Bosque del Apache - 2

I have now processed the next patch of images...those from the afternoon of the first day. Went a bit quicker this time since the stack to go through was smaller.

We start with the Great Blue Heron above, just to let you know that there are animals in the reserve other than the Sandhill Cranes.

Brick Lane Road

We went to Brick Lane Road to search out the market. Along the street we found lots of great street art.

Bosque del Apache - 1

This is the first of several installments on my trip to New Mexico to photograph the Sandhill Cranes. This was a photography trip, loosely guided by a couple of pros who've been here many times. We got tips on where to go when for the best chances of good photos.

A Taste of Piccadilly

By the time we got to Piccadilly Circus, it was pretty dark, making it a good time of day to see the street decorations.

Trafalgar Square

We stopped by Trafalgar Square late in the afternoon (ie. about 4:30) as the sky was going pink and orange.

Harrod's

Harrod's at Christmas time is hectic, expensive, and beautiful. At quick stop at the food court and we find oodles of yummy bits and swarms of people.

Hyde Park Christmas Celebration

We made a stop at Hyde Park to see the Christmas "Winter Wonderland" Celebration. It was even more extensive that the one we saw a few years ago. Even though there were very few market stalls selling goods, there were endless rows of food and carnival rides.

Old Spitalfield Market on Antiques Day

After our winding bus ride, we headed to the market at Spitalfields to check out the antiques. While sitting on the Central Line Underground, we noticed the distortion in the window opposite us.

Chinatown

We headed to Chinatown to some lunch. On the way we stopped in Cecil Court for a brief look around. I thought this was a good place for some monochrome action.

Riding the 205 Bus West

We headed out for a bus ride into the city. We took the 205 from Stepney Green to Warren Street station at Tottenham Court Road. We originally intended to head over tho Leighton House Museum but decided when we got to Warren Street to head back to Old Spitalfields Market. Thursday is antique day and with the sun fading early this time of year, we changed course and headed to Liverpool Street Station.

V&A Childhood Museum

Not far from where we are staying in Stepney Green is the V&A Childhood Museum. We took the bus over to Bethnal Green for a look about.

To the West End

A quick snap from my phone to show our trip to the theater so see the show "Company" with (among other people) Patti Lupone. Lots of strong singing and good acting in the story about a young woman's struggle with being single and whether to get married.

Tower Hamlets Cemetery

We are still working on our visit to all the Magnificent Seven Cemeteries and it turns out that Tower Hamlets is quite close...one stop on the underground and a 10 minute walk. We were fortunate to have a day with blue skies and sunshine so we took advantage and went out for a look about.

Old Spitalfields Market

The market was filled lots of christmas color and people looking for a bargain.

LIverpool Street Station, London

In London For Christmas! I know it has been a while since I blogged. My apologies. But in my defense, we've been busy. I'm trying to get back to a schedule and I thought I'd start with a few shots of Liverpool Station.

Skagit Valley

A drive north again to the Skagit valley. You may recall that this is the place where, back in the spring, we saw endless fields of tulips. Now all that is gone and the fields are empty of such colorful things. What has replaced the tulips is fields of grass and Snow Geese. With Mount Baker in the background on this sunny day, it is a mighty inviting place. Unfortunately, I was too slow to catch this flock of hundreds in the air circling for their landing. But we got to see it as we drove towards the field and it was pretty darned amazing.

Eagles in Flight

Today we have a look at the photos of Bald Eagles in flight (or nearly so, as in the image above).

Eagles at Rest

We finally cashed-in my birthday present and took the tour on the Skagit River (about 1.5 hours north of us) to see the Bald Eagles. Yes, the bird above is a Bald Eagle...an immature one. We're told that it takes about 5 years to reach the white-headed state. We saw lots of immature eagles on this trip.

I've broken the posting into two parts so no one gets tired before the end. In this post, you'll see sitting birds. Tomorrow, I'll post the ones I caught in flight.

Back In Snohomish

To clear your palate a bit after all that excitement in Las Vegas, I thought I bring you some of the still lifes I found in downtown Snohomish. A moment of calm in this busy life.

Paris

Of course, everything in Las Vegas is not pretty. Walking from Caesar's Palace to Paris, I passed this unfortunate fellow having a nap.

Caesar's Palace

While I found the Venetian to be a nicer place to wander and explore, Caesar's Palace is mighty impressive. The roman style statues and architecture that is suggestive of the period in scale and details set under large sections with a ceiling of faux blue sky is a sight not to be missed.

Out along Las Vegas Boulevard, we find the front of the Bellagio and its famous fountain. I happened to be there during one of the shows.

Red Rock Canyon

By far the highlight of our trip of Las Vegas was our visit to Red Rock Canyon. Getting out of the city and seeing some of the desert was great.

Fremont

After our evening of dinner theater, we decided it was too early to call it a night, so we headed down to Fremont to see the older part of the strip. this is also the crazy part.

Tournament of Kings

We booked ourselves seats at a dinner theater at the Excalibur called the Tournament of Kings. We were seated around a sizeable arena, served dinner and treated to a fairly elaborate show involving sword fights, horses, magicians, and a bad guy with a flamethrower.

The Venetian

If the entrance of the Bellagio was over the top, the Venetian is over the moon. This fellow was playing his guitar at the entrance and welcoming everyone (too bad WalMart doesn't have greeters like this!) and we stop to ask for directions.

The Bellagio

The entrance of the Bellagio Hotel and Casino is dominated by this colorful glass Object d'art by Dale Chihuly up on the ceiling.

