Kauai - 2016

We had another AMAZING vacation in Kauai this year!!!  Most of our beach days were spent on what has to be considered one of the most spectacular beaches in all of the world - Hanalei Bay.  The surf conditions were perfect for Boogie Boarding on the heavy surf days and proved to be perfect for the kids to learn how to surf on the light days. 

Amelia really had a great time this year exploring Kauai.  She LOVED all of the roosters, playing in the sand with Andrew and Elizabeth, and by the end got much more comfortable in the water.

 We found a new beach this year that we visited for a couple of sunsets.  Secret Beach has some breathtaking scenery.  Its funny hour a short dirt road and a steepish 10 minute hike are more than enough to keep all but the adventuresome tourists away.

We had some big firsts this trip, Andrew and Elizabeth are now officially surfers!!!  They can't wait to get surfing again!!!

The Milky Way

I've been wanting to try to photograph the Milky Way for a long time but have never had an opportunity where I had the necessary equipment (or at least some of the basics) and a clear sky on a summer night where the galactic center is visible.  A few nights ago the skies were nearly perfect, I have the basic equipment needed, now for the big question: would the Milky Way be visible through the light pollution?

 For my first try, I'll take it... clearly there are some optical artifacts and noise artifacts from a slow lens and high ISO long exposure.  All that said, I was shocked to find that it actually worked.  I can also see that this kind of thing requires some serious time in photoshop, and see the immediate advantages to finding darker skies for better signal to noise.

While I was out, a couple of kids in the neighborhood were having a little fun with long exposures and I joined in!  The photo turned out pretty cool, fortunately they did have a fire extinguisher with them which it turned out was a good thing, they only started a small fire...

Quintessential Summer - Traverse City Michigan

Viva Italia! - Part 1 - Venice

Kate had a business trip to Italy about 30 minutes outside Venice and I just couldn't pass that up!  We left a couple of days early and headed to Venice.

Of course the best way to get to Venice is by boat and the most fun way to go by boat is to go in a private water taxi and that is exactly what we did!  We took the taxi direct from the Venice Airport to our hotel and had a nice trip down the Grand Canal along the way - it was certainly a boat ride to remember!

This really is the typical view around nearly every corner in Venice - it seems like the view down nearly every canal was fit for a post card.

We were blown away by all of the people in Venice - they were everywhere!  This is one busy place.  The cruise ship traffic doesn't help either.  Everyday there were 6 cruise ships in port.

We found that the nights and early mornings were spectacular.  Dinner each night started between 8 and 10 PM and we had the whole place to ourselves from 5-8 AM.  Each morning we woke up early and visited many of the sights before all of the people were out and then return to the hotel for the most amazing breakfasts.

 One of my other favorite things about Venice was all of the beautiful plants and flowers in all of the balconies around the city.

 No trip to Venice is complete without a visit to San Marco - Saint Mark's Square.  When we arrived on our first day there was a church service going on in the square with a most beautiful choir singing.

 We visited a couple of older churches while in town and they were all nothing short of amazing.  This one was constructed in the 1300's.