SWIM AT YOUR OWN RISK

This gater was swimming in the waters on the outer edge of the Anahuac Wildlife Refuge when I snapped this shot.  I entered it in the last BAPC Honors Night program and was awarded a "Gold" award.

JAKE AND TOM

I entered these two shots in the BAPC Honor's Program as a diptych under the assignment of "WILDLIFE".  They were both shot at Cade's Cove in the Great Smokey Mountain National Park this past June.

VELVET CROWN

I photographed this deer off Cade's Cove Loop Road in the Great Smokey Mountains National Park in early June of this year.  I entered it in the Bay Area Photo Club of Clear Lake's Honor's Night program under the September topic of "Wildlife" and was awarded a bronze award.

CADES COVE DEER #4

This deer was standing in a grassy meadow off Cade's Cove Loop Rd in the Great Smokey Mountains National Park in early June.

HIGH POV DEER

I took this shot of a deer relaxing on the grounds of Rock City in Chattanooga, Tennessee back in early June. I used Olympus' native software to apply a “diorama" effect that helps exaggerate the high POV the shot was taken from.

HIGH KEY TOAD

I shot this macro of a toad Dianne spotted in the backyard with my 60MM macro lens.  The toad was swimming a an aluminum bucket and was perched on a quartz rock giving the scene a distinctively "high key" look.

HORSES IN A MOUNTAIN VALLEY

We drove by this scene on the way to photograph a sunset at Kee Beach in Kauai and stopped to take a few shots.  It would have made a great evening location to stake out and spend an hour or two shooting but we had a plan to shoot the beach sunset and we were determined to stick to it!  This was my favorite of the few shots I had time to take.  Although I liked the composition I thought the lighting was a little flat and I used a technique Tony Sweet calls a "digital sandwich" to amp it up.

HANALEI BAY

This is a grab shot I took while we were scouting for a good place to set up to shoot a sunset at Hanalei Bay, Kauai.

POIPU BEACH MONK SEAL

This was one of several Monk Seals we saw lounging on Poipu Beach in Kauai.  These seals are protected and there are fines in place as high as $25,000.00 for endangering or harassing them.  When they swim up on the beach the life guards quickly erect a barricade around them.  As they relax and regain the strength they need to hunt and avoid predators beach goers continue beaching around the familiar sight.

Chapel Hill Vignette

I photographed these cattle along side a creek near Chapel Hill Texas this past Sunday. I used the shot to experiment with creating a tilt shift lens effect I'd seen done on a YouTube video and thought the effect turned out to be interesting. [See video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1kVwFYZwHE]

Relaxing with the Dogs

Here's a shot of my wife and our dogs relaxing after a hard day of Christmas activities.

Harlie Girl Again 2

Harlie Girl basking in the window light in recliner she is not supposed to be in!

BNC Armadillo #2

I wouldn't normally post a shot of the south end of a north-bound animal but I like the end result of this shot. Taken at fairly close range with my 50-500 Sigma lens out at 500, I like the soft focus and bokeh.

Backyard Grasshopper

a My wife spotted this grasshopper in the yard this evening so I took the opportunity to photograph it - duh! The background was a little plain so I added in a blurry moon taken yesterday morning.

Found Kitty

This kitty ended up under our tool shed back in May. After considerable coaxing my wife was able to lure it to her, and it didn't take too long to find it a home.

BNC Armadillo

Another shot of an armadillo taken in late June at the Baytown Nature Center.

BNC Bunny

A rabbit photographed at the Baytown Nature Center.

National Mammal of Texas

I decided to drive through the Baytown Nature Center on the way home from work yesterday evening to see if the recent rain had stirred up any activity. I was leaving when I spotted this juvenile armadillo digging for grubs on the side of the road. It had absolutely no fear of me, guess it was too young, and I think I took this shot of it from about 5 feet away!

Swamp Dog

Jessie, one of Marcus de la Houssaye's Catahoula hog dogs, splits his time on swamp tours between looking on the bow of the boat on alligator watch and napping.

Spring Pony

It's that time of year. Seems like every pasture you pass if full of newborn ponies or calves. This one was in a pasture off Main Street in Baytown this weekend.