Sailing into the sunset...

Took this picture a couple of days ago on my way through Quatsino Narrows. For those who live in Quatsino running back and forth in small boats is a normal part of daily life! No road will get you there, only way in and out of Quatsino is by boat or airplane, and the locals want to keep it that way!

Cats

What does it mean when the cats just lay around and ignore you? LOL

"Fortune Kittys" & "Buda"

Found this bunch in Chiantown, Honolulu. Interesting story goes with the Kittys. It seems that many centurys ago the Emperor of Japan was riding along on his horse and came across a small cat with one paw raised in the air which in Japan means please come here. So the Emperor got off his horse and walked over to the small cat. At that very moment his horse was struck by lightning and died! Very fortunant indeed for the Emperor.

I guess the moral of the story is quickly get off your horse if you see a cat wave at you... LOL

Here's looking at you.

Found this fine looking fellow hanging around in a palm tree, free as (you guessed it) a bird. Probably no big deal for a bird to escape the cage and live the wild life on the Islands, try that around here and come winter that would be the end of that!

Waving Hello

Maybe he was just scratching his head but I think he was waving hello. LOL You can't be in the tropical isalnds without a tropical bird or two.

Waikiki Sunsets

Nothing quite like a Waikiki sunset!

Down around the docks

It was a great day for pictures so I went down to the docks, always a great place to find that perfect shot.

Looking down at my feet I spoted some ice... Hang on, it's the middle of summer, it's stinking hot! How could this be Ice? Closer inspection revealed that this was fish scales rather than ice! Sure fooled me.

Always something interesting down around the docks.

Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!

These are some photos I took at the St. Louis, MO zoo a couple of weeks ago. I had a clean shot at this lion but I thought looking through the trees gave it a more natural look.

OK, so this isn't a tiger. I didn't get any good shots of a tiger at the zoo, they weren't cooperating so I substituted a leopard for a tiger.

Mmmmmm, naps. My favorite time of the day. I guess the older you get the more you look forward to the days you can take a little nap in the afternoon.

Classic Dodge

Found this old timer on the boardwalk at Telegraph Cove. Con't make em solid like this anymore!

About that airport..........

It's not exactly an airport and you're not looking down a runway but................

The red roof you see in the bottom right corner of the photo is the end of my front porch. This is a crop duster that was working a field next to my property and doing his turn arounds over my house. When I first heard him go over it scared the crap out of me!

Doing a little fancy turn around, or showing off, I'm not sure which. I'm sure he could see me standing in the yard with my camera. I could clearly see him in the cockpit of the plane even without the zoom lens.

I didn't even see the bird when I was taking the photo. He kind of snuck into the photo by accident. I'm sure he was probably trying to get out of the way of the "big noisy bird"!

Cloud of a another sort

Took this picture of a "Killer Whale" or "Orca" in Quatsino Narrows. Once or twice a year a "Pod" or family group of Orcas comes into the inlets where I live and hunts for Salmon or Seals.

Just a cloud

I saw this cloud the other day and something about it just made me want to take a photo. I think it was the contrast between the cloud and the super blue sky that caught my eye. Or maybe I just had my finger on the shutter button when I got out of the car! LOL

Oops!

The driver claimed the car might have had a gallon too much of the premium! One consolation, no harm done to the fire hydrant!

A road to nowwhere.......

Am I being repetitive? I actually took this photo on the same day as the train track photo but this was earlier in the day. I wasn't even trying to shoot the road, I was more interested in the slice of sunlight at the end of the road and the road gave it a little context. For some reason it looked better in person!

I guess this was my day to tempt fate, first in the middle of the road and then in the middle of a train track. Maybe I should stand in the middle of an airport runway next?

Bear Xing

Smart Bears!

Actually I had included this picture in an email to my parents. A couple of days later I got the picture back in an email. My father had photoshoped in the Bear Xing sign over the speed sign that was in the original picture! Nicely Done I say!

A train to nowhere

I wouldn't really recommend standing in the middle of a train track to take a photo but I didn't see any harm in it on this day. I didn't see a train for miles and I thought it would be hard for one to sneak up on me.

There was something about seeing this long stretch of track disappearing into the distance and trees that made me want to take a photo. It also made me think about jumping on a train just to see where it would take me but then I remembered I was old and slow and would probably never make it on the train!

Something a little smaller

With all of the rain and cool weather we have been having the flowers have stayed abundant and so have the bugs, the good ones and the bad ones!

Big Brother

Found these two at a rock pit on the far side of Hardy Bay. Someone has a sense of humor!

Reflections

They call this a pink flamingo but to me it seems more orange than pink. I shot this picture mainly for the reflection in the water. It would have been better if the flamingo would have been looking at me but he just didn't want to cooperate.

