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A series of shots I got during our passage through The Big Ditch!
MAERSK EL PALOMAR (IMO 9964481, MMSI 563220200) is a Container Ship built in 2024 (1 year old) and currently sailing under the flag of Singapore. Maersk El Palomar has an LOA of 335 metres (1,100 feet), a beam of 51 metres (170 feet), a depth of 27.1 metres (88.9 feet), a draught of 16 metres (52 feet), a gross tonnage of 127,832, and space for 30 crewmembers. The main engine is a Mitsui-MAN-B&W 7G95ME-C10.5 diesel.
Going through the complete Panama Canal was definitely a bucket list item for me. I spent the entire day (8 hours) outside on the deck along with a bunch of other folks, my shutter happily clicking away!
We had a Canal Guide onboard who pointed out all the interesting locations, couldn't tell you one thing he said because I wasn't listening I was too busy shooting!
Have to commend Princess Cruises, they were really nice to us outside in that they had stewards coming around regularly offering up cool drinks, sandwiches, and such.
Reminds me of a Class "A" RV, you're really limited on where you can park the thing!
Once out of the Canal we steamed our way down to Aruba for some sun and fun. I happened to be out on deck and saw the Adventure closing in on the dock so I fired off a couple of shots.
We've been to Aruba several times so our plan was to just walk off the ship and take a stroll through town since the majority of these Caribbean ports are a lot alike. Lot's of bars, restaurants, and places for tourists to get fleeced!
This is all the zoom I had with me!
Had a storm blow through yesterday evening but it stayed well to the South and was headed West. There was nothing going on here at the ranch but I headed up to my shooting spot just in case something strayed our way.
Well, true to form the storm stayed South and headed West, put on a pretty good show that I was able to catch a little of. Very weird set of clouds, they were real flat and real spread out.
This is a single shot 32 seconds on the clock, f/6.3, ISO 100 and 200mm worth of zoom! I had my Tamron 18-200mm glass on and had it sticking out as far as it would go. Rough measurements in Google Maps say these bolts were about 10 miles away (as the crow flies) so I'm pretty happy with the results!
A series of shots I got during our passage through The Big Ditch!
ADEBOWALE (IMO 7518977) is a Oil service/PSV ship built in 1978 and is sailing under the flag of Tanzania. She has an overall length (LOA) of 66 meters and a width (beam) of 13 meters. Her summer deadweight capacity is 2,646 tonnes. From the looks of her she seems to have lived a very hard life!
Going through the complete Panama Canal was definitely a bucket list item for me. I spent the entire day (8 hours) outside on the deck along with a bunch of other folks, my shutter happily clicking away!
We had a Canal Guide onboard who pointed out all the interesting locations, couldn't tell you one thing he said because I wasn't listening I was too busy shooting!
Have to commend Princess Cruises, they were really nice to us outside in that they had stewards coming aro
Niccy and I just got back from a transatlantic cruise so I've finally got some shots to post!
SAR MASTELERO (IMO: 9525730) is a Tug and is sailing under the flag of Spain. Her length overall (LOA) is 40 meters and her width is 12 meters.
She belongs to the Sociedad de Salvamento y Seguridad Marítima (literally: Maritime Safety and Rescue Society), also known as SASEMAR or Salvamento Marítimo, is a sea search and rescue agency that operates in Spain.
SASEMAR is the body in charge of maritime traffic control, safety and rescue operations, and protection of the maritime environment but lacks any law enforcement responsibilities.
The agency runs 20 rescue coordination centers (RCC), employs a staff of 1,500, and operates a fleet of 19 vessels, 54 boats, 11 helicopters, and 4 airplanes.
A series of shots I got during our passage through The Big Ditch!
Vessel ST ARUBA is a tug ship sailing under the flag of Panama. Her IMO number is 9366706 and MMSI number is 370120000. Main ship particulars are length of 28 m and beam of 10 m.
If you're a fan of tugs then a trip through the Panama Canal would be perfect for you! It takes a lot of horsepower to keep traffic going and these workhorses are the ones to get it done!
Going through the complete Panama Canal was definitely a bucket list item for me. I spent the entire day (8 hours) outside on the deck along with a bunch of other folks, my shutter happily clicking away!
We had a Canal Guide onboard who pointed out all the interesting locations, couldn't tell you one thing he said because I wasn't listening I was too busy shooting!
Have to commend Princess Cruises, they were really nice to us outside in that they had stewards coming around regularly offering up cool drinks, sandwiches, and such.
