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Took a lot of work and software to bring this to you!
This is the interior of the Mission San José de Tumacácori church. I was up in the front of the church where the priest would have stood, thought I might be able to pull off something nice by shooting back toward the light from the dark interior.
Well let me tell you that direct sun coming in the entrance really blew out the original shot, that's the reason for the -1 EV. What I found out though is the negative EV calmed the light right down to a manageable level but made the rest of the interior close to pitch black!
Had to do a bunch of twiddles and tweaks in the post process but this is what I came up with. Trust me when I tell you it's not that bright when you're inside!
Interesting fact:
The walls are made of adobe which is basically a dried mud brick. These bricks would've washed away with the monsoons so they were covered in lime plaster that was made in a lime kiln onsite!
Part of a storm that wasn't supposed to be!
According to the weather guessers there weren't supposed to be any big storms in the area so I decided to head into town and go to a Lodge meeting. Once the meeting was over I came outside and saw what looked like the remnants of a storm blowing away to the North.
It wasn't very big and was pretty ragged so I guess they were technically right when they said no BIG storms.
Got my camera set up and got a couple of shots off before the clouds disappeared from sight so I can certainly say I didn't get skunked too badly!
This was shot @ f/4.5 with 26 seconds in BULB Mode, ISO 100 and 40mm of zoom. Seems like most of the recent storms have been keeping their distance so I've had to put on a little zoom and hope that I land with the focus in the right area!
061407
Photoshop Junkies
www.flickr.com/groups/psjunkees/discuss/72157594251968630/
EXPLORE - 06-14-07
The Millenium Maverick was busy this day helping the NYK Joanna to find a berth.
The MILLENIUM MAVERICK (IMO 9159713, MMSI 366998840) is a Tug built in 1996 (29 years old) and currently sailing under the flag of United States (USA).
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.
This trip I decided to actually start learning how to use my camera and to wrap my head around the whole exposure triangle thing. If you're curious I can tell you this was shot following the Sunny 16 rule!
If you like ship shots then I've got a bunch of them to post. If you're looking for vacation snaps then you're going to be disappointed!
Looks like Monsoon 2024 is starting to get it's act together!
Not too impressive but there will be more.
First lightning of the season for me, hopefully not the last.
Had a storm blow through last night about a quarter till eleven and I was lucky enough to get this before the rains came. Everything was going cloud to cloud so no strikes. The cloud cover was pretty heavy and they were lighting up real nice but not coming out in the open. No worries though, I'm sure there are more where this one came from! Hopefully the remnants of Hurricane Beryl will push some storms up our way.
Tied up at the Grenada Port Authority Cruise Ship Terminal
BRITANNIA (IMO: 9614036) is a Passenger Ship that was built in 2015 (8 years ago) and is sailing under the flag of United Kingdom.
Her carrying capacity is 143730 Gross Tonnage and her current draught is reported to be 8.5 meters. Her length overall (LOA) is 329 meters and her width is 45 meters.
She has a capacity of 3,647 passengers and 1,398 crew members.
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!
Does anyone still call Cop cars Black and Whites?
At the core of port security is the Los Angeles Port Police force, a specialized law enforcement agency that operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week to protect the Port from threats whether by land, sea, air or cyberspace. Comprised of more than 300 sworn officers and civilian personnel, the force’s jurisdiction spans 7,500 acres along 43 miles of waterfront.
In addition to using advanced technology to augment its security operations, Port Police capabilities include K-9 units for vessel and container searches; a full-time dive unit for inspecting critical infrastructure; a Cargo Theft Interdiction Program to prevent and investigate cargo theft; a marine unit for conducting high visibility patrols to deter and detect infrastructure threats; a High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area anti-drug task force for targeting drug trafficking activities; and a Sea Marshall Program to inspect all inbound and outbound cruise ships and vessels of interest.
I shot this in color but the water was a brilliant St. Patty's Day green, a reflection from the Evergreen Ever Most that we were passing by. Black and white solved the issue.
We were escorted out of the port by these fine gentlemen, probably wanted to make sure we were really leaving!
I'm guessing they went to publik skool?
Not much to say, I'll let the sign speak for itself. BTW, I'm not bashing school teachers or their curriculum, I understand that they have to work with what they get.
Spotted this on the way into Baker City, Oregon.
Tied up at the Curacao Cruise Ship Terminal
BRITANNIA (IMO: 9614036) is a Passenger Ship that was built in 2015 (8 years ago) and is sailing under the flag of United Kingdom.
