Black-Crowned Night Heron (juvenile) Waikoloa, Hawaii.  March, 2008

I’m reluctant to classify this as a “nature” shot given the circumstance. This image of a juvenile Black-Crowned Night-Heron was taken in front of our vacation condo at the Waikoloa Village Beach Resort's “Fairway Villas.”  For the past several mornings I’ve been watching him fishing off a rock outcropping located along a pond adjacent the men’s and ladies’ tee boxes on the 9th fairway directly in front of our lanai. (more...)

Pictograph - Echo Bay, Broughton Islands, British Columbia.  July, 2006

A recent visit to Echo Bay in the Broughten Islands, British Columbia was full of wonderful surprises, one of which was easy access to several ancient pictographs, or rock art. I’ve been told that pictographs are prehistoric ochre paintings and differ from petroglyphs which are etched into rock walls with a stone tool. The red ochre, used here, is a pigment from anhydrous iron oxide based clay. Wikipedia tells us that “to manufacture ground ochre, ochre clay is first mined from the ground.  It is then washed in order to separate sand from ochre, which can be done by hand. The remaining ochre is dried in the sun and sometimes burned to enhance the natural color.” (more...)

Splish Splash - Keizer Oregon.  June, 2006

"Splish splash, I was taking a bath
Long about a Saturday night
A rub dub, just relaxing in the tub
Thinking everything was alright

Well, I stepped out the tub, put my feet on the floor
I wrapped the towel around me
And I opened the door, and then
Splish, splash! I jumped back in the bath
Well how was I to know there was a party going on

(more...)

Haiku - Croft Lake. Bandon, OR. June, 2006

Dawn's promising light

Reflection of yesterday

Anticipation

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Santa Barbara Rose - Santa Barbara, CA. April, 2006

“Santa Barbara Rose”. The phrase sounds a bit like a Willie Nelson tune. Maybe he would have called it “Just another Rose”. Although cliché, the lyrics might have been "take time, they say, to smell the roses".  

A symbol of peace, passion and prosperity, the rose inspires. The symbol of death, remembrance, and desperate poets, the rose brings tears. From start to finish, living but a New York minute, with every passing second, there’s beauty, grace, elegance. A geometric wonder, an ever changing molecular fragrance, a kaleidoscope of color, alone or together, a literary agent, the rose blooms along the path to hearts, and in the gardens of minds.   (more...)

Hey sailor!  Want to get lucky?

I studied Greek mythology in my eighth grade English class.  My teacher, Mrs. Sanders, was strict. And it didn’t help that her husband was the principal. 

Eighth grade English was the first class where I had to string together more than a couple of coherent paragraphs about something challenging. Mythology certainly was a challenge, but it was also a wonderful subject to inspire a young student to stretch their mind’s eye. I think maybe Mrs. Sanders tricked us. 

And those Greeks!  Boy, there’s a culture with an imagination. Whatever their motivation was, they certainly came up with some interesting characters. The Sirens, of course, are a good example.  (more...)

A winged migration is in his wake. Styling and profiling in the heat of a spring afternoon, it's breeding time.

You can almost hear him singing that Jimmy Buffet tune, "Piece of Work." (more...)

One problem with maintaining my web site has been the challenge of providing interesting, perceptive text to accompany the photograph. One of my initial objectives, in addition to sharing insight into the adventure of getting the photo, was to impart something technical from the photographer’s point of view. However, based on the feedback I’ve received, I’ve learned that unless you are a serious photographer, most people really aren’t too interested in f/stops or shutter speeds.  

After selecting a photograph to publish I just start writing about the photo and through this process a title always seems to suggest itself. Unfortunately, in this particular case, I couldn’t come up with too much to write about and worse, I couldn’t think of a good title.  (more...)

I’m pretty sure this guy is a Song Sparrow. My Western Bird Field Guide tells me there are nearly 30 western races. I like to think their game plan is safety in diversity.

Although these little gems are not real flashy, I love them dearly. Named appropriately, from spring into the fall, they wake me up each morning with their distinctive, bright, musical melodies which usually begins with three or four repetitive notes followed by an improvisational melody that would have made Miles Davis envious. (more...)

Lau Hala - Hawaii (November, 2005)

Here's a shot taken at the Amy Greenwell Ethno botanical Garden near Captain Cook, Hawaii. The garden covers 15 acres and is focused on traditional Hawaiian culture and the plants that support it.  This plant, lau hala, or false pineapple, (Pandanus) is interesting in that the fruit breaks down into little handles with brushes on them, which can be used for painting. The long and slender lives are often used in floral arrangement and are also a source of a flavoring that goes into a wide assortment of desserts and sweet treats. (more...)

