It is a great pastime in Alaska to look at ancient ice, it is some of the most beautiful scenery in the world. Alaskans are to be commended for their love of these magnificent birds. Wounded warriors who can no longer live in the wild. They are loved and cared for in a very special way. This is an instance where a photo says more than words. Visiting Alaska reminds me why America is such a great place to live.
Jamestown is a fascinating study in the first English Settlement. Greed nearly kills the community, and a proud and helpful Indian Nation is all but destroyed. The greatness comes from the factor that the American Dream began here, for the English. This was a land worth fighting for. A beautiful place that has had Europeans for 400 years. The place makes you feel American. It also shows ,what a wonderful people, our Native Americans are. A beautiful place with great pieces of craftsmanship.
There are many birds that bring on warm fuzzy feelings, and some that represent eternal love. We get mushy over doves and swans when we think of love. Cardinals,Blue Birds,Cranes, and herons bring a splash of beauty into the world. my money goes to the Canada Goose. Yes they are noisy and messy,and that makes them bad neighbors. May I always love you Elaine as a goose loves his mate. He will offer to exchange his life for her,and if she is wounded will not leave her side. They are intensely involved with their young, and care for their neighbors. they are loyal to last, and share their burdens equally. You might pick an eagle or hawk, but for my money give me a goose. The goose is always in love with his mate, and she will have beauty eternally. may I always strive to live to the standards of a goose, and be substantially neater.
the seals reminded me of my Golden. I share my morning banana with the young lady. She calmly waits on the carpet outside the kitchen with the look. if i take too long,then quantities of drool flow from her mouth. I toss her her treat and I get the one last is that all look. I am thinking i have discovered the spot that fresh chunks of Salmon are thrown to the seals. Through the magic of the telephoto; the seals whiskers can be seen. they are the width of the seal, and allow them to go through tight spaces at an incredible speed. It is hard to believe you are looking at incredible killing machine. They are cute in the picture.
Over 36 years ago,I fell in love with my tiger. Elaine was, and still is , sleek,beautiful,and can be a force to reckoned with. I watched the tiger, at The Houston Zoo, with an admiration only a husband could apreciate. She was taking a nap as a jerk was throughing rocks into her moat. Her only response was to raise her tail and flick it gently. On cue, the dutiful husband came to the water's edge, and stared at the inconvient human on the far side. He yawned with all the excitement of a four year old deprived of his nap. He stood sideways to reveal his massive size, and proceeded to walk slowly to the water's edge. This was the cue, Captain Jerk, used to make a graceless exit. Screaming like a baby, he declared the tiger was coming to eat him. Rocks didn't seem to be a great weapon against a thousand pound beast. I did look down to see a 15 foot water filled moat,with the most beautiful electric fence just above it. I was the loan survivor standing on the observation platform. The great beast swam to me, and swam back when he realized the offender had left. He exited the water, shook himself dry and walked pass the female. She raised her tail,flicked it, and resumed her nap. She waisted no words. The Tigress,inspired the composite Reflective. Elaine is the one, who thinks her way through life's little roadbumps. She always has a thoughtful response. I am truly blessed to be married to my tiger. 
The top picture is of my dogs and me. The big headed boy has recently departed. The sassy girl is still sassy. The other 3 dogs are part of 8 lobby therapy dogs I photographed for The Big Horn Radiation Oncology department. these dogs engage the patients and brighten their life. I treated as a Radiation Therapist for 8 weeks. They were a sheer delight to be with. They connected me with my patients as I have never been connected before. I made a point of taking each dogs picture with their owner. We have shots of our dogs,of ourselves,but way to rarely shots of our dogs with us. The Cheetah and flowers are from a local park in Palm Springs, The Living Desert. Remember a picture captures a moment in time. When you hide because it doesn't meet a particular standard, you hide the moment. A Professional could have exceeded my work,but he or she hasn't embraced the project. Now these selfless owners have the gift of memories. Each has a CD with pictures of 8 magnificent creatures. Someone can always take a better picture,but someone is not always available. Share your work, and it can bring joy to others. A Photograph doesn't have to have a price to be valuable. 
This was a delightful show. She would blow bubbles and the old male would come to the water's edge and complain. She would back away and go into a submisive mode. He would go lay down and the bubble ballet would start all over again. The key is to manually focus on bears and the glass becomes less noticeable. Reflections are possible,but you are in a zoo. It is all in the story
This is a perfect example of right place,wrong equipment,crummy weather,and a dozen reasons for leaving your camera in the trunk. These will never appear in a magazine,or be the NAPP photo of the week. They could have been taken with the simplest digital camera or my old rebel XT. 4 generations out of style. If I drive 3 hours and 3 miles down a dirt trail,you can bet there will be photographs. The 2 closeups were aquired by an hour hike over glacial plain with sliding rocks,mud pits that covered your ankle boots, and wading through the coldest water on the planet. Because of the cold, I didn't feel the need to hydrate, and I realised that was a mistake when i woke up to a spinning room with 2 of everything and some really thrilling leg cramps. It you slug through muck to get close to one of nature's wonders;it is reasonable to assume 50 of your friends didn't. These pictures become worth sharing. No one in their right mind would call this competitive photography.It is reasonably pleasing to the eye, and best of all it does what compelling photographs do. It tells a story. It shows what the great monster flowing through the mountain looks like. It shows, not only does this beast, from the frozen vaults of hell, slowly grind the mountain down, with a sensually compelling blue ice. It takes the rich soil and brings life into the glacial plain. All I wanted to do was take my strained ankle and bruised hamstring 3 hours home to a warm bath and a clean bed. Always take your camera with you. Eddie Tapp, a photographer i admire, took an absolutely gorgeous picture in Vegas of the Sunrise. Was it taken on some great desert plain with cactus in the foreground? It was shot from an upper story hotel hallway,with all the wrong elements in the picture, walls and window frames in the picture. What it did show was the brillant color of sunrise against the eternal neon of Vegas streets. it told a great story. It doesn't have to be staged or taken at a particular time to be a heart warming experience. I hope you enjoyed my story without words. If you run across this and want to post please do. I would love to see your photograph and hear its story. Remember my friends are artist,my sister is the writer, and God gave me Elaine. 
These two delightful cubs entertained me for weeks at Hampton Roads Virginia. I was always there at the wrong time of day,because their home was closed at dawn and dusk, and they were more active during harsh daylight hours. They entertained me and I recorded their juvenile mischief. love you Scott,but I more Journalistic than Artistic. If its interesting,and i am there,I can't resist.
