Somewhere over Texas

 
The view from 40,000 feet as we sped westward into the setting sun was quite pretty. You could almost imagine this being a lake with the backlit clouds shadows looking like reflections. This image was taken out of my starboard side window into the west with the kit lens on my 20D at 50mm focal length. The exposure was 1/1600 seconds at f/8, ISO 200. 

Spacewatch 36 inch 3D - straight ahead

 
Here is a 3D pair (identical to the previous Anaglyph) of the Spacewatch 36 inch set up for parallel eye viewing. 

36 inch stereo - anaglyph

 
Get your red/green anaglyph glasses out and look at the Spacewatch 36 inch in stereo. 

Dealey Plaza closeup

 
Here is a closeup from the last frame of the area around Dealey Plaza. The Texas Schoolbook Depository (TSD) is the orange colored building left of center. Bottom center is the triple underpass which the limosine sped through shortly after the fatal shots rang out. The grassy knoll is just below the TSD. It is amazing the mythology that has built up around the JFK assasination, but this is where one lone gunman changed history with three shots from a snipers nest in the TSD. 

Dallas

 
On the flight from Orlando to Tucson (yes, we're finally leaving Florida!), we went through the airport at Dallas-Ft. Worth (but happily, I didn't have to change planes!). This is the view of downtown Dallas from several thousand feet. If one is familiar with the most notorious event to happen in Dallas, you'll be able to find Dealey Plaza and the Texas Schoolbook Depository as well as the grassy knoll. President John F. Kennedy was assasinated as his motorcade drove through this area on November 22, 1963. This image was taken with the kit lens on my 20D at 55mm focal length with an exposure of 1/400 seconds at f/8, ISO 200. The original was washed out and required some adjustment and probably could use a little more, particularly to minimize the blue tint to the shadows - a project for another day. 

Carl Pavano

 
Yankee pitcher Carl Pavano was on a rehab assignment for the Tampa Yankees in a game against the Brevard Manatees in a single A minor league game we went to. While I was rooting against these representatives of "The Evil Empire" (aka the New York Yankees), it was good to see him pitch about 3 quality innings. The Manatees won the game (they are a minor league team for the Milwaukee Brewers). This image was taken with my 70-300mm lens at 190mm focal length with an exposure of 1/125 seconds at f/5.6, ISO 400. 

Sunrise at ISS

 
The International Space Station rises into the sun as it passes overhead as viewed from Kitt Peak on Saturday morning, September 23. The sky was bright with twilight, but you can still see Pegasus in the bottom part of the image. This image was taken with my 24mm lens at f/1.8 with a 15 second exposure, ISO 800. 

Beaches and rocket gantries

 
Two things that attract lots of visitors to Florida - beaches and rockets. In the distance are several rocket gantries on the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Just left of the middle of the image is the Redstone rocket which I posted a picture of back in August (including a 3D set). This image was taken at 300mm focal length with an exposure of 1/500 seconds at f/8, ISO 100. 

Crowded Beach

 
The subject of this picture isn't what it looks like. No, really, it's not another picture for Frank. I was shooting the Seagulls flying around this area looking for any bit of food that the beachgoers would give them. We're looking north along Cocoa Beach in this shot. This image was made at 300mm focal length with my 70-300mm zoom with an exposure of 1/400 seconds at f/8, ISO 100. 

Sand Piper in flight

 
This Sand Piper got tired of running from the waves and decided to fly off. My pictures of him running on the beach and in the water weren't as good as this shot, though. This image was taken at 300mm focal length with an exposure of 1/400 seconds at f/8, ISO 100. 

Beach flower

 
At the edge of the beach are lots of various types of plants - mostly weeds, I suppose. But some of them are quite pretty. This image was at 300mm focal length with an exposure of 1/400 seconds at f/8, ISO 100. 

This one's for Frank...

 
My friend Frank is always complaining that I don't put enough pictures of women on my page, so here's one for him from Cocoa Beach in Florida. This one was taken with my 70-300mm zoom at 133mm focal length with an exposure of 1/500 seconds at f/8, ISO 100. 

Catching a wave

This surfer is just catching a wave. This image was taken at 300mm focal length with an exposure of 1/400 seconds at f/8, ISO 100. 

