Evening shade

Mid-Wilshire Sunrise

This past Thursday I drove in to work with more than an occasional look towards the sky and the beautiful clouds that were being lit by the rising sun. Clouds of any kind have been pretty rare the past six months, especially around sunrise/sunset. When I got to work I thought that these clouds would provide great backdrops to some of the scenery around my building. I grabbed my point and shoot and took a walk outside.



I had been walking around for 10 or 15 minutes when I realized that the moon was still quite visible.



My work is located along Wilshire Blvd. on the east side of Beverly Hills. I just couldn't resist getting this shot.


This was the view back down Wilshire Blvd. towards the rising sun.

Gatorland

It's been a while since my last post, but things have been a bit busy and we just got back from a week long vacation in Orlando, FL. We went back to visit my wife's family and friends we had there. I also had the opportunity to speak to several classes at the school I attended. One of the real highlights of the trip though was the day we spent at Gatorland. My wife grew up going there and has great memories of holding snakes, watching the alligators feed and seeing the gator wrasslin'.


With 72% humidity and a heat index of 114 degrees, the kids were looking for a way to cool off.



We took a walk along the boardwalk that winds through the 10 acre alligator breeding marsh.


There are about 130 gators in the marsh and they are next to, under and all around the boardwalk.




After our little walk, we went over to check out the gator feedin'.




We spent the last part of our day on a "Swamp Walk" through a cypress swamp.

Santa Monica Pier

A few days ago I had the urge to visit the Santa Monica Pier. I've lived here for almost 12 years and I've never driven down there and checked it out. It's actually really close to our favorite restaurant in town. Anywho, I decided today was the day so I drove down about 6 o'clock this evening.





I had such an awesome time down there. It was so cool to be under the pier with the waves crashing in and water sweeping up. I felt my creative juices flowing with all that motion and energy, pushing me to look at things in new and exciting ways.

The one image I had in mind when I went down there materialized about 45 minutes after sunset.


And for a bit of perspective.


It was a beautiful evening and I'm glad that I have some images to remember it by.

One year later

We are approaching the one year anniversary of our trip to Ethiopia and I wanted to do something to mark the occasion. I've had this song stuck in my head that I thought would make a great track for a video and this seemed like the perfect project for it. The song is called "Home" and it's from a group called Bole 2 Harlem. Bole is the name of the international airport in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The group consists mostly of Ethiopian musicians that have immigrated to America and wanted to make an album together. I found the album while I was browsing around the iTunes store looking for African music.

The video shows our very first time seeing/holding Marlie and all the love and attention she got while she was there. It also shows pictures of the year she's been home with us and all the fun we've had.

Without further ado, here it is.

So proud!

My oldest son has been showing some interest in photography lately so I decided to let him go out with my point and shoot the other day and he captured some very cool stuff.


A few days later while we were in Starbucks, he asked if he could take some shots with my DSLR (I always carry it when we walk to Starbucks). I showed him how to put one hand under the lens and how to hold and press the shutter button, and BAM!, this was his first shot.


Makes a daddy so proud.

Hangin' with da boys

I've had fun lately taking my boys out for walks around the neighborhood and to Starbucks. We've noticed a fair amount of residual patriotism with flags left on houses and in yards. It's made for some colorful outings.



I've also enjoyed some individual times with each of my boys.

Happy 4th!

Hope everyone has a happy and safe 4th of July.