A Sunset To Remember

Happy Friday!!

Sunsets are not only beautiful looking into the sun, but don't forget to turn around and look behind you...sometimes the colors are even more amazing...

Be sure to check out all the skies from around the world HERE...

I am off to India today for a week...will try to get some posts made before I leave...

Have a great weekend!!

Mixed Breeds

I love the expression on these fish's faces...and isn't it cool that some of these fish are red, and some are silver? As I approached this group, they didn't budge...I was able to get my wide angle lens within a few inches of them, and they just stared at me as if to say, "what up, Dude?"

Moon Rise Over The Pier

I just heard last night that Mount Merapi is erupting, and that there was another earthquake and tsunami in Sumatra...all is fine here in Jakarta, but my heart goes out to those that are living near the natural disaster zones...we live in the "ring of fire" here in Indonesia, and that ring is showing its power lately...

On our last night in Papua last week, we had a BBQ out by the water. I looked over the pier and saw this "Genie" like cloud formation. I knew that if I didn't get a photo of it right away, it would soon disappear...so, I left my food on the table, ran back to my room, got my tripod, set up my Leica, and shot away...a few seconds later, the cloud formation broke up as expected...

A Tornado Of Fish

Sorry for the late posting...I am having big internet problems again at home...I now have no internet in my home office, and have to connect via the phone plug downstairs in our living room...a real pain!!

The trip to Papua was outstanding, but I was not really happy with my photos I took underwater...I took over a thousand photos, and I am happy with maybe 8 of those. I usually get a bigger percentage of keepers, but I was using new strobes, and a different lens than I am used to using, and I think that threw me off...most of the photos I took are not properly lit, and many were fuzzy...but, I am happy that I got a least a few keepers. It reminds me of the film days when I was lucky to get one keeper (if that) per roll of film...often, entire rolls of film would be total trash...

So this photo below was from a site called, "Blue Magic"...I don't think I have ever seen so many fish in one dive...there were perhaps 10 different schools of fish all swimming together at one point...there were so many fish, it was dark underwater...an unreal dive!!

Africa Archive Number Five

Happy Friday!!

Our last day of diving today...tomorrow, I will visit a Papuan village, and just hang out. We leave early Sunday morning...it has been a fantastic trip!!

Here is one of my favorite Giraffe photos...

Africa Archive Number Four

Things are going well here in Papua. Had three great dives today. Tomorrow will be our last day of diving...boo hoo...We went to see the Mantas yesterday, but came up empty. We will give it another try tomorrow.

Here is another favorite Africa photo of mine of a Water Buck...

Africa Archive Number Three

It must be cool to be king of the jungle...these lions were just on a leisurely walk through the park...

Africa Archive Number Two

Another memorable experience in Africa...

This in Chobe National Park. There were tons of elephants, and this herd walked right in front of our safari jeep, and into the water to cross the river...

Africa Archive Number One

I am sitting on a very remote island in the center of Raja Ampat in Papua. Believe it or not, there is an internet connection here. I will be diving here for the next 5 days or so...trying to get some good underwater shots. I had three great dives today, but my camera was not working on the third dive...so far, I have not taken any shots that say, "wow"...but hopefully, that will change in the next couple of days!

So, since I don't have any editing capabilities out here, I brought with me some of my old shots from Africa that I will share this week. This is the first from the archives. I remember this day well, as it was one of my favorite days on my trip. My buddy and I waited till late afternoon to get on a float plane that took off on the river that leads to Victoria Falls. We then made a few passes over the falls, and then landed back on the river...it was amazing!!

Into The Mystic

Happy Friday!!

Today is one of the best kind of Fridays...the kind that come just before a vacation!!

I am off to Papua for a dive trip tomorrow, and I will be taking my new underwater strobes with me...so, be ready for some new underwater photos!!

Today happens to also be skywatch Friday!!

Be sure to check out all the beautiful skies from around the world HERE...

Fish and Coral

There were hundreds of these little fish darting in and out of the coral. When I would approach them with my camera, they would dart inside and hide, so I had to time my shot perfectly to get them when they came out of their holes...pretty little guys, aren't they?

The Jungle Takes Over

I can't remember the name of this temple in Siem Reap, Cambodia...it is one of the more cool ones in the Angkor Wat region...one of the temples where the jungle is taking over. It is just too much fun to walk around these temples to see history untouched...

Venice Canal At Night

HDR is tricky at night...lots of noise comes with the territory, so you have to blend one of the original photos into the HDR to get rid of the noise. The boat in the foreground was also moving during my long exposure, so it was blurry in my HDR, so that had to be masked out as well.

I liked the way this one turned out...it is how I remember the scene...

Three Days With A Nikon

We had a big soccer tournament at school last week. My new Leica M9 is not the ideal camera for shooting sports....in fact, it is useless for sports. So, I borrowed my friend's Nikon D300 and a Sigma 50-500mm lens, and shot soccer. This is one of my favorite shots...processed with Nik's Color Efex...

I was in Singapore the past few days. I lent my Leica to a good friend to shoot a play at school...it was strange being in Singapore without a camera...

One More From Papua

One of the amazing reefs of Raja Ampat. I will be there in just a couple of weeks...I can't wait to get back!!

Have a great weekend!!

Now THIS Is A Boat Ride

I had to climb to the top of one of these limestone cliffs to get this shot. It was a very scary climb as the rocks are razor sharp...all I could think of was, "what if I slip??" If you slip on the climb up, you are history...it would not be a very nice way to go. I was very careful, and made it to the top fine, and then yelled down to the boat to make a nice "S" turn so that I could get a cool shot.

Off To Singapore

I am off to Singapore for a couple of days...so, I will post a couple of photos from the past today since I won't be able to post while I am gone...

Here is one from Manta Point in Papua...

Stormy Weather For A Soccer Tournament

We have been hosting a soccer tournament for the past two days at Jakarta International School.
The weather has been incredibly stormy. High winds, big dark clouds, and tons of rain. I love big stormy clouds...makes for good pictures. The players and coaches were not very happy, but I was secretly excited about the stormy weather....

Pulau Seribu Sunset

You don't see clouds like this in Jakarta very often...but just two hours away by boat, the sky and water changes...sure is nice to get out of the big polluted city of Jakarta and escape for a couple of days. Every time I go out to the Thousand Islands, I wonder why I don't do it more often...

Have a great weekend!!

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