Year's end

(Dec. 31) Time to turn over a new leaf for 2007. Happy New Year to all in the DP community and happy shooting in 2007!

Urban-Wildlife Interface

(Dec. 30) Can you find the wildlife? The photo is deliberately not processed much to look "better." In fact, the lens is way too forgiving to the area of Apple Valley, which is desolate and in the process of development. This is the flotsom edge of it. I'm not a huge fan of the area, but it is sad to see what little inherent beauty there was being destroyed or damaged. Here's a little more:
http://chaosgraphics.smugmug.com/gallery/1841037/1/119919765

A prickly question . . .

(Dec. 29) Not much out today, still windy. So I tried taking close-ups, but only every other spine in a diagonal line is in focus -- the middle right, the bottom left, and the top right. Why aren't the spines closer to the middle one (the one I focused on) in focus instead of the ones that are further away? No equations please.

Here's my alternative. I like it but it is a little boring:
http://chaosgraphics.smugmug.com/gallery/1841037/1/119713651

A seriously big cat

(Dec. 28) There was a really fierce wind today, so I worked on processing some of the shots from Prescott instead. This is still from the Heritage Park Zoo, shot through a nice, thick piece of protective glass . . . and I was still backing up. That cat is BIG seen through a 300mm coming right at one!

Heritage Park Zoo link:
http://www.heritageparkzoo.org

Lazy afternoon

(Dec. 27) I don't know where the pelicans came from. Could they be migrating this time of year? There were four of them at Lake Evans taking in a little sun and rest. I had a hard time choosing -- here was my second choice (I decided on this one just because I see the acorn woodpeckers all the time):
http://chaosgraphics.smugmug.com/gallery/1841037/1/119352007

Welcome to the Inland Empire . . .

(Dec. 26) This is how I know we're almost home: the dinosaur at Banning Pass. It was once a restaurant and now serves as a museum for a far, far, far Christian right group (did I say 'far' enough?) to illustrate that humans and dinosaurs coexisted . . . that is, evolution as a scientific hoax. Riverside County is nothing if not surreal. That must be why David Lynch chose it as the backdrop to his newest movie. This was shot at 80mph off of Interstate 10.

Coming in for a landing

(Dec. 25) Christmas Day around Willow Lake, Prescott, AZ.

Halt! Who goes there?

(Dec. 24) Mexican Gray Wolf, recent addition to the Heritage Park Zoo in Prescott, AZ:
http://www.heritageparkzoo.org/

All animals there are injured, orphaned, or born in captivity, and non-releasable to the wild.

Arizona Outback

(Dec. 23) The road to Prescott, AZ, through the Arizona Outback. This is near Kirkland Junction.

Happy Holidays from the gang

(Dec. 22) Gypsy and Gus helped wrap presents. We're headed out of town tomorrow, so I'll catch up with DP next week. Have a great Christmas everyone!