Airborne: Huntington Beach, 15th May 2011

I've led a few Route 66 trips which finish in Long Beach and I get a day to myself, all being well. Usually, I hire a car and head down the coast to try and find the surfers and Huntington Beach is normally the best spot for me as I can go out on the pier and get fairly close to the action.
This time, I brought along a 2x extension tube for my lens which got me close but, unfortunately the autofocus wasn't quick enough to keep up with the twists and turns of the surfers. Out of the 400 or so pictures I took, hardly any are really sharp. I won't be doing that again.
This guy was a long way from the pier and he was flipped through the air by a crashing wave, describing a beautiful arc before coming back down. He looks as if he can fly, which he could, briefly.
Technically, the photo is hopeless but I like it and maybe I'll get the chance to go back soon.

Sri Lanka: Don't Mention The Boar. Sunday 11th November

Sunday 11th November

To get from my room to the restaurant, I had to get past a herd of wild boar. Thankfully, they were as wary of me as I was of them.  The monkeys were always ready to steal anything that wasn't nailed down. I didn't see any elephants at the reserve, which is probably a good thing if this notice is anything to go by. The writer has a sense of humour...

Much as I appreciate the chance to visit Sri Lanka, I felt that this trip was a missed opportunity; too much time spent on a coach with almost no contact with locals. Our guide was interested in history but not in the wildlife. Shame.

Sri Lanka: Elephant Orphanage

Thursay, 8th November 2012
Orphaned elephants at Pinnawala, near Kandy. The elephants are taken to the river twice a day, watched by lots of tourists. The Mahouts are there to make sure that they don't wander off to the far side of the river. There are currently around eighty elephants at the orphanage. Around a third of them were brought to the river this morning.
Elephants at Pinnawala are used to contact with humans and so cannot be released back into the wild, unlike at the Elephant Transit Home where they are kept away from people as much as possible.
Controversially, Pinnawala has sold Elephants to private interests leading to allegations that some have been neglected or mistreated.

Elephant Transit Home
Elephant Orphanage

Sri Lanka: Tasty & Toasty

Sunday 4 November 2012

I've just started my final tour of the season - Sri Lanka. I'm here without laptop or fancy lenses as I've got shoulder problems and lugging heavy gear around is giving me grief. I took this shot of the chef at our first hotel in Colombo with my iPhone.

Sharing A Moment

Sunday 14 October 2012

This is Maria Meerovitch & Sergei Nakariakov rehearsing on board ship on the 2012 Music Cruise, from which M & I have just returned. It was fabulous, but hard work. This could be the last of the Music Cruises, at least, for the time being. We've been doing this for ten years and had a great time but all good things come to an end.

We also had Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Behzod Abduraimov, Maxim Vengerov and a host of other brilliant musicians - a worthy swan song for the cruise, if that's what it proves to be.

Dame Kiri

Maxim Vengerov & Lawrence Power

Music Cruise 2012

Previous Music Cruises

Muscle Shoals Alabama: The Queen of Soul

Wednesday 26 September 2012

I've been to Sun Studios in Memphis, where Elvis, Johnny Cash, Howlin' Wolf and many others made their first recordings and I've been to RCA Studio B in Nashville where anyone who was anyone in country recorded. Today, I visited FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama where Jerry Wexler of Atlantic Records brought the newly signed Aretha Franklin to try and harness the magic that she possessed. That day, she worked with the Muscle Shoals Horns, organist Spooner Oldham found the groove, the musicians followed, Aretha responded at the piano and let rip with that voice and the result was I Never Loved A Man & Do Right Woman, Do Right Man. A star was born.
I can now die happy (but not too soon).

London 2012

Monday 6 August 2012
Commuters?
Probably not. These three Japanese ladies were on their way to Wembley to watch their women's football team take on the French (and win). It was a terrific game and as usual, the fans were fantastic. The guy next to them didn't seem to be too interested in the outcome of the match.

