NOT "JUST A ROCK"

I took this when I was shooting all the pelicans last week. No, there are no birds or
any other animal life here in the normal sense. This is another photo that I am
fond of though. The textures, the colors of different vegetable life, again the reflection.......
and just the over-all feeling of stillness. Especially if you could have witnessed
the kinetic chaos that was going on all around this little space of peace. I didn't do too
much editing here. A little bit of deeping the saturation.....then adding a little more
light to soften it.....and that was pretty much it.

UNDER THE BOARDWALK

I took this photo the last time we were up in Charleston. I like reflections a lot
and I think in this case, the reflection is more appealing than the pilings themselves.
Charleston is one of the more colorful places around. I always find something to
shoot there that I don't normally see in my everyday. And they have some of the
most vividly painted buildings!! One might even call one or two of them........garish??
But in Charleston, somehow, it works.

KRISTEN

I know you were looking for more pelicans but I thought I'd break it up with
pretty little Kristen. This shot was taken at the Hannah Montana class on
Monday. I gather that Kristen wasn't all that interested in dancing. I like her position
here.....she's looking out of the frame at something.....I know what but you
don't. Does that raise your curiosity? One of my photography hero's, David
duChemin, mentioned this in one of his books. I also like the fact that since
Kristen is Chinese, she is set before that beautiful shade of red. And lastly,
Kristen's position..... She's actually sitting on one large ball while resting her
arm on another....and then following that..... the hand to the chin.
I like it.....works for me.

PELICANS BY THE THOUSANDS

What a treat today when we drive through Bandon on the way home!! My friend had told
me about thousands of the big birds but nothing could have prepared me for the sight that
seeing the Coquille River filled with birds from Old Town down to the bar on the ocean!
There were pelicans on the rocks, in the air, in the water, taking off, landing, on pilings.
There were a large number just floating around the water and the flapping of their wings
caused a constant and continued sound of splashing water. In all these thousands of
large pelicans, there was one wee-tiny-little wood duck who, I think, had illusions of grandeur.
Or a death-wish if one of the pelicans didn't take to him trying to join the rest of the gang.
Norm finally convinced me I had enough photos for the day (NEVER! do I have enough!) and
we left by way of Beach Loop, past Lord Bennett's. All the large rocks (or small islands) off-shore
were filled with the silhouttes of hundreds more pelicans. This was such an enormous treat for
me to see......I can't recall ever seeing anything so breath-taking. As you might be able to
tell, I still get pretty excited about it all. I wish everyone outside our area could share in seeing
it also. I hope they stick around for the rest of the winter.....and maybe if the food chain is
moving further north as reported, then the birds are simply following the chow-line (Navy-talk).
I think soon, I'll go back up wearing 'muck-about' shoes and bring my tri-pod and get in closer.
So...all you readers of my blog, prepare to be hearing about the pelicans bombarding Bandon
for the next few days.

HARRY, UNMASKED & GRINNING

Here's Harry again. This time with a big ole' grin on his face. He's growing so
fast that it seems like there are changes while I'm looking at him!! Here he is at
an after-school group that meets a couple of times a week. There was a great
dance instructor that was teaching the kids and a few adults how to do a Hannah
Montana dance. Harry was not interested. Harry likes to definitely do his own
thing! And dancing isn't one of them, apparently. I love this photo of him!!

2 DIFFERENT SUNSETS

I post some of my photos on Flickr and the volumn of sunsets offered is just endless.
Each one more beautiful than the last. Whether over a body of water or over dry land, the
variation excites the senses. The two sunsets above were only one night apart. And
within each night, the changes that occured from one moment to the next was remarkable.
So....I just start shooting and shooting and continue shooting. Later when I have them
on my computer screen, then I can really see what I have and which is the most exciting.
And I always think that each one I'm currently viewing just has to be the most perfect
there could be. Until the next second...........

AN ARTISTIC POOCH

To tell you the truth, I can't remember where I saw this dog. I think it was at one
of the Monday paint out's that Georgeanne holds once a month. This dog has me
just wanting to get in close for a big hug! I really like scruffy dogs anyway and this
one fits the bill.

