Will it win???

This photo is a finalist in the Nature Land Trust of British Columbia's photo contest. The winners will be announced on Friday, Sept. 26. I have my fingers crossed!

House for Sale

It's time to move on to a new adventure, so our house is up for sale. This shot was taken in the spring and we have since put on a new 30-year roof and a new asphalt driveway, so the place is in tip-top shape. More info and photos are on my personal website.

Dinner Cruise

A dinner cruise yacht passes along Chicago's "Gold Coast" as the sun sets on Lake Michigan.

Recovering

I had knee surgery on June 4 and have been in recovery mode since then....A comfy sofa, a blankie, a laptop and the computer network aided in my recovery...oh and the camera too.

Home Again

I seem to have forgotten about this site...not really sure why....anyway, here's another shot that made it to the #1 spot on Flickr's top 500 and ended up getting thousands of views one day. This was taken in the northern part of Nanaimo along the beach below Icarus Road. I called it Home Again because it was the first shot I had taken after being in Chicago for a week.

Evening Drama

I uploaded this shot to my Flickr site on Sunday, April 27 and it somehow got to the #1 spot on Flickr's top 500 "Interestingness" factor. That led to almost 6000 views in one day and resulted in the sale of four prints - which will grace the walls of a Midtown Manhattan apartment!

This shot was taken just below Bayshore Drive in the Hammond Bay area of Nanaimo.

Marina Cutie

I originally posted this in November 2007, but I'm reposting because I just got word that this photo is one of seven winners in the Spirit of Cowichan BC 150 photo contest. I don't know what placement or what prize yet...I get to find that out on May 3 when the official announcement is made.

This photo was taken at the marina in Cowichan Bay, BC. The little blue and yellow boat just jumped out at me and begged to be photographed.

UPDATE - MAY 3: Meh...I should have known better than to get my hopes up. I thought I may have gotten the grand prize in this contest, but I only got an honorable mention. Oh well, the HM was worth 50 bucks.

Chicago River

New and old architecture lines the Chicago River. To the left is the new Trump Tower, which will be amont the world's tallest buildings once completed. In the background (with the spire/steeple) is the historic Chicago Tribune Building.

Cloud Gate - Chicago

The Cloud Gate - a stainless steel sculpture in Chicago's Millennium Park - is more commonly known to the locals as "The Bean." Millennium Park and The Bean in general is one of my favorite spots in Chicago.

God has left the building

This is the interior of the Butter Church, the exterior of which is in the previous posting.

The Butter Church

This old stone church on native land just outside of Duncan in Cowichan Bay, BC is known at the "Butter Church." It was built in 1870 and got it's name because it was funded by the sale of butter from the church's dairy.

Rocky Point

Clouds move in on the rugged coastline of Galiano Island.

Dramatic skies

For some reason, I've been playing with black and white lately. This is a view of the Cowichan Valley from the top of Mt. Tzouhalem in Duncan, BC.

Life and Death

I wanted to go up to the summit of Mt. Prevost to take some shots, but I got three-quarters of the way up and found the road to the summit was still covered in a lot of snow....I was feeling a little dejected at not being able to get to the mountain top, so I ended up stopping at this cemetery on the way home. This was originally an HDR image, but I thought it was too vibrant considering the subject matter in the background. I ended up with this instead.

Mt. Arrowsmith

Wow...I've really neglected this blog in the last while, haven't I. Oh well, it's not like there's anyone looking at this.

My birthday was on the weekend and my girlfriend surprised me with one of the best gifts ever. She chartered a light plane to fly us around the island for an hour. Mt. Arrowsmith is one spectacular site.

It's a good thing my GF's birthday isn't until July....It's going to take me at least that long to come up with a cool gift idea for her.

Any suggestions?

Natural Pedicure

Just think of all the money I could save on pumice stones if I lived in Hawaii and could go down to the Punaluu Black Sand Beach every day and rub my feet in the sand!

Chillin'

I'm just hangin' out in my hammock at a private beach at Kua Loa Ranch on the east side of Oahu.

After the dive

Once we came out of the shark cage, it took at least an hour for Wendy and me to wipe the smiles off our faces.

Snorkle babe

This being my first attempt at underwater photography, I was quite surprised at the amount of light there was. Other than some slight cropping and resizing, this pic is pretty much untouched with PhotoShop. I couldn't believe how well the eyes came through the goggles. This pic was taken in a shark cage off Oahu's north shore.

Into the drink

This surfer on Oahu's north shore is about to taste the Pacific.

Personal Postcard

I had this idea to create a personal postcard when I was in Hawaii, but I had no idea whether it would work or not. I almost got what I wanted, but it would have been better if I could have been on a beach that wasn't affected by streetlights. In any event, this didn't come out too badly. It's a good thing Wendy was there to do the backwards writing with the flashlight...I never could have done that.

Aloha everyone...it sucks to be home!

Butchart Gardens

If you have never been to Butchart Gardens in Victoria at Christmas, I can't recommend it enough - especially if you are into night photography. My parents were visiting for Christmas and I took them there for dinner on Boxing Day. The dinner was just as spectacular as this view.