The Famous Homer Spit reaches six miles out into Kachemak Bay, Alaska an arm of the Cook Inlet.
This image was shot from 1135 feet above and eight miles away from the far end end of the spit. The tall peaks across the bay are fifteen miles away
Rainbow over Seaside Farm, Homer Alaska Late September 2008
Poster for friends who own this Cafe,antiquarian bookstore and B&B in Homer Alaska. A great place Homer is a spot of wonderful shining blue light in the constant red of Alaska. If you are there drop in and say hello to Sally and Andy.
Mariner's Beach In the Rain, Homer Spit, Homer Alaska. "low tide" on a rainy day walkabout. rubber boots are the standard footwear in Homer. You can tell tourists by the newness of their shiny inexpensive boots.
beachrainfinalMariner's BeachHomer SpitHomerAlaskarain bootskachemak bay
"Each year the week before the fall equinox, a band of artists on the Homer Spit face the challenges of weather and create a huge, finely crafted basket. And then they burn it." Quote from Michael Armstrong's article in the Homer News more here:
http://homernews.com/stories/092408/arts_16_001.shtmlburningbasketfinalHomerAlaskasurpassHomer Spitcommunity artAlaska art
McLeod Ganj, or as it is more commonly known in the west, Upper Dharamsala, is the home of His Holiness the Dali Lama and the seat of the Tibetan exile government. The town is located in northeastern India at the blessedly cool altitude of 5800 feet. It is to be found in the mountains north of the Kangra Valley. To get there took us five hours. The three of us and all of our gear were jammed into a taxi that hurtled thru the night from the nearest large airport in Amritsar. The first thing I noticed when we got there and the sun came up (other than the "assertive verticality" of the the place) was the profusion of prayer flags . Everywhere I looked, the brilliantly colored flags were flying in the breeze sending prayers into the clearing morning sky.
mcleod ganjDharamsalaIndiaHimachal PradeshDali Lamaprayer flagsBuddhistTibetKangra Valley
"Beluga Slough is a tidal marsh and lagoon on Homer's northern shoreline" . . . During migration seasons it is a hot spot for birders
"The slough is linked to the sea via a tidal inlet that gets pushed by longshore drift westward toward Munson Point. This poses a problem for the private property owners on that side, so apparently someone goes out and rearranges the channel now and then. It must be a challenge for naturalists working on the marsh when some eight-year old asks them why there is bulldozer in the slough or out on the beach." quoted from "Gravel Beach Blog" http://gravelbeach.blogspot.com/2008/06/beluga-slough.html
It is part of a system of trails and "boardwalks" sponsored by the Alaska Islands and Ocean Visitor Center in Homer. http://www.islandsandocean.org http://www.akcoastalstudies.orgBeluga SloughAlaska Islands and Ocean Centerhttpwww.islandsandocean.orgcenter for alaskan coastal studiesHomerAlaskabirdingsloughmarshKachemak Bay
Michael Sharp ,Master of s/v Bluewater, multi talented guru of many disciplines. Image captured September 22,2008 at the two sisters cafe, Homer Alaska.
go to http://www.adventurefreaks.org to see Bluewater's "log" and the story of some of their adventures
When folks were gathering for the "basket burning" this group of drummers kept them entertained and focused. the beautiful young lady in the foreground is writing a note to someone to put on the basket to burn and be sent to the sky. Note the photographer with the ladder. You can see him again in "burning the basket". I wonder if he got any good images.
HomerAlaskaCommunity Basket ProjectDrummersMariner's Beach2008alsharp
Deden Tsuglagkhang Temple, Norbulingka Institute, Dharamsala, India. Norbulingka is dedicated to handing down tradition and restoring standards by providing training, education and employment for Tibetans. It supports an environment in which Tibetan community and family values can flourish. It reconciles the traditional creatively and respectfully with the modern, and seeks to create an international awareness of Tibetan values and their expression in art and literature.
I think this guy was posing as a monk. I have no idea why. Maybe he was some kind of undercover dude. We were fortunate to be in McLeod Ganj during His Holiness' teachings so the town was filled with blissed out monks, true seekers and wannabes from all around the world. I found this guy hanging around at the bottom of our street. At first he was reluctant to have his photo taken but then relented when it looked like he was attracting attention. I have no idea what he was doing he was way too well outfitted to be a poor monk, new western hiking boots, heavy wool cape dyed the wrong color.
