Violations

Forgive me for I have sinned. Today I violated my first rule of photography - "I will NEVER photograph flowers, bugs, or bugs on flowers." Sometimes, for the sake of education and exercise, I guess you have to do those things which disgust you the most.

I hate flower photography. It is tedious, boring and pedestrian in my book. It does however present certain educational challenges that all photography students need to learn. Therefore, for today's outing I took my "student" to Tohono Chul Park in an attempt to impart some lessons on light, depth of field, exposure and composition.

Below are my yawning efforts from the class. I hope my student does better.

Kuiper Observatory

Well - up on the mountain again. Can't seem to get enough of these things! Its approaching the New Year. 10 years ago I was up here for the change of the millenium - still the same after a decade.

So here is a couple of portraits of the beast - a 1.5 meter F/13 telescope built initially to survey the moon for Apollo landing sites. Still being used by astronomers today researching the remote environs of the universe . . .






All images were taken with a Canon 5D mark II | Sigma 12-24mm rectilinear zoom | ISO 200 | ~1.6 seconds @ F/8

Hello Halo

Tonight's marvelous lunar halo.

On the Cover

A couple months ago, Dave Olsen of Zocalo Magazine contacted me about using one of my more "creative" Downtown architectural shots on the cover of Zocalo Magazine. Here is a peek - pick a copy up at some of the finer dinning areas around town!

What a Hoot

I'm not a wildlife photographer. I don't like chasing animals through the wilderness; being cold, being hot, being wet . . . you get the picture. However - if the animals come to me - well, I might put out some minimal effort on their behalf.

While outside tending to the pool in the backyard, I happened to look up to see a magnificant Great Horned Owl hangin out in the palm tree next to the cement pond. It was smallish - probably a juvenile - but he allowed me to setup my wimberly mount and my 400mm lens to photograph him. :-)