Little ones

As a follow up to my last picture of the King at the San Diego Safari Park I wanted to post this one of some of the kids.  These two playful cubs so much fun to watch jumping and chasing each other.

Two of our friends have been blessed with their own children in the last few both has some challenges along the way, but we are so happy that everyone is safe and healthy!  Hannah is growing like crazy and has the same crazy energy that those lion cubs did.  I feel very blessed to have such a wonderful family and friends.  Have a great week everyone. 

View of the King

I haven't posted anything in a while, and wanted to put something up.  With all the sadness lately over the killing of Cecil the lion, I thought I would share this nice picture of the head of the San Diego Safari Park kingdom.  This is the only kind of shooting animals I enjoy.  Nature is amazing, and I believe it needs to be enjoyed with as little destruction as possible. Have a great week!

Mamie Morning

This photo is of Lake Mamie in Mammoth Lakes, CA on a morning last summer.  Unfortunately, we were not able to make it up the Mammoth this year.  Scheduling just did not work.  My lovely wife and I did take a trip to San Francisco this past weekend, and while it was not a photography trip, I did manage to grab a few pictures.  Haven't even scrolled thru them all yet, but I will try to get something up soon.  In the mean time I still have a few in the folder waiting to get posted.  If you look closely, you will see that one of my favorite pictures is lurking in this one.  This was the setup just before I took the photo from the previous post "quiet morning."  I wish everyone a great week.

Eye of the Tiger

I thought I would throw something different in today.  This is from a trip to the San Diego Safari Park.   They recently opened a new tiger exhibit.  These animals are pretty amazing.

On a personal note, I enjoyed a nice Father's day last weekend, and wedding anniversary this week.  I am so lucky to be blessed with two lovely ladies in my life and a new crazy energetic puppy.  Have a great week.   

Lighting Aftermath

It has been a long time, and I suppose I have fallen victim of the New Year's Resolution Curse.  There has been a lot happening in our life.  Mostly packing, moving, and unpacking has kept me busy.  We have moved to Torrance, closer to both of our works.  We are settling in, but certainly miss Long Beach.  However, I am back online and hopefully the pictures will keep coming.

This picture is again from up at Mammoth Lakes.  They had a huge lighting storm a few years ago the took out hundreds if not thousands of trees.  I can remember what the Park Ranger said.  Even in destruction is some beauty.

Warped

This picture is one that I have been looking at for a long time.  I actually took the picture back in 2013, but just now cleaned it up.  This was taken at an old mine camp up in Mammoth Lakes.  It was some corrugated tank of some sort that looks like it melted into the ground.  I really thought it was interesting how it slowly twisted over time, giving it a smooth curvy look to go with the roundness of  corrugated.  

I hope everyone in the midwest is hunkered down for the big storm ahead.  I am on a very exciting trip this weekend.  I have the once in a lifetime chance to attend the Super Bowl.  I worked very hard designing and drafting the halftime show, and I was lucky enough to be invited by my boss to attend.  Seeing the full production in real life is amazing.  There is an incredible team of hundreds that work very hard to make the show happen.  I am so blessed to work with these people, and it makes me happy I still have my day job.  I hope you have a chance to enjoy the Pepsi Half Time Show on Sunday.  Oh, and I think there is a football game too.  Have a great week.

Hungry Chipmunk

This very happy chipmunk visited our cabin in Mammoth last summer.  The pancake he has in his mouth may have had something to do with that.  It is amazing how fast these little guys can move, but he was nice enough to sit still long enough for me to capture this.  It is pictures like this that help relax me during stressful weeks.  For one week busy meant sitting on a porch taking pictures of birds and chipmunks.  I can't wait to get back to that.

It has been a roller coaster week around our house, and the weekend escaped without this post.  Hopefully a day late will be my worst offense.  Have a fantastic week!

Quiet Morning

This is another picture from last summer's trip to Mammoth Lakes.  It was a very cold morning, and I am not a morning person.  After trying for a sunrise picture that just didn't work I was headed back to cabin we were staying in.  The mist was still on the lake an I thought I would try to capture the quiet moment.  This quickly has become my favorite picture from the trip.  It was a long exposure giving it the almost surreal look.  It is one of those special times where the picture in my head and the image I capture matched.

I am sure that I will be making a print of this.  If you ever see an image you would like.  Please contact me and we can discuss prints.

Have a fantastic weekend.  Hopefully you are lucky enough to be able to enjoy a 3 day holiday weekend.

Cobra

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Here is a double feature. I was lucky enough to have about 10 minutes to photograph this car. This Cobra was hand built by my good friend Bryan Palmer. I was in Illinois to surprise him for his birthday. I also got a pretty sweet ride in the car. Hopefully I will have an opportunity  to photograph her again sometime. That's all this wet California weekend. 

The Future is Growing

Welcome to 2015!  Welcome to my new project.  Much like the rest of the world I have chosen this arbitrary date at the beginning of January to begin a new personal project.  My plan is to post at least once a week in 2015 with a picture, and a least a paragraph.  I figure with a simple premise and a minimum commitment of one a week, I should be able to be successful.  My hope is to be able to post more often, but life has a way of slowing things down.  I will qualify this whole thing with the fact that I do photography for a hobby and I am far from a grammatical scholar.  With all that said, here we go…

Today’s picture called “The Future is Growing” was taken at Horseshoe Lake in Mammoth Lakes, CA.  It seemed appropriate for today’s new start.  This small tree was finding a way to grow in the midst of a high traffic walkway around what is one of California’s many disappearing lakes.  This was the first photo I edited with the laptop my amazing wife gave me for Christmas.  I have been without a personal computer for several months, and I realized how much I missed working with photos.  Hopefully this small start will grow into something unique and fun.

A special thanks is needed for my supportive family.  My wife who is a constant source of encouragement and my daughter who inspires me even if she doesn't know it.  Happy New Year to you and your family!