Anyway, he had great penetrating eyes.
B&W from 16 bit RGB as separate layer . Color "wash" on eyes McLeod Ganj, India
Andy Wills, Entrepreneur, book seller, master of many crafts. Andy and his wife, Sally, own and run the bookshop, the Mermaid Cafe that is in the same building and a great B&B apartment upstairs. If you are in Homer don't miss the chance to stop in.
http://www.oldinletbookshop.com/index2.html
Andy is a third generation book seller. He offers used, rare and out-of-print books, and has been operating in Homer since 1997.
The shop has moved from its original location in the basement of the Old Inlet Trading Post to its new digs up the street, now located in a dovetail notch-constructed log cabin in historic Old Town. About 400 feet from the waters of Cook Inlet, the log structure, known as the Hansen House (because it was Burt Hansen who moved it from the south side of Kachemak Bay to its present location in the early 1930s), was one of Homer's very first stores. The provenance is still a mystery, but some locals believe the cabin was built on Yukon Island in 1905, making it one of the oldest buildings in Homer.
Totally renovated, the cabin offers old pioneer charm to the add-on new construction that houses the Mermaid Cafe and B&B. The bookshop specializes in Alaskana, polar exploration, natural history, modern firsts, children's and medical books. We also offer a wide array of general stock in most genres.
Of the 20,000-plus titles available for perusal, one might find a signed Rockwell Kent illustrated first edition Moby Dick in a dust jacket, or a John Muir Cruise of the Corwin with a manuscript tipped into it. There is the possibility of securing a paperback of a favorite fiction writer, or a naval text detailing all the major submarine battles of World War 11.
Also available are original oil paintings by local artist James Buncak, oil paintings by Chicago artist Sue Spero, whale-bone and ivory carvings by Point Hope Eskimo Tom Fields, and photographs by renowned photographer G. Brad Lewis.
Tech note: Color was created with a 5 image "pseudo" HDR ( 5 copies saved at different exposures in RAW and processed with Photomatix Pro) B&W conversion was applied to the resulting base image as a layer and "washed" away utilizing masks. Difficult lighting situation: combination of incandescent, flourescent, and natural light. Strobe with large diffuser is off camera to the right on the floor
Laura Gardiner, Nick Sharp's fiance ( they simultaneously ( as a suprise) asked one another. Over the years I have taken hundreds of images of Laura it is just about impossible to take a bad picture of her. The camera loves her. As do we all.
The local shopping mall had the grand opening of a new addition on Saturday. The festivities included a "Cirque du Soleil" type ice skating and acrobatic show. Here are a couple of images I managed from up in the bleachers. Ok yes they are a little "artsy" and I tried to make a comment on performer's concentration, the "distance" between this kind of performer ( physical) and those he is entertaining and how it's sometimes hard to "see" for looking from the audience. Somewhere in the back of my memory there is a "famous" painting that has these elements of dark shadow with highlighted foreground images. Hmmmmm? . Too much? Ok- cool dude in flowing robes jumping and flipping using "powerizer" jumping stilts.
Tech Note: D700 1/400 at f/5.0 ISO 25,600 ( no that is not a misprint, twenty five thousand , six hundred) Hand held, 116mm ( 70-200 nikkor zoom)
The local shopping mall had the grand opening of a new addition on Saturday. The festivities included a "Cirque du Soleil" type ice skating and acrobatic show. Here are a couple of images I managed from up in the bleachers. Ok yes they are a little "artsy". I tried to make a comment on performers concentration, the "distance" between this kind of performer (physical) and those he is entertaining and also how it's sometimes hard to "see" for looking from the audience. Too much? Ok- cool dude in flowing robes jumping and flipping using "powerizer" jumping stilts.
Tech Note: D700 1/400 at f/5.0 ISO 25,600 ( no that is not a misprint twenty five thousand , six hundred) Hand held 116mm ( 70-200 nikkor zoom)
Ok, I admit it. I just couldn't help myself. I'm a sucker for a pun.
Tech note: again very high ISO 25,600 ( yikes) 1/250s at f/4.5. the original image is pretty noisy at this high of an ISO even with the D700's magic sensor.
Heavy work in post to reduce noise and the ambient lighting distractions to accentuate the stage area and the skater being lifted into the air.
Maroni of BMW fame
Darin Maroni, BMW motorcycles
