sad day

Yesterday was a very sad day as we found out about our dear friend Roberta's passing. My tribute to her.

Sunset Explosion

Is it Friday already? It's almost Halloweeny time! I'm dressing up as a monk. You? My wife and I are going to some swanky Halloween/magic/dancing grown up party tonight. My wife's gonna be an enchantress. She's certainly enchanted me. Stop groaning.

Live like a Rockstar

I took this one a while back at an sweet loft in downtown L.A.

San Diego Bay Panorama

What an awesome day this was! My family and I drove out to Point Loma to see the Cabrillo monument and the historic light house. A bonus prize for this trip was one of the best views of San Diego and the Bay that you can find. Took me a lot longer to put this together on my computer than it did to take it! For the MUCH BIGGER size, click here.

Leaf Drop

I am waaaaaay late on posting today, but I wanted to put something up.

San Diego Sunset

Happy Monday! Hope everyone had a great weekend. Here's a couple of images that I took from the roof of my hotel in San Diego. It was such a beautiful evening.

Gently Held

Hope everyone has a great Sunday. Check back tomorrow for some San Diego sunset goodness!

Leaning Lighthouse

This is the historic lighthouse on Point Loma in San Diego. The original structure was built in 1855 and has been renovated several times. It's no longer used, but it's an awesome place to visit and the views of San Diego are stunning. I was lucky to be there on an overcast day to capture and image I had been kicking around in my head for a while. I love how the trees have been bent by the constant wind coming in from the Pacific. Using an extremely wide angle lens distorted the lighthouse so it too seems bent from the wind.

Have a great weekend!

Cold Power

Sorry about the late posting today, I was wiped out last night. Hope everyone is having a non cloudy day today!

Resupply

We came across this resupply operation on our last trip down to San Diego. My boys were screaming, "look, look, that is so awesome!" and I was all like, "meh". Who am I kidding, I was freaking out too! I had to pull over at a lookout point and get some shots. It seems that each time we drive down we see something new and interesting.

Macro is...

It was raining on and off here yesterday, so during one of the lulls (not lulz) I went out to the roses by our driveway and had a macro session. Let me say that any of you who are pursuing photography in any area, you're gonna make a lot of mistakes. This is how you learn. When I first started my photographic journey (man that sounds snooty) I took macro pictures almost exclusively. I loved peering into that tiny world that exists around us and showing that to others. Having shot quite a lot of close up images, you'd think I'd have some clue about choosing subjects and making strong compositions. Wrong. I shot maybe 50 images yesterday, and I had maybe 2 that I liked. I even got frustrated while I was shooting because I knew I wasn't getting what I wanted. But I had to remind myself that it's all learning. Mistakes are great teachers, and I've had lots of teachin'. Bottom line, keep trying, keep pushing, something beautiful is waiting at the end.

California Dreamin'

Softy for the lack of chattiness today, but I'm feeling a bit under the weather. Hope everyone has a great week!

iPhone HDR

Here's a photo I took a couple of weeks back with my iPhone and an app called Pro HDR. I love having a camera, editing software and the ability to share and upload right in my pocket. I'm not really a delayed gratification kinda guy, so this is perfect for me!

Hope you have a nice weekend.

Chinook

I know they say, "leave the drama for yo mama", but why not put it here. I thought the clouds looked cool, so I put a helicopter in for added interest. ;) This is on board the USS Midway (surprise) and this is a Chinook helicopter. You can distinguish them by their twin rotors. Man I love military hardware!

Kodak Rotunda

If you went up the stairs from yesterday's image and looked up, this is what you'd see. A really cool place, especially at 7 in the morning!

Kodak Steps

These are the stairs leading up to the Kodak Theater where the Academy Awards are held. This is part of a larger complex called Hollywood and Highland. I know, kinda clinical description, but it's late and I'm tired. I'll bring back the funny tomorrow, promise!

Screwed

Happy Monday everyone! Why am I so chipper? Maybe because it's a holiday. Of course if you don't have the day off....then enjoy reading this at work! Ok, pleasantries out of the way, on to today's images. As part of our recent trip to San Diego we took the fam to the Air and Space Museum. If you've ever been to the Air and Space museum in Washington, D.C. then you'll have an idea of what this place is like. Except smaller. For those who haven't been there, rent Night at the Museum 2. I kid! No really, rent it, it's much better than the first one. Back to San Diego. They have lots of actual, historic aircraft and full scale replicas of aircraft on display. There is nothing like walking up to an actual plane to get the size and historical importance of it.

This first image shows something that I've always found cool and humorous at the same time. When I've seen fighter jets at airshows and museums, and I've seen my fair share, I've always found something interesting on the nose. Here, at the very point where that Mach 1+ air is first hitting the plane, is a simple screw. There to hold the nose cap on, it's just a simple screw (although the military probably paid a lot for it and called it something like primary air deflector security device). A little phillips head screw holding down the front of a mulit-million dollar aircraft. I sometimes wonder if it makes fun of other screws when they say they have it rough. This is the nose of a Blue Angel F/A-18.

This is a World War I vintage plane. I loved the finish on the engine cowling and that awesome wooden prop.


This is my son under glass, served with a light cream sauce. Ok, it's a helicopter. Can you tell I'm using my wide angle lens!


This exhibit shows an American P-51 (so sweet) next to a German (lame) Messerschmitt.



All in all a fantastic day with lots of airplane goodness.

Soft flowers

Have a beautiful Sunday!

Got you in my sights...

My boy loving his time pretending to be a fighter pilot. We loved our second visit to the USS Midway in San Diego. Ok, we loved everything about our trip to San Diego. So much to do and see down there, and we've only done and seen a few. Just got back but can't wait for our next visit.

spiraling down

Some good guesses were put out there, but only Stuv got it right when he said San Diego. Congrats Stuv! You win, eh, ah laurel, and hardy hand shake. : -/ San Diego, the land of sand, sun and a photograph around every corner. We came down here for a couple of days to celebrate my birthday and just generally relax. And relax we did. With some eating out, another trip to the USS Midway and a ride on the Seal bus/boat, we had a great time. Back to the real world now with responsibilities, blah, blah, blah.

Today's image comes courtesy of the historic lighthouse at the Cabrillo National Monument. Don't get dizzy!

Rooftop Sunset

Thanks for the guesses yesterday! The big reveal's tomorrow. If you guess correctly today I'll give you a shout out tomorrow. Have a great day!

Where am I?

Let the guessing begin!

During the Rain

So it rained here yesterday (I know, crazy right!) and I thought I'd go out to the front rose bed a take some pics. And I did it, wait for it, while it was still raining! What can I say, I'm dedicated to my art. Or...it wasn't really raining that hard. Either way my lens hood caught a few drops, and I think my head got damp. But that's not why we're here people! You've come for pictures and I got 'em!

I call this one, wet rose.

This one is wet rose also, but less rosey.


And this one is cleverly named...(the suspense is killing you)...wet leaf.


I know, I said the rest of the week would be about "Where's Marshall", but you'll have to tune in tomorrow for the start of the guessing.

Gentle Fern

Hope everyone has a great week! We're gonna play "Where am I" the rest of the week. ;)

End of day

Have a beautiful Sunday!

Ollie

Smart? No. Beautiful? Yes. He's a Ragdoll kitty and he's fluffy all over.

bottle and bee

I love bottlebrush trees. The awesome red tipped with neon yellow makes me stop and look every time. Apparently bees are quite fond of them too. I watched bees work this tree over for quite a while, fillin' their bellies. It's so cool to be among all this activity and try to capture the feeling of being there. Not sure this picture totally does it, but I like it all the same. Have a great Friday!