Diamond Head 2

Here's a shot of Diamond Head from the beach at our Hotel.  So beautiful!

Diamond Head

I snapped a shot of Diamond Head in Waikiki on a walk along the beach one afternoon.  The sun was directly overhead so I didn't expect much from this shot.  However, it made the water look especially green.  I loved the shot once I saw it and decided it was a keeper!

Halona Coastline

Here's another shot of the beautiful Halona coastline on O'ahu.  It was a gorgeous day and the ocean was so blue!

Halona Glider

While headed up to the North Shore on O'ahu, stopped along the Halona coastline and captured this shot of one of the gliders riding the stiff wind coming into the bay.  He was quite skilled and, in my opinion, and little crazy!  I was nervous watching him, I can only imagine what it would have been like to be in his shoes!

Shrouded

Grabbed this shot of one of the gorgeous volcanic mountains when in The Valley of the Temples in Hawai'i.  The tops were shrouded in clouds casting shadows on the tops.  It was a stunning sight.

Jacob's Ladder

One afternoon, the skies darkened and created this wonderful Jacob's Ladder moment.  I loved how the sun illuminated the ocean at a distance and almost created this silver thread-like appearance.

Diamond Head Sunrise

We were down on the beach before sunrise and I captured this beautiful silhouette of Diamond Head.  It was a beautiful morning with the ocean breeze!

Chinaman's Hat

We drove up to the north shore and I captured this shot of "Chinaman's Hat".  It's a small basalt island named for the shape of the straw hats that used to be worn by Chinese immigrants.  Its actual name is Mokoli'i and you can actually get to it by kayak, surfboard, swimming, etc.  The water is only about 4 feet deep on the west side from the Kualoa shore.  However, beware!  Sharks are known to frequent the waters around the island, especially in the mornings.  I took a nice shot of Dave with the island in the background.

Lotus Buddha

Inside the Byodo-In temple is this 9-foot wooden Lotus Buddha that's covered in gold and lacquer.  It was a very peaceful place that was calm, quiet, and invited introspection.

Byodo-In Temple

We visited the Byodo-In temple during our recent trip to Hawai'i and I captured these shots of the replica of the 900-year-old Buddhist place of worship at Uji in Kyoto, Japan.  It's located in the Valley of the Temples on O'ahu.

Bamboo Graffiti

We were visiting the Byodo-In temple and came across this bamboo forest.  People had carved their names, initials, messages, characters, etc., into the bamboo.  I thought it was interesting so I snapped this shot.

Blue Hawaii

I grabbed this shot of the ocean from the balcony of our hotel room.  The sun illuminating the colors of the ocean.  Was truly spectacular!

Waikiki Sunset

I captured this gorgeous sunset over Waikiki on a recent trip to Hawai'i.  It's been over 10 years since I was last there and it was nice to see it remains as breathtaking as ever!

Richmond Skyline

This is a shot of the Richmond skyline taken from the foot bridge that crosses the James River.  I applied an HDR filter to bring up the highlights in the shot.

Bare

Took this shot of a beautiful tree in the front yard of the Ruins.  The tree had already dropped its leaves which provided a stunning focal point of the shot!

Framed

Took this shot of the Ruins from the back of the house looking through to the front.  The rooms were designed to have a clear view through the entire house.  Amazing!

Oranges and Reds and Yellows, Oh My!

We were passing by this field on the way to one of the vineyards and came upon these gorgeous trees in full color.  Loved the contrast of the white fence!  Beautiful Fall day!

Field of Color

Came across this gorgeous field of color behind the Ruins.  The color had just started showing up in some of the trees.

Solitude

I loved this old tree and looked like it had sprung up out of the colorful Fall foliage.  It was such a contrast against the other colorful trees!

Ruins

We took a trip out to Barboursville Vineyards and Ruins to get a few shots of the gorgeous Fall colors. I captured this shot of the Ruins which is what's left of the estate designed by Thomas Jefferson for James Barbour, former Governor of the Commonwealth.

Autumn

My favorite time of year is here!  I love the colors, the crisp air, and the approaching holiday season!  I captured this shot of one of our trees in the neighborhood displaying its brilliant red foliage.

Reflection

I snapped this shot of the creek that flows under the Natural Bridge.  The water was emerald green and had a beautiful reflection of the rock walls under the bridge.

