The Lions of Lyon
Lyon, France hosted an arts event in 2004 with the idea of 60 lions, 60 places and 60 artists creating fancy lions to decorate the city. Of course this idea has been done all over the world now with orcas and eagles in Victoria, Canada; pigs in Seattle, Washington; bears in Berlin, Germany and I expect [...]
Why do I Blog?
The reason for my blog is twofold. Firstly, I enjoy sharing my travel photos with the world and blogs are a great way to do this. I hope you spend some time wandering through the posts enjoying the imagery and getting a feeling for what my “artsy” life is like. Secondly, I love teaching photography [...]
Sky Watch Friday
What a cool idea, sharing photos of skies around the world on Friday. Here’s my first of hopefully many. Cabbage Island in British Columbia. Share on Facebook
Islands Folk Festival – Providence Farm
One of my summer highlights is going to the Islands Folk Festival held at Providence Farm in the Cowichan Valley. The folk festival has a great selection of musicians many from Canada but also other parts of the globe. A special emphasis is made to showcase local musicians and emerging musicians as well. This is put [...]
Guest Posts! Are You Interested?
I’ve been thinking that I would like to have some other points of view on my blog. It’s not that I’m running out of things to talk about but more that there are so many bloggers and photographers out there with great work and lots to say. Do you possibly write equipment reviews, write and photograph interesting [...]
What Other Photographers are Doing with Their Blogs
I’ve been working on a blogging course being taught online by Darren Rowse www.problogger.net along with over 11,000 other people from around the world. Darren really knows his stuff and I think he has most of us really motivated to take our sites to another level. Certainly I’m keen as I’ve been blogging for a number of [...]
And You Thought the Pandas Were Cute!
I photographed these good looking Desert Iguanas earlier today at the Coachella Valley Preserve. Pretty cool looking lizards. Some good infomation is at Desert Iguanas Info. Share on Facebook
Sex Life in Indio
I’ve always prided myself on being able to shoot photos without the subject’s knowledge. I caught this guy sneaking into an XXX movie in Indio. Share on Facebook
Coachella Valley Real Estate
Friends that know me well always expect me to come home from a trip with ideas about interesting properties to purchase in exotic locations. Fortunately none of them have ever listened to me and my wife doesn’t either so for the good or bad I don’t own any luxury resorts or tropical island properties. This [...]
Earthquakes Coming? Gotta go!
The past month has been an interesting experience living close to the San Andreas Fault in the Coachella Valley of California. At any rate, the park we are staying at has begun to empty as all the northerners head back home before the heat gets insufferable in the desert. We are planning on staying for [...]
More Contrails
After writing the previous post about contrails and mentioning that over 31 million people fly into Los Angeles International Airport every year I started thinking about how many people fly into Southern California every year. I’m guessing the number is in the 100 million range but with the lousy internet access I presently have I [...]
California Fan Palms (Washingtonia filifera)
These spectacular palms are the ones that are common in the Colorado Desert in Southern California. A few artsy photos first, I’ll dig up some interesting copy at a later date…. time to do laundry! Share on Facebook
Indian Canyon
We spent yesterday morning hiking in Indian Canyons, a native area of the Aqua Caliente Cahuilla Indians. Located just south of Palm Springs, this area is amazingly lush with numerous streams flowing through tight valleys. As is typical of this area, where you have water you have palm trees and the oasis was stunning. Walking up [...]
Contrails
Contrails (short for “condensation trails”) or vapour trails are visible trails of condensed water vapour made by the exhaust of aircraft engines. Pretty boring stuff for most of us but they sure do raise havoc when trying to pretend you are out in the wilderness, miles away from civilization. These beautiful images photographers make have [...]
God Bless America
You have to give something to the folks down here for their dedicated love of the country. Everywhere you go you see the U.S. flag and other little reminders that you are in the U.S.A. These pins and visors are a good example. Share on Facebook
I made a wrong turn!
There’s a gravel road that heads from where I’m staying in Sky Valley into the heart of Joshua Tree National Park. Having bought a Subaru a few years ago I felt that this could be my first opportunity to 4×4 big time, not necessarily over boulders but at least more than what my old sports [...]
Interstate 5 and Safety in Numbers
What a trip. We just headed down to California for a well needed break. In our rush to get down to Sky Valley in sunny Southern California we drove most of the way on Interstate 5, the main connector between Northern Washington and Southern California. Driving I-5 is nothing out of the ordinary for most [...]
Australia here I come!
I’m sure you all have heard about the “Best Job in the World” courtesy of Queensland, Australia ( Queensland Tourism, what a concept!). This is a very spiffy job, amazingly similar to what I already do! I guess the biggest difference is that If I were lucky (or talented) enough to be offered this job [...]
Trumpeter Swans
It’s amazing that these beautiful birds were almost extinct back in the 1960′s with only several hundred left. Remarkably, preservation efforts have brought the swans back and it’s now estimated that over 10,000 individuals exist. Vancouver Island is host to many of the swans as they overwinter. Prime viewing areas are around the Comox Valley [...]
Nippon Highway
We are used to the odd freighter dropping anchor in our front yard during the winter months but generally they are your regular carriers, nothing too exotic. The Nippon Highway stopped by a few days ago and it didn’t take long to notice the ship. What a wall of steel she is. A little research [...]
Glowing Scorpions
Here’s another name that could be really fun for a rock band. The Glowing Scorpions are appearing in Seattle tonight – sounds catchy! On a real life note, I never knew scorpions glowed when held under UV light until I visited the Bug Museum in Victoria. This friendly critter demonstrated glowing for us, pretty cool. [...]
I bet you never knew! – Maple Syrup
We spent yesterday afternoon at the British Columbia Forestry Discovery Centre wandering around and taking in the the Sapsuckers. Who exactly are the Sapsuckers? It might sound like a punk band or some alternative living community but these hardy folks produce maple syrup from the Bigleaf Maple, a common tree in the Pacific Northwest. Most of us [...]
Boys Will Be Boys – My 2nd Annual 50th Birthday Party
Once a year I have a birthday party (I konw this is nothing special as most of us have a yearly birthday), not just a normal party but something a little crazier than one would expect from a bunch of grown up adults. In past years we have always used motorized cars, helicopters and other [...]
