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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!
When life gives you lemons take the advice of Richard Harvey and just shoot them!
The clouds were building up last night and they looked real good for a storm so I packed up and headed out.
No storm, but I took Richard Harvey's advice and shot what I had and this is the result.
This is a pano of 4 shots, hopefully this will give you an idea of what an Arizona sunset can look like during the monsoon season.
In case you want to see an example of Richard's advice:
www.flickr.com/photos/bigharv/53102660726/in/dateposted/
BTW, this shot is NOT posted in YCPTPH, I've had enough of Jim's wrath for the month!
is definitely not like the others...
Saw this scene as we were walking along. Don't know if this was caused by pirates or captain's incompetence?
We walked out of the port of Fuerte Amador Panama for a bit then found out there's no way to make it to town without taking a shuttle. Hmm, another port that's not tourist friendly....
If you do decide to walk you'll run into Calle Amador, which is the main street of the area.. Go left and you'll find a couple of tourist places and a couple of restaurants, go right and you'll find a couple of tourist areas. Looks like this might be the place to book a tour if you really want to see anything!
For some unknown reason I really like this shot. I wish I could distill the Umami in it and add it to all my other photos!
No, it's not the boarding line for some discount airline!
Just a small part of the 5,146 guests aboard the Carnival Panorama headed back to their ship.
I was going to get a shot of the line we waited in to get back as a comparison but there wasn't one. We did have to wait a few minutes in a nice seating area where we were provided with some nice cold face and neck towels and some very refreshing flavored waters (Orange and Lime)
Another one of those small differences that we truly appreciate on Holland America.
It was non-stop action, almost as fun as watching Pro Wrestling!
Had a great storm pass by last Friday night with bolts aplenty! It was about 9:45 PM when I heard the first rumble. Looked on my lightning app and nothing spectacular was showing up so I figured it was a one off. Boy, was I wrong!
Something said to go out and take a look so that's what I did. Once I got outside I saw the sky was flashing to the North, South, and West so I ran in to grab my camera and let Niccy know I was headed out. She was stone asleep so I headed out to my usual spot, hoping for a couple of shots. That was close to 10 PM and I didn't pack it in until it started raining just after Midnight!
This is a single RAW shot with a crop in GIMP and the eradication of a couple of blatant hotspots.
There were bolts everywhere, hard to pick a direction to shoot. I was lucky enough to catch a few which I'll be posting shortly.
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!
GLOBAL JOURNEY is a Bulk carrier built in 2013 by OSHIMA SHIPBUILDING CO. LTD. - SAIKAI, JAPAN. Currently sailing under the flag of Panama. It's gross tonnage is 31872 tons.
The GLOBAL JOURNEY was making her way out and on to foreign ports. I've got a shot coming of another Japanese ship that surprised me a bit!
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
A small series of photos that I took while driving down the road in Mexico.
The traffic is light, the air is fresh, and you've got a great view of the countryside. This is the kind of morning commute I wouldn't mind a bit.
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!
Bright lights and lightning on a back road in Tucson.
When I first scouted for my new spot to shoot from I thought I'd try the parking lot of Worldview Enterprises since it was fairly big and if it did start to downpour I'd be on asphalt instead of a muddy field. If you look on the map you'll see that Worldview is right off a road called Aerospace Parkway which is definitely not a main road so I figured it would be quiet, especially on a Tuesday night at 9:30 in the evening. Boy was I wrong!
Evidently this road is used a lot by Boy Racers to do their thing on, especially since it isn't a main road. There was plenty of traffic going by so I decided to find another spot where I'd be a bit more hidden from the road and wouldn't have to worry about any security folks coming by and asking questions.
This shot was 65 seconds in BULB Mode, well over my normal 30-35 seconds. I suppose I left it open for so long on the off chance there would be more than one big strike but evidently there wasn't. Either that or I was just busy watching the show and forgot about the time!
Thanks to Jim Frazier for showing me another way....