Last Banana - Hawaii (November, 2005)

During a recent trip to the rain forest in the Volcanoes National Park, I missed an opportunity to photograph an I’iwi. I noticed him while setting up my tripod. Unfortunately, I’d set my camera down in the process. All I could do was stand quietly and enjoy the moment.

I keep thinking how lucky I was. Was he really an I’iwi?

Audubon writes that “I'iwis are some of the most spectacular birds found in the Hawaiian Islands, with their long, decurved bills and striking red and black feathers. This species is still relatively common in high-elevation forests on the island of Hawaii, and has smaller populations on four other main islands; but its high susceptibility to avian malaria could make it extremely vulnerable to the future introduction of mosquitoes capable of surviving at high elevations.”

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The Saffron Finch is classified as a non-native, alien bird to Hawaii. Reported by Authur Groseset as “a common bird of open and semi-open areas in lowlands outside the Amazon Basin, with a range of Northern Columbia and Venezuela; Ecuador and Peru and North-East Brazil to central Argentina, they have a pleasant but repetitious song which, combined with their appearance, has led to them being kept as caged birds in many areas." (more...)

Heliconia (August, 2005)

I was recently encouraged by a good friend to strap on my macro lens. And so on a hot weekend, I did so. Surprisingly, it was a bit of a mind set change, and a welcome relief, after struggling with a long telephoto shot of a Blue Heron walking along our beach. And with a macro lens, there are those occasions when you look through the view finder and find yourself saying, out loud, WOW! It might be just me, but I'm constantly amazed by the beauty of our world. This was one of those times. (more...)

Much like 80-degree weather, each year I look forward to, and wait patiently for, the arrival of the hummingbirds. And when they finally do arrive, they pretty much turn our yard into an air show.

I’ve been observing them closely now for about three years. The earliest I’ve seen them here is late February, but I’ve read where, due to the mild winters we’ve been having, they are now over wintering in the Puget Sound region. But they really don’t become a presence until May. (more...)

I’ve decided that photography is a bit like astrology. With astrology, the planets need to be in some sort of mystical array to produce a memorable day. With photography, all the parameters of light, focus, exposure, composition, and background need rendezvous in harmony to produce an image that jumps off the screen and takes your breath away. (more...)

There’s one thing I can say with a great deal of certainty. Capturing an image of a hummingbird at rest is much easier than getting a shot of one in flight. But getting close to a hummingbird at rest is not exactly a piece of cake. Either way, at rest or in flight, the goal for me has always been to get in close. And although it took a bit of patience, I’m happy with the results. And I like the fact that you can see a hint of cob webs streaming off to right of the photo. (more...)

For me, there is nothing quite like it. It’s just one of those simple things in life that I enjoy so much. That instantaneous, but anticipated, moment when the subject magically appears in the viewfinder, comes into focus, and is captured with a single click of the shutter. Gotcha ya!

I’ve been watching the local Steller’s Jays fly, hop, skirt, and dance through our yard for a couple years now. The first year, there was only one pair. But now there are three. (more...)

On almost a daily basis, I spend a fair amount of time wondering where the next good image will come from.  Here, the notion that it's not what you know, but who you know, came into play. My massage therapist had been encouraging me to photograph her dahlia garden for over a year. Thinking about her and her garden, it finally occurred to me that it wasn’t (more...)

Before boarding the plane for a two week vacation in Hawaii, I made a list of images that I wanted to capture. The Anole was high on my priority list for a couple reasons. First, they are just so darn cute. Second, I had recently purchased a new Canon EF 100 mm f/2 USM macro lens and I was looking forward to getting a few up-close-and-personal portraits of what could (more...)

During my short two year adventure in photography, I've gone through a transition from having mild contempt for flower  photos, to being totally consumed by them. Along the way, during a period of  floral intoxication, a good friend suggested that perhaps I should aim my camera at something else and take some risks. I'm in debt to him for heading me down (more...)

Crows, Crows, Crows. Everywhere you look, there are crows, or Corus brachrynchos for those who need to know. I'm awakened in the morning by their raucous cry outside my bedroom window. They skip, hop, and strut across the country road that I drive on my way to work. And when I arrive at work, there they are, waiting in the parking lot to greet me. (more...)

In 1976, as wide-eyed and broke college graduates, my wife and I spent New Year's eve in San Francisco. Although we couldn't afford the trip, we toured the city, dined beyond our budget, and splurged on a beautiful Japanese woodblock print of a humming bird sipping nectar from a fuchsia. It was our first "art" purchase and, to this day, my favorite. Recalling my (more...)