We just got a Nikon D40 and I'm amazed at the photo's. As a photography newbie I appreciate the comment and advise on how to improve our skills.
After digging through all the photos I've found some texture, design and patterns in the cruise ship itself:
Of course sunrise over the Atlantic provided some great shots too:
Sunrise1 Sunrise2 Sunrise4 Sunrise5
The local flowers:
And some miscellaneous shots
We all struggle to go forward in our daily endeavors trying to achieve succes, and that is the way it should go. But, looking back is a way to see where all started, and there is no better way than reliving your memories with a camera at hand. The hot and humid summers of Lima, and practically no rain in the winter, make the houses look like this one, my home at age 10, 
barrios altos colors of time. Walking those streets on the way to school or university were entertaining and kept me fitParuro. chinatown with its foods and traditions, the news . the girls school was nearby and had to walk by. this was an old monastery converted into school, run by nuns, and named Mercedes Cabello (a writer at the end of the xix century)M.Cabello , and today sorrounded by the bullicious taxis, vendors and many more people. Changes are seen everyplace, like the nice hotel facade, now decadent . or the afluent home door: junin st. What about sundays, well, there was church time, not my favorite, but baptisms were great, good food, friends, and in the big churchlima , but there are so many churches around that area san francisco. There was a cafe where students would meet and chat, near the gobernment palace, and there was a statue of the Conquistador Pizarro in that corner, but now no such thing. Interesting to know is that the statue of Pizarro was originally done to represent H.Cortez, but rejected by Mexico, and sent to Lima, but there has been always a resentment against Pizarro, therefore the statue was moved several times (rejected?), and today is near the Rimac River statue . In the background the highest hill in the city : San Cristobal, initially had homes made of straw mats, but 40 y later, cement, bricks and electricity are part of the scenery.san cristobal , and homes . We will continue our walk another day.
IrmaCamel ride Rabbi My son Jesse at the Wall In line waiting to be blessedcrown
It was July 2004 when I was going back to Missouri from The Netherlands, and I was at Amsterdam airport,"Schiphol" , waiting for my flight to London Gatwick, from where I would fly to Dallas Ft Worth. It was quiet a long trip with most of the time nothing to see but clouds . When finally in Dallas a third plane, Beechcraft, would take me to Arkansas. For the first time I could really see things below me, like the crowded traffic of Dallas. Just a few hours later I landed on a small airstrip in , Harrison , Arkansas from where I would continue up north by car, to Missouri. After being traveling almost 24 hours, including waiting, I finally arrived at my destination.
My wife and I recently took a cruise to be a part of my brother's wedding. The first stop we made was to San Juan Puerto Rico. He was later married in St. Thomas. This was the first fort that was seen on the way into the port. This picture was taken a few moments later. I like this photo because of the size difference between the two ships. I am not sure what the name of this building is but I thought I would try to take a night picture. It seems slightly out of focus. It was taken on the ship with a tripod and cordless remote. Oh well. One of my personal favorites of the series is this picture of the Puerto Rico Streets. Another picture of the PRStreets. It was taken up by Fort San Cristobal as well as is this one. On the way back to the ship we stopped at Senor Frog for dinner. Too many pictures to post them all. Will eventually share some more from this trip.
For me, the most memorable times on a vacation is the time spent outside the tourist areas. Off the beaten path is where you can learn the most about different cultures. These are photos of people I ran across in the Acapulco/Taxco area of Mexico. The river laundry lady's daughter This little girl begged to have her picture taken. If only I had a printer with me to give her a copy!street vendorcurious little guy dinner break the man was taking his dinner break with his horse.sunset ride These horse rental men were ending their day at sunsetbeauty is ageless I asked to take this lady's picture, and she giggled with excitement. As soon I would lift the camera, she would assume this proud posture.red boat Not sure what they are doing, but they are doing it wellshoes This has nothing to do with people. I'm throwing it in for my sister who has a thing for shoes. If she had spotted this store, we would still be there!
Drove from to Santa Rosa today to pick up my son. Took some shots along the way, including from inside the car during stop and go traffic (mostly stop). The clouds were so billowy they seemed fake, and then the storm provided some great photo opportunities. Love the Napa Valley views...even McD's looked good tonight.
