All My Blogs

Door and window in the Dominican Republic.  Where there is trust, there is no need for locks. When it comes to having things, one of the best things to have is the trust of others.  And the thing about trust is that it is hard to earn and easy to lose.   Think about the people in your life that you trust, not lightly, but with deep conviction.  What is it about them that has led you to this place of confidence in their character?  It has nothing to do with how they look, their bank account, or their popularity.  It is something that has developed over time.  It is based on common experiences and witnessed behaviours that stand out.   There are several qualities that stand out about why you can trust this individual.  They care about you and what happens to you and your loved ones.  They are there when you need them, in whatever capacity.  It is also likely that they are well thought of by others.  If you lend them som...

Detailed view of a building in Antigua at Nelson's Dock Yard. I find that buildings and surrounding landscapes interest me, but not always the entire compound at once.  Rather, parts of a building get my attention, usually doors and/or windows, that are surrounded by colour, patina, or compelling objects. Such is the case above. My wife and I have enjoyed cruising.  The upside is that you get to visit a great many places in a short time; the downside is that each location is often limited by that short time, and so there tends to be lots to explore with little opportunity.  When my eye catches something interesting, I point my camera towards it.  So it was in this case. " Nelson’s Dockyard Marina is the only continuously working Georgian Era dockyard in the world. English Harbour offers one of the most beautiful and safe natural anchorages in the Caribbean. Two hundred years of Royal Navy heritage alongside stunning beaches and modern amenities makes Nelson’s Dockyar...

A gardener in Palm Springs posing for me - I'm sure he's proud of the work he does. When I photograph people, I like to have something that speaks to more than just the person's image.  I often find photographing relationships to be rewarding.  When photographing an individual, I often like to do what I call a character shot. Character photos are less about what someone looks like and are more about who they are as an individual.  This may encompass any number of aspects of traits, but I often find that the best associations are with work or hobbies.  They are almost always photos of an individual, often in a setting where they spend a lot of time or find peace, and something that they have positive feelings towards. In the above photo, I asked the gardener if I could photograph him.  He posed very simply with a pair of shears; there was nothing special about how he stood.  I loved the greenery around him and the flowers in the background.  I used flas...

National Bird Day is only recognized in the Americas.  March 19th is International Migratory Bird Day. There is quite a list of international days recognized by the United Nations.   I pulled some from the whole list that you can see here ; the ones below are just some of the international days for the first 3 months of the year.  Notice that National Bird Day and International Migratory Bird Day are not mentioned.  There are many more days that are recognized that are not celebrated or noted on the given site or below - there must be thousands of them. List of International Days and Weeks World Braille Day 04 Jan International Day of Education 24 Jan International Day of Clean Energy 26 Jan International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust 27 Jan World Wetlands Day 02 Feb International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation 06 Feb International Day of the Arabian Leopard (A/RES/77/295) Interna...

Notice the mite on the ground beetle.  Is it phoresitic or parasitic? My previous blog was on a group of arachnids called oribatid or beetle mites, which are commensalistic organisms that hitch a ride on certain beetles.  They benefit; the beetle is not harmed.  Doing that blog reminded me of some other photos I had taken of a ground beetle (above photo) and a carrion beetle (below) that had mites on them.  I had previously thought they were parasites, but I learned of this behaviour called phoresy in some creatures.  Phoresy is a relationship between two organisms where one travels on the body of another organism without parasitizing it.   Carrion beetle with mites attached (arrows). This brought me to the question, how do you know if a mite is in a parasitic or phoresic relationship with the beetle it is on? Mites, like the oribatid ones in my previous blog, are attached and do not seem to move.  However, they have certain characteristics such ...

Orbatid mites, also called beetle mites, hitching a ride on a white-spotted long-horned beetle. We use horses, donkeys, and ostriches to hitch a ride on, taking us from one location to another.  Such relationships are also common in the animal world between different species.  Orbatid mites, also called beetle mites, belong in this category in that they may attach themselves to certain beetles for a ride.  But, instead of it being just one or two of them, as is often the case, there may be dozens or even hundreds.  From the outside, it looks like the beetle may be parasitized, but the strange thing is, it isn't.  It turns out that this is a commensal relationship. Commensalism is a relationship between two species where one benefits (in this case, the mite) while the other remains unharmed (the beetle).  Other than weighing the beetle down a bit, which really doesn't hurt it much at all, there is no harm.  Some beetles get covered from front to back....