These two fellas (or ladies – I truthfully don’t know how to tell them apart) are permanent guests at the Mauna Kea resort on the Big Island of Hawaii.  Jon and I drove there for lunch and to relax a little on the beach between shoots.  Actually, I’m pretty sure it was the Ovaltine malt that was the real reason we were there.

These two were in a big cage in the breezeway of the hotel and the spacing of the bars was just big enough to shoot through with my Lensbaby.  I was pleasantly surprised how sharp this picture turned out in the sweet spot – the Lensbaby is really capable of high-quality imagery!

Vital Stats: Canon 5D Mark II w/Lensbaby Composer and the double glass optic,  ISO 1600, f/5.6 ring, 1/15 sec.

What is a trip to the beach without an obligatory shot of a seagull?  I had a couple of hours to kill after I finished up my workshop in Newport Beach two weeks ago, so I headed down to the beach at Newport Beach.  As I was walking down the pier, this guy decided to land on the binoculars right in front of me.  Since I had my luscious Canon 135mm f/2L mounted at the time, I was able to get a razor-sharp picture of the seagull with a beautifully blurred background.  Within an hour of this shot, I was on my way to the airport to head back to snowy Minnesota.

Vital Stats: Canon 5D Mark II w/Canon 135mm f/2L  ISO 100, f/2, 1/8000 sec

A couple of weeks ago I posted an amazing picture of a cowboy chasing a train in Southern Colorado.  It was really a striking picture of a red shirted cowboy galloping down a steep rocky path to catch a train.  He was the real deal – not some stunt put on by the railway.  Earlier in the day, my father and I watched them round up cattle in a corral to relocate the cows out of the high country.  Recognize the cowboy in red?  Yep.. same guy.  I’ve got some video clips of them in action as well – the noise of several hundred cows mooing is the most amazing sound!  This was marginally hazardous to shoot as well – there were ‘tailings’ from the cows underfoot everywhere.

Vital Stats: Canon 5D Mark II w/Canon 70-200 f/4L @ 126mm  ISO 1600, f/8, 1/640 sec.

Here’s our friend the meerkat.  He’s chilling on his mound watching the crowds go by.

I’m going to be doing the same the rest of the week – so this will be my last update ’til next week.  Don’t worry though – many great new images are on their way!

I like this shot because I feel like General Custer should be in it someplace.  Of course, this was shot this year rather than the late 1800s.  And, it was shot at the Minnesota Zoo rather than South Dakota.  As a North Dakota State grad, Bison have a soft spot in my heart – they are such stately but prehistoric beasts.

Vital Stats: Canon 5D Mark II w/Canon 70-200 + Canon 1.4x II Extender @ 289mm