Pandas At Play

In March of 2001, [Maris] and I had our first visit with the newest residents of the National Zoo in Washington, DC - Giant Pandas Mei Xiang and Tian Tian. Like the hundreds of other visitors there that day, we were immediately smitten. We had grown up with the Zoo's original pair, Ling Ling and Hsing Hsing and although we loved them, too, they just weren't fun to watch. Mei and Tian like each other, and arrived at a younger, more energetic age. Here are our first few shots. Below, Mei Xiang amuses herself...

"I am a panda. Love me!"

Tian Tian's favorite game is "chase, tackle and bite Mei until she squeaks."

Mei's favorite game is "wait for Tian to chase, tackle and bite me until I squeak."

Pushing each other is fun, too - apparently.

Ah, a 5-gallon water jug filled with apple slices. Tian is not nearly as coordinated, nor as patient, as Mei, so this "enrichment" item is all hers to inspect...

... and bite...

... and shake. She did, eventually, get every last bit of apple out of there, too.

One last head-butt, and we'll say so long for now, fluffy little ones.

So much more to come. Thanks for visiting. Seeya!

Bahia Honda & Islamorada & Not Wanting To Go Home

Okay - the only way we were able to drag ourselves out of Key West was to spend a week in Islamorada. There's a bit less to photograph, but the restaurants are truly amazing. Here's a bit of what we managed to point our cameras at throughout the week. The banner above is a 210mm zoom view from our hotel balcony.

The full view of the banner shot. There was a funky bit of weather off to the east, and this is the actual color we got when the sun peeked out from beneath the cloud deck.

The old (left) and new (right) bridges of Bahia Honda, shot from the beautiful state park of the same name.

Atop the old Bahia Honda bridge. One of the highest points in all the Keys!

Oops.

Pool of sunlight. Islamorada. (Heart)!

A [Maris] shot from the "beach." More (Hearts)!

There's a lighthouse out there. Alligator Reef Light - near the upper left of the shot. Alligator Reef is serious business, as there was a fatal boating accident out there right before we arrived.

Two frames of the magical Morada Bay Beach Café. Did. Not. Want. To. Leave.

Florida Keys, adieu. For now. (sniff)

Thanks for coming along. More to come...

Playing Fort In The Dry Tortugas

Finishing up an awesome morning at Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas - Here are some of Joe's shots. Theses first two are the best I could get of Dry Tortugas Light Station, on Loggerhead Key, just southwest of Fort Jefferson. It's an active Coast Guard Station and not open to the public, so I could get no closer than the fort's moat wall and my 500mm mirror reflect lens would allow. I'll go back someday, with longer lenses and maybe a boat!

Meanwhile, back to the Fort at hand...

Foliage!

Water!

Two teeny fish!

Moat wall! If I lived here, this would be my jogging track.

This fort was never actually finished. I'd like to think it's because they spent too much time on the intricate masonry work, but really I believe it's simply because the war ended.

Another view of the coolest little lighthouse. That's Bush Key in the upper-right of the frame. I could live there, too. Fewer tourists, but bugs the size of trucks, I bet.

And another look. In this one picture, we can see bricks from two different sources (red clay on top; a more sandy mixture below). The ornate masonry is also apparent, as well as a combination of decay and simply unfinished work.

One of the hundreds of "windows" on Fort Jefferson. After a couple of hours, this had forever become one of our very favorite places on the planet. It just has a kind of magic, for us.

Thanks for visiting! Next, we'll head up old Route A1A to Bahia Honda...

Fort Jefferson, By [Maris]

We came away from our October 2000 visit to Fort Jefferson with enough photos that we figure it's time [Maris] had her very own post. All of these amazing shots are the work of my soul mate, her very impressive Olympus Stylus and her incredible eye. Above, a bit of the moat, the sea wall and the azure Gulf beyond.

The fort entrance, shot from her favorite vantage point.

Looking across the interior of the fort from the foot of the lighthouse. The little kid in us wants to live here and play fort for the rest of our lives.

A view of the light from the interior yard. I passed this shot by, concerned about the back-lighting. See why I married her?

The original purpose of our visit - a little black lighthouse. Who knew its setting would be so incredibly cool?

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't just the teeniest bit jealous of these two shots looking through the exterior and interior archways of Fort Jefferson's northwest side. They are a study in perspective, use of available light and depth of field. And no - we didn't lift them from the official website or anywhere else. And yes, these two frames rank among our very favorite photographs of anything, anywhere, ever.

Looking back at the entrance, this time from a ground-level window in the southeast corner.

If we lived in Fort Jefferson, we would have to stare at views like this every day and go absolutely mad at the sheer beauty. It's a risk we're willing to take.

Many, many thanks to [Maris] for agreeing to share her photographs with me and my friends!

Coming up next - Joe took some pictures that day, too!

Fort Jefferson By Air

The highlight of our week in the Lower Florida Keys in 2000 was a seaplane trip to Fort Jefferson, in the Dry Tortugas, about 70 miles west of Key West. It's a scheduled flight, so the shooting was challenging, with a couple of seconds for each photo and dirty windows in the way, but we got a few decent frames. The shot above is less than decent, technically, but how can you not like a shipwreck with trees growing out of it?

Shipwreck #2 - surrounded by barely-submerged sandbars and birds jockeying for perches on its mast.

Two shots of a small atoll between Key West and the Dry Tortugas. I like the broccoli-like appearance of the mangrove islets, and the S-shaped swath the current has cut through the shallows in the second photo.

Two frames of the spectacular 150-foot lighthouse on Loggerhead Key, just a couple of miles southwest of Fort Jefferson.

Our pilot was kind enough to do not only the fly-by of Loggerhead Key, but also an extra pass over Garden Key/Fort Jefferson, before touching down on the liquid runway. Even at a couple of thousand feet, we had no words.

A moat! It has a moat! AND a lighthouse. Just behind the black lighthouse tower, the old foundations of the barracks, as well as the more-or-less intact armory, are visible. We'll be stepping onto that beach in the foreground in about three minutes...

... after a smooth splashdown and taxi in front of the fort. Photo by [Maris].

"You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought." It wasn't that bad, Mom - honest!

Next - all over and around and in love with Fort Jefferson...