Bee in lavender

Well all right then, I actually got another shot of a bee flying in his universe of lavender. For the technical amongst you all-- both of these were shot at 1/4000th of a second shutter speed, still not good enough to completely stop the wing motion of the bees. I'm happy with the amount and the quality of the blur that I got.

It was much more difficult to get these closeup shots of a bee in flight. They seem to really like the lavender in the front yard. Click on it for a larger view, or buy it here or here.

Photos without leaving the house

Smoky sky, California is burning.

Front yard bees.

Phone call, obscured.

A colorful little bambi deer

A cute little baby deer (fawn) who gave me a glance before bounding off into the woods.

Surf City USA

Ok, well, I did take a few pictures of surfers one day a while back. Buy one here

Evening walk to the lighthouse

Bad Kitty

Tonight's photos

Moon obscured.

Quilt.

White poppy

A very humble rose

Not a movie star rose, just a rose from the garden.

Mystery feet

New photos dujour

I Liked this heart shaped sunflower on the way home.

My dad, Bruce, demonstrating how studio lights facing a reflective backdrop are a bit distracting. But it's a good shot of my dad.

Liked the colors at the cliffs today.

Sheryl did not like rusty wheels set in cement. Found the metaphor counterproductive.
Did I mention we're a bit stuck in a rut? On our way out though, I'm sure.

I've seen some amazing surf shots here in Santa Cruz, AKA surf city USA: so good that I don't even try to take shots of my own unless it's just "atmosphere" like this one. I like the blues and greens.

Pipa the cat ( and Sheryl )

Pipa in a moment of "what are you humans doing now?"


I do believe that's "Mama Love."

Wedding photography

Sheryl and I went out and took just shy of a thousand photos today. This is one of my favorites of the day.

Flying

I was talking with Sheryl earlier about how much I enjoy watching birds. Down at the wharf there's a seagull nesting in a very inappropriate place, but you know what? It worked just fine last year. If it works again this year, it probably becomes a tradition. Some of my favorite birds are common birds like crows, seagulls and pelicans, those little blackbirds, starlings. They're so successful. I don't know how many thousands of years got invested in that success, so many small mutations and variations on a theme. They just keep going and going. Sometimes I wonder what the next evolutionary steps will be for humans. I've wondered and been interested in that since I was a kid. "The Human Potential Movement," somebody coined that phrase. We seem to undergo evolution in a single lifetime, not connected to the standard darwinian concept as it relates to reproduction and handing down genetic material. What are we capable of, what can we transform into?

Keep Santa Cruz Weird?

Um, with more than 16 percent of the population living below the poverty line in one of the least affordable places to live in the entire USA, how weird exactly is Santa Cruz? Pretty weird, I think. I had to go and look up the origin of the "Keep Santa Cruz Weird" slogan seen on many t-shirts and bumper stickers. I never did get what that meant, it's not really obvious. Apparently it had to do with a proposed law to keep street performers 40 feet away from businesses downtown-- there was a protest to that kind of thinking and the law never passed. Personally, I don't think street performance is weird at all. It's one of the highlights of tourism in San Francisco. I don't see many street performers in Santa Cruz anyway, and that's too bad. I see a lot of pan-handlers, drug dealers, a 2 bedroom house for rent for $2200 a month and other weirdness. I'd love to see Santa Cruz as a mecca for artists, musicians, free thinkers where we could actually afford to live and thrive. But I'd also like to see my way to walking down Pacific without being accosted several times within a few short blocks. Our local weekly took a poll: "do you feel safe walking downtown?" Now, if you have to ask that question, things have already gotten too weird.