All My Blogs

I asked this gentleman if I could take his photo before I took it.  He was very accommodating. I have a mixed set of philosophies when shooting with my camera, especially when it is sporting a normal or wide-angle lens.  There is the "where" part and the "who" part. The "where" part is to act like I own the place.  This works most of the time, but it has gotten me into trouble a few times.  It has also allowed me to get photos that would otherwise be unobtainable.  There is a line here, though, that is not to be crossed.  You have to show respect, touch nothing, and be quick.  It also doesn't work in places where they could arrest you - China, for example.  However, asking permission is a better, albeit time-consuming, way to gain access.   Mostly, I grant myself permission to go where I need to. Now, I am not brash, and my "permission" has more to do with the idea of standing out in a crowd rather than trespassing. There is also the saf...

I photographed these royal terns while visiting San Francisco.  Inset image is not mine. The thing about getting older is that you pay a price with your hair.  The first thing that happens is that you start to lose it, and what remains begins to turn grey.  It seems that royal terns, in a way, suffer from the same fate. Their breeding plumage renders them royal - orange beak, a slick black crown, and smooth feathers presenting gallantry and regality.  After breeding season is finished and they complete their fall moult, it seems they have aged rapidly.  Their bill turns yellow, almost jaundiced; the forehead loses those illustrious black feathers as if they are going bald, and their body plumage seems to have lost its softness, certainly compared to the above photos. If only we humans could resolve our hair issues this way.  My dad and I have both had significant hair loss, with mine being not as bad as my father's but still significant.  Wouldn't it b...

A long-billed curlew I photographed in San Francisco with a shrimp it just caught. I have to admit to a fascination with shorebirds.  And I was beyond ecstatic when, while walking along Golden Gate Beach, I came across a curlew hunting for food.  Now, I have seen other birds with long bills, such as spoonbills, pelicans, storks, and so on, but the curlew did something I did not at all expect. The long-billed birds I usually see feed by probing the water or substrate's surface.  Not this bird.  It walked along a muddy plane, its feet spread wide to keep it from sinking into the soft mire, and plunged its bill deep into the sediment.  Right up to its eyeballs.  Not an inch or two, all eight or so inches.  And it came up with a prize. Have a look at the three consecutive images below that I took.  You can see that the water is only superficially covering the soft mud.  The curlew plunges its bill deep under the surface, so deep, in fact, that it...

Sally Lightfoot crabs, also called the red-rock crabs, are not commonly eaten by humans. If you lift rocks up along the BC coast, you will likely find young Dungeness crabs scurrying away to find shelter.  On the Pacific Coast in Mexico, the crabs that are often seen are the Sally Lightfoot crabs.  Also called red-rock crabs, these decapods are inhabitants of rocky shorelines.  The juveniles, photographed above, are often difficult to see as they blend in well with the surfaces they inhabit.  As they grow older, they become a bright red colour and are found less frequently above the waterline.  Click here to see an adult. They are rarely eaten by man, but are frequently preyed upon by predators in nature.  One use of them is for bait in fishing.  The Sally Lightfoot crabs consume surface deposits of algae and phytoplankton.  They also consume a wide variety of invertebrates and will even take their own kind, especially when food is scarce. ...

A young lady gave me permission to photograph her while we strolled the beaches of Huatulco. If you like sandy beaches, warm sun, and good people, Huatulco is the place to go.  Not that I am a connoisseur of such things, but my short visit there was certainly inspiring. Pronounced wah-TOOL-koh , the town is located in the Mexican state of Oaxaca, along the Pacific coast, near the town of Santa Cruz.  Huatulco itself used to be a small fishing village, but its prime location and excellent beaches have been a magnet for tourists and the cruise ship industry.  We were there only for a day, half a day, actually, but we enjoyed strolling along the sandy coastline. The area around Huatulco has 9 bays and 36 beaches.  Some are close at hand, some require transportation to get to, and others can only be visited by boat.  Whatever your whims, there is a beach for you.  For more information, click here . Safety is important.  My research tells me that Huatulco i...

Photo of a giant red-winged grasshopper I took while visiting El Salvador We were visiting a Maya temple on one of our cruise excursions.  While everyone else followed the guide, I took photos with my camera of the structures and the animals I found.  As I approached the tour group, I saw a large flying something descend into the crowd.  I watched as the biggest grasshopper I ever saw landed on a woman's jacket.  Her scream was palpable.   In a mad panic, she flailed her arms in a desperate attempt to dislodge the creature.  It then flew off to a temple wall where it remained for some time.  I watched it with great interest - even though it was fairly far away, it could be clearly seen.   It then flew to a tree branch, high up in the canopy.  The above photo was taken at that point.  The actual image is inverted, as the insect was hanging upside down.  I think it looks better this way. It has a wingspan of almost 10 inches...