Her carrying capacity is 143730 Gross Tonnage and her current draught is reported to be 8.5 meters. Her length overall (LOA) is 329 meters and her width is 45 meters.
She has a capacity of 3,647 passengers and 1,398 crew members.
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. It's a well known issue and 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!
MONJASA THUNDER built in 2009 (16 years ago) is a vessel in the Chemical/Oil Products Tanker segment. Its IMO number is 9428073 and the current MMSI number is 636022911. The vessel has callsign 5LLA5. Summer deadweight is 19992 and gross tonnage 13465. Her current width is reported to be 23 meters. Her length overall (LOA) is 150 meters. Latest reported draught is 7.7 meters. MONJASA THUNDER is sailing under the flag of Liberia.
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.
Now I'm not a gearhead but I'm pretty sure that CHEVROLET never called any of their cars a CHEVY. For some reason CHEVY and CHEVROLET is ingrained into the Hispanic culture much like COCA COLA is. I have to attribute this to a brilliant marketing campaign. Good on this Genius for keeping up the tradition while driving something that is most likely a foreign import.
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!
A big THANK YOU! to dennis.gallus for the inspiration behind this shot.
It was Friday evening and Niccy said to me "Let's go for a drive tomorrow". I guess the last trip hadn't quite satisfied her gypsy feet so I said Ok, let's do it.
Saturday morning we packed up to head out. Niccy and myself, a picnic lunch, the Tater Tot, and my camera in the car meant we were ready to find a back road to who knows where.
First stop was Starbucks since Niccy is one of those folks who needs her coffee in the morning. From there we headed out to the fairgrounds, there was an RV show going on and we wanted to see the latest and greatest in escape pods. Once we'd had a real good look it was time to head South and hit the open road.
I'd recently seen this shot:
www.flickr.com/photos/138418484@N03/53350204538/in/datepo...
that was posted by dennis.gallus and thought it would be an interesting place to go so we headed toward Hereford and the bridge.
Other than having to pass through Sierra Vista (just another town) it really was a very pretty drive since we took back roads to get there. As you're driving down you can see the path of the San Pedro River just by looking at all the cottonwood trees that were right in the middle of changing colors, easy to spot, We got to the bridge, pulled off, had a real nice lunch and took the Tater Tot on a bit of a walkabout.
We really enjoy our Sunday drives on Saturdays, they give us just a taste of how things are going to be once we get the RV and get on the road. Yeah, those plans are still a bit in the future but no so far off that we forget to focus on them and it's trips like this that help us stay on track to the goal.
It's a dirty job, but someone has to do it....I
We were parked next to Mein Schiff when I got this shot in St. Martin. I felt bad for this guy since there's a whole lot of fantail for this guy to be cleaning and he was definitely alone in his task.
When you take a cruise holiday your every need is catered to and you've got nothing to worry about.
Sometimes it's easy to forget that there are a LOT of of people both in the front and back of the house that make things happen for your dream vacation to be the best it can be. Folks that aren't on holiday, they're working at their jobs to provide for their families back home.
If you should ever go on a cruise I hope that you won't forget these folks and will let them know that you appreciate the hard work they put in to make things easy for you. They bust their butts so that you don't have to.
Anchors Aweigh, my boys,
Anchors Aweigh.
There's no doubt who these guys are working for, they proudly advertise it!
I would imagine these are some of our special warriors, out doing what they do best which is to keep us safe from the baddies of the world. You're doing a job that not many want to do but a job that has to be done. Thanks guys, the nation appreciates you and all you do.
Niccy and I packed up the family (Tater Tot and Mushi-Mushi) and headed out on our first adventure!
We took the RV on a short shakedown cruise over to San Diego, specifically Point Loma Naval Base.
There's a nice camping spot on the base, right on the water. No electric, no water, but since we're self contained it wasn't a problem We spent a couple of days doing absolutely nothing except watching the world pass us by. Exactly the kind of experience we were looking for.
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!
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.
Just a fine example of Mother Nature doing what she does best!
This storm rolled in at around 10 PM last night, followed the pattern of the previous storms. Came in from the North and headed South, pretty much bypassing Tucson.
I was set up in the street to get this but it was safe. We live in a 55+ gated community with a 10 MPH speed limit. Couple that with the fact that it was 11:15 and most sane people were home asleep and you can understand! There is another spot just down the road that's outside the park that would give me a better view but I choose not to go down there. It's a dead end road with no lighting and I've seen more than 1 "transaction" take place and I'm not talking about buying Tupperware!