Natural Bridge

We visited Natural Bridge and I snapped this shot of the bridge.  It was an absolutely gorgeous day.  It's a beautiful place and a truly amazing specimen of nature!

Foamhenge

So we visited Natural Bridge in Virginia and came across "Foamhenge", a replica of Stonehenge except carved out of styrofoam.  It's was pretty cool!  There was a weird one-armed wizard there, but we won't talk about that!

Confederate Soldier

We were out and about in Richmond and stopped by Libby Hill Park.  I captured this shot of the confederate soldier atop the memorial in the park.  I applied a vintage filter to give it an older look and feel.

VA War Memorial

We stopped by the Virginia War Memorial in Richmond and I took this shot of the wall of names that the memorial honors.  The wall has the names etched in glass and really turned out well with Richmond in the background.  Very moving!

Orangutan

I caught a shot of this very sweet looking orangutan at the San Diego Zoo.  It was very human like and the expressions on its face was so interesting.  It also looked like it had its "hair did" just for this shot!

Vulture

In contrast to the beautiful flamingo posted yesterday, I captured this shot of a very ugly vulture in the same animal park!  The wing span on this bird was amazing!

Flamingo

Snapped a shot of a gorgeous pink flamingo when out in San Diego visiting friends.  The color was beautiful and it's eyes were amazing!

Richmond

HDR shot of downtown Richmond from the James River.  We took the foot bridge over to Belle Isle and I stopped and took this shot looking back at the city.  Was a gorgeous day on the river.

The Kiss

This much larger than life statue was also at The Embarcadero in San Diego.  I captured this shot with the USS Midway in the background.  Since this was representative of a much earlier time, I applied a filter to give it a much older appearance.

Penelope

While we were visiting friends in San Diego, we  went to The Embarcadero and came across this art sculpture named "Penelope" by Michael Stutz.  Penelope was the wife of Odysseus, also known as Ulysses.

Honey Bee

We were visiting Long Branch to attend the balloon festival and came across this honey bee working away.  It was really sunny and I was worried about the exposure but I think the shot turned out well.  I was surprised that it was still long enough for me to snap the photo.

Web

We were in Kansas City visiting Dave's family and were out taking some shots of friends when I came across this beautiful spider web.  The sun was creating a rainbow effect as the light reflected through it. I think the shot turned out really well.

Strawberries

I was experimenting with long exposures and decided to try capturing raindrops on some strawberries that I had.  It took a few tries but I finally ended up with a shot that provides a sense motion from the rain.

Wicked Tree

We were visiting some friends up in New England and decided to visit Newport, Rhode Island.  We spent some time checking out the mansions in Newport and came across this wicked tree at Marble House.

Pansies

We recently visited the Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens in Richmond and on the way out, came across these pansies.  They were picture perfect so I decided to grab a shot of them.  Gorgeous colors and they looked almost identical in shape, pattern, and color.

Emu

I snapped this photo of an Emu while visiting the Richmond Zoo.  The look on its face is priceless.  In fact, I've encountered some people in the past who have shared this same look.  Like an Ostrich, they are attracted to shiny objects so I kept bouncing light off the lens to catch its attention.

California Tower

We were visiting friends in one of our favorite cities, San Diego, back in 2010 and decided to head out to Balboa Park to snap some pics.  We ended up spending most of the day there and decided to head out when storm clouds began rolling in.  I captured this silhouette shot of the iconic California Tower, one of the well known symbols of San Diego.  The sky was gorgeous and backlit the tower perfectly.

Sylvania Plantation

The historic "Sylvania Plantation" as shot in October, 2010 with a vintage filter applied.  The plantation dates back to the mid 1700s where it was primarily used for tobacco production.  The home suffered significant damage during an earthquake that struck Louisa county in August, 2011.  Sadly, the house was struck by an EF-1 tornado that ripped the roof from the structure including front and back supports rendering the house unsalvageable.

Dragonfly

While visiting the Chatham estate in Fredericksburg, VA, I captured a shot of this stunning dragonfly.  He was a bit skittish but after waiting a few minutes, he settled down on a nearby branch and I snapped this photo.  I love the details of his wings and the "engines" where the wings attach to his body.  A truly magnificent creature!