Niccy and I just got back from a transatlantic cruise so I've finally got some shots to post!
We arrived real early in Cadiz at a working part of the port. Nothing touristy to see here. There's a Royal Caribbean ship buried in the background but I don't know which one it is. There's also a Spanish Navy ship in the foreground, again I'm not sure which one it is.
Cadiz is a beautiful place and if I were to live in Spain I'd certainly consider living there. Very walkable but we did have to take a shuttle bus to get out of the port.
Apologies to DEVO and their No. 14 Billboard chart hit Whip It!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_QLzthSkfM
Monsoon storms are like a box of Cracker Jack, there's always a prize inside but it may be at the bottom of the box (or end of the storm). This storm was fast moving and blew over quickly, really didn't pick up until it was well past me and my camera. I hung around for awhile just in case something decided to pop off and this is what I came up with.
When I saw the shot on my monitor the first thought I had was Mother Nature cracking her cat o' nine tails, ready to inflict some punishment on the City of Tucson which might not be a bad thing. I luckily live outside the city limits so I'm not affected by the cities decisions which are quite often misguided and every now and then just flat wrong.
This was shot with 25 seconds on the clock @ ISO 100 and f/9. For those who are curious the glow on the horizon is lighting from the city of Tucson.
If you're any sort of fisherman then you'll know exactly what I'm talking about!
One of the crew members on the Adventure of the Seas was tossing a line over to the dock and I got him right in the middle of the action.
Although this looks like a bird's nest I'm pretty sure he's coiled up the rope enough times to make sure that it pays out smoothly in the end.
Once out of the Canal we steamed our way down to Aruba for some sun and fun. I happened to be out on deck and saw the Adventure closing in on the dock so I fired off a couple of shots.
We've been to Aruba several times so our plan was to just walk off the ship and take a stroll through town since the majority of these Caribbean ports are a lot alike. Lot's of bars, restaurants, and places for tourists to get fleeced!
Sorry, haven\'t seen any cathouses yet although there were a couple of places in Nevada......
This was shot in Florence Oregon, down on the Siuslaw river. There were several of these bird condos around but this was the only one that was occupied.
I\'m hoping that Jim Frazier or another of the birder ilk can identify the inhabitants. Whatever they are they seemed to be scrapping with the seagulls that were divebombing their shack!
A series of shots I got during our passage through The Big Ditch!
I personally like this shot because it shows that no matter who you are, where you are, or what you look like a wave and a smile always translates to good times for all.
Going through the complete Panama Canal was definitely a bucket list item for me. I spent the entire day (8 hours) outside on the deck along with a bunch of other folks, my shutter happily clicking away!
We had a Canal Guide onboard who pointed out all the interesting locations, couldn't tell you one thing he said because I wasn't listening I was too busy shooting!
Have to commend Princess Cruises, they were really nice to us outside in that they had stewards coming around with sandwiches and cool drinks for everyone.
A series of shots I got during our passage through The Big Ditch!
Vessel PANAMA XIV is a Tug ship sailing under the flag of Panama. Her IMO number is 9363596 and MMSI number is 356342000. Main ship particulars are length of 27 m and beam of 12 m. I got the chance to see a LOT of tugs on this trip!
Going through the complete Panama Canal was definitely a bucket list item for me. I spent the entire day (8 hours) outside on the deck along with a bunch of other folks, my shutter happily clicking away!
We had a Canal Guide onboard who pointed out all the interesting locations, couldn't tell you one thing he said because I wasn't listening I was too busy shooting!
Have to commend Princess Cruises, they were really nice to us outside in that they had stewards coming around regularly offering up cool drinks, sandwiches, and such.
It was more like a wet firecracker than it was thunder!
If I told you we were going to the Thunder and Lightning Over Arizona Air Show what exactly would you expect? Lots of screaming jets, incredible acrobatics, maybe a Wing Walker and a couple of sonic booms that rattled all the windows in town? Yeah, that's not going to happen, not even close.
On the weekend of March 22-23, Davis Monthan AFB opened the gates and invited everyone to enjoy a free, weekend-long event packed full of entertainment. You could come out and see dynamic aerial displays, memorable planes, and SO much more!
Now I didn't go to the base to see the show, in the years past I didn't have to. All the flights passed right over the house so we could sit outside and enjoy but not this year.
I don't know if it's because of budget cuts, environmental issues, or malaise on the part of the organizers but the flight pattern was changed to keep everything pretty much centralized over the base. Maybe people complained to the city council about the noise? You know how those NIMBY people can get.