Seven Magic Mountains

South of Vegas on I-5 we find a location called Seven Magic Mountains. I'm pretty sure that it is referring to the mountains located around us, not the party colored stacks of rocks we found there. This is some sort of art dedicated to the place, but I failed to understand the connection. Perhaps the 40 mph gusts of cold wind interfered with my brain function.

The Luxor

If you keep walking long enough through Mandalay Bay, you will eventually find yourself in the Luxor. This place is built to resemble a pyramid from the outside and contains lots of faux Egyptian decorations inside. Above is a shot looking up toward the peak of the pyramid. The long horizontal "bars" on either side are the hallways for accessing the rooms in the hotel that is formed by the sides of the pyramid.

Mandalay Bay

When we arrived at Mandalay Bay and emerged from the cavernous parking garage, we were greeted with a headless statue. Given that the restaurant next to is called Red Square, I'm guessing it is supposed to Lenin.

The Orleans in Las Vegas

So, we recently spent a long weekend with our extended family and friends in Las Vegas, NV. This was our first time here so we spent a lot of time wandering the casinos to get a feel for the place. Over the next 10 or 12 days, I'll be posting images of our excursions.

Zoo Part VII

The Hippopotamuses were busy getting in and out of the water. Most likely out of boredom.

Zoo Part VI

Again, I don't know who all these birds are, but I can at least get you into the right neighborhood. this one above is some sort of crane.

Halloween in Snohomish

To no one's surprise, Halloween comes to Snohomish just like the rest of the country. Well, perhaps not in just the same way, but it gets here. Halloween here is a bit different. The businesses go all in and give out candy and for two hours there are hordes of people wandering the streets in their finest costumes, herding children and gather sweets.

The Cemetery in Old San Juan

Elizabeth got some photos of the old cemetery in San Juan I thought I'd share with you. Above is the entrance. As you can see it is right on the shore with the Atlantic Ocean in the background.

Zoo Part V - More Birds

Moving outside, where the light is better, I found some Cranes that posed quite nicely.

Zoo Part IV

There were other pretty birds besides the Cock-of-the-Rock. Too bad I don't know who they are.

Zoo Park III - Cock-of-the-Rock

Inside a quite humid and warm aviary is a collection of birds from warmer climes. Included among them is the Andean Cock of the Rock. He's a real showboat.

Zoo Shots Part II

One of the aviaries contains tropical birds and I found several that were worth an image or two. This one above is some sort of Cockatiel. Note that there is no blue sky behind the bird. This is Seattle, after all. What you see is the wall and ceiling painted blue.

Testing Me with the Fuji 100-400mm

I decided that I'd venture out while E is in Puerto Rico and do some developmental work with the Fuji X-H1 and my new 100-400mm lens. I've not really had a chance to work with this combination and I've got a couple trips coming up where I plan to use them. It seemed like a good time to learn my way around the equipment and my process for using them.

This, of course, requires that I have something to photograph. I solved this problem by visiting the Woodland Park Zoo. The first critter I spied was a local rabbit out munching a brunch.

A Visit to Ponce

Another outing to report on from Puerto Rico where E and Jeanne are house sitting this week. The house where they are staying on the northern (Atlantic) shore and today, they took a trip across the island to the south coast (caribbean shore) to the town of Ponce. Heading into the mountains brings lush vegetation.

Playa de Chiquita, Puerto Rico

So, Elizabeth and Jeanne has gone off to Puerto Rico  for a week long house sit while I stay behind and keep the fires burning. Judging from the pictures she has sent to me, she got the better end of this deal.

She and Jeanne went out to Playa de Chiquita at sunset the other day to have a look about and take their little charge, Buddy, out for some exercise.

Spider Season!

With Halloween fast approaching, it seems only appropriate to show some of the decorations. Actually, it started being spider season here in the PNW in June and it hasn't let up since. I thought I'd show you a few of the spider webs in our yard since we had a good morning for photographing them. We've had increasingly foggy mornings for the last week and this bring the condensation on the silk lines that make the geometrically arranged strings of pearls we love to see.

Boise ID to Home

Eager to get home, we arose early and headed out before sunrise. The drive to Boise was a long one and today's was a little shorter but still over 7 hours.

Rawlins WY to Boise ID

We awoke to a cold morning. Snow still on the ground but none now coming from above. Progress.

So cold in fact, the de-icer we bought at Walmart the night before was doing us no good. Since it hadn't been pumped through the system enough to clear out the plain water, it was all frozen. Moreover, so was the lock on the back of the truck. This meant we could not get our suitcases back in the truck. So I went back inside and got a couple cups of hot water from the coffee bar and immersed the lock for a while. Once thawed and removed, I immersed it in the de-icer for a spell to replace the water which would freeze again with something that might not.

Colorado and Wyoming

In Colorado, things began to change. The temperature dropped and there was snow on the ground. It wasn't snowing on us, but it clearly had done so recently.

Tontitown Through Oklahoma to Kansas

As we left our friends in Tontitown behind, we headed west toward Tulsa and the land slowly, but surely began to flatten.

Prairie Grove

A trip to the nearby town of Prairie Grove, AR took us to a couple of memorable antique and up-cycle stores. I found a few items here worth photographing. The theme for today is color and texture. Notice also that the photo above is a near self-portrait. There is something deep in here about me being just at the edge of the frame where you know I'm there but still not quite seen. Rest assured it was unintentional.

Sunrise in Tontitown Before the Storm

Sunrises are difficult to shoot in one image so I made a couple HDR images to give a better feel for what Dawn and Michael see out their back door.

Day Two

An early rise for the second day as we reload our suitcases in the back of the truck for another fun-filled day of driving.