This was a picture I took while I lived in Spokane and hiked down by Riverside Park. This male was keeping an eye on his family across the river. The area around their nest had been ravaged by a forest fire a few years before.

This shot was taken years ago with one of my old point and shoots. It has always meant a lot to me. I grew up traveling down tracks like these and yet the first time I walked these tracks it was a new adventure. I had never really lived in a big city before, much less hiked around one... and I was just getting to know Ocala. These tracks are "her" tracks... the ones she grew up around.

As for me I have started at a company called "the Orphanage" in San Francisco. The commute has been quite long, somewhere between one and two hours each way. I am hoping I can start taking the train as I am worried my car won't last long putting 100+ miles on it everyday.

In other news, this site has been enduring a constant comment-spam attack. It pisses me off. I end up having to erase tons of bogus comments everyday. Its so stupid that people would be that disrespectful as to abuse such things.

This male had just finished his courtship dance and was moving off. An interesting thing to note is that the display is not only visual but also auditory. When he fluttered his feathers it made a sound that was a cross between a hum and an alarmed rattlesnake. Its too bad the property is rented and going to be leveled to build condos at some point this year.

On a site management note... I have decided to screen comments to before they appear on the site.. not to censor anyone's opinion, but to guard against comment-spamming.. this site keeps getting filled up with it. After trying several php security measures I am going with the screening process. I feel bad that people won't see their posts up right away, but its that or have them surrounded by junk mail. :( Please don't let it discourage you from giving feedback, I appreciate it immensely.

This particular view isn't along my drive but rather along the coast on the drive between Santa Cruz and San Francisco. It was a beautiful day that was constantly being chased by huge storms coming off the ocean.

The debate made me think of elephants I had seen at the San Diego Zoo. As much as I admire the work that the zoo keepers and biologists do, you can't look at the elephants walking in circles or standing in place, rocking back and forth, and wonder if they wouldn't be better off in the wild.

This time feels like one of those in between moments. I guess that's why I picked this picture for it. I took it a few years ago while traveling back from Minnesota to Washington (state), where I was living at the time. It was a moment where we were in between everything. We had been driving for over a day (the trek actually started in Michigan after the vacation we had there) and we stopped at a diner in the middle of no where, not even really sure what time of day it was, just that our bellies were empty. As we walked out I saw the dog eyeing me.

There were actually three dogs in the truck, but he was the only one interested in what was going on around him. He was trying to decide whether I was bark worthy. He barked a little half.. or maybe even eighth-hearted bark that sounded more like a grumble and then decided I was a friend. His ears perked and I heard his tail thumping in the bed of the truck. I snapped the picture while he was still in middle of his decision.

I thought I would be safe with a $60 radio, who would want to steal that right? Considering the money I have had to spend repairing the window, door, and dash board... my next radio will the taken out and left in the passenger seat ready to go with the doors unlocked. : )

On the upside though I paid off the car a couple of months ago and its now all mine. I have taken the opportunity (since I have been running around to mechanics and dealers for parts) to get the car some much needed attention. It is a freeing feeling to have that debt off my hands.

I lived for several years as an adult without a car. I recommend it to everyone to do at some point. It makes you realize how silly the whole culture surrounding them is and it makes you appreciate the car you have all the more. I always remember one day years ago when I was eating lunch in, at the job I had at the time, and one of my co-workers who had always made his hatred of the car pool lane known, went into a big "its my right as an American to have a comfortable and quick drive to work and drive my car where ever I please" speech.

This is another cloud shot, everybody takes these, I know. I was taking them mostly for work reference (you never know when you are going to be asked to make clouds), but thought this one turned out really pretty. The combination of sunset colors outside and the polarizer on my lens reacting with the polarized air plane glass made for a nice range of color.

The lighting is also in contrast and is what initiated the photo. The warm light from the sun coming in the window and the cool glare on the bricks from the blue sky visible above.

They are sending me to Korea in about a month for I think about three weeks (maybe less). It will be my first time out of North America. I will let you all know how it goes. I got a spiffy new lens that I am hoping to get shots with over there.

Its funny these days I look at almost everything as a chance to take interesting photos. Danger? who cares... it will make an awesome shot! : )

This shot is another honeymoon pic and one that I like a lot. "Dandelions?" you might say, "everyone shoots those!" Well all I can say is that they bring back wonderful memories and there is something very respectable about such a beautiful plant that prefers to be called a weed rather than a flower.

By the way, anyone seen where I left September? I swear it's around here somewhere.

I ended up doing quite a bit of hiking on my own. It allowed me to sit for a couple of hours and listen to the leaves. After spending the past week in this thriving city, in was very refreshing.

I am getting rather homesick at this point. I can't wait to sleep in my own bed.

The first day I got off the plane here I went straight from the airport to a dinner with the crew. I sat across from Kang-ho Song who played, Sgt. Oh Kyeong-pil, the prominent North Korean soldier in JSA and Detective Park Doo-Man in Memories of Murder. He poured me several glasses of soju (akin to Korean vodka)with one hand which in Korean culture is a sign of friendship. He was a super nice guy, a character and I have grown to respect his work greatly.

In the middle of writing this I got a call that the camera crew was in the downstairs lobby. They got us presents. I won't say what it is cause they got presents for other people too, but it was very heart felt. Its gonna be sad to go. They have been such a great help to us, and me in particular, as my job was to get information from them. We gave them with the chromeball (something we shoot for lighting and reflection data for cg work) that we have been using on set a couple of days ago. It was incredible nice of them. I feel honored to have worked with them. Despite the language barrier its been easy to understand each other and see their dedication and skill in the art of film.