This is a REDUX of the previous shot. I was unhappy (and still am) with myself for not checking my settings and winding up with a nice (but very noisy) shot. Jim got me thinking about ways to repair it and this is one way. I suppose it works. the software definitely makes some color changes but it\'s definitely a lot less noisy!
Kind of like a Magic Tee for RF!
When you get to the Grand Canyon you get an opportunity to traverse the Y, something that made no sense to me until I took a good look at it on Google Maps.
Since there's no turntable at the Grand Canyon and only one way in they've got to have a method to get you turned around and that's the Y. If you look at the Y on Google Maps:
36.05477145405851, -112.14325235407148
and follow the tracks out you can see how they accomplish the turnaround. Pretty interesting feat of engineering and much easier to understand than an RF Magic Tee:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_tee
Unless you're an RF Engineer I would recommend not checking out the link above, you'll probably wind up more confused than when you started...you've been warned!
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)!
A series of shots I got during our passage through The Big Ditch!
ST GUADELOUPE (IMO: 9476381) is a Tug registered and sailing under the flag of Panama. ST GUADELOUPE was built in 2009.
ST GUADELOUPE vessel length overall (LOA) is 28.67m, beam is 9.8m. One of the many, many tugs I saw during this passage.
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.
Kugira means "Whale" in Japanese. To me, it sounds like it should be pronounced in the same tone and manner in which you would pronounce "GODZILLA"!
One of the largest caisson-building docks in the world is the Kugira (‘whale’ in Japanese). This herculean machine from ACCIONA measures the equivalent of an 18-floor building (56 metres tall, 74 metres long and 49 metres wide). A team of between 140 and 200 high specialised professionals work on the Kugira around the clock seven days a week, and it can manufacture concrete caissons weighing up to 24,000 tonnes. This means that it can create a seawall or a berthing dock 200 metres long from scratch in just one month.
Once a caisson is completed, it is launched by being partially sunk until the caisson can float, and then it is taken by tugboats to the place where it will be placed over the platform on the sea floor, where tonnes of material has previously been laid to create a uniform base. Once it is in its exact position, the caisson is secured in place by filling the cells with water, and later they are filled with sand to make them completely stable. Although this procedure may sound cumbersome, it does not interfere with port activity.
www.acciona.com/updates/articles/worlds-largest-caisson-d...
When you're walking down a large dock you don't normally think about the way the dock was built or who it was that built it. Reading about the Kugira gave me a whole new appreciation of the things that go into building a dock!
At first I thought this was just a Jackup Rig for deep sea oil eploration. Boy, was I wrong on that.
A series of shots I got during our passage through The Big Ditch!
ASTRO GRUMIUM (IMO 9714719) is a Dry bulk/Ultramax ship built in 2015 and is sailing under the flag of Marshall Islands. She has an overall length (LOA) of 199 meters and a width (beam) of 32 meters. Her summer deadweight capacity is 61,305 tonnes.
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
I was definitely in the wrong place but at least I'm on the board for the year!
First lightning bolts of the 2025 Monsoon season for me. Not much to talk about but I'm still going to call it a win.
The storm was rolling past me at a pretty good clip, I cought it in the middle which was dry as a bone. I saw some cloud to cloud in the distance so I took a chance that something might materialize and this was it.
Seems like the season is dragging it's heels this year, so far we've only had one real rain here at the ranch and no light show to go along with it. There's still time though and I'm holding out hope for some better shots.
She's ready to feed the hungry folks of Mazatlan!
Pretty typical scene in Mexico (and Tucson come to think about it), a roadside kitchen for the hungry masses.
If cooking is the main skill in your toolbox then that's the tool you use. So what if you don't have a fancy restaurant or a commercial kitchen. If you know how to cook the food the people want you can set up just about anywhere!
I can't tell you how useful it is keeping one, two or a dozen sporks at work for those days you forget to bring cutlery to eat lunch with.