This is a single 30 second BULB shot @ f/4.0 with ISO 100 and 32mm of zoom on the lens. I probably could've closed the shutter earlier since this all came at the same time but I didn't want to take a chance of missing something even better!
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!
I would imagine that airplane identification is a part of the job description?
Just like my bad bird shot:
www.flickr.com/photos/nyalr/52687074859/in/dateposted-pub...
here's another off the cuff spur of the moment shot of something I know nothing about!
I was walking down the street on Thursday when these two guys decided to do a close in bombing run over the house and I have no idea who's planes they are or why they're attacking us! I was lucky enough to have my camera along but definitely didn't know they were coming till they were right over me. I fired off 3 shots and this was the best of the three.
We've got some vintage airplanes coming in Davis Monthan for the weekend, part of the annual Heritage Flight Training Program:
tucson.com/news/local/2023-heritage-flight-trainings-happ...
If anyone can identify them I'd sure like to know what they are! I'm also open to any suggestions anyone might have for trying to catch plane shots like this from a distance. We've got an airshow coming the end of March and we get some fairly low passes over the house!
Hence the reason for the street sweepers being the last entry in the parade!
This was one of those lucky catches, heavily cropped to put the focus where it belongs!
New lens with f/16 again, looks like it may work a lot better with indirect light. The only bad thing about our lodge is it's located on the West side of the street which means we catch the morning sun straight on come parade day!
The Tucson Rodeo Parade is believed to be the nation's longest non-motorized parade dating back to 1925. All the parade entries are horse pulled other than the street sweepers who always end the parade by cleaning up the landmines left by our equine friends.
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!
Pretty impressive for a house made of Caliche!
We went to Phoenix yesterday to an RV show, doing a little house shopping. Went up there on the freeway, decided to take the backroads home and came across this.
The Casa Grande Ruins National Monument is a park ran by the National Park Service to preserve and protect an Ancestral Sonoran Desert People's farming community and "Great House"
They've got a real nice museum with some interesting exhibits but the outdoor grounds are the real star of the show.
This "Grand House" was built with mud and caliche and without the help of any modern machinery, just human labor. Not nearly as big as the Pyramids of Giza but still pretty impressive considering what they used to build it!
Many probably don't know what caliche is so I've given you a link if your'e interested:
There's a lot of it in New Mexico and when they say it's like trying to dig through concrete I would have to agree!
Here's a link that tells a bit more about the park:
It was and interesting place to see and they do have some real nice covered benches for your picnic lunch. Add to that the FREE admission and you've got a deal you can't beat!
The following IS NOT a paid advertisement for Madera Canyon!
NIccy and went out for a Sunday drive (on a Sunday no less!) and wound up taking a trip down South to Madera Canyon. We'd never been there, it was a freebie with my America The Beautiful Vets Pass, and they had several picnic areas! A win-win all the way around.
Stopped at the visitor's information and talked with a couple of really nice folks, they were volunteers from one of the groups that support Madera Canyon. Said we've never been here before so do you have any recommendations on how to tackle this. They said the best way is to go all the way up to the top (since there was a beautiful view) and work your way back down. We told them we weren't going to be hiking (lot's and lot's of hiking and biking trails here) since it was so hot and they said no problem, the great view can be had right from the parking area. Off we went, headed for the top!
Got to a parking area at the end of the road, grabbed a couple of waters and headed off, looking forward to the great view from the top. We went up as far as we could while staying on the pavement and this is the view we got.
Now before becoming information volunteers at Madera Canyon I've got the feeling these folks may have work as script writers for late night informercials. The got us interested, they built on that interest, then set the hook with "the great view can be had right from the parking area". Good thing we didn't have to pay the day use fee (thanks to my pass), otherwise we'd have felt the same way we did when we paid to go and see 4 Corners Monument .....ripped off!
Now, to be honest the area is awfully pretty and we do plan on making a return visit in the cooler months. Niccy told me she wants to go back and have her birthday picnic here and of course her wish is my command!
I'm kicking myself for not paying attention!
The storm that blew in last night came from the Southeast and was a real slow mover. Moving slow is a benefit for me since it gives me time to figure out where the next strike might be but it's bad for the folks who are underneath it and getting all the downpour.
