Oct 15 - Sunset on the Beach

Sometimes when I'm sitting at work and I look out my window and the rain is coming down, I can only think about running away and sitting on the beach. That usually brings me to the thought of this picture. I didn't know much about photography at the time, but I know I wanted this shot. In fact, I tried for 3 nights to get this shot, changing settings, trying it out with and without flash, learning as I go along. By the third night, I finally got it. I was so proud of myself as I had never really played with manual settings or nighttime shots.

Sep 21 - Emu

This week I decided would be animal week. I had people, then buildings, so why not animals. It makes it a lot easier for me to decide on a photo if I have a topic in my head. This guy comes to us all the way from Australia. He's an Emu. I love this photo for a few reasons. The first of which is I didn't really know how to take photos in 2004 except for to point and shoot. I didn't know anything about depth of field, aperture, etc. I just think there is a great expression on his face and he pops because the background is blurry. He looks like he's ready to have a conversation with you. So, enjoy! More animals coming this week from Africa and South America.

Aug 26 - Lake Tekapo

You've seen the picture from inside that little church there in the lower part of the picture. Now you see why the church was placed here in the first place. Just a beautiful location on Lake Tekapo on the South Island of New Zealand. Otherwise, I don't have much more to say.

Aug 11 - Whitehaven Beach

Whitehaven Beach is considered one of the Top 10 beaches in the world. It is situated on an uninhabited island in the Whitsundays off the coast of Australia. The only way to get there is by boat. Only a limited number of people are allowed to arrive each day and they must leave by dusk.

The sand is so smooth and the water is so clear. It was a beautiful day, with the clouds slightly overhead to make sure the sun was not too harsh. It is definitely the most beautiful beach that I have ever put my feet on.

Juy 31 - Milford Sound Sunset

Woohoo.. Made it through the first month of Pic of the day! This photo comes to you from New Zealand in 2004. The sun was setting on a beautiful day in the Milford Sound. This is a lake completely surrounded by sheer rock faces that rise 4000 ft. Needless to say the water is VERY cold, but very clear and the Sound is so quiet and peaceful. We spent the night on a little cruise boat that had heaters and electric blankets.

This is the opening of Milford Sound into the Tasman Sea. I love how the sun was setting behind the mountain opening and colors wash across the sky. The other fun part of it is the moon can be seen in the upper part of the photo.

Enjoy your weekend!

July 29 - Spirit of the Pacific

This beautiful boat was my home for 3 days while in Fiji. It's name is the Spirit of the Pacific. There wasn't much wind while I was there, so we actually moved via motor most of the trip, but one morning they hoisted up all the sails for us and took us out on a little boat so we could get photos. It is definitely a beautiful boat and makes taking a picture of it so easy. We didn't actually sleep on the boat, we were able to enjoy huts on an island with no electricity or hot water.

I don't have much more to say today, so enjoy.

July 7 - The Giant Clam

Underwater photography is a completely different monster. First of all, you are doing quite a bit of "keeping yourself alive" when you are underwater before you can even focus on taking pictures. On top of that, you are carrying around a big bulky FILM camera (digital is more common today, but not so much 5 years ago) and you don't really know what you are taking a picture of because the viewfinder is pretty much useless with goggles on.

While in the Great Barrier Reef, I took a course to get my Advanced Open Water diving certificate. This allows me to dive deeper and lets other dive shops around the world know they can trust you do be a decent diver. OF course, I also love photography, so the opportunity to rent a camera for the day was definitely exciting. They say if you get one good photo out of a roll, you should be happy. It's darker underwater, the flash doesn't travel very far and keeping still (or getting the fish to stay still) isn't easy. If you can get under the object, so that you can take advantage of the sun, that's best.

Here I have a picture of a giant clam. It doesn't move and it doesn't live very deep in the water, so that made the picture taking easier. Although the "rule of thirds" says that the clam shouldn't be centered, when you aren't sure of what exactly you are taking, it is best to put the object you want in the center so that you know you got it all. I love that I still got a pretty fish in the corner of the photo and some coral in the foreground that framses the shot.

July 5 - Church of the Good Shepherd

Although I didn't know it at the time, 5 years ago today was the beginning of my world travels. I saved up my max vacation time of 5 weeks (meaning I didn't take a vacation day for almost 2 years) and booked a solo trip to New Zealand, Australia and Fiji. Except for a cruise to the Bahamas when I was a kid, 2 trips to Germany with my friend Markus and a trip to Cozumel for Spring Break, I had never left the country, let alone go on a trip alone.

The day after July 4th, I flew to New Zealand and met up with a bunch of Ozzies for a 9 day tour around the South Island. It was winter time there as you can see from the Southern Alps in the background. This photo is from the inside of the Church of the Good Shepherd, which is a small church located on Lake Tekapo. The chuch was built in the 1930s and is still used for service (or at least it was 5 years ago). This is the view from the altar framing the lake and mountains in the background.