Old Lahaina Luau.

 Ron, The stage in on the green where the Canoe sitting at.  If you sitting on one of those table in the front row, you could use the flash with your f3.5 lens.  

 This is one of the main course serve on the buffet line.  

This is something remind me at the Old Lahaina Luau.

Maui

Old Lahaina luau

The show is excellent, but the food is horrible.  Since, I have been through 10 of these shows, everything is the same to me.  I'm there just for the food, and the Mai Tai.

Lavender Farm

This is a good place to have a cup of coffee in afternoon, after you come down from the Haleakada mountain.

Mama fish house restaurant 

This is a best place to have romantic dinner, the food, and the service is excellent.  The best restaurant on the Island. 

The Road to Hana

I recommended to take this drive while you on the island.  Make sure to star out in early in morning to beat the morning traffic, buy a map or a self tour CD to help you located the water falls along the road.  This is a must do in Maui.

All of these photos from my Nikon D2X with 17-55mm f/2.8.  Since, Ron having Hawaii fever again, I hope these old photos would help his day dream more exciting.

Happy Halloween

Finally got a chance to go out and take a few pictures this afternoon! With the exception of the frame and resizing this picture is as shot. (Well almost... LOL).

Blame it on Paul!

Really, it's not my fault. Paul started it with the waterfall photo. LOL

10, 023 feet high

At the top of Haleakala Volcano on Maui, looking into the crater. A grainy film shot taken while freezing to death in a t-shirt and pair of shorts.

I did steal Paul's idea of labeling the photo with the place where it was taken. Not a bad idea Paul!

This is from my old film files, taken with an "antique" Minolta 35mm SLR.

Twin Falls

Found this picture in the archives from 2005. I was still using the D50 in those days and had just purchased a brand new Tamron 18-200 to go with. The post processing and frame are from this evening using Photoshop cs4.

Nothing but sky

I seem to have this thing for skys. I don't know why, the clouds just seem to draw my attention.

Does that mean I daydream too much? LOL

TIMES UP!

...........to continue yesterdays story. The impromptu photo session seemed to be going well, with the subject presenting various poses of his choice. Then I began to see the start of a pose that would only spell trouble! The first sign was the mouth beginning to slightly open then a more rigid body.

Turning to face me with legs in a wide stance, and tail up and stiffened, told me that the time had run out for anymore pictures today! So politely, as I snapped this shot while slowly backing away, he was thanked for the two minute photo shoot that was allowed before I just had to go!

These Buffalo are very large and very unpredictable. The best rule of thumb is to keep your distance.! They can move fast in spite of their size! I've heard it said that those who know them best tend to trust them the least.

I'm gonna hold my breath...

... until you're gone!

More from my old files and the St. Louis zoo.

YOUNG BULL

Rounding a curve while coming out of the fog, standing in the sunlight was this youthful Buffalo. Stopped the truck and grabbed my camera. The soft light gave the Bison and the grasses that wonderful golden glow.

Notice his wet beard and damp hair on his hind legs. Not yet scarred up like the old bulls, and his body mass not quite fully developed, a fine example of his species already. Tune in tomorrow for a look at his developing personality.................................!

How typical is this?

A bunch of City worker types all leaning on shovels and nothing getting done... LOL. Truth be known these guys are very hard workers! I know I would never have a hope of keeping up with them.

This picture isn't staged and except for resizing it is as shot with my old Nikon D50.

Bad Hair Day

I took this photo while on safari in...

OK, I was walking around the St. Louis zoo but it was hot, really!

And before you ask Paul, I don't have any idea what kind of bird this is. LOL

It's five-o-clock somewhere

This was actually taken at about five o-clock on Ka'anapali Beach on Maui, Hawaii and yes, I was enjoying a cocktail with the show! LOL

I've been going through some of my old film shots and they just don't edit as well as the digital ones do in the photo editing programs. I was able to work on a few lighting issues with this photo with the NX2 software and then tweaked it a little more in photoshop but I sure wish it had been a true digital file. This one has some grain/noise to it that came in because the photo was too dark to begin with and when I tried lightening up the dark spots I got the noise.

After Q convinced me I should be shooting in RAW I don't know why you would shoot in any other format. I take that back, in 14 bit RAW I only get about three frames a second but if I switch to 12 bit RAW or even jpeg, I can get 8 frames per second using the added battery grip and EL4 battery. So if I need to take a series of fast shots then I would switch but even then I would probably go to the 12 bit RAW instead of the jpeg. I do have to have a few extra memory cards shooting in RAW but all in all, it's definitely worth it!

An added note on shooting in 14 bit RAW, the best way it was explained to me is that it's like a flight of stairs, a flight of 12 bit stairs aren't any shorter than a flight of 14 bit stairs, it's just that there are more, smaller steps on the 14 bit stairs. Shooting in 14 bit RAW also uses 1.3 times as much memory as 12 bit RAW.

A NEW DAY

The Sun found a layer of fog as it began to peek over the horizon.

This was the second morning in a row of this beautiful light. What fun to be able to point my lens directly into the glowing Sun. The fog had diffused the harsh light just enough to make it possible.

What a wonderful way to start a fresh new day. Makes one feel good to be alive!

Fall Colors

Cheryl and I went for a drive this weekend to find some fall colors. We even went out to the nearby lake but we couldn't find anything anywhere. I was somewhat disappointed!