I was watching the progress and noticed that it was hitting in the same general area so I took a chance with a little bit of zoom, trying to get a little closer to the action. What I should have done was check my camera settings before I started firing away. Had I done that I would have noticed that my ISO was set to AUTO instead of the 100 I've been using. I really love this little camera but the sensor leaves something to be desired, especially in a dark situation. The AUTO decided that 800 was the appropriate setting so I wound up with a very noisy shot! I tried a little denoise in post but if you push it to far things start to look pretty fake and this bolt wasn't fake!
This was shot towards the Southeast, the community in the foreground is where I live. I would like to have included more but had I dropped the camera down I would have had lights from the cars going by and I wanted to avoid that.
This was shot @ f/13 with 16 seconds, Auto ISO and 32mm zoom. Yeah, I just turned the Auto off and set the ISO manually. Not planning on making that mistake again!
It sure felt good to be back by the ocean again!
BBC SINGAPORE (IMO: 9351373) is a Cargo/Containership that was built in 2008 (15 years ago) and is sailing under the flag of Antigua Barbuda.
Her carrying capacity is 11172 t DWT and her current draught is reported to be 6 meters. Her length overall (LOA) is 128.5 meters and her width is 19 meters. In this shot she was being loaded in Bridgetown Harbor.
Thanks to Marinetraffic.com for the information:
www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:704434/...
Niccy and I just got back from a 2 week cruise down in the Caribbean, a trip that was supposed to be in the UK but thanks to the whole covid fiasco that was not meant to be. We were on the P&O Britannia and as we quickly found out we were the only Americans aboard! We had a good time, got to see some new ports and enjoyed the weather.
It's a fairly noisy shot but my camera isn't known to be the best when it comes to a high ISO. Thinking back I suppose I could've fired off the onboard flash to fool the camera since the light wouldn't have made any difference in the shot.
BTW, I do believe this is the first shot I've had to break the 5000 views!
Or Phoenix Arizona......
One of my Dad's favorite singers was Charlie Pride:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohWe9v3KsQQ
UPDATE:
Thanks to Al_HikesAZ the mystery has been solved:
www.kjzz.org/2014-04-11/content-25464-did-you-know-phoeni...
As we were headed to Payson AZ we came across this artistic display. Guess somebody got tired of giving out directions?
Niccy and I just got back from a 5 day trip up to Northern Arizona. It's a nice way to get out of the Tucson heat and into the mountains where it's cool, cool, cool. Only a 5-6 hour drive so it's affordable as well.
BTW the map location is a good guess, I know it's along this highway somewhere!
Straight as an arrow (or a plane)!
I'm pretty sure this is a plane and not one of the Border Patrol helicopters that were flying that night. No natural lightning, but a nice leading line into the shot!
The Grand Canyon really is Grand, this shot doesn't do it justice.
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).
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!
It's a crap shoot when you're shooting lightning and sometimes you wind up on the edge.
The storm that blew through last night (30 July) was a real nice one. Came from the East, headed West, and stayed South of the city so no rain for us but plenty of show!
Started out real slow but once it decided to kick in it certainly had some flair to it. Bolts were hitting regularly, some brighter than others. The only bad thing was that i started to smell smoke, hopefully it was just a bush getting vaporized and not a fire.
I'm sure everyone who shoots lightning has had what would be a great shot if the bolt (or bolts) weren't right on the edge of the frame. That's what happened with these two, my fault because of the zoom. I decided to try aligning the two to fill the frame and if I say so myself it's not too bad.
This is a combination of 2 shots, both @ f/8 with 35 combined seconds on the clock, ISO 100 and 32mm zoom. The bolts seemed to linger right over the prison so I took a chance with the zoom and it payed off.
An exact replica of the famous “Santa María” from Columbus maiden voyage to the New World?
Docked near the ship was the Marigante, a Mexican version of the San Diego Harbor Dinner Cruises.
An "authentic Spanish galleon which will transport you to a world fit for pirate-sized fun where your imagination is the only limit"
From their website:
I get the feeling they're using a lot of artistic license with the word Authentic. Live music, fireworks, and a pirate tavern with special effects don't seem like the things that Christopher Columbus would have brought to the New World!
With a price of $135 US (gratuities extra) for adults I would certainly agree with the notion that it's a "Pirate Ship" though.
Niccy and I just got back from a transatlantic cruise so I've finally got some shots to post!
The JANAS (IMO: 9222534) is a Ro-Ro/Passenger Ship and is sailing under the flag of Italy. Her length overall (LOA) is 213.96 meters and her width is 26.4 meters, according to Marine Traffic:
www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:274504/...