Sign in the storm
Grapevines
Amazing clouds and streetlight
Mist off the tires
Napa Roadside
Sunset over McDonalds
Purple Flower
Clouds above houses
This one was taken near the foothills last week when the snow dropped to 1000 feet (it's been a doozy in CA this Winter).
Electrical Tower and snow on mountain
Shanghai, China is like any other big city: It really comes alive at night.
3 days in Madrid is not enough...
Torres Kio, the leaning towers of Madrid
Torre Picasso One, Two and Three
Plaza Mayor, the main square. Don't leave your camera or your cellphone on the table... the kids will steal it.
The Police with the symbol of Madrid in the background - el oso y el madroño (the bear and the strawberry tree). Madrid, you're on notice.
Puerta del Sol, and again
Hey, I'm new here so I thought I'd post some of my older pics I've taken. I was looking through and forgot how much I liked some of these. This is a shot of my cousin's winnings in Vegas as he was receiving them. I call it Ghost Money. In Vegas, I was too young to drink or gamble at the time so I just took some shots that I thought were interesting. LV Fountain The Strip Las Vegas Flash Flood
This must have been the most amazing trip of my life. We spent 6 days touring South West China, followed by 11 days in Hong Kong.
We started our tour in Lijiang a small town 3 kilometers above sea level. This beautiful town sits at the base of Snow Mountain which can be seen from almost anywhere in town. As part of the tour we went to the peak of Snow Mountain. It was so high, they provided us all with oxygen tanks, which we were happy to have :)
Our second leg of the trip took us to Dali, stopping briefly by the
Stone Forest and area of tall slender rocks, formed when the area was submerged by water many moons ago.
Dali is a lakeside city, famous for its bathers (mostly seniors) who dive into the frigid lake each morning. The most famous site in Dali are the Three Pagodas which were built during the Tang Dynasty. Here is a view of the lake from a Mountainside village.
A delectable treat I found on the trip was what I called lizard on a Stick. Turns out, its not meant to be eaten like a lollipop, but ground up.
Our final leg of our china trip brought us to Kunming, a sprawling metropolis , with luxuries I never expected to find in China. I am 6'5 tall, and asked if they had any longer beds, instead they upgraded my to this luxury room telling me i can just sleep from left to right on the bed.
Next stop, Hong Kong. I love this city. Here is a shot from the peak that overlooks the city. The Architecture here is amazing. My only regret is not getting photographs of the people. The city is swarming, even at midnight. Never a dull moment.
For eight months, all I've heard is about the Colorado Elk/Mule Deer hunt. I actually think he was more excited about this trip, than getting married. More amazing was the pics he captured. I made him buy a $120 digital and sent him on his way. His pics made me ill...the beginner has out-shined the master. Other than leveling the horizon (which I fixed for him), he took some miraculous pictures. No pics were ps'd unless noted in the gallery.
Colorado by Mike
I was in Sri Lanka for a week and a half in July. I was in Colombo, which was the only coastal place not badly affected by the wave, and also went inland.
World Trade Center, Colombo - These buildings were bombed in '97 and were also affected by the Central Bank Bombing of '96. Now the area is protected by the Army, so I got some funny looks when I got out of the car in the middle of the night to shoot some pics :)
Crows somewhere on the way to Kandy.
Elephant Crossing
Feeding the baby at the orphanage
Trees
Gates
Hunas Falls, a hotel in the middle of nowhere
Follow the path
Dambula Rock Temple
A place in the shade
The 2nd batch of pics from my trip to India...
The view from my apartment. Traffic comes at a standstill every morning, especially if some politician shuts the road so he can get through to the airport with his motorcade.
Commercial St in Bangalore.
Cops in Bangalore. Their weapons are bamboo sticks, and they hurt.
A cricket game - India vs. India. This is where I missed out on not having a cam with more than a 3x zoom!
We hired a car and driver to take us on our little road trip, because we wanted to come back alive. If you're thinking of driving in India, forget it!
Dam.
Mysore Park.
Ooty's only street.
The empty hotel we stayed at in Mysore.
Steps.
A checkpoint close to the Karnataka - Tamil Nadu border. In India you need to pay a tax to enter another state in your car.
Some abandoned hotel, or it seemed to be when we went in it.
Okay-so I'll spare all of you the strip malls and commercial shopping to bring you a tiny glimpse of a town that I really don't know that much about-only live here--sad I know, but here I go.
