Happy New Year, and Good-Bye to 2008

Out here in Indonesia it is almost the new year...in about three hours...

I wish you all the best in the upcoming year!!

Yep, It's RED

I couldn't help but notice the great texture and color...and patterns at the bottom of the great wooden hulls of the sailing ships...

Orangutang

Orang - Hutan is the actual Indonesian name for these guys....it means people (orang) of the forest (Hutan)...

A Couple More Shots From Sunda Kelapa

I posted these two shots on my family blog last night...

Another Trip to Sunda Kelapa

My parents are visiting Jakarta. What would a trip to Jakarta be without heading to Sunda Kelapa to see the old sailing ships...and a stroll through the neighboring Kampung (village)...

We had great skies today...not the normal haze that there usually is in Jakarta...

Christmas Eve

I wish this was Jakarta, but far from it...the photo below was taken in Switzerland a couple of years ago when I went to visit some friends for some skiing...they really have nice white Christmas' there...

Most likely, I won't be making a post Christmas day, so Merry Christmas to all of you out there in Blog Land!!

And Thanks to all of you that left nice Christmas messages for me and my family in the post below...Klaus, Pernille, Stacey, Ivar, Thomas, and Quint...Merry Christmas to you and your families as well...

The Antelope of Chobe

The one animal there is no shortage of at Chobe in Botswana...

Zillions of Fish and Reef

Talk about Bio-diversity...

Skywatch Friday - Clouds Over the Gobi

Happy Friday!!

This Friday for me is one of those really good Fridays....the Friday before a three-week vacation!!

My photo today takes you to South West Mongolia to the Gobi Desert....some cool skies there!

Be sure to visit other sites from around the world...click here to take you to the skywatch site...

Just Clowning Around

Every body's favorite fish...the clown fish.

Published With A List of Distinguished Names

I learned this weekend that a few of my photos will be included in a brochure that is being published for my favorite dive destination, Raja Ampat. But the coolest thing for me is the list of photographers that also have photos in the brochure...my name is amongst those of David Doubilet (famous underwater photographer for National Geographic), Mark Strickland, Roger Steene, Gerald Allen, Stephen Wong, Takako Uno, Willem Gingnagel, and others...I am honored to be mentioned along side these underwater photographers...

This is one of the photos included in the brochure...

Like Fireworks Underwater

These little tube worms are sensitive...if you make any sudden movements with your camera, they fold up quickly, and don't come back out for at least a few minutes...but when in full bloom...wow...

It's No Wonder People Love The Beach

Doesn't the water just beg you to dive in?

Fish Forever

My good friend, Max Ammer, came by for a visit today. He is the owner and operator of Papua Divers in Raja Ampat...the ultimate dive destination where most of my underwater photos come from. In his honor, I went through some of my old photos from Raja Ampat, and found this beauty...I remember thinking when I took this shot, it was like "fish forever"...

Skywatch Friday - Another Sunrise at Angkor Wat

Happy Friday, Everyone....wow, this week flew by...

My Skywatch photo this week is from Angkor Wat in Cambodia. I had a similar photo awhile back, but the one below is from a different morning, and I like the sky better...

Be sure to visit as many other sites as you can....click here to take you to the main skywatch friday website...

A Head of Hair

These guys have hair....I do not. The guy in the red hat has hair just as long as the other dude, but it was wrapped up in that hat...

Don't Try This At Home

Diving in Tulamben, in North East Bali, there is a long walk down the beach over hot black rocks to get to the liberty wreck just off-shore. These ladies will carry your scuba gear and weight belts to the entry point for less than a buck.

...and I complain when I have to carry my camera and fins...

Surfing

Sorry for the late entry...I guess you can say I went surfing...

Actually, I went to the Indonesia vs. Singapore soccer game last night. Indonesia has made it to the semi-finals even though they lost last night to Singapore 2-0. It was a very cool experience being there with the loud crowd, and we bought funny red and white hats, and one of us was interviewed on Indonesian TV...it was fun.

A Cabin in the Swiss Alps

At every corner when traveling through Switzerland, you expect to see Julie Andrews come strolling over a hill singing the Sound of Music...

Climbing Dunes in the Gobi Desert

We traveled for hundreds of miles looking for the dunes of the Gobi...

We found them...

Skywatch Friday - Sunset at Alona Beach

Happy Friday!!

My skywatch shot today is from Alona Beach in the Philippines...one of my favorite places.

Be sure to visit other skywatch sites from around the world HERE...

An Ancient Hallway Bathed in Afternoon Light

You gotta wonder...who walked down this hallway a thousand years ago?

A Boy and His Sheep

The question we would always ask each other when traveling through Mongolia was, "Where do you think they are going?"

There is so much wide open space, we would run into kids only 10 or 11 years old hundreds of miles away from any known structure they could call home...where were they going? How do they know where they are?

Angkor Wat

I took this photo back when there were not too many tourists in Cambodia...in fact, I was one of only maybe three or four people on the grounds of Angkor Wat when I took this photo. I returned to Angkor Wat two years ago, and there were about 400 people there to watch the sunrise...I am happy that Cambodia is getting more tourists dollars, but not happy about the crowds...oh well...

Peeping at the White People

In Mongolia, everywhere is the middle of nowhere. I think it is about as remote as you can get with exception of the arctic. Our Russian jeep stopped at this little outpost, and at first, I thought it was completely deserted, but then these two girls popped their faces into these two small windows for just a second. They were very shy, and I am not sure if they had ever seen white faces before...