Whatever the cause it sure put a damper on the show for those of us who chose not to fight the madhouse of the base to find a parking space and spend the day sitting in the blazing sun to see a couple of jets putting through the sky.
This is the best shot I got of the whole show. Look at the EXIF and you'll see I had my 200mm lens pushed out as far as I could and the speed at a nominal 1/320 of a second.
A series of shots I got during our passage through The Big Ditch!
AAL SINGAPORE is a General cargo/Heavy Lift vessel built in 2011 by HUANGHAI SHIPBUILDING - RONGCHENG, CHINA. Currently sailing under the flag of Liberia. Formerly also known as AAL SINGAPORE. It's gross tonnage is 23930 tons.
Going through the complete Panama Canal was definitely a bucket list item for me. I spent the entire day (8 hours) outside on the deck along with a bunch of other folks, my shutter happily clicking away!
We had a Canal Guide onboard who pointed out all the interesting locations, couldn't tell you one thing he said because I wasn't listening I was too busy shooting!
Have to commend Princess Cruises, they were really nice to us outside in that they had stewards coming aro
Who knew lifeboats came with such sweet features?
The last stop for us was in Cabo San Lucas. Evidently they're not set up to handle cruise ships so the ships anchor out and ferry people back and forth. It's a quick little ride, not enough time for anyone to get too seasick!
While there are some dedicated boats that will ferry guests it seems that Holland America decided to put a couple of their lifeboats to good use and have the crew ferry us back and forth. Nice for the crew since it gives some of them a break from their work routine and gives them practice should there ever be a need to actually use the lifeboats.
Once again lifeboat 13 comes into my life. If you're curious about what I mean you can see this previous shot:
www.flickr.com/photos/nyalr/52817282619/in/dateposted-pub...
Now I might be wrong but in my mind LA (and San Francisco) is as far from the Delta as you can get!
Built in 2009, by Nichols Brothers Boatbuilders Incorporated of Seattle, Washington (hull #S-155) as the Delta Billie for Bay and Delta Maritime Services Incorporated of San Francisco, California.
In 2022, the tug was chartered to AmNAV Maritime Services of Oakland, California. A subsidiary of the Foss Maritime Company of Seattle, Washington. Where she retained her name.
Powered by two, Caterpillar 3516C diesel engines, with Rolls Royce US255 z-drives for a rated 6,800 horsepower.
Her electrical service is provided by one, 215kW generator set. Driven by a single, Caterpillar diesel engine. And, one, 50kW generator set. Driven by a single Caterpillar diesel engine. The tug's capacities are 70,000 gallons of fuel, 8,000 gallons of water, and 1,400 gallons of sewage.
The tug's towing equipment consists of a single drum, towing winch. Outfitted with 2.5(in) towing wire.
Got a glimpse of the Delta Billy and had to give her a shot, maybe she'll become Flickr Famous?
At f/8 I must've been shooting in AP mode. I still hadn't become the Master of My Domain!
She's the second Naval ship to be named after the 16th President of the United States.
Getting close to our dock we passed by NAS North Island, home to the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72). Abe is sitting at the old dock for the USS Kittyhawk (CVA 63) where I did my time in the Navy.
The Abe Lincoln suffered a minor fire that injured 9 sailors on 29 November 2022. The cause is unknown and an investigation was launched. This may be repairs from the fire or just scheduled maintenance, don't know for sure.
In the background you can see the USNS John Lewis (T-AO 205), the Navy's newest John Lewis-class fleet oiler. I've got a better picture of her that I'll post!
Again, that early morning light in San Diego was beautiful!
For those who are interested the color is SOOC. Did a little crop since this was a LONG shot!
Had a storm pass by last night that took the usual path from East to West, totally bypassing me. Good thing about this is I don't have to worry about getting rained on, bad part is I've got to zoom a bit which limits the real estate that the lens can catch. You could be pointed in the right direction and have a bolt that hits right out of frame so this truly is a hit or miss situation!
This is a single shot, f/14 with 50mm of zoom, ISO 100 and 25 seconds on the clock. The sky was full of lightning but it hitting all around, not focused in one place.
Tubingue
Tübingen Waldhausen, Holderfeld, Brachland
- mit Tümpeln und leichten Sümpfen sowie vermutlichen unterirdischen Verschmutzungen durch Munitionsreste; Tübingen
-
da ehemaliges Militär -Schieß-Übungsgelände der franzosischen Garnison Tübingen
-> Bis in die 1990er Jahre blieb Tübingen französische Garnisonsstadt. Die französischen Soldaten prägten das Stadtbild mit. Die Kasernen beanspruchten größere Teile des Stadtgebietes.
