I’ve posted some photos recently from the shark and cenote dives. Now here are some photos from our reef dive.
Bull Sharks!!
Blair and I had a great day of diving with Bull Sharks. Unfortunately, they didn’t get very close to us in the water, unlike our last dive with them. I know that sounds like a strange thing to say (…wanting sharks to get closer to us), but it isn’t a scary thing. It was just hard to get good photos of them when they stayed far away.
Regardless, here are some of the best photos from this day.
Donkey
I hope you have a great weekend. Today’s post is from Bonaire. They have this really cool Donkey Sanctuary on the island. For a small fee, you can drive your vehicle through the property. The donkey’s come up to the vehicle by the hundreds. If I remember correctly, there are over 700 of them in the compound and it seemed like every single one of them came to see us. This little guy just loved us.
To view a larger version, click HERE
Time To Go Back
I’m not traveling anytime soon. Keep in mind, that “soon” for me, means in the next week or so. There is something about traveling routinely….. you get used to it and miss it when you don’t. At least that’s how I feel about it.
Tonight’s photo is one I took during a past trip to Mexico. I always get up before sunrise on vacation to capture some pre-sunrise and sunrise photos. When I do that, I have the location to myself. This morning wasn’t any different. I had the entire beach to myself. Good times…..
To view a larger version, click HERE
Dreaming About Barbados
I’ve gotten used to traveling whenever we have some free time. So when MJ and I have a “long stretch” between trips, I miss it. Now…..I realize that my definition of “long stretch” isn’t the same as most people. I also realize I’m spoiled. I have the opportunity to travel that many people either don’t have or don’t want to do. So I’m not asking for anyone to feel sorry for me. That’s not the point of tonight’s post.
All I’m trying to say is that I’m ready for the next trip and I wish it was right around the corner. So until then, I’m just thinking about some of our recent trips. Thus….Dreaming About Barbados
To purchase a print or view the entire gallery, click the photo above.
10 Saints Beer
Tonight I have something different for you. When we were in Barbados, we found this fairly new beer that is made on the island. It was first brewed in 2009 by 10 Saints Brewery Company. The beer is unique because it is aged for 90 days in Mount Gay ‘Special Reserve’ Rum casks. By the way, Mount Gay Rum is made in Barbados as well. This gave the beer a very smooth taste and made it our beer of choice all week. It is named 10 Saints because of the 10 Parishes (like counties in the United States) in Barbados are named after saints.
Anyway, I did an impromptu product photo shoot towards the end of the week. I cleared an area of the beach near our hotel, with the ocean and sailboats in the background. I took two bottles and let them sweat a little in the Caribbean sun. Then I laid on my stomach to get the camera as low as possible for this shot. And I attempted to bounce the sunlight back at the bottles.
If you’re interested in more information about 10 Saints beer, click HERE.
I have a special note below today’s photo….don’t forget to scroll down to see it.
To purchase a print or view the entire gallery, click the photo above.
NEWS:
Recently I was contacted by a research doctor at the University of Pittsburgh about using one of my photos for an upcoming conference. We negotiated a little and came to an agreement. So now my photo of PNC Park is being used for the annual Pheno 2015 conference poster. The conference gathers international physicists working on the phenomenology of elementary particles, cosmology, and astrophysics. Don’t ask me what any of that means….. The cool thing about this is the poster will be mailed and electronically sent to potential attendees around the world. You can see the poster below.
Scorpionfish
I have two unusual pictures for you today from my recent
vacation. I love to scuba dive and try to do it every chance I get, but I don’t post many underwater
photos. During the trip, I got a
chance to dive in St. Kitts and St. Lucia. Both locations were great, but I preferred the diving in St.
Lucia. That being said, I captured
two unique photos from my St. Kitts dives. I got photos of two different types of Scorpionfish.
I don’t know the specific name of this type of Scorpionfish. They are extremely hard to find because they sit on the bottom or in coral for hours without moving. They hide very well waiting for fish to swim by for them to eat. I actually didn’t see this one, the dive guide pointed it out to me. They are extremely dangerous if you touch them due to the poison they have on them. They are not aggressive so you can get close to look at them, but you don’t want to touch them.
To purchase a print or see the entire photo gallery, please click the picture above.
The second one is a Lionfish, which is also from the Scorpionfish family. Unfortunately, this type of fish isn’t supposed to be in the Caribbean, but it’s becoming a very common thing. These fish have been released into the Caribbean from individuals who had them in their fish tanks. The Lionfish has no natural enemy in this area and they kill a massive amount of other fish. They are spreading like crazy and hurt the normal caribbean fish to the point they are going to threaten the natural order of things.
Lionfish - part of the Scorpionfish family
Here are two link to a few past diving photos in my blog:
I also posted a few Great White Shark pictures in the past in my Picture Gallery