"The term Johatsu literally translates to “evaporation” in Japanese and is used to describe people who voluntarily disappear from society.
japandaily.jp/the-johatsu-japans-evaporated-people-who-va...
My first go at using Shutter Priority (Tv on the dial) on my camera. I was shooting handheld, guess I'm not as steady as I thought I was! This is my attempt to make lemonade out of the lemon of a shot I took. I did add some reverse vignette (thanks Jim Frazier) for the idea.
I recently watched a documentary on the people in Japan who voluntarily and willingly disappear themselves from family and friends. The Japanese call these folks Johatsu. They do so for a variety of reasons, including overwhelming financial debt, societal pressure, personal failures, or even to escape abusive relationships. There are also some on the legal fringe companies called known as yonige-ya” (夜逃げ屋) or “night-moving companies”. These services operate in the shadows, offering discreet assistance to those who wish to vanish, for a fee of course.
Japanese authorities typically do not intervene in Johatsu cases unless there is evidence of criminal activity. Since most disappearances are voluntary, they are treated as personal matters rather than criminal investigations. This hands-off approach reflects Japan’s broader cultural emphasis on privacy and individual autonomy.
Kind of crazy to think that this happens every day in Japan, people just evaporating. I really don't condone it, my thought is to be stand up and face your issues whatever they may be. But then again, I've never had any reason to ever think about "evaporating".
Just Like Romeo And Juliet:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycCZX-olchU
Two ships (not passing in the night though), one on it's way to exotic ports, one on it's way back to the safe harbor of home.
This was an early (for me) shot outside of the Fort Lauderdale Cruise Terminal.
Better if listening "Evening star" from the motion picture soundtrack of the "Lord of the rings - The two towers".
Dedicated to all those people who always see the light in love, even when the clouds are threatening rain and pain.
With most sincere apologies to Lynyrd Skynyrd.....
www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJZrXhMBG1E
Just a shot of 3 tugs doing what tugs do when they're not out tugging.
I've always liked tugboats, they're the workingman's boat in the nautical hierarchy of seagoing vessels. They're not pretty, they're not sporty, they're not quick, they're not luxurious but when you need something big pushed around they're ready and willing to help!
Also in this shot is the Maria Soledad Primera, not exactly sure what kind of a boat she is. Looked on Marine Traffic but there was no listing for her.
The real workhorses of any port!
The storm subsided sometime overnight and we made it back to San Diego. I was up on deck early and got to see a bit of the morning light which sure is pretty.
C-Tractor 10 met us along the way and didn't have anything to do with us getting docked in a timely manner. Cruise ships are extremely maneuverable and usually don't need assistance to get themselves to the dock!
BTW, if you'd like to see her sister, C-Tractor 8 you can find her right here:
My, how the time (and fur) flies when you're having fun!
It's been 7 months since we brought Casey (now known as Tater Tot, She/Her) here to her forever home.
She has to be the wireiest (is that a word?) dog we've ever had and certainly the most energetic. She's found her place in the pack and is happy to be a part of our family! It's too bad we don't live in the UK, I'm sure she'd get along just fine with Richard Harvey UK's Freddie:
www.flickr.com/photos/bigharv/52905174756/in/dateposted/
She's ready to run and play, unfortunately our Tiffany is a grouchy old fart who doesn't tolerate that sort of nonsense.
I was experimenting with my camera when I took this since I just figured out I could control (somewhat) the output of the onboard flash and give a little fill light to some of the dark areas.
Now is this the shot that's going to send her viral and score loads of endorsement deals? Pretty sure it's not but she's certainly open to any collaborations you might have to offer!
Morning reflections of Paperbark trees (Melaleuca) in a Top End billabong/lagoon. The sun is just coming over the tops of the trees to the left. I am resting on a tree at the lagoon edge in ankle deep water. There are no crocodiles here.
Working off little lap top screen after my desktop AllinOne conked out. It certainly pays to backup regularly. I only back up photos tho.
Exactly what I did since it wasn't time for them to eat yet!