"Place de Tübingen-Reutlingen"
.en
---------------
Tübingen Waldhausen, "Holderfeld" , fallow
with ponds, swamps and probable underground and light pollution from munitions remnants, Tübingen
--
since former military gunnery practice area of the French garrison of Tübingen
-> Up until the 1990s did the French garrison town of Tuebingen. The French soldiers dominated the cityscape. The barracks claimed large parts of the city area.
"Place de Tübingen-Reutlingen"
-fr
fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forces_fran%C3%A7aises_en_Allemagne
------------------
Tübingen Waldhausen, "Holderfeld", Tarides
d'étangs, de marécages et de la pollution probable souterrain et de la lumière par les restes de munitions, Tübingen
--
depuis que l'ancien militaire de tir au canon Domaine de pratique de la garnison française de Tübingen
-> Jusque dans les années 1990 que la ville de garnison française de Tübingen. Les soldats français a dominé le paysage urbain. La caserne revendiqué une grande partie de la zone urbaine.
"Place de Tübingen-Reutlingen"
-----------------
--------------
tech. spec.
=======
Camera: Canon PowerShot SX1 IS
Categories: Scenery SUNSET
Exposure: 0.001 sec (1/1000)
Aperture: f/4.0
Focal Length: 5 mm
ISO Speed: 80
--------------------------------------------->>>>>>> View On Black
Nature it was!
2016
Umzäunt und abgesperrt - nur noch für Mitglieder der Sportvereine
Fussballplätze mit Tribühne
Mini-stadion des multi-kulti Vereins SSC Tübingen
und der Red Knights of Tübingen
-
Gone: Now they are playing Rugby and Football here.
-
Schade!
A shot from the storm that blew through on 11 July 2023.
The monsoon season officially started on June 15 and lasts through September but up until last Tuesday we've had nothing but the hot!
The rest of the week was forecast to be dry with little chance of any rain (and it certainly was) but that's just a forecast and Mother Nature doesn't pay any attention to forecasts. Everything I've seen and heard is saying tonight might be a good night, we'll have to wait and see.
I've found myself a new place to shoot from that should give me a better view of the storms as they roll through Tucson. No guarantees since lightning hits where and when it wants but with any luck I'll get a few more good ones!
The thing I found interesting about this is how it's much brighter from the middle down to the ground. From what I've read a powerful negative charge (called a step leader) shoots down and makes contact with a positively charged object on the ground (called a positive streamer) reaching up.
When the two connect, a strong discharge occurs with a loud cracking sound. This causes a powerful and violent current, resulting in a return stroke, racing back to the cloud at 60 000 miles per second. The return stroke is the bright flash we observe as a lightning strike. Maybe it's the junction where the the leader and the streamer met?
For those who are interested this shot is SOOC other than a conversion from RAW to JPG. I had 26 seconds with the shutter open to catch this bolt.
Some happy little trees, a happy little mountain......
This is Mount Shasta, shot on 15 May 2025. We were flying up I-5 and saw a pullout that said viewpoint. This is the view they offered us and I decided to take it.
Nothing special about it, kinda looks like the other 28,985 shots of Shasta you can find here on Flickr!
A small series of photos that I took while driving down the road in Mexico.
Gotta love the independent busimessman. No storefront, just a mobile Raspado stand. For those who may not know a Raspado is shaved ice, made by blending and crushing ice, then topping it with homemade fruit syrup. Very common in Mexico but I wouldn't recommend trying them off the street unless you're interested in learning about Montezuma's Revenge!
In Puerto Chiapas Mexico we signed up to take a tour outside of the port area. We went to a place called Miguel Aleman
GOOGLE MAP COORDINATES:
14.558926371866079, -92.21688314383077
right down on the border of Mexico and Guatemala. Miguel Aleman is a company town but the people who live there own the company. Their main revenue stream comes from growing and packaging bananas for export.
Well, when we went to get on the tour van the driver stopped me and told me to stand back. I wasn't sure why at the time but I'm glad he did. Once everyone was in the van he opened up the passenger side and asked me to sit there. He gave me a front row seat and I let him know I appreciated it.
