• Twelve-Years Ago Today. Semester at Sea Spring 2013 Enrichment Voyage.

    On one of the days that the MV Explorer was docked in Le Havre, France I went for a photowalk in Paris with Thomas Paris. While walking through Parc de Bercy we came upon a Capoeira performance. I had never seen this before. I was told that it is an Afro-Brazilian form of martial arts that combines dance, acrobatics, and music. The two performers did their choreographed acrobatic dance moves to the beat of an African drum.

    Capoeria Performance in Parc de Bercy. Late Spring Photowalk in Paris. Image taken with a Leica X2 camera (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/5, 1/200 sec). Semester at Sea Spring 2013 Enrichment Voyage.

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  • Sixteen-Years Ago Today. Crystal Geyser Outside of Green River, Utah.

    One night while on a cross-country road trip I stopped at a motel in Green River, Utah. In the lobby, I saw a brochure for the Crystal Geyser. The desk attendant said it was easy to get to, just a few miles outside of the city accessible via a dirt road on Bureau of Land Management land. The cold geyser is near an abandoned Air Force missile testing facility and is right next to the Green River. I got there just in time for the sun to set but didn’t see the geyser erupt. The brochure did say the eruptions were irregular.

    The next morning before driving to Cedar City, I made another stop at the Crystal Geyser. This time I was fortunate to arrive in time to see the geyser erupt. The geyser is unique in that the water is cold and powered by carbon dioxide — not heat. The geyser is the result of drilling for gas (petroleum) many years ago. When the location was under Air Force control as part of a missile test range, the geyser was off-limits for visits.  The eruptions are irregular, and you need to be lucky or very patient to see an eruption happen.

    In this image there is someone meditating while the eruption occurred.  The water coming out of the geyser rises over 20 feet in the air — and unlike Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park, the water from Crystal Geyser is cold to the touch. The water is mineral rich, and deposits building the crystalline Travertine terrace as the water flows to the river. I’ve visited the site several times since 2009. The eruptions are not as regular and not as strong. The last time I visited, mineral rich water was still flowing out of the hole.

    Meditation at Crystal Geyser outside of Green River, Utah. Image taken with a Nikon D300 and 35 mm f/2D lens (ISO 200, 35 mm, f/10, 1/400 sec).

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  • Fourteen-years ago Today. Semester at Sea Spring 2011 Enrichment Voyage.

    While the M/V Explorer was docked in Puerto Limon, Costa Rica I went on a field trip to visit the local rain forests. The focus of the field trip was to observe and photograph birds and other wildlife in the rainforest. Sometimes when you see something you just have to take the shot. In this case it was the woman focused on her digital phone in the middle of the rainforest.

    Woman in the Window Texting. Corrugated Metal House in the Rain Forest of Costa Rica. Image taken with a Nikon D3s camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 2000, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/250 sec).

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  • Eighteen-Years Ago Today. Backyard Springtime Nature in New Jersey.

    In the late afternoon, I watched two young rabbits playing and chasing each other in the backyard. They only came out into the open away from the hedge row just before dusk. I set up a tripod with a camera and a long lens on my deck and started taking pictures. All of a sudden one of the rabbits jumped straight up as I captured this image. I didn’t know a rabbit could jump straight up so high. While hovering the rabbit is looking right at me. For years, I have been unsuccessful trying to capture an image like this again. I still have rabbits in the yard despite a healthy red fox. So maybe this straight up jumping behavior is part of their escape behavior.

    Jumping Rabbit. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs camera and 300 mm f/2.8 VR lens with a TCE-II 1.4 x teleconverter (ISO 400, 420 mm, f/4, 1/160 sec).

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  • Eighteen-Years Ago Today. Backyard Springtime Nature in New Jersey.

    Although I was looking for birds to photograph, I was attracted by the backlit glow of the leaf while on a late afternoon backyard walkabout.

    Spring Afternoon Backlit Maple Tree Leaf. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs camera and 300 mm f/2.8 VR lens (ISO 100, 300 mm, f/5.3, 1/125 sec).

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