Mediterranean Cruise: Day 1

The first day of our cruise around the Med was pretty hectic and generally just a bunch of Point A to Point B action. Up at o'dark-thirty for the drive to London Heathrow airport for an Iberia Air flight to Barcelona (an Airbus A320 if you're curious about that kind of thing) followed by a small snafu when our transport to the port decided not to show even after a couple of phone calls to the main office.

Despite this we arrived on the Brilliance of the Seas with 2,200 of our newest friends and were quickly under way leaving Barcelona for Palermo. It was a grey, drizzly day very much like the norm we left in England. But I always try to make the best of what there is so I was able to do some photography on the surrounding industrial area and some of the more interesting ships as we left. Here are a couple of examples, you can see the most recent ones at my Flickr gallery.













I think what most amazes me about these container ships is that each one of those little colored squares is a semi-trailer/lorry trailer. And there are HUNDREDS of them on the ship. Just amazing.

On holiday

Lovely to be home. Jill and I are back home in Alaska for a couple of weeks. Today we went to do an oxymoronic task called "absetee in-person" voting for the upcoming Federal election. On the way to City Hall we were treated to one of Alaska's normal traffic hazards: momma' moose and her baby crossing Tudor Road. And then it snowed this afternoon.

Yes, it is good to be home. Here's an image I captured while doing a little aerial vehicle spotting near the Anchorage airport. Enjoy and look for more images in the next few days.

The Holiday Season Approaches

Yes, it's hard to believe but it is getting close to the time of the year for re-connecting with that long list of friends hidden away in your Holiday Greetings address book. Millions upon millions of pieces of mail will literally travel to and from the four corners of the globe in order to give yearly updates on what we do, the growth of our kids and the current state of our pets.

Not one to be content with the current offerings at the corner store, I decided this year to produce a line of holiday greeting cards with my own little style added to them. The first batch is out featureing a poor little eagle in a Santa hat waiting for the first glimps of morning in Alaska, scrumptious cookies, brilliant poinsettia (growing outdoors in the Azores of all places) and a couple of others.

My favorite is probably the single aurora image. When we were in Alaska the wife of our pastor saw this photo and called it the "baby Jesus" photo as once could imagine the sky looking like that on that very special knight. So Dar, THANK YOU!

Quick Post Between Events

Well, a week in Scotland at a cottage overlooking Loch Ness is something I must insist you ALL do at least once in your lives! To say our time there was relaxing and the "calm before the storm" would be an understatement. The weather forcast for the week included my favorite word (snow in case you don't know) and we weren't disappointed. Not enough to cover the roads but enough to make the hills looks spectacular and put enough of a chillin the air to wake you up.



One of the best days was Sunday where we did... nothing. No agenda, no plans, nothing. We did start a puzzle it took us the week to finish and my youngest daughter proved to us all she is an UNO shark in the making but other than that, we were lounging by the fire. Wonderful.



Our cottage DID afford us some spectacular views of Loch Ness and the town of Drumnadrochit. The photo below is just one of many I took suring a snow storm building across the Loch from us. We did eventually get out and visit Fort George, Urquhurt Castle (2 minutes from our cottage) and the Culloden Battlefield. I was also able to get a day away to focus on my photography by driving around Loch Ness. In case you're interested in finding out more about our cottage an others offered by our gracious hosts, please visit their website.




But, work calls. We arrived back home at Sparham Hall on Satudrday evening and have spent Sunday packing up preparing for our move into the Old Chapel starting on Monday. Hopefully the weather will co-operate and we can get settled quickly (so I can finally LOOK at my Scotland images).



Thanks for hanging in there, will post more when I'm able.

Merry Christmas from England!

Just a quick note wishing everyone out there a very Merry Christmas. We have gotten as close to a white christmas as we're going to get this year in the form of fog. Lots and lots of fog.

Remember the real reason for the season.

~James

On the Queen's Rolls Royce

OK, not exactly the photo you were hoping for but c'mon, this is as close to being on a Rolls Royce as I'll probably ever get!



When friends and family come to visit us (no matter where we are) its an excuse for us to visit the places we don't get to see because we're stretched a little thin. Yes, you're all an excuse for me to have a holiday! So, when Jill's folks came to visit one of the places we visited was the Queen's cozy little getaway at Sandringham in Norfolk county not far from the city of King's Lynn.

Inside the house proper there was no photography allowed and after viewing the incredible number of art works I can see their point (reluctantly) but what a feast for the eyes of a confirmed car nut when you entered the museum's car section which is thankfully open to photography!

This Rolls Royce was one of my favorites and the touch that set it off for me was the hand-painted seal just above the trunk (boot) release. With my reflection in the mile-deep paint I couldn't resist my one chance to show everyone that I really HAD been "seen" on the hood of the Queen's personal car!

Cheers!

~James

I'm Back!

Back from a conspicuous absence! Lots of things going on, lots of updates so let's get going.

WINTER HAS RETURNED: Saturday a front moved in, the ran came with it and now it is a chilly 44 degrees with a nice fresh wind out of the north. I swear I thought I saw a polar bear roaming the fields.

VISITORS HAVE A GREAT TIME: Jill's parents and her brother arrived from Nebraska, USA and we literally drug them around the southern part of England non-stop for a week. Norwich cathedral, Castle Rising, Sandringham Estate, Iceni village, Westminster, St. Paul's Cathedral, Tower of London as well as a little time with the grandchildren. That are back home safe and sound.

MORE "KIDS" IN ABUNDANCE: Many sightings of baby blue/great tits, blackbirds as well as green finches. Little balls of fluff, full of energy.

IRIS WATERCOLOR SERIES AVAILABLE: A series of watercolor-style images from the ever-blooming iris beds in the yard is now available, just click here to go to the gallery.

NEW BOOK SERIES: Very close to launching an entire series of books and that's all I'm going to say. OK, not all I'm going to say. A combination of visual and written impressions from around the world.

NEW LOCATION: The sheep we've been tending over the winter are now in a BEAUTIFUL pasture next to a very picturesque river and they're LOVING it. Taken with a very small Nikon COOLPIX L11 digital camera purchased for Jill's upcoming travels around the world.

Cheers!

~James

My Kind of Camera Store

Having been gone on holiday this past week I'm always poking my head into camera stores around the world. While in Innsbruck, Austria I finally found one that takes photography as seriously as me!

But seriously, holiday was great. We were back in the mountains and of all the topography we've experienced over the years these are our favorites. We saw some incredible sights, met some great people and might have even gotten a decent photo or two. Most importantly I'm fully recharged and back at work full-steam. More from our trip to come in the weeks ahead.

Cheers!

~James