In camera editing... pixey dust... bling bling...

Playing around with the D90 in camera editing options and came up with this...

The D90 has all the usual editing bits you would expect though why anyone would ever take the time to fiddle with a picture on the puney little screen is beyond me! I will admit however that I don't recall seeing this particular effect in any photo editing programs I have ever used.

Damp and Dark

Some of that British Columbia weather must have slipped down here this summer because we haven't gone more than eleven days in a row without rain all summer long. This has brought out a bumper crop of inedible mushrooms. Too bad these can't be truffles, I would be lying on a beach in Hawaii right now!

Waimea Bay

Waiamea Bay North Shore Oahu. Keana Point in the background. Picture taken from the Pu'u O Mahuka Heiau (State Monument).

Halona Cove

Made famous in 1953 by the movie "From here to eternity" for it's most memorable and shockingly torrid (for its day) love-making scene on a sandy Oahu beach by Bert Lancaster and Deborah Kerr.

Upcountry on Maui

When you leave the beach and head "up" Haleakala, the volcano that makes up a good portion of the island of Maui, they say you are going to "upcountry". I guess that makes as much sense as anything else you could come up with.

This is a photo of part of the grounds on the Tedeschi Winery. Yes, there is a winery on Maui. They specialize in a pineapple wine that I am told tastes very good. To me, wine all tastes like vinegar so I'm not much of a connoisseur. I'll take a cold beer at the beach any day!

Sheraton Moana Surfrider

One of the Grand Old Ladies of Waikiki since 1901.

This is actually 3 pictures stiched together using a program that came on a previous computer. Haven't found a suitable program like it for my present computer so no panorama pictures until I do.

Did someone say sunsets?

I love sunsets! They are better than sunrises because you don't have to get up early!!

These were both taken from the top of a small mountain in southwest Oklahoma just a few minutes apart. The colors are as they were taken and haven't been adjusted in photoshop. I really need to get a super wide-angle lens!

Quatse Lake Sunset

Caught this character sunset last night. So I'll see your half moon picture and up the antie by this sunset...

Shooting the moon

I'll see your full night-time moon and raise you one day-time half moon :~)

Laying at anchor

Fresh picture, just took it in fact. Found this beautiful 130 foot sailboat anchored in Coal Harbour. Couldn't resist taking a few shots what with the moon in the background and all...

Fuzz Heads

I don't have any idea what kind of birds these are. I came across them in the St. Louis zoo and thought they might make a good photo.

Lazy summer afternoon

View of inner Hardy Bay and some of the boats tied at "Fishermans Dock". The warm sunny weather here on the North Tip of Vancouver Island continues much to the delight of everyone from here!

Dive! dive! dive!

It's not a submarine but he does have a hard shell, doesn't that count? I caught this turtle just a couple of feet below the surface so the sun was hitting him as he went under.

Coho

A little hard to see, but these are Coho Salmon milling around Hardy Bay waiting for rain. No rain, no getting up the river. Each of the fish in this picture is around 8 to 10 lbs.

Got to love those skies!

As I was arriving home the other night I pulled into my drive way and this is what I saw. Before heading up the 1/4 mile long drive to the house I stopped and took a few photos. This was the best of the bunch. This looked like it was right over my house (in behind the tree line).

Massive Bronze Propeller

Found this beautiful (straight) propeller in front of the Maratime Museum in Hololulu. Just as I went to walk away my water bottle slipped out of my pack and bent the thin edge of one of the propeller blades... Oops! What is it with me and propellers?

St. Louis Art Museum

I came across this art museum while I was in St. Louis. I don't know which one it was but the shot looked interesting when I took it.

Kaalawai Beach and Black Point

Just thought I would throw in a Hawaii picture to keep you on your toes! To this day I'm reminded just how beautiful the colours of the ocean are everytime I come across a picture like this.

All I want for Christmas................

Well, the lists of what I want and what I need for Christmas are two completely different things. I don't need much but I want a lot! I will say that niether of the lists have a hippo on them! It's that song, I just can't get it out of my head when I see a hippo!

For being as big as they are they sure can swim good! Even though they don't look to threatening they are a little intimidating up close.

Motor Bikes

1911 Indian Motorcycle

Now here is an interesting twist, almost as though the motor bike of the early 1900's is reinvented!

I understand that there are kits from China for sale on e-bay to convert your average bicycle into a road legal motor bicycle.

What you don't find!

The St. Louis Arch, The Gateway to the Midwest

The Saint Louis, MO arch is a pretty impressive piece of architecture, especially if you go up inside the arch. Photographing the arch during the day can be a little challenging to make it look as impressive as it is and to give it the "ambiance" it needs.

Taking photos at night is a completely different story. There is a lot that adds to the arch when you are shooting at night.