The next few photos are all taken as we drove to Miguel Aleman. They may be a little blurry because I was shooting through the windshield. There might also be some blur on the bottom of the photo because he had his dash full of papers and I was getting a bit of a reflection off them. I didn't want to move them, might have messed up his filing system!
promenade /prŏm″ə-nād′, -näd′/
noun
1. A leisurely walk, especially one taken in a public place as a social activity.
2. A public place for such walking.
3. A formal dance; a ball.
Holland America Line has a Promenade Deck on all their ships that goes completely around. A nice, quiet place to go for an evening stroll. Many people also go out during the day to read, I guess the sunlight and waves make great companions for bodice rippers!
When I first saw this shot it just spoke to me. I can't tell you why or define what it is that I like, it just spoke to me and I knew I had to post it. For me.
I love all boats and I can't deny!
Pilots have a duty to ensure the safety of ships, crews and cargoes entering the waters they're in charge of. I can appreciate that and say Thank You for making my passage as safe as possible! This was the pilot that took us into Mazatlan, Mexico.
This would be our idea of a "Cruise From Hell!"
"The Marigalante Pirate Ship is an exact replica of the Santa Maria, made entirely of wood. It weighs approximately 700 tons and has three wooden masts with triangular sails.
The ship has four impressive decks with a total capacity of 240 passengers. It is equipped with professional light and sound equipment and 40 five-litre tanks filled with ABC extinguishing liquid. It also has eight ladies' toilets, four gents' toilets and three urinals."
Plain and simple this is a booze cruise for spring break college kids and cruise ship tourists. The same folks who go to Señor Ranas (Señor Frogs) for an "authentic Mexican food and drink experience", nothing more and nothing less.
I get it, this is a tourist area and you're going to have tourist traps. I just have a hard time keeping a straight face when someone tells me that they got to know the real Mexico on this trip and they can't wait to come back and do it again. Sometimes I wish I could just wake up in their dream world and see what they're seeing but every time I try reality slaps me across the head and says not today.
There weren't any grocery stores in the neighborhood so they had to grow their own.
This is the gate and path to the old orchard at the Mission San José de Tumacácori. Like I said above there wasn't any infrastructure here in the 1800s so if they wanted to eat they had to grow their own.
"Between 1801 and 1828, a 4.6 acre orchard and garden was in use at San José de Tumacácori. Historical evidence such as missionary records and journals from ‘49ers on the way to California indicate that fruit trees, including peach, quince, pear, apple, pecan, walnut, fig, mulberry, and pomegranate, contributed to the sustenance of mission communities along with grape vineyards, grain fields, vegetable and pharmacy gardens, and livestock.
www.nps.gov/tuma/learn/nature/heritage-orchard.htm
The National Park Service has worked with the "University of Arizona, and Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum to launch a collaborative effort called the Kino Heritage Fruit Trees Project. The objective of this project was to locate historical documents in Mexico and the United States to identify communities where fruit trees descended from the Spanish Mission System might still grow. The results identified 21 towns in Arizona and Sonora which fit the criteria. During visits to these towns eleven fruit cultivars were identified as being appropriate for the project. Seeds, cuttings and grafting material were then collected for propagation from the suitable trees.
www.nps.gov/tuma/learn/nature/heritage-orchard.htm
Pretty cool that they went repopulated the orchard with heirloom varieties of fruit that would have been grown there at the time.
"In 2010, Charles "Skip" W. Bowen, who was then the United States Coast Guard's most senior non-commissioned officer, proposed that all 58 cutters in the Sentinel class should be named after enlisted sailors in the Coast Guard, or one of its precursor services, who were recognized for their heroism."!
Good job for recognizing the enlisted guys!
Parked outside of the U.S. Coast Guard Base Los Angeles / Long Beach you see 3 of their Sentinel Class cutters with the USCGC Robert Ward (WPC-1130)in the lead, the USCGC Forrest Rednour (WPC-1129)sitting middle of the pack, and bringing up the rear is the USCGC Benjamin Bottoms (WPC-1132)!
All three are good looking ladies and all three are doing a great job of protecting our coastal waters from all the baddies.
Since we're technically tourists I thought I'd shoot a tourist type shot!
Niccy and I just got back from a cruise that took us to Puerto Vallarta Mexico, Huatulco Mexico, Puerto Chiapas Mexico, Puntarenas Costa Rica, Puerto Amador Panama, through the Panama Canal, on to Aruba and ending up in Fort Lauderdale.
Our trip style is to bypass the tourist spots and try to get a feel for the city/state/country we're in but being on a cruise it's difficult since cruises are all about "tourist spots". Hence, this shot.
Maybe that's something I'll try out in the future, shooting "tourist type shots" but with a little artistic flair. Something that sets them apart from the typical Iphone shots you'll see here on Flickr. Always trying to expand my repertoire....