I ended up taking these photos of two trees that are in my neighbors yard across the street from our house. I should have saved the gas! LOL

Random Eagle Picture

I've been so busy with work since April I haven't had hardly any chances to get out and take some pictures just for the sake of taking pictures... (Not that I am complaining about working.) Fortunately the project that is keeping me so busy is almost finished for the season, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and am looking forward to shifting into a lower gear for awhile!

So in the mean time here is a "Random Eagle Picture" from the archives.

CORNER POST

Sunrise coming thru the Fog, truly presented the Golden Hour in which to take pictures. The whole landscape was bathed in a Golden hue of color!

The only editing that was done to this image was the addition of the frame. Pic taken at Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, in Southwestern Oklahoma.

MOMMA'S BABY BOY

While out shooting in the early morning light ran across this Longhorn Cow giving her calf a face washing. She tolerated my picture taking only a short time before moving the little dogie farther back in the pasture.

I recognize that fog!

This was on our last day there as we were leaving the refuge. I had to stop and take just a few more photos. That is the bottom part of Mount Scott in the far background with the top of the mountain covered in fog.

BACK AGAIN

Returned Monday from a most enjoyable Nineteen Day adventure to the Wichita Mtns. Wildlife Refuge in Southwest Oklahoma!

 
Ron and Cheryl drove down from Kansas, Mark and Tana along with Cindy were already there coming from Oklahoma. A Motor Home, two Fifth Wheels and a Bumper Pull ! We anchored a section of the upper loop in Camp Doris . We had all planned this Get Together in June earlier this year.

Despite all the Wildfires and the many acres burned, there were still areas that were not affected. No one's spirits were dampened by the burned areas as we all knew that this is very beneficial and productive to the native grasses of these plains which in turn give life to it's inhabitants.

The above Pics were taken on a foggy morning. More posts will include some of the burnt areas along with the activities, animals, hikes, that were enjoyed! 

Rain drops keep falling on my head

Maybe I should have titled this one "Just for Paul Part II". LOL

We came across this buffalo on the day it rained during our vacation. He was just standing in the rain licking the water from his face as it came down. I wasn't sure if the rain was bothering him or he was just too lazy to walk to one of the lakes to get a drink.

You can barely seen the streaks of rain on his face but trust me, it really was raining! This isn't as sharp as I would have liked it to be but I wasn't going to get out in the rain to set up my tripod and the buffalo was a little close to do that anyway. This was shot from the comfort of my car. I guess I need to invest in one of those Nikon f2.8 lens so I can shoot a little faster.

As a side note; I have been watching the prices on a new lens from Sigma, an 85mm f1.4 lens. I think I could find some uses for it somewhere.

Just like a woman....

....never satisfied! LOL

How's this one look Paul? I took the bottom of one photo and put it on top of the other photo and then blended the edges. Can you tell?

A little closer, Just for Paul

An artistic view of two rocks and a tree. And the sky of course!

This shot was Parker's idea. I thought it was a good idea but for some reason he didn't want to get down on the ground to take it. LOL

All alone on the prairie

This tree was pointed out to me by another photographer friend of mine who said she always wanted to get a shot of it when the sky was right. I think I happened to be there when it was right.

This would make a great sunrise photo since you are facing east when looking at the tree but the sky would have to be just right and of course, someone else would probably have to take it because I hate to get up early! LOL

That's it folks!

After 18 months of unemployment, and attending school.  I finally found a job!  After those time being at home, the first few days or weeks, I'm going to look like that kid in the picture every morning before I go to work.  LOL.   

  

A little bit of history

Parker and I went for a hike one day to check out a spot we had been looking at for some time. Yea, I know, we seem to go on a lot of hikes, huh? LOL

This is a spot where the old Spanish trail from the 1700's came through the area skirting the base of the mountain range. It's normally grown up with grass but since the wildfires that started this year the ground is now clear and you can see things that haven't been seen for decades, if not centuries.

Unless you know what you are looking for it's kind of hard to see so I've drawn some lines in this photo showing what looks like a wash on the hill side. This is where the ground was compressed by the carts and animals and then the water has naturally used the low spot as a run off. You could even see spots where they had come through and piled the larger rocks along the side to smooth out this field of cobble stones.

It was a little strange walking in the foot steps of what could have been conquistadors from Spain. Don Quixote has nothing on us!

Looking for greener pastures

These three shots were taken on three different days and three different locations. It all looks about the same now, just black and brown. Kind of like the buffalos!

More wildlife from the Wichita Mountains

Wait a minute, that's Parker. LOL I guess he could be considered wildlife couldn't he?

We took about a two mile hike into the mountains with a friend of ours on this day. We got up a little higher than planned but since we were there and the opportunity presented itself, I took a photo.

I'm not sure if this little buck ran into something to make his antler grow down or if this gene was passed on. He still had a little bit of "felt" on his antlers. As he gets older and the antlers get bigger he's going to have to adapt a little just to see where he's going. Hopefully I can run across him again in a few years to see what he looks like and how he's getting along.

The wildlife

Even though the grass and water has been pretty sparse through the summer the deer seem to find enough to survive on. This little buck looked pretty strong considering the lack of food.

Both of these shots were taken with the Tamron 18-250mm lens with the bottom one being at 250mm.

New addition

Bought myself a new machine for my little company... (Like I'm not busy enough already) Now all I have to do is play with it until I get comfortable with what all it can do!