WINGS OVER HOUSTON #2

Here's another composite shot from this years "Wings Over Houston" show.

WINGS OVER HOUSTON #1

This is a composite shot from this years Wings Over Houston air show.  I didn't get a lot of shots I liked at the show so I had to piece some together.  It was my first time to attend the show so next time I'll a better idea of what to expect.

"A WALK IN THE PARK"

This was my second shot entered at the last Bay Area Photo Club Honor's Night under the assignment topic of "Composite."  This composite was created from portions of the stainless "scales" that cover the "EMP Museum" in Seattle and a shot from the Olympic National Forest in Washington.

KALE RIDES OUT

Last night's BAPC assignment for the Honor's Program was "Composite."  I put this image together out of 7 or 8 different images, 40 adjustment layers, and about 5 hours of "tweaking."  It ended up drawing only a bronze award from the judges, but when it was all said and done I was happy enough with the image.

DOWN THE ROAD

This shot is from a low POV looking down the road at one of the iconic Pike Place Market signs in Seattle.

PIONEER STATION SEATTLE

I submitted this image of the Pioneer Square transit station in Seattle for the Bay Area Photo Club Honors Night assignment "Wide Open" and was awarded a Gold award by the judges.

LONE PHOTOGRAPHER

This was a shot of fellow photographer on our National Geographic workshop recently in Seattle, WA.

HALEY #2

This is another shot of my niece Haley taken at my wife's family reunion in Sweeny, TX a few weeks ago.  This was a technically tough shot because I had to mirror her jump while taking the shot!

PIKE PLACE MARKET ENTRANCE

Here's a three shot HDR composite shot of the entrance to the Pike Place Market in Seattle.

WAIMEA VALLEY KAUAI

Here's a 10-shot stitched panoramic taken from the Waimea Valley lookout platform on Kauai.

HALEY

This is a shot of my niece taken in Sweeny, Tx at a family reunion a couple of weeks ago.  We took several photos of her that day for a series that her mom wanted that had a "Texas feel".

BICYCLE POLO SEATTLE STYLE

While we were in Seattle we watched this group of locals playing several games of bicycle polo.  They weren't about to let a little rain slow them down!

SHOE ANGELS

The "Shoe Angels" repair shop in Seattle was around the corner from the restaurant our Nat Geo group ate at for the wrap up dinner of our work shop.  It had a fascinating collection of items inside and would have been a great place to photograph during working hours had there been time.

BENCH AT MADISON FALLS

While we were on a brief visit to Madison Falls, trying to outrun a storm, we stopped to photograph this bench at the foot of the trail in Olympic National Park in Washington.

SEATTLE WATERFRONT

Here's a shot of the Seattle waterfront taken from a restaurant pier near the hotel where we were staying.

A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT

This shot was taken at the trail head of the Madison Falls Trail in the Olympic National Park in northwest Washington.

PIKE PLACE PIANO MAN

I watched this guy play the piano off and on for an hour or two.  I don't know how long he plays each day but someone in our Nat Geo group took a closeup of his hands and all his fingers had band aids on them!  He plays on Pike Place in Seattle across from the market.

KERRY PARK VIEW

My brother Barry and I just returned from a National Geographic Workshop in Seattle.  While we were there I shot this 10 shot pano of the famous Kerry Park view of downtown and the bay.

HANALEI TARO FIELD KAUAI

This was an evening shot of one the taro fields of Hanalei on Kauai.  Taro is the root crop that produces the infamous poi.

BNC HUMMINGBIRD #4

Here's a hummingbird shot from the Baytown Nature Center this past Sunday.

GRAVES AT JUNK BEACH

This cemetery, located near Glass Beach on Kauai, had an interesting look due to the abundance of the island's famous red dirt and the degree to which it was "lightly" maintained.

HANALEI SUNSET 2

Here's another shot of a Hanalei Bay sunset on Kauai.

NAPALI COASTLINE

Here's a shot of the Napali Coastline of Kauai taken from a tour boat this past June.