Mother Nature finally decided to give us a show but not everyone appreciated it.
I love shooting lightning and I could watch it for hours but last Friday night (2 August) I was reminded of how bad a storm can be.
We had a storm blow through Friday afternoon/evening that caused a lot of damage here in the park where Niccy and I live:
https://www.kgun9.com/news/local-news/mobile-home-park-recovering-from-friday-night-storm-damage
I'm not posting any damage pictures out of respect.
We were lucky in that we only lost a few shingles off the roof, others weren't as lucky. What was good about this though is that it showed how a community can come together to take care of it's own. People were driving the streets, checking on damage and neighbors were checking on neighbors. Our clubhouse was left open all night as an emergency shelter for those who had no electricity so they could have a cool place to sleep and plug in any medical devices they might need and right now neighbors are out helping neighbors clean up the mess.
You might hear that this country is divided and being torn apart. If so, come on by our park and you'll see just exactly how our country is coming together.
BTW, this shot is from a storm that blew by last night, not the Friday night storm. I'll post a few more from last night shortly. The wind and rain was so bad on Friday that there was no way anyone was getting a shot.
You think your job is hard? Try keeping up with these guys!
In Mazatlan we took a tour that got us out of the city and out into the countryside to see the non-toursity side of things.
Our first stop was a brickyard where they were making traditional adobe bricks for new contstruction. Adobe consists of clay, water, and an organic material, usually straw or in this case dung. The three are mixed together, placed into molds then left to dry for a month or so. On average each worker makes 1000 bricks a day which is pretty crazy since the whole operation is done by hand!
I want to note that this was not a show or staged setting for tourists, this is the every day job of the guys! I sure feel for them when they get older, hopefully they've got some sort of retirement plan.
Niccy and I just got back from a transatlantic cruise so I've finally got some shots to post!
Early morning at the dock in Fort Lauderdale Florida. Saw the Oasis Of The Seas:
www.royalcaribbean.com/cruise-ships/oasis-of-the-seas
docked and got a shot of her.
Now if you're looking for a floating resort this is what you're looking for. So much to do onboard there's no reason for most to get off the ship!
Seeing this makes me wonder what the pirates of olden days would have thought had they seen this sailing towards them?
I certainly didn't expect to see a Japanese fishing boat in Panama!
KOYO MARU NO.7 is a Fishing vessel built in 1992 by KANASASHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES - SHIZUOKA, JAPAN. Currently sailing under the flag of Japan. Formerly also known as KOYOMARU NO.7, KOYOMAU NO.7, BBAOMARU NO.7, FUKUYOSHI MARU NO.18. It's gross tonnage is 409 tons.
If you zoom in directly above the Koyo Maru you'll see another ship that has succumbed to the perils of Panama!
Going through the complete Panama Canal was definitely a bucket list item for me. I spent the entire day (8 hours) outside on the deck along with a bunch of other folks, my shutter happily clicking away!
We had a Canal Guide onboard who pointed out all the interesting locations, couldn't tell you one thing he said because I wasn't listening I was too busy shooting!
Have to commend Princess Cruises, they were really nice to us outside in that they had stewards coming aro
We need more places in the world like Ejido Miguel Aleman
Some interesting reading about Ejido Miguel Aleman:
www.milenio.com/estados/ejido-miguel-aleman-el-oasis-de-c...
(you'll have to translate from Spanish to your native tongue.)
We left the school and traveled a short distance to the processing plant to see how bananas are harvested, packaged, and shipped. We've seen this process before down in Guatemala but this place was different. The workers all seemed to be very happy with their work, laughing and joking about the gringos watching the process. I figure it's because they're the owners of the company, not some corporate conglomerate riding shotgun over them.
I found the article referenced above and I have to say I'm very impressed with the people in this town. They live in a beautiful place and they are really working hard to keep it beautiful. I respect them for that and I'm very appreciative of them letting us come in to have a glimpse.
I would also like to extend a hearty handshake and Thank You to Explora Caribe Tours for being an ethical tour company with values I can certainly get behind:
This is a shot from the Rim Trail, right outside the El Tovar Hotel.
www.grandcanyonlodges.com/lodging/el-tovar-hotel/
If you've never been to the Grand Canyon the train trip is a great way to see the place. You'll have a 2 1/2 hour trip each way on the train and about 3 1/2 hours for exploring at the Canyon, more than enough time to take in the sights. We took the advice of Jim Frazier and booked the Luxury Parlor car which offers plenty of luxurious seating and amenities (for Niccy) and an outside observation platform (for me).