We happened to see three of the Japanese football matches; it was great fun being amongst the fans as they really went overboard when it came to decorating themselves to support their teams: rivers of facepaint were used, tons of fabric in costumes and flags. Add to that their good natured enthusiasm whether they were winning or losing and you had a photographer's dream. The fans are what makes the Olympics so much fun.

We also found a few French fans who'd got into the spirit of the occasion. There are lots more fan pics via the link below.

More London 2012 Photos

London 2012

Thursday 2 August 2012

There was no work for us during the Olympics so we went out and enjoyed them, taking in football in Coventry, Newcastle and Wembley, visits to the Olympic Park, a trip to the top of Anish Kapoor's Orbit tower, beach volleyball and just mooching around London.

Today was another great day at the Olympic Park. I saw a gold medal up close, around the neck of the USA cyclist Kristen Armstrong, who won the women's time trial yesterday for the second time. she was appearing on America's "Today" programme, the equivalent of our breakfast televison. It goes out live from the Olympic Park, starting at 7am on the US east coast, which is noon here.
Apart from athletes, Jamie Oliver popped up to do a bit of Olympic cookery for the Americans. I also saw Boris Johnson holding forth by the side of the river - risky for someone with his track record. Excuse the pun...
I took many photos today but this one, which was the first of the day is my favourite.

We also had a chance to mooch around London, just enjoying the the Olympic vibe. We encountered this patriotic family just outside the Excel, where boxing and martial arts were being held.

Vienna

Tuesday 10 July 2012: Grand Finale

A group photo of all the participants in the Youth Music Festival, including The Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra, who we looked after (They are in the balcony on the right, dressed in black). This was taken in the Koncerthaus, another fantastic music venue in Vienna.
The festival was fun but bedlam. The organisation was non-existent, but what the heck.
The festival included young people from everywhere, including the girls & boys of the Maibuy' ISkahile Youth Development Choir, who struck a pose every time a camera was pointed at them.
I'm off to bed as I have to be up in five hours to see the first part of the group off.

Striking A Pose Backstage At The Konzerthaus

L'Italie!

Thursday 28 June 2012

I'm in France, in Nice. There's a big football match in the European Cup between France & Italy & there are quite a few supporters of both nationalities around. I've just come in to see that Italy are two up against France, so these two must be even happier at the moment.

Spain: Local Culture

Monday 18 June 2012

Cuenca. Our travels in Spain with The Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra.The group had dinner in a restaurant on the Plaza Mayor in Cuenca while Spain were making hard work of overcoming Croatia in the European Championship. Some of the group wanted to watch so a few of us stayed in the bar so that they could see the game the way it should be seen. They really enjoyed the experience though one or two were nervous about me taking the pic, just in case the folks back home get to see their offspring being corrupted in the dens and dives of Europe.

In Valencia we had lunch outside the old market and one of the kids ended up joining in with the street musicians: a coming together of generations and cultures through music.

Grrr.

Tuesday 5 June 2012

A big black bear near Whistler. It looks well fed. I've managed to see bears at Whistler on my last three visits, each time from the ski lift, however this one was taken on a trip into the back country where we could get a lot closer to them.

Into The Blue

Saturday 26 May 2012

Ogden Point, Victoria, BC, Canada, looking across the Strait of Juan de Fuca toward The Olympic Peninsula in Washington State, USA. Our hotel is on the Inner Harbour in Victoria, about a twenty minute stroll from Ogden Point.
There are a couple of Otters that hang around close by, near a group of houseboats at Fisherman's Wharf. They are used to people and quite easy to photograph, though I made a bit of a hash of it.

Vancouver

Friday 25 May 2012

Day two of a tour through British Columbia. The view is of downtown Vancouver with the twin peaks (The Lions) in the background, taken from Queen Elizabeth Park. There was also a great view of Mount Baker, one of the volcanos in the Cascade Range. It's seventy miles away from Vancouver over the border in Washington State but it dominates the skyline. I didn't have time to get a pic of it though.
I went for a stroll along the shore of the Burrard Inlet, where seaplanes ferry commuters to and from varius places but mostly Victoria, the provincial capital.

