Skywatch Friday -Ta Phrom- Cambodia

This is one of the famous ancient temples around Angkor Wat called Ta Phrom. It is famous for the old trees growing right around and on top of the temple. I just love this big old tree climbing over the temple and reaching for the blue skies above...

Have a great weekend!!

The Papuan Backpack and What They Carry

All the garments the Papuans wear are hand made from raw materials including the dyes they use to color....just amazing.

Toby Fish

The Toby Fish...

These guys are small, and not easy to get photos of...they are always ducking behind branches of coral hiding from the camera. By holding my camera with my right hand (not an easy thing to do with a large housing and two big strobes), and reaching around the back of the coral with my left hand , I was able to scoot this little guy in front of my lens for this shot...right afterwards, he shot off like a bolt of lightning never to be seen again...

Nice Orchid

I am not really a "flower" kind of guy...but after a trip to the Orchid Gardens in Singapore, I was just blown away with the beauty and variety of Orchids...they hooked me...

The thing about Orchids is that they are "cool" for a guy to like...some flowers, if you admit are really nice, your guy friends will look at you in that strange way....but if a guy says he likes Orchids...well, that is ok...because they are just cool...

Ok, I am rambling...but man, Orchids are great.

World Press Interviews

This is really cool...I think you will like it. This site has all the World Press Photo winners, and if you click on a photo, you can listen to the story behind each of the photos...

some amazing stories...click here to see the site...

Lonely House With a View

I was driving down a lonely road in Santorini when I saw those green doors...
Had to get a photo...

Star Coral

I don't know the scientific name for this soft coral, but Star Coral sure seems like a good enough name to me...

Skywatch Friday - Mount Bromo

It's FRIDAY...my favorite blog day!!

A volcanic sky for Skywatch Friday...

Have a great weekend!!

Annapurna South

Ah, the majestic Himalayas...

Just a Tree at School

This is just one of the beautiful trees we have on campus...sometimes I forget how beautiful it is just outside my classroom...

Cruisn' With Batfish

These guys are cool...they will swim right up to you and stare at you with an expression on their face that says, "Hey man, what up?...cruisn' the reef are ya?"

Stairway to the Rim of Bromo

Yes, the walk up these stairs with Kayla on my shoulders was a bit intimidating...

Kayla on the Swing

My daughter, Kayla, having fun on the swing...

HDR of my House

I took this photo of our house the other night, and thought it was cool...

We have moved into the house, but it still has maybe two more months of finishing work to be done...but we have a working shower and toilet, so what more can you ask for? The pool hopefully will be filled next week...we are having a party next Saturday, so we just hope it is "party ready" by then...

Skywatch Friday - Pulau Kri

I love driftwood...and on this beach with those nice blue skies, it is even better...

Natural Light - Underwater

The light underwater takes on new dimensions...
a fantasy world...

Just Your Average Reef - NOT

It really is "another world" underwater...

Get yourself certified in SCUBA, and experience life underwater...you won't regret it!!

Victoria Falls - Zimbabwe

One of the best 90 bucks I ever spent was to take-off from the Zambezi river in an ultra-light float plane and circle Victoria Falls...an unforgettable 15 minutes!!

Boys Being Boys

This is one of my all time favorites...I posted this photo soon after I started this blog, so thought it was worth posting again...

Just when I thought my internet was working again, Indonesia fought back...can't have THAT!! A fast connection in Indonesia?? Impossible!! Arrrrgh!! It has taken me over a half hour to just post this blog entry!! I am ready to throw my modem out the window!!

Skywatch Friday - Savuti, Botswana

One of my favorite times during the day is that short span of time when the sun is just about to set, and the light is real still and the land tends to be a mix of gold and blue. That was the time when these photos were taken...just as a small pride of lions began their evening stroll...

A Caldera View

My daily routine while staying at Villa Vallais was to walk down the long set of stairs, and hike up to the top of that peak in the middle of the photograph and sit, eat a fresh apple, and watch the cruise ships pass through the blue waters of Santorini...

Paint Job Needed ??

If you are into taking photos of doors and some nice textures, Santorini is the place for you...
Santorini has no shortage of interesting doors and walls...maybe this door is better off without a paint job...it has great character...

Breakfast Time

We got up early one morning to find a place to eat breakfast...couldn't resist this place...

A Room With A View

Santorini really is a magical place...especially if you stay up on the caldera near Fira...this was our view from our Villa...I could sit there for hours...

Greece Week

My sister, Kathleen, is going to Greece this summer with her husband, Steve.

So why not a week of photos from Athens and Santorini??

A Nice Weekend

Ok, I am going to take a break from posting a nice photo and fill you in on a little personal news. I actually started a new blog for my family (by invite only) where I have been posting personal news, photos of my daughter, Kayla, etc...and have transitioned this blog to a Photo Blog only...thought it would be more consistent that way...

But, rules were meant to be broken, so I am breaking my own rule, and will post some personal news today instead of featuring some nice photo...

I have been in Pulau Seribu (which means "thousand islands" in Indonesian) for the past two days enjoying some time out of Jakarta. These little islands (literally hundreds of them) are just off the coast of Jakarta about an hour's boat ride. It is like having your own private island for the weekend...really nice.

Below is a photo of the island just across from where we were staying...you can snorkel over to the island in just 10 minutes and lie on the small beach...really nice.

I spent most of my time lounged on this deck reading books...and every once in a while, roll into the water for a quick dive or swim...

The reefs have really been destroyed in the past 20 years due to over fishing, dynamite fishing and people being stupid...However, they are coming back...the government is finally starting to realize that preserving the reefs benefits everyone...

And finally, in other news...we actually spent our first night in our new house. We still don't have a shower, but we have one room finished enough with the all important AC to actually sleep...so, we are now living with the workers in our new house...they will be building around us while we try to somehow get things set up...

Oh, yea, the internet works great here!! No more problems!!

This is Kayla, who is very happy to be in our new house...

Back to the "Photo Blog" tomorrow...

Skywatch Friday - Sunset in Namibia

I waited for just the right moment for this giraffe to walk into my sunset...talk about being at the right place at the right time...animals are usually not very cooperative models...

A City of Contrasts

Hard to NOT notice the class differences in Jakarta. The nice pink apartment buildings overlooking the shanty town below...