This is a combination of 4 shots, stitched into a panorama. To be quite honest it would really be a challenge to truly show just how massive the Canyon really is, hopefully this gives you a bit of an idea but the best way to truly experience it is in person.
BTW, this shot is SOOC other than the stitching and a pretty cool feature I found in my software i use to convert from TIFF to JPG called lens correction. For some reason my camera body sees this Tamron lens as a Canon TS-E 90mm f/2.8 which it definitely is not. The lens correction actually flattens the image just a bit and makes corrections that more closely represent the Tamron lens. This is also a handheld shot, I used the far rim as a guide to focus on!
While I was walking the dogs I was presented with this!
Another pretty view from the Point Of Rocks RV park right outside Prescott:
In my opinion this place was a little spendy but you need to remember that I'm a cheap ass. Were it up to me I would have found a spot up in the National Forest and camped out. Yeah, there were several wildfires burning in the hills but we weren't near them and aren't you supposed to smell like burning wood when you go camping?
My birthday is on the 7th so this is an early present!
Finished watching the local news and it didn't look good. Weatherman said there's only a 10 percent chance of any storms so it looks like another dry night. Oh well, there's always tomorrow.
Took the trash out and saw a couple of clouds and flashes to the South. Hmm, maybe that will turn into something so I packed up and headed to my regular spot, just in case.
Ran into a guy named Mike who was packing up and heading out. He said it didn't look like a good night, clouds were falling apart as quick as the formed so he was heading home. I told him I was going to stick around for awhile in case something developed, he said Good Luck but the storms just aren't there today. Mike, it looks like you missed the mark on this one!
Set up my camera and waited, waited, waited with little to no luck. Thinking about calling it a night when a huge bolt announced it's welcome with a thundering CRACK!!! Well, thank you very much, may I have another? CRACK!!! Your wish is my command. Wound up being a pretty good show, a perfect present for me that I know my Dad arranged for me. This was the grand finale, after this things just kind of petered out.
This is a combo of 5 shots that just happened to fall in the right place, with a combined total of 240 seconds between the five. These were shot @ f/7.1 with ISO 100 and 52mm worth of zoom. The bolts seemed to be hitting in the same general area so I thought I'd chance the zoom, probably would have been a great place to use my Nifty Fifty!
The lights in the background are a bit blurry since I was fighting with outflow winds and trying to handhold the tripod steady. I can live with a little blur!
Niccy and I just got back from a transatlantic cruise so I've finally got some shots to post!
Not sure why but I happened to wake up real early this day and decided to do a walkabout up on the deck. Glad I did!
The SUNRISE (YCPTPH requirement) was very pretty this morning and several of us early risers happened to be out and try to catch it.
Now I'm not there for the sunrise, it's been done a million and two times, I'm there to catch the folks who are there to catch the sunrise. These two ladies happened to wind up in my viewfinder so I decided to make them Flickr Famous.
I was going to title this "The House of the Rising Sun" by the Animals:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4bFqW_eu2I
But Light My Fire by the Doors:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKd6yarfkxA
seemed more appropriate. BTW, I believe this is the one and only appearance The Doors made on the Ed Sullivan Show!
One of the benefits of having the RV. We get to see the Sea World fireworks without paying the Sea World price!
After shooting The Streaks of San Diego:
I started hearing some big booms coming from the North. Thunder?? No, it was the end of the day fireworks display from SeaWorld:
They put on a pretty good show, even better since we didn't have to pay admission to see it!
The downside to the whole thing is we discovered that our Meisha (aka The Big Chalupa or MushiMushi) has a fear of loud sounds. She was shaking like a leaf and wanted nothing other than to be sitting in my lap. Since then we've discovered that thunder sets her off as well. Since dogs have such good hearing she can hear it long before us. When she starts shaking, whining and begging to be up we know there's a storm in the area. May have to wind up giving her some Children's Benadryl.
Now, before you say we're going to poison her take a look at this please:
www.caninejournal.com/benadryl-dosage-for-dogs/
One of the side effects (at a proper dosing) is that the Diphenhydramine may help relieve symptoms of mild-to-moderate anxiety in pets (calm her nerves). We're looking out for her, believe me! The Tater Tot on the other hand isn't bothered a bit.
This was a surprise for me, didn't even know I got them!
The storm last night finally brought us a decent amount of rain, at least here at the house. Plenty of lightning but up in the clouds for the most part. At least that's what I thought till this pair popped up on the monitor!