New York Grand Central Terminal

Monday 14 May 2012:

I spent an hour at Grand Central Terminal, trying to get the picture I wanted of the movement of the crowds passing through, with one person standing still amongst the shifting masses, giving a sense of isolation or loneliness. Fat chance.
Too many people were standing still -mainly photographers of all stripes, from camera phone users to monopod toting heavyweights, all grabbing their Grand Central Kodak Moment. At times it seemed they outnumbered the commuters and my Kodak Moment was never quite within grasp, but this will give you an idea of what I was aiming for.

Every now and then someone walks across from one side of the station to the other on gantries that take them through the huge windows, seemingly floating above the people below who don't know that they are there.

Jurassic Coast.

Friday 4 May 2012: Jurassic Coast.

I'm just in, having spent all day running around Dorset. What a beautiful county! For some reason, I've never been here before, apart from one visit to Bournemouth around ten years ago.
I went to Lyme Regis, Cerne Abbas to see the Giant, Tolpuddle to tip my hat to the Martyrs, Lulworth Cove, Durdle Door, Weymouth (actually, I've been through Weymouth on the way to Jersey, so it doesn't count.) and Corfe. I managed to get turned around in Weymouth as several roads were closed and went round in circles in Poole becuase an event was on and barriers were being erected.
I'm glad I came down as there are quite a few things to sort out before the tour.
Time for a beer, I think.
This is the famous Chesil Beach with a very imposing chapel on the hill in the foreground. - no idea what it is or why it's there but I'll find out eventually.

Edit: It's St Catherine's Chapel. That was easy, thanks to the internet.

Costa Rica: The Quaker Cloud Forest

Tuesday 6 March 2012

Monteverde Cloud Forest. Lots of rain, which is why it's a cloud forest. It was settled by Quakers from Alabama in 1951. They were pacificsts; concientous objectors, who, when Costa Rica abolished it's armed forces in 1948, decided to move here. They started the dairy industry which is still going strong but also protected the environment long before it became policy in Costa Rica. Thanks to their continued stewardship of the land, this beautiful spot remains relatively unspoiled. (The two roads in are unmade and the locals insist on keeping it that way).

It's not all peace and light though: The hummingbirds were fighting fiercely to claim their place at the feeder. We also saw a Resplendent Quetzal. It is well named. Magnificent.

Walk The Walk: Costa Rica

Friday 2 March 2012

Out at 6.15 this morning to search for wildlife along the canals of Tortuguero National Park
We saw Howler Monkeys, Toucans, Sloths and a few other creatures. I didn't manage to get any decent pictures but on our way back we saw a troop of Spider monkeys swinging through the trees. They had to get from one side of a narrow canal to the other by way of this flimsy palm frond. First up were adults, including mothers with babies. They were across the gap in a shot and my pictures were hopeless. This juvenile took it a bit more cautiously so I got a nice silhouette, which I've sharpened up in Silver Efex.
We are back out this afternoon so I'm hopeful of getting something else.

Great Big Sea

Tuesday 29 November 2011

Another wild and stormy day in Newhaven so we went to the east side of the harbour entrance to photograph the waves hitting the breakwater. Our cameras and everything else were covered in salt spray in no time at all and the wind threatened to bowl us over. Our only shelter was a lighthouse - more a lamppost really - at the end of the pier. It was good enough to allow us to get a few shots and clean our lenses too. Job done!

Walk On By

Sunday 16 October 2011

I had a nice weekend in London with M who was guiding at Wimbledon yesterday and today, staying overnight rather than travelling up and down twice.
We went to Kew Gardens which I've never visited before, despite having lived close by and driven past it dozens of times and always thinking that I'd get around to it. Well, now I have. It's wonderful and huge. M left to go to work after a while and I ended up staying for around four hours. Now that I've finally made it I must go back - I just won't leave it thirty years (Thirty Years!) this time.
Today, I walked from our hotel in Euston to Wimbledon, a ten mile stroll that took me through lots of different areas of the city, just following my nose. It's a brilliant way to see the Capital. I didn't know I'd be walking ten miles when I set off though!

I took this picture on the Kings Road in Chelsea.