try out his Sigma 10/20 Wide Angle. I have been an admirer of both His and Paul's Pics from this lense since I was invited to join this Blog.

Carefully screwing this much admired Lense on to my camera body I stepped outside the blue Durango and began to compose my pics using this borrowed Lense. After every shot I would Preview the image on the LED screen. Proud,Content, and Happy was this picture taker!

Arriving home a week or so later pics were downloaded to the computer. LO! and BEHOLD!, Ron has trained His Sigma to Sign all pics taken by it when used for Landscape Photography if the SKY is involved!

Still saving pennies for one of these Beauts! Yes I Am!

Old Files & Blue Skies

I think I may have posted a version of this one sometime before, maybe even this year but when I saw it in my files I thought I would play with it a little anyway. So if this is a re-do, I apologize. Man, I really need to get out with the Nikon!

This was shot with the Sigma 10-20mm wide angle.

Get your ducks in a row

They were always telling me to "Get your ducks in a row " back in my teenage years, so I finally did, and here is the picture to proove it!

Learning lessons

With us moving and it being so hot I've only gotten out twice in the last several weeks to take any new photos. I have been going through a lot of my old photos and I have come to the conclusion that until I started talking with the other photographers on this blog, I was taking some pretty mediocre photos.

I'm still not taking really great photos but over the last couple of years of posting on here I have learned a lot, thanks to you guys.

I will have to win the lottery just so I can thank you with a trip to Hawaii!!

Food Picture.

Beef tenderloin salad with ginger sauce.

Papaya salad with ginger sauce.

Fried Red Snapper with chilli sauce.

This is my dinner tonight. What did you eat?

Another wildflower picture

I haven't got a clue what they call these wild flowers, it's actually a bush that blooms every year. The flower clusters are about 6 to 8 inches long and each bush has quite a few clusters when they bloom. Quite a pretty show for a few weeks every year!

Smith's Garden in Kauai.

The immigrants live in these shelters while working in the sugar plantation in late 1800's.