The dogs always seem to want to be wherever I am so I've put a dog bed down next to my PC. It's large enough for both and they'll share it after grousing at each other for a bit.
I had my new lens on the camera and decided to give it a go. I'm still trying to figure out the focusing on it though. It seems to like a single point of focus much better than multiples but getting the single point in the right spot to fit everything in is a challenge. I suppose that with time, patience, and endless shots I'll find a happy medium.
I knew this night was coming, just didn't know when! Why isn't this the shot to get the EXPLODE!!!
Had a great storm pass by last Friday night with bolts aplenty! It was about 9:45 PM when I heard the first rumble. Looked on my lightning app and nothing spectacular was showing up so I figured it was a one off. Boy, was I wrong!
Something said to go out and take a look so that's what I did. Once I got outside I saw the sky was flashing to the North, South, and West so I ran in to grab my camera and let Niccy know I was headed out. She was stone asleep so I headed out to my usual spot, hoping for a couple of shots. That was close to 10 PM and I didn't pack it in until it started raining just after Midnight!
BTW, this is SOOC other than a crop in GIMP and the eradication of a couple of blatant hotspots.
There were bolts everywhere, hard to pick a direction to shoot. I was lucky enough to catch a few which I'll be posting shortly.
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!
It seems like anyone with a boat was out on the water this day!
As we were waiting on the dock for the tender back to the ship I took a bit of a wander to see what I could see. Out at the end of the dock I came across this scene, and thought it was picture worthy.
As I said above it seems that everyone with a vessel that could float was out on the water this day. If they weren't ferrying folks between the Carnival Panorama and the shore they were taking people out to see Los Arcos and the associated beaches. Not quite a traffic jam but I did see a couple of close calls.
As I also said before the Zaandam was using the ship's lifeboats to shuttle us back and forth, not relying on the locals to possibly get us back aboard! I think I've got a couple of shots coming up that will really show you the difference!
Evidently there was more to this storm than I knew about!
The rains passed through quickly but the lightning persisted. I'm used to seeing it out in front and leading the storm, not following behind like this set.Little did I know there was something much bigger going on!
According to the National Weather Service we had a small tornado (F1) touch down to the North of the house, about a mile away. It supposedly traveled several Easterly before dissipating.
www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topstories/national-weather-ser...
Now I know that those of you who live in Tornado Alley are thinking "F1? We don't even bother to use the sirens for an F1!..." but for us this is a pretty big deal since these things don't happen here and we're glad of it. Guess it's got to be part of that "Global Climate Change" thing people talk about. Personally, I get the feeling that it's just Mother Nature doing a little house cleaning, something that we all do every so often.
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!
Better than any 4th or July show!
Talk about light up your life!
Another shot from the storm that blew in on 3 August 2024. The action really was hot and heavy with bolts popping up all over!
This is a SOOC shot other than a small crop in GIMP to lose some extraneous bits on the side and bottom.
This was shot @ f/10 and ISO 100 with 30 seconds on the clock.
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 small series of photos that I took while driving down the road in Mexico.
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!
We finally got out of the Panama Canal!
The RCL Adventure of the Seas was built in 2001 and is a part of the RCL Voyager class of ships. She has a capacity of 3114 guests and carries 1185 crew members. The ship features 13 restaurants, 13 bars, 7 shows, 52 activities, and 12 other features for guest enjoyment.
Once out of the Canal we steamed our way down to Aruba for some sun and fun. We've been there 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!
Niccy and I just got back from a transatlantic cruise so I've finally got some shots to post!
Late at night the pool area on the Lido deck is one of my favorite places to roam on the ship. I think it's because of the subdued lighting and the quietness. None of the hustle-bustle, just the sounds of the water sloshing in the pool and the bubbling of the hot tubs. A kind of peacefulness that most of the guests seem to not to notice.
Onboard the HAL Niew Amsterdam, transatlantic from Rome to Fort Lauderdale, Nov/Dec 2024.