According to the Tirrenia Ferries website :
Janas is belonging to Fast Cruise Ferry family and built in 2002, it is a ship with large transport capacity and a speed of 24 knots. It is 214 meters in length, 26 in width, with 35736 tonnage. It is capable of transporting 2700 passengers and 820 cars.
I do wish we'd had more time in Civitavecchia to explore the port area, but this was not to be.
"All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up."
Norma Desmond, played by Gloria Swanson, in the film Sunset Boulevard, directed by Billy Wilder (1950).
Just a shot of Tater Tot, gives you an idea of what a Heinz 57 sort of mix she is.
You can kind of see that she's got a natural Mohawk, hair on the top of her head is silky smooth, a wiry coat with fuzzy tufts that stick out in various place.
Hey, it's the coat she was born to wear!
Our trip started at the Port of Los Angeles. Man, I could hang out there all day every day!
The vessel WAN HAI A05 (IMO 9935117, MMSI 563201600) is a Container Ship built in 2023 (2 years old) and currently sailing under the flag of Singapore. According to Vessel Finder she is en route to the port of Shekou, China, sailing at a speed of 15.7 knots and expected to arrive there on Apr 16, 02:00.
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.
This trip I decided to actually start learning how to use my camera and to wrap my head around the whole exposure triangle thing. If you're curious I can tell you this was shot following the Sunny 16 rule!
If you like ship shots then I've got a bunch of them to post. If you're looking for vacation snaps then you're going to be disappointed!
Apologies to Otis Redding!
As we came back into San Diego we sailed past the Submarine Base located at Naval Base Point Loma.
The six installations that make up Naval Base Point Loma are the Naval Submarine Base; Naval Mine and Anti-submarine Warfare Command; Commander Third Fleet Headquarters complex; Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command Headquarters; SPAWAR Systems Center and Fleet Intelligence Training Command Pacific, forming a highly technical hub of naval activity. Kind of sounds like the Navy's answer to Silicon Valley!
mybaseguide.com/installation/nb-point-loma/community/nava...
This was shot at 7:12 AM and the early morning light was just beautiful!
I had no idea this was a thing, especially along a main street!
Came across this sign and had to get a quick snap. Didn't know this was a problem but I suppose they might be talking to the customers of the shebeen right down the street?
I suppose it could be referencing those folks who imbibed a little holy spirit while headed to St. Johns Cathederal which was close by?
St. Johns Cathedral is actually in the shape of the cross:
Google Maps View
www.google.com/maps/place/Saint+John's+Cathedral/@17.1227...
BTW, I only know Shebeen from Niccy talking about them in South Africa. Definitely not a place I would b allowed to frequent.
My Mac Setup by Sunrise taken this morning. Items not in shot are my Mac mini, graphite G4 & old MacBook which are hiding behind the MBP screen both connected into the samsung display
Rago to the rescue! I really like these all-in-one girdles - they keep everything in it's proper place! ;-)
To be brutally honest I wouldn't have known this was a heron if Jim Frazier and toddkeith533 hadn't clued me in!
A Great Blue Heron in his native habitat a.k.a. San Diego bay. He was hanging around for both of the days we were there, did a little fishing and a little dancing. The sun was headed down and he decided to pose on a rock close by so I obliged his posing by taking a shot.
As a side note we had a common skunk come walking through the ice plant on the left that evening. He didn't bother us, we didn't bother him and it was a bit too dark to get a shot of him. I also wasn't quite sure how a skunk would react to flash but I'm pretty sure it wouldn't have been good.
PS:
For those in the Show Your EXIF group (and anyone else with a technical curiousity) 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. One thing I've noticed is this lens has a lot of vignette to it at a distance!
It's me but it's not me.
While NIccy was busy throwing together our picnic lunch outside the Mission San José de Tumacácori I was wandering, looking for the perfect shot. Well, I couldn't find it so I settled on this one!
The car window was giving me a real nice reflection, other than the sun spots, streaks, and bit of bug goo on the right so I decided to take it.
Maybe this is a metaphor for my life, it's not perfect in any way but it's pretty danged good and I wouldn't change it, bug goo and all.
This shot isn't in any groups, not sure that any would take it other than "MYSELFIESHOTSLOOKATME!!!!"
A series of shots I got during our passage through The Big Ditch!
