I look forward to the time of year when the Pelicans return, graceful in flight, and Pterodactyl like. They are spectacular to watch, with their lazy soaring and dive bombing runs on unsuspecting fish...

A washed out pier is usually their domain while here, a perch where they can watch it all and survey their kingdom, even if for a short time until they migrate to other locations...

My champion, my friend, my love.

Shooting with that magic 50mm lens again this morning.

I love where we live. Of course it is not perfect, but I have worked my whole career to be here right now. And knowing/realizing that this is "our paradise" - I do not want to miss any sunrise, any sunset, any wave, any swim, any dive, or any moment that we are here. The photography is a means unto itself... To help document our new life, as Anna and I had always hoped and dreamed.

We found Tigger as a kitten at an American amusement park [Six Flags] while living in D.C. He was part of a litter that was hanging out at the food vendors area waiting for handouts. He was brave and ventured out to us when the rest of his siblings ran off to hide. Malnurished, dirty and visibly ill we took it upon ourselves to bring him home in hopes of finding a permanent home for him - but as things work out as they often do he became a part of our family. I sometimes wonder what would have become of him if we hadn't taken it upon ourselves to separate him from everything he had known, and introduced him to a quasi stable environ... He is as loving as he is docile, his personality is amusing and never tiresome. When we bring him to the Vet to get check ups and the like, we always hear how wonderful a patient he is, ha...

So, I go down to my fav beach in hopes of capturing something interesting and I get a chance to practice some long exposure techniques with lightening!... It was really tough to focus since the sun hadn't risen yet [the D300 uses a color matrix focusing system, so if the contrast or lighting is poor on distant subjects you have to rely on infinity], and of course I was trying to time the shot to coincide when I sensed a strike was going to happen. And of course as luck would have it, the first of the series is the best... I hadn't worked out a method yet, so I got a blurry poor excuse of a picture, ha...