Well, everybody knows that the bird is the word!
Our walk along the waterfront finally led us down to the docks where the fishing boats were. I saw the Margaret, thought she was a fine example of a fishing boat and snapped the picture.
It wasn't until I looked at the photo on the computer that I saw a seagull had decided to photobomb the shot, probably hoping to go viral and become rich and famous. Sorry bird, that's just not going to happen here!
I'm sorry if you came here looking for anything related to Disney's Three Caballeros. Thanks for having a look anyway!
It's Rodeo time in Tucson and as we have done in years before we're parking cars in our lodge parking lot.
www.facebook.com/nelsoncbledsoe74/
The money we raise goes out to community projects we have like providing school supplies to South Tucson's community K-12 charter school.
Since it is a rodeo I figured I should post something rodeo related, hence this shot for your enjoyment.
A dispute between the railroad and the city has altered the parade route significantly which means we don't see nearly as many parade entries going past as we did in previous years. Sad for us, sad for the spectators but it is what it is.
Once again, you see a cowboy with his face glued to his little electronic leash, I equate this with Harleys having coffee cup holders, some things should never go together!
Niccy and I just got back from a transatlantic cruise so I've finally got some shots to post!
The SEA ROCK (IMO: 9863986) is a Fire Fighting Vessel and is sailing under the flag of Italy. Her length overall (LOA) is 30 meters and her width is 12.6 meters.
The R.RE LAZIALE (IMO: 9822786) is a Tug and is sailing under the flag of Italy. Her length overall (LOA) is 28.2 meters and her width is 13 meters.
These are the two tugs that were helping the Vastaso get the MSC Caterina turned around so that she could dock.
The nice thing about Holland America ships is that they have an outside Promenade on Deck 3. It gets you closer to the waterline and closer to the action!
Niccy and I just got back from a transatlantic cruise so I've finally got some shots to post!
JSP BORA (IMO: 9390472) is a Container Ship and is sailing under the flag of Antigua Barbuda. Her length overall (LOA) is 147.74 meters and her width is 23.25 meters. I'm pretty sure she's an island hopper since I have another shot of her down in St. Lucia:
The TRIDENT (MMSI: 367760890) is a Tug and is sailing under the flag of USA. Her length overall (LOA) is 45 meters and her width is 9 meters.
We were docked in Fort Lauderdale, waiting for our number to be called to join the cattle queue to get off the ship when I took this shot. The Fort Lauderdale Cruise Port is just like so many other ports in that it seems that EVERYONE has shot it a million and two times so I was looking for something a bit different when I saw the JSP Bora headed out.
Most of the other passengers were more worried about missing their flights, losing luggage, and lousy weather at home to pay any attention to these two.
I was going to title this Twisted Sister but I didn't wan to confuse any Metalheads out there!
This is a shot from the 31 July storm that blew through. It was a good storm, stayed in the Southeast for a good long while, didn't make it to the house till after 11 PM so I didn't have to worry about getting rained out. According to the weather guessers things are supposed to quiet down for the next week or so which means downtime for me and the lightning!
Thanks to Jim Frazier this shot isn't nearly as grainy and noisy as a night shot with a Canon T7 at high ISO normally is, unless you're a pixel peeper!
See, I forgot to check my settings in my rush out the door to get the perfect shot, luckily our benevolent admin put me on the right path!
The community in the foreground is where I live, luckily there were no direct strikes in the park!
This was shot @ f/13 with 27 seconds on the clock, ISO 800 and 32mm zoom.
A series of shots I got during our passage through The Big Ditch!
It's unfortunate but sometimes things happen that cause a ship to sink. Luckily this didn't happen in the locks themselves, that would be a monumental task getting it cleaned up.
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
A series of shots I got during our passage through The Big Ditch!
Princess had a couple of the onboard photographers out on the canal deck taking shots of everyone who was manning the rails. Of course, these photos were up for sale in the ship's photo gallery, proof that you were really there.
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.
