Aruba vacation pictures, part 3

A local fishing crew came in with a fresh catch. Here, he is bailing out bilgewater.


There weren't many iguanas around this early in the season, but they aren't really shy. This one took a leisurely stroll across the sand as people took pictures and freaked out.


This green hung out in this tree sunning in the afternoons.




The lobby of the Hotel Riu Palace. It's an upscale hotel, almost out of place for a beach resort.

Aruba vacation pictures, part 2

I popped my flash into the underside of the chikee hut to open up the shadows and to try to make something creative with the flash.


We were on our way to do some gambling at the Hyatt's casino when I stopped to get this shot.


One of two pirate themed moored up the beach from our hotel.

Aruba vacation pictures, part 1

My wife and I went to Aruba for a week with her parents for a relaxing time on the beach.

Now, I can do a little bit of time on the beach, but not all day. I did catch up on some reading, but I took time to seek out interesting things to shoot.

If you are on vacation and want to get a different perspective on things, use your hotel's height to your advantage. For a couple of these, I shot from the top floor looking down to the property grounds. For others, I shot up into trees with flash to get the iguanas.



This is an example of the property (Holiday Inn SunSpree Resort, Aruba) that is best captured from a height. Taken at ground level, there is no way to get anything like this.




When I took this, I was on the outdoor stairway and was trying for pattern shots of the fronds. I saw the birds perched there and took a lot of pictures trying to get a clear shot. The trade winds blow constantly, and at 40 feet up, the palm trees are always moving. I didn't even see the iguana until I was reviewing the picture later.


This tree is home to a couple iguanas that sun in the afternoon. If you didn't know they were there, you'd easily miss them up there.

Birds on the Charles

I went up to Newton with a friend for lunch and some picture taking. We only ended up staying to take pictures for a few minutes, but the ducks, geese, seagulls, and swans were plenty cooperative.

This Seagull looped around eight or nine times; almost like he knew I was trying to get a good shot of him.




The geese were frisky and kept chasing each other off from their selected spots.

Hope Roth @ The Cantab Lounge

On Thursday night, I went to the Cantab Lounge in Cambridge to see a friend of mine, Hope Roth, play. She just got her first full length album independently produced and is on iTunes now. Check her out and if you like her sound buy a track or two. I'm partial to "The Fix" and "The Cat and I".

Hancock Cemetery Quincy Ma

St Mary's Graveyard, Quincy

I went to St Mary's Graveyard near my house today.

Here is a bit of trivia for cemetery goers. A graveyard is any cemetery that is attached to a church. This particular location is part of St Mary's Church in Quincy, and all of the graves are on church property adjacent to the church. If the cemetery is just a plot of land where people are buried, it's just a cemetery.