We've got a new Ramada at the upper pool and luckily enough that's where the majority of the lightning was showing up. Can be hard to shoot from since the wind was blowing the rain in under the cover but I didn't get too soaked!
Something we don't get to see very often here in the desert!
It seems that overnight Mother Nature decided to bless Tucson with a dusting of snow! Locally in Tucson, the National Weather Service reported 1.5 inches of seasonal snowfall—more than some east coast cities this year including Philadelphia and Washington D.C.
Supposedly a persistent blocking pattern over the Pacific Ocean plus cold air migrating south from the Arctic have created the conditions for widespread snowfall along the West Coast.
The nice part for us is that when it does snow it usually falls in the late evening and once the sun comes up it melts off real quick, so no worries about shoveling!
You can see how the sun was already out and the skies were a gorgeous blue. We're supposed to be looking at 71F (21.6C) by Friday which is all right by me!
"A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or "rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the sloop-of-war."
Thanks to Wikipedia for this:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corvette
Niccy and I took another long weekend over to the Point Loma Annex where I was lucky enough to get this shot!
This is actually called a "Jetcar":
which looks like a real eye catcher! Great if you're out to get the chicks I suppose. Supposedly you can do 60 MPH with no worries but I don't think I'd take a chance with it!
PS:
For those in the Show Your EXIF group you should note that the actual lens used is a Tamron AF 18-200mm F/3.5-6.3 Di-II VC All-in-One Zoom for Canon APS-C Digital SLR. For some crazy reason it always shows up as a Canon TS-E 90mm f/2.8, a lens I've never owned or used!
A series of shots I got during our passage through The Big Ditch!
The vessel ESTURION (MMSI 352817000) is a Passenger ship and currently sailing under the flag of Panama.
When I thought of the Panama Canal it was always the big bulk carriers and megafreighters that came to mind, not boats like my little friend here. I now know that it's not just a playground for the big boys, there's a fair amount of small boat traffic as well.
Going through the complete Panama Canal was definitely a bucket list item for me. I spent the entire day (8 hours) outside on the deck along with a bunch of other folks, my shutter happily clicking away!
We had a Canal Guide onboard who pointed out all the interesting locations, couldn't tell you one thing he said because I wasn't listening I was too busy shooting!
Have to commend Princess Cruises, they were really nice to us outside in that they had stewards coming around regularly offering up cool drinks, sandwiches, and such.
I have no idea what the type, make, or model is on this engine, I'll leave that to the Train Buffs to fill us in!
We were getting ready to leave the Grand Canyon Station when I saw this engine. I'm pretty sure it's a static display since there are some red stoppers of some sort in front of it to keep it from moving.
NIccy and I took a long weekend trip up to Williams Arizona to ride the Grand Canyon Railway. We've always been fans of train trips and getting to see the big hole in the ground was a bonus!
If you\'ve never been to the Grand Canyon the train trip is a great way to see the place. You've got a 2 1/2 hour trip each way on the train and about 3 1/2 hours for exploring at the Canyon, more than enough time to take in the sights. We took the advice of Jim Frazier and booked the Luxury Parlor car which offers plenty of luxurious seating and amenities (for Niccy) and an outside observation platform (for me).
Had to do a non-standard crop on this shot, guess I was holding the camera vertical when I took it and wound up with way too much headroom!
It really is a great time of year to be in the Southwest!
Niccy is on the mend from having some back surgery and starting to get a little cabin fever so I suggested a short trip out of town. We wound up going to Saguaro National Park on the East side of Tucson:
The weather today was lovely, 80 degrees and sunny with a slight breeze that kept us cooled down. The park wasn't too crowded so we were able to drive the 8 mile loop with ease. We stopped about half way through and had a picnic lunch while looking at the desert starting to bloom out. All in all a good day for us (and the doggos enjoyed it as well)!
Looks like the hills West of town took a hit or two!.
Had a storm blow through yesterday evening but it stayed well to the South and was headed West. There was nothing going on here at the ranch but I headed up to my shooting spot just in case something strayed our way.
Well, true to form the storm stayed South and headed West, put on a pretty good show that I was able to catch a little of. Very weird set of clouds, they were real flat and real spread out.
This is a combo of 2 shots with a combined total of 42 seconds on the clock, f/7.1, ISO 100 and 200mm worth of zoom! I had my Tamron 18-200mm glass on and had it sticking out as far as it would go. Rough measurements in Google Maps say these bolts were about 10 miles away (as the crow flies) so I'm pretty happy with the results!