"Also known as Coast Guard Craft 1132!"
USCGC Benjamin Bottoms (WPC-1132) is the 32nd Sentinel-class cutter built for the United States Coast Guard. She is the fourth of four Fast Response Cutters homeported in San Pedro, California.
Benjamin Bottoms is named after Benjamin A. Bottoms, who died in November 1942 while attempting to rescue the crew of a crashed USAAF bomber. He was assigned on a Grumman J2F-4 Duck floatplane as the radioman, and after receiving a radio message that a B-17 crashed, and accompanied pilot John A. Pritchard to search for the downed plane.
The pilot spotted the crashed bomber, and landed it as close to the wreck as possible. They were able to assist two of the injured crew back to their plane and back to the USCGC Northland. On their second trip, the plane encountered bad weather, causing the plane to crash, killing both men.
She's a real sharp looking lady who's very spic and span, and certainly looks squared away.
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....
Anyhow, the nice thing about this shot is that the people walking by really give you an idea of just how big these "floating gin joints" really are.
A series of shots I got during our passage through The Big Ditch!
The vessel RIO INDIO is a Tug ship sailing under the flag of Panama. Her IMO number is 9363601 and MMSI number is 356497000. Main ship particulars are length of 27 m and beam of 12 m. One of the many, many tugs I saw during this passage.
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.
Okay birder Flickrites, here\'s your chance to show you know your stuff!
Thanks to toddkeith533 and Jim Frazier for the bird ID, it's a Mockingbird!
I'm the first to admit that I know little to nothing about taking bird shots. I just don't have the patience to watch while they preen on a branch, waiting to get the defining shot.
With that being said this is my contribution to the birdiers of the world. This bird landed on a branch just above the picnic table we were sitting at, probably hoping to scrounge a free meal. I was able to get this between bites of my tuna sandwich which he got no part of, didn't get any of the Cheetos either! If you're going to sit right above me and not poop I\'ll give you the courtesy of a photo!
Now the way I understand it Madera Canyon is supposed to be a great place to see many varieties of birds, great for birders but not for me so here\'s my question....What kind of bird was it that was trying to wrangle a free meal from us?
I\'m hoping that toddkeith533 or Jim Frazier chime in since they\'re up on our feathered friends!
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 is a combo of three shots that just happened to fall in the right place. with a combined total of 130 seconds between the three. 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!
:Lots of traffic and congestion, much like the streets of LA!
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.
As we were leaving I was lucky enough to get this shot of the port in action. It's a busy place with trucks coming and going.
I made this in B/W because it seemed fitting for the scene. It's not a beautiful place where tourists tend to hang out, it's commerce at it's finest.
I guess I should thank the sunset for the pink(ish) bolt!
This storm blew in last night (26 July 23) as we were out to dinner in town. It really dumped the water up in the Speedway/Wilmot part of town but nothing out at the house. I was seeing little flashes off to the West on the drive home so I decided to grab the gear and head out once we got back. This is one of the shots that I got.
The lightning was popping all around, not focused in any one spot at all. The clouds were just one huge bank with no real definition to them so I wasn't really sure where to shoot, I just took a chance! This was shot looking toward the Northwest which is the direction the storm seemed to be headed in.
Had to do a weird crop on this since the storm was pretty much just a big monocloud and I didn't want an acre of grey above the lightning. This was shot with 35 seconds in BULB at f/9 with 29mm. I zoomed a bit, hoping to get a little tighter shot but its a pretty futile exercise to be honest. Mother Nature doesn't seem to care where your focus is!
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18mm - f.22 - 1/80 sec - ISO 200 - Tripod - Wireless trigger - Circular Polarising
The rotting leaf creates methane gas that gets trapped in the ice, like gaspockets. When you make a little hole in the pocket, and lights it, it burns. I use a match. (No manipulation)
Psa 105:39 God put a cloud over his people and a fire at night to give them light.
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. I also get the feeling that our cruise was a bit more fun than the one they were on.
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.