Just Before Sunrise

This one is from our campsite at Cardiff By The Sea last weekend, taken at about 5:30am or so. Bailey woke me up to let her out of the tent so she could go to the bathroom, and once I'm awake it's hard for me to go back to sleep. So after taking Bailey for a walk, I decided to pull the camera out in the pitch dark and try to shoot some long exposure night sky shots. I didn't quite get what I was hoping for, so I still need a lot of practice. But here's something for Fun Photo Friday.

Nature's Picture Window

Bryce Canyon is easily one of my favorite parks to visit and photograph. The landscape is incredibly diverse and beautiful. We spent three days in and around Bryce, in the mornings, days, sunsets and evenings. This is Natural Bridge, which forms a natural picture window to the forest below, and a beautiful contrast to the orange-yellow sandstone formation that comprises it. Natural Bridge is a very popular destination within the park, not too far beyond the entrance, and just off the main road the runs through Bryce Canyon.

Please click here to see the photo in my gallery, and to view my many other photos available for printing!

Where could Bailey go to stretch her legs?

After just a couple of days into our RV Road Trip in 2012, we found out that several of the state and national parks don't allow dogs on many of the hiking paths. So we did some investigation for a location in Kings Canyon where we could take Bailey and let her run around, and we discovered Hume Lake inside the park. We didn't get to stay long, as we were heading up to Yosemite the same day (with a goal of arriving no later than 4pm in the RV camp...look up that "rule"), but it did not disappoint. It is a beautiful tranquil area, and is highly recommended! By the way, the drive to and from Hume Lake were the first real tests of our agility with the 32-foot RV, and since we were only a few days into the trip, it was very nerve-wracking! Just keep that in mind!

Looking Forward To The First Camping Weekend of 2015!

It is finally time for another weekend camping at the beach in Cardiff. We try to do this monthly, either at Cardiff or up in Carlsbad. I'm looking forward to spending the weekend with Darcy and Bailey, enjoying this beautiful view, the smell of campfires, and the sound of the waves hitting the shore.

The Historic Bell Tower at Balboa Park

What to do on the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday? Darcy and I opted for a walk around Balboa Park with Bailey (our dog). It was a beautiful day in San Diego, so I grabbed my camera and we headed down to the park after a stop for breakfast at the Fig Tree Cafe in Hillcrest. For tourists and locals alike, Balboa Park is an awesome place to visit museums, people watch, and of course to just walk around and shoot photos. This is the historic Balboa Bell Tower at the Museum of Man, which you can now climb for the first time in 80 years (yep, look it up)!

As always (well almost always), clicking the photo will take you to a larger version in my gallery.

Just After The Storm Has Passed

Last year, in 2014, the snow conditions up at Lake Tahoe were horrendously bad, but we managed to make it up for a trip in March when there was at least a storm that left some of the fresh white stuff. This was shot from the Cave Rock boat launch area right after the storm had passed. We were on our way to catch our flight from Reno back home to San Diego when I saw that the photography conditions were very good, as there was a lot of dramatic scenery to capture. Click here or on the photo to view it larger on my gallery page!

Let's hope some more of these storms hit the area up there very soon, as the snowfall this season is even worst than last so far.

Walking Distance to The Post Office and The Library

Happy Fun Photo Friday! My best guess is that this was taken in 2000 on one of the many trips that Darcy and I used to take to San Felipe, BC, Mexico. On one of those trips, we had a day or two before some friends were arriving for the weekend fish taco-fest with us, so we drove down to Puertocitos, which I'm pretty was the end of the paved road heading south into Baja. Puertocitos is an awesome little coastal town, a taste of which you can see in the town Post Office and Library. There are also hot springs there, which is a neat thing to do on a rocky shore right on the Sea of Cortez.

An Awesome Autumn Day in Denali National Park

Denali National Park is an amazing, beautiful and expansive place. At over 6 million acres, the park is home to grizzlies, wolves, foxes, owls, hawks, dall sheep, carribou, moose, and, of course to the highest mountain in North America, Denali (Mount McKinley). Darcy and I decided to spend our 10th wedding anniversary visiting as much of the fine state of Alaska as we could see in 10 days. The Denali Park visit was at the start of the trip, as we flew in to Fairbanks, stayed overnight, and then took a very early morning train into Denali National Park. We spent a couple of days there before taking a train on to Anchorage and then down the Seward highway toward the cruise ship for the rest of our trip. The scenery and wildlife in the park was absolutely incredible. This photo was shot at one of our first stops just after sunrise, on a bluff overlooking the large prairie you can see in the photo. It was early September, or autumn for Alaska, so the colors were just about at peak. That is probably one of the best times to visit, for that very reason.