FRONT YARD MACRO

This is a photo I entered in last Thursday's Bay Area Photo Club Honors Night program under the assignment "MACRO".

BUSY BEE

This shot is of a bee collecting pollen from a Crepe Myrtle in our backyard.

GILLIGAN'S ISLAND BEACH

"Moloaa Beach" on Kauai is where the opening scene of  the introduction to "Gilligan's Island" was filmed.

KAUAI MOUNTAIN VALLEY

This mountain valley and stream from shot from our helicopter tour of Kauai in June.

"ASCENSION"

This composite recently was awarded "Gold" and high for the night on Bay Area Photo Clubs Honors Night last month and a third place ribbon at the Baytown Photo Clubs recent show.  It's a nine shot composite with the background being a six shot HDR of an alley on Texas Avenue in Baytown.

OSPREY AND MONUMENT

Osprey photographed this weekend at the Baytown Nature Center with the San Jacinto Monument in the background.

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.

TARO FIELDS OF THE HANALEI VALLEY

This is an eight shot stitched pano of the taro fields in the Hanalei Valley on the island of Kauai.

KAUAI MOUNTAINS

This is a shot of some of the mountains we flew over on our Jack Harter helicopter tour of Kauai.  It would be hard to imagine how green these mountains are without seeing them.  I suppose that's one of the outcomes in an area with 468" of average rainfall per year!

Wai`oli Hui`ia Church Kauai

The "Wai oli Hui ia Church in Hanalei Kauia is the most photographed church on any of the islands.  It was established by American Christian Missionaries in 1834 and you can learn more about it at http://www.hanaleichurch.org/About_Us.html.

BNC SHOREBIRD HAS A SNACK

My wife spotted this bird making a snack of a little grass snake at the Baytown Nature Center on Sunday during a quick drive through.

HANALEI BAY SUNSET

Sunset at Hanalei Bay in Kauai is considered a "don't miss" event.  We arrived at the beach about an hour early to set up for this shot ensuring us enough time to enjoy it.

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.

STILL LIFE #3

I set up this still life shot as a possible contender for the Bay Area Photo Club's July assignment "High Key" but didn't end up using it.

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.

SHIPWRECK BEACH SURFER

Kauai's Shipwreck Beach ended up being one of my favorite beaches to hang out at.  The sloping white sandy beach draws lots of surfers, boogie boarders, and body surfers and features a cliff at one end that locals often dive off of.

OLD KOLOA SUGAR MILL

This is the old Koloa Sugar Mill built on the south side of Kauai in 1835 by Ladd & Company.  Read more about it at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Sugar_Mill_of_Koloa. 

KILAUEA LIGHTHOUSE

This is an early morning shot of the Kilauea Lighthouse on the island of Kauai.  The lighthouse, dedicated in 1913, is the centerpiece of the Kilauea National Wildlife Refuge.

Two of Kauai's claims to fame are wild chickens and red dirt.  It's estimated that the wild chicken population may out number permanent residents on the island.  The large number is most usually attributed to the destruction of chicken coops and farms during hurricane Iniki in 1992. 

Kauai's Na Pali Coast

My wife and I just got back from a trip to the Hawaiian island of Kauai.  While we were there I took this shot of the island's Na Pali coastline during a helicopter tour.

BACKYARD TEXTURES

From last weekend, colors and textures from the backyard.

KALE FOR THE WEEKEND!

We're Keeping our grandson Kale for the weekend so there are lots of photo ops!

BNC IBIS

Another Ibis shot from the Baytown Nature Center last weekend.

RODEO FOOD

This was my second shot for the BAPC assignment "Flash Photography" last Thursday night.

LADY IN PINK AND YELLOW

Macro shot at the Baytown Nature Center a couple of weeks ago.  Shot with my E-5 and a 50-200 lens and 1" extension tube.  I used an LED ring light to light the subject.

BAYTOWN NATURE CENTER BIRDS

Crop of birds take at the Baytown Nature Center yesterday.