From the outset, it was considered an important safety feature that ships be guided through the lock chambers by electric locomotives, known as mulas (mules, named after the animals traditionally used to cross the isthmus of Panama), running on the lock walls. These mules are used for side-to-side and braking control in the locks, which are narrow relative to modern-day ships. Forward motion into and through the locks is actually provided by the ship's engines and not the mules. A ship approaching the locks first pulls up to the guide wall, which is an extension of the center wall of the locks, where it is taken under control by the mules on the wall before proceeding into the lock. As it moves forward, additional lines are taken to mules on the other wall. With large ships, there are two mules on each side at the bow, and two each side at the stern—eight in total, allowing for precise control of the ship. Mules are not used on the new expansion locks.
If you're a Railfan this is the info you're looking for:
The mules themselves run on paired 5 ft (1,524 mm) broad gauge railway tracks. The track closest to the canal is used for towing and has rack tracks for geared operation. The track inland is used to return the mules to their starting point and does not have racks except on the steep inclines (1 in 2 or 50% gradient) between lock chambers. Traction is by electric power, supplied through a third rail laid below surface level on the land side. Each mule has a powerful winch; these are used to take cables in or pay them out to keep the ship centered in the lock while moving it from chamber to chamber.
They say it never rains in California...but it sure does get foggy!
Early morning shot of San Diego bay. I was up and outside having my tea when I saw these guys come cruising by. No idea who the boat belongs to but I'm awful glad that they're on our side!
Really foggy, something we don't ever see in Arizona. When we lived in Oregon it was a regular thing, didn't think twice about it.
Niccy and I packed up the family (Tater Tot and Mushi-Mushi) and headed out on our first adventure!
We took the RV on a short shakedown cruise over to San Diego, specifically Point Loma Naval Base.
There's a nice camping spot on the base, right on the water. No electric, no water, but since we're self contained it wasn't a problem We spent a couple of days doing absolutely nothing except watching the world pass us by. Exactly the kind of experience we were looking for.
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! This lens tends to vignette when you get out to the end of it and in this case I don't mind!
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 combo of 4 shots with a combined total of 120 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!
Badges? We don't need no stinking badges!
From what I can tell the parade marshal's main job is to keep things moving along the parade route. As you can see there were no floats on the street so it looks like he was doing his job!
The Tucson Rodeo Parade is believed to be the nation's longest non-motorized parade dating back to 1925. All the parade entries are horse pulled other than the marching bands and the street sweepers who always end the parade by cleaning up the landmines left by our equine friends.
BTW the "stinking badges" line originally came from the 1948 film The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. I probably saw that movie as a kid since all the kids loved westerns when I was young but I don't remember it. I knew the paraphrase of the line from the 1974 Mel Brooks classic "Blazing Saddles".
For some reason this reminded me of the Cupid Shuffle.
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,
This is off to the right of the prison complexes and since they seem to get a lot out that way I decided to take a look at the map and see just what was out there. The one thing that stood out to me is a small solar panel farm that has a cooling pond for some reason. Maybe it's the water that's doing it?
This was shot @ f/3.5 with 30 seconds on the clock and ISO 100.
I could have danced and danced and danced...
One of the many things that surprised us on this cruise was just how popular ballroom dancing was. It's not something you see a lot of on an American cruise, you're more likely to see Grandma and Grandpa on the floor trying to shake it to Bon Jovi's "Living On A Prayer" which is a cruise ship staple.
Niccy and I went to the lounge every evening to play in the General Knowledge Trivia (which we had no chance of ever winning) and before the trivia there was a ballroom dance session so we got to watch a bit.
Everyone was taking the dance serious but some more serious than others. It was easy to see that the super serious folks had been at it for awhile and more than likely had taken lessons at Arthur Murray or some other dance school. They were very graceful as they circled on the dance floor and it was very nice to see them enjoy themselves. We saw waltzes, tangos, foxtrots, and a few others that we didn't know but what we do know is that Fred and Ginger would've felt right at home.
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!
One of the highest licensing standards in the US (and I would imagine Barbados as well!
Here comes the pilot to guide us to our safe berth in Barbados. One of the toughest jobs around in my opinion since you've got to be a ship's Master first and will have been at sea for 15 to 25 years to satisfy this requirement.
There's a lot of people (cargo, etc) depending on you and your knowledge to get them safely to your destination. Me, I'm barely responsible for myself so I doubt I could take on a job like this!
As a cruiser I certainly am glad they're there to help me reach my destination!