This photo is available as a print from my gallery, just click on the photo to jump directly to it. Or you can take a look at all of the Alaska photos I have on my gallery.

Liberte, Ecalite, Fraternite

Liberty, Equality, Fraternity is the national motto of France, and is inscribed on the building of the local municipality of Paris, the Hotel De Ville. I've decided to post this today, given the recent terrorist acts that took place in France. I was in Paris on the one year anniversary of 9/11 (when I took this photo), where it was my understanding that Americans were not generally welcomed or appreciated in this fine metropolitan city. But I was treated like a loved brother everywhere I went, and the sympathy for what America had just gone through was still very deep and strong. My heart goes out to the families impacted by these irrational acts of terrorism.

Don't shoot directly into the sun, unless...

In 2014 I purchased a GoPro Hero 3 camera, and since I got it I've taken it with me just about everywhere. I have a lot of fun photos to share that were taken on (and in) the lake while doing various water sports, but this one was a pure luck shot that I got while hiking the Eagle Falls and Eagle Lake trail with Darcy, Bailey, our great friends The Fienes, and their dog TJ. You can purchase an LCD attachment to the GoPro, but I didn't have one at the time, so I took my chances on trying to capture Emerald Bay off in the distance, even though I was looking directly at the sun. I decided to try and blot it with the dead tree that was sticking out of the rock we'd climbed, and was pointing in the right direction, hoping it would do the trick, and voila! Ok, I know it isn't the most amazing shot of Emerald Bay, but it's a good one for Fun Photo Friday!

Wait, this isn't San Diego, CA?

Ok, storm clouds may have given it away, along with the greenery in the foreground, but you can maybe see how one might guess that the location of this beach is in California. However, this is Inch Beach, which is located on the Dingle Peninsula in County Kerry, Ireland. This was one of the many beautiful stops we had on our full-day drive around County Kerry, during our trip to Ireland in March 2014 (with The Young Dubliners!).

Although we had a lot of rain that day, it didn't stop us from enjoying the views, as well as exploring the seaside town of Dingle, where we enjoyed a couple of pints as well. I also want to point out that we purchased Pringles in one of the markets, causing us to stir up something along the lines of "This is my single Pringle jingle for Dingle." Ok, yeah, that was very dorky. But, hey, if you're interested in this print, click on the photo to go directly to the feature page for it on my gallery. Or you can click here to view all the available prints from the trip to Ireland, including photos of The Cliffs of Moher, Newgrange, Blarney Castle and more!

Inaugural Blog Post for Picture On A Wall

Hi All. Did you know that you can purchase my photos? Last year, I decided to give my hobby a go, and see if I could make it self-sufficient. And I've been doing ok without any marketing effort, other than posting pictures (but not pimping them) three days a week on my facebook page. So, I have my photos up in a gallery on fineartamerica, which you can get to from my website pictureonawall.com.

I've somehow, very luckily, sold 6 prints as of this posting. Again, without any marketing. And that was pretty good, in terms of helping to pay for occasional equipment, camera bags, etc. But then I decided to upgrade my equipment in late 2014, so I need to do more. What does that mean? It means one of my resolutions is to post my photos here, along with a story for each one, print pricing information, etc. I'll start with this one below. Please note that clicking on the photo will take you directly to the featured photo on my gallery, where you can view, comment, share, or even purchase it if you like it that much. Regardless, I always appreciate your honest feedback about my photos, and I hope you find something you like!

This photo was taken on Christmas Eve, in Encinitas, California, above Swami's beach. Darcy, her brother Keith, her mother Roberta (my wonderful mother-in-law!) went up to the Meditation Gardens on the bluff above the beach. What a beautiful setting and view from up there. I highly encourage locals and visitors to carve out some time to visit this spectacular, nearly hidden, spot in San Diego!