For those of you who know or would appreciate the joke-what's your exit? Well it's exit 105 off the Garden State Pkwy. The reason why the map is triangled is because that's where I work-Dorbrook Recreation Area part of the Monmouth County Park System. www.monmouthcountyparks.com for those interested.
So my husband and I drove around and found this little spot.
eatontown has a clock and a brook. I found this sign-pretty beat up over the years. Wampum Brook.
You can fish here.father and son and his daughter too.
It's also a romantic spotfor couples.
I also came across this
tree. This plaque was at the base.
I thought this was interesting....
What is this? It was growing in the brook.
And the gazebo.
Just up the street were these older stores
a barber shop, a nail salon, a
luncheonette, mini market and across the street
a kitchen & bath store. Zeeks and the nail salon were the newest storefronts-the others were kind of beat up on the outside.
So, that's main street, Eatontown, NJ.
Afterwards, my husband and I went out to eat at our favorite diner-and it's a true diner-open 24 hrs.
I dub it
"Tacky statue diner". That's my town! Hope you enjoyed the tour!
I had to visit with a client on Friday, just west of Delavan Wisconsin. Delavan is about an eighty-five mile drive from Grafton where I live. As I was driving through the downtown area on Delavan's brick paved main street, something to the right caught my eye. Whoa! That can't be a giraffe in middle America, can it??? I knew right then that I had to check this out.Immediately after my appointment, I drove back to Delavan to the spot where I thought I had seen a giraffe. What I discovered was a small park like area - perhaps one block long and 300 feet wide. There I saw a sign explaining Delavan's rich circus heritage in days gone by. And sure enough, above the sign was the giraffe I had seen earlier. I looked beyond the giraffe and saw one of the buildings described on the sign. I turned and saw the other building across the street. I ventured to the opposite end of the park and found this circus clown. The clown was standing, if can you believe it, right under an upright elephant. I became thirsty, due to the heat of the day, and was refreshed by this water fountain. Would you risk your head to get a drink? I guess I wasn't the only one that was thirsty as you can see by this elephant that seems to have designs on the water tower. Just beyond the clown and elephant, there was a historic marker explaining why the main street was paved with bricks, who did it and what it cost. It explains that all the bricks are layed perpendicular to the curbs except the bricks in the intersections are layed in a herringbone design. Here is a detail.
It was Friday and I had squandered as much time as I thought I could afford, so after a quick self portrait and a final wave from my new friend, it was back to the office.
My nephew, Dirk, belongs to the Civil Air Patrol (CAP). He traveled from his home in Florida to Oshkosh, WI, to volunteer at the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) AirVenture. I drove up to Oshkosh, by gosh, to pick him up. Although the airshow had come to its end, there were still a few planes to be seen. For instance this P-51 Mustang. Here is Dirk next to a 10,000 pound Blockbuster Bomb that was on display at the event. Now for the current theme.
Dirk and I went to Port Washington and walked out on the breakwater to get to the lighthouse. Are you supposed to sleep under the lighthouse? It's really a shame that we have so many, as I call them, "All American Slobs". I ask you, "WHY?" and "WHY AGAIN?". The day was very hot, humid and hazy as we made our way back to land.
We next traveled to Covered Bridge Park in the Town of Cedarburg to show Dirk the last covered bridge in Wisconsin. There is also a lovely foot bridge in the park. Here's a picture of me and Dirk . Oh, that's me on the left...The one wearing the hat.
Since there seems to be a sub-theme, here is my entry. Painted Knockers
In order to comply with the new theme, I got out a Wisconsin State map and drew a 10 mile radius around Grafton. Oh my, about 1/4 of my allowed area is under Lake Michigan. Water's too cold to swim, and don't have a boat, I'll just have to stick to dry land.In my last post, I told you about the old bridge that had been moved to Lime Kiln Park. Lime Kiln park is so named because of the lime kilns that were built there in 1890. Limestone is plentiful in eastern Wisconsin. It was taken from the quarry below the kilns, gound up and then fired in the kilns to make lime which was used in plaster, mortar and as whitewash. There were originally five kilns at this location, however, only three kilns have been restored.
Photographica Feeds
I recently spent a day on Kalemegdan fort in Belgrade.This fort is in center of Belgrade and it has a ZOO within.