Wipeout

 
A surfer is in the process of wiping out. It's a shame that I only post this image, as he had a good run before this.... :-) This image was taken at 300mm focal length with an exposure of 1/800 seconds at f/8, ISO 100. 

Pelican

 
A pelican flies low over the beach. Probably realized I wasn't a fish just before I took this shot.... This image was taken with my 70-300mm zoom at 300mm focal length with an exposure of 1/500 seconds at f/8, ISO 300. 

Pelican - "wheels up!"

 
This Pelican is just taking off after splashing into the waves doing his own brand of fishing. It was fun to watch them fly low over the waves before doing a dive into the water, then taking off again and repeating the process. This image was taken with my 70-300mm zoom at 300mm focal length with an exposure of 1/500 seconds at f/8, ISO 100 with some cropping in post process. 

Gull on beach

 
Life's a beach for this Seagull on Coacoa Beach near Patrick Air Force Base. This image was taken with my 70-300mm zoom at 300mm focal length with an exposure of 1/500 seconds at f/8, ISO 100. 

White Ibis

 
While waiting for the Manatee to come closer, this flock of White Ibis flew past the cove. It's hard to get a good exposure on the birds since they are back lit - typical exposure meter readings only see the sky, so the birds appear dark. Luckily, the dynamic range of modern DSLRs is wide enough that some of the detail can be brought out in post processing. Even with some exposure compensation in this image at the time of shooting, I had to do some post processing. This image was taken with my 70-300mm zoom at 300mm focal length on my 20D with an exposure of 1/1000 seconds at f/11, ISO 800. 

Manatee

 
Looking every bit like the Loch Ness monster, this Manatee surfaces briefly in aptly named Manatee Cove just off the Banana River on Merritt Island. It was hard to get a good picture as they tended to surface only slightly and usually far off in the distance. You'd catch a glimpse of a fin or splash of water only. And it was close to sunset with the best vantage points looking into the setting sun. The cove was teaming with life with birds overhead, fish and crabs in the water, snakes along the waters edge and plenty of other assorted critters and plants. This image was taken with my 70-300mm zoom at 300mm focal length with an exposure of 1/640 seconds at f/9, ISO 800. 

Seagull

 
We went out on a Casino Cruise from Port Canaveral, sailing off the coast for a few hours. I spent a lot of the time out watching the scenery going by. On the way out of the harbor, this seagull followed along, sort of escorting the vessel and came pretty close. I used the kit lens on my 20D at 55mm focal length to capture this bird. The exposure was 1/500 seconds at f/8, ISO 100. 

Colorful flower

 
I found this flower outside the pool enclosure next to one of the lizards I was taking pictures of at my Aunt and Uncles house in Florida. This image was taken with my 70-300mm zoom at 168mm focal length with an exposure of 1/2000 seconds at f/5.6, ISO 400. 

Flashing lizard

 
Here's a bonus shot showing one of the lizards flashing its orange dew lap. This image was taken with my 70-300mm zoom at 300mm focal length with an exposure of 1/2000 seconds at f/5.6, ISO 400. 

Insurance salesman?

 
Seems like every place has their standard issue lizard. We have our particular type of gecko in Arizona that lives everywhere. This is the lizard of choice in Florida. I found him sunning himself on the enclosure around my Aunt and Uncles pool in their back yard. I saw many of them and they would occasionally expand some skin under their jaw, presumably in some mating display. This image was taken with my 70-300mm zoom at 300mm focal length with an exposure of 1/200 seconds at f/11, ISO 400. 

Game Day VIII - Game winner

 
With the score tied at 13 with 6 seconds left on the clock, Nick Folk attempted a 48 yard field goal for the win. The kick split the uprights with 1 second left on the clock giving the Wildcats a 16-13 win. This image was taken with my 70-300 zoom on my 20D at 238mm focal length. The exposure was 1/250 seconds at f/5.6, ISO 1600. 

Game Day VII - Touchdown Arizona!

 
Anthony Johnson makes a leaping catch in the endzone as quarterback Willie Tuitama looks on from the pocket. The touchdown gave the Wildcats a 13-10 lead in the 3rd quarter. This image was taken with my 70-300mm zoom on my 20D at 214mm focal length with an exposure of 1/200 seconds at f/5, ISO 1600.