Watching this fellow navigate the narrow ledges of this cliffside –while carrying a kayak no less!– was a marvel to behold.
Category Archives: Nature
Blue Ridge Mountains
Marin County
If all goes accordingly (and doesn’t it always?) Marin County in Northern California will be my final resting place. OK, that sounds kind of morbid… let’s say rather that my wife and I would love to die there! Uh… wait… what I mean is we hope Northern California is where we’ll live out our days. You know, retire. Or something like that.
“Retire” is such an ugly word, though, isn’t it? Maybe “repurpose” is what I want. Rachel and I hope to one day repurpose ourselves in Northern California. Yeah, that’s better.
So why Northern California? Well…

Bar. Yes, that’s the actual name. Bar. It’s old and gritty and has no kitchen; but you can bring in a burger
from down the street if you like. Like a 1967 VW it sits among the Rolls Royce establishments of Sausalito.
No frills, no food, no name. It’s almost perfect.

I posted about this fellow earlier this year. (do a search) His name is Matt Jaffe. A troubadour; storyteller.
The Sweetwater Music Hall in Mill Valley hosts big names and locals.
We happened upon this open mic night and it was pure fun.

I could not pass up this nautical motif in the back patio of a joint in Bolinas. The Coast Cafe.
Had fried oyster benedict for breakfast. I will never forget it. (And I mean that in a good way!)

The sky changes by the second this time of the evening. Magentas and violets fight for supremacy. Darkness wins, ultimately.

This dude at Rodeo Beach had some stuff going on. Dancing across the waves like some manic ballerino.
Northern California. Works for us.
Return to the Canal!
Kiko
This is Kiko. The oldest male orang-utan (“Person of the Forest”) at the National Zoo in DC.
Male orang-utans have a home range of approximately 11 sq miles. They can travel up to two miles a day in search of food in the rainforests of Sumatra and Borneo. Habitat destruction and — of course — hunting by humans are the main threats to their survival.
I have a great ambivalence towards zoos. I am equally fascinated and troubled by them. As I was watching this fellow stare out at us from his enclosure I admit a deep sadness began to wash over me. He is an amazing creature and I could sit there all day just watching and observing his behavior… even occasionally try to make eye contact with him. But ultimately I couldn’t get past the fact that he’s in a zoo… in Washington DC.
Far from “home.”
instagram – winter scene
C & O Canal National Historical Park.
MAPS at Jug Bay
Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship (MAPS) is a nationwide program that studies and tracks songbird populations. I visited the Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary in Maryland in the Spring of 2012 to document its staff and volunteers as they went about collecting and recording data of various avian residents. (Do visit them if you find yourself in the area. Beautiful place and good people!)

It’s an early start at Jug Bay. Mike Quinlan is first to arrive at 6 AM. He opens all 14 nets situated around the sanctuary, he then
helps lead the all volunteer crew as they capture, measure, weigh and band various song birds for the MAPS program.
Winter
Instagram Archive
Longing for warmer days.
Friday Photo Tip: Fill Flash
Eastern bluebird. ♂
Don’t be afraid to fish out the flash from your camera bag when shooting in nature. Too often a strobe is used only for lighting up people in dark situations.
Nature should look natural, but that doesn’t mean we can’t enhance it a bit. And that’s what fill flash does. If you want to get those natural colors to really pop and if you want to see a little catch light in the creature’s eye, just throw a little light in there. Makes a world of difference.
I like to expose for the scene and then dial down the flash about a stop and a half. Maybe two stops. Experiment.
Dialing down the flash keeps it from blowing out the scene; keeps it more natural looking.