FROLICKING PUPS

The black dog was the stranger to the other two, and younger.
But the shepherd and lab just had to check out the new guy on the beach.
The first few shots, which aren't shown here, clearly show the black pup with his tail so far down like he was hiding
it. His owner cut him loose from the security of the leash and off he took down the beach, looking over his shoulder frequently to see if he was outdistancing the two predators. They came up rapidly from the rear and to the pup's surprise, wanted only to play in the surf, not eat him!! So the game of chase and catch took off.
Up and down the beach they all went. Every once in a while I heard the pup give a little yelp. Maybe the
bigger dogs were a little too rough, but no damage was done and off they were again. Frolicking for all they were worth and having a great time.

ON THE BEACH

Again on Whiskey Run Beach, I saw this man seemingly reflecting and looking out onto
the water. He stayed there for a while and down the beach dogs ran in happy chaos.
After a bit, he got up and began strolling down the beach, again looking out at the water.
All his movements seemed contemplative and quiet.
This evening I'm looking at this photo of him and noticing how thin he is. And betting
that HE didn't over-indulge in turkey, sauce, potato, stuffing, gravy, peas w/ onions and rolls.
AND didn't top it off with a rich (oh-so-wonderful!) white chocolate cheesecake with raspberry
swirl and oriolo cookie crust.
Oh!!!! But it was SO, SO good!
Thank you Nanci and Ray!!

WHISKEY RUN BEACH

We made a quick stop by Whiskey Run Beach today. The beach itself is flat
and would have been fairly barren except for a number of people walking their
dogs or doing some beach combing.....you'll see those in the next few days. But here
I wanted to show you the beauty in the hillside.....the colors and variation of
vegetation struck me as being very beautiful against the blue sky. The second
photo was shot a bit lower and captured a few dunes with sea grass....again, I think
quite beautiful. And the third, of course, is a group of rocks off the shoreline.
Most of you who live up this way know that this beach acquired it's name by the
whiskey smugglers that used it to unload their goods. Probably during prohibition.
For those of you who don't live around here....."now you know the rest of the story!"

A DAY TO GO CLAMMING!

Wow!! Was it a beautiful day! The sun was bright and very little, if any, breeze. It's the time of year that the sun is low in the sky, making it right eye
level for me, so more often than not, was shining directly in my eyes. In Charleston these clammers looked like they were having a great time just mucking about! These photos were taken in two different directions but both have pretty good reflections, which I always love to see.
And we might have a beautiful sunset today. There was a lot of field burning and the air was smoggy as we traveled back down south into Curry County. Seems funny that something that's not-so-good can produce just lovely colored skies.

LBM

LBM......Little brown mushrooms...That's what an experienced mushroom hunter used to call these different brown
mushrooms that you weren't sure of their names. This one looks like leather, though.
I don't know if it's eatable or not and I think I'd pass in any event. The worms have
started working on this one, I think. It is that mushroom time of year and we should
see many unique types of the fungi around now.

HAVE A DASH OF COLOR

It's rainy and windy out so I set up a little photo scene of my own since
Mother Nature isn't cooperating today. A beautiful red pomegranate and a couple of apples in one scene. The other is the always-attractive-and-in-good-taste, Burmuda onion and avocado. Yum!

ANOTHER STORM COMING

The other day we were coming home via Ocean Dr. in
Bandon and a quickly snapped these couple of photos. I'm just a sucker for big
splashy waves......although I think to see them up close and personal is probably more impressive than the photo.
This one has a couple of pelicans trying to fly right through the wind. The second photo is a group of oyster catchers hunkering down from the wind......although I'd think they could find a more sheltered place than right on the ocean. I think they'd probably be a dull bird except for their wonderful bright orange beck.

HUNDREDS MORE PELICANS!!

Some more photos from Bandon yesterday. There were hundreds of these big
birds trying to hunker down from the winds. It was pretty funny to see them
gracefully soar over their packed-like-sardine buddies on the pier and then just sort of DROP.
Guess the ones on the pier had to move or be landed on. The second photo shows
2 of them "dropping in". They are funny birds....they can be graceful and then
turn around and be the clods of the sea. And SO many of them!! I know I read
that there were thousands stopping by on migration south, but I'm wondering if they just
aren't going to stick around all winter. An amusing show to watch.