Photography – Page 27 – The Bald Heretic – Short, bald dude with a goofy beard

Pigeons

Notice: Undefined index: image in /home/geekradio.com/domains/baldheretic.com/httpdocs/wp-content/plugins/highslide/wp-highslide.php on line 56

Notice: Undefined index: thumbnail in /home/geekradio.com/domains/baldheretic.com/httpdocs/wp-content/plugins/highslide/wp-highslide.php on line 56

Notice: Undefined index: altdesc in /home/geekradio.com/domains/baldheretic.com/httpdocs/wp-content/plugins/highslide/wp-highslide.php on line 56

Notice: Undefined index: captiontext in /home/geekradio.com/domains/baldheretic.com/httpdocs/wp-content/plugins/highslide/wp-highslide.php on line 56

Notice: Undefined index: thumbid in /home/geekradio.com/domains/baldheretic.com/httpdocs/wp-content/plugins/highslide/wp-highslide.php on line 56

Notice: Undefined index: image in /home/geekradio.com/domains/baldheretic.com/httpdocs/wp-content/plugins/highslide/wp-highslide.php on line 56

Notice: Undefined index: thumbnail in /home/geekradio.com/domains/baldheretic.com/httpdocs/wp-content/plugins/highslide/wp-highslide.php on line 56

Notice: Undefined index: altdesc in /home/geekradio.com/domains/baldheretic.com/httpdocs/wp-content/plugins/highslide/wp-highslide.php on line 56

Notice: Undefined index: captiontext in /home/geekradio.com/domains/baldheretic.com/httpdocs/wp-content/plugins/highslide/wp-highslide.php on line 56

Notice: Undefined index: thumbid in /home/geekradio.com/domains/baldheretic.com/httpdocs/wp-content/plugins/highslide/wp-highslide.php on line 56

Cynthia and I were heading down Richmond in an effort to get around some congestion on 59 headed back to the house. As we were driving past the Ragin Cajun we noticed the most enormous flock of pigeons in the parking out front of Jarinee’s Dressmaking & Alterations, which is in the same strip center.

click for full size

We had to circle back and investigate.

There were hundreds and hundreds of them all in the parking lot. They were also lining the roof of the building.

click for full size

Then this man came out of the building and they all took off…

click for full size

The birds flew around in a few circles, but landed again pretty quickly and the man just walked amongst them…

click for full size

He came over to me and we started talking. His name is Vichien and he’s been working at Jarinee’s Dressmaking & Alterations for over 22 years. He’s been feeding the pigeons for 10 years.

He expressed some sadness as he told me the property had recently been sold to developers and he worried about the fate of his “friends.” Vichien told me how he tried to watch over the pigeons and how much money he’s spent on feed over the years.

As we talked I saw a Red-tail Hawk circling above the parking lot. Vichien clapped his hands and the birds all flew into the sky. This caused the hawk to retreat a bit, but he stayed close. Vichien confided that he’s lost to the hawk on many occasions.

After we were done chatting he went to his truck and pulled out a bag of bird seed and began to pour it onto the pavement. That was a sight to see…

click for full size

Before I left Vichien gave me a copy of last month’s Houston Press. He pointed out a picture of himself and said that the Houston Press was making fun of him. He just smiled. He asked if I could bring him a print of one of my pictures and I said I would bring one by when I had a chance.

All in all, it was an odd encounter, but it completely made my day.

Self Portrait

Remembrances

Cynthia continues to chug away at the scrapbook for the trip to Spain. She’s completed Madrid, Seville, Segovia and Toledo.

Granada and Barcelona are going to be HUGE.

She’s already filled 1 1/2 giant binders full of photos, ephemera and her own recollections of the vacation. I bet this will be 4-6 binders by the time it’s done.

This has propelled me forward in processing my photos. I have completed the following galleries here at baldheretic.com

Madrid	Madrid – Retiro Park
Madrid – Segway Tour	Segovia
Seville	Seville – Alcazar
Cordoba	Toledo
Granada	Granada – The Alhambra

There’s a partial gallery for Barcelona, but it is not complete.

Oh, and I should not forget the nearly complete gallery for William The Well Travelled Sheep…

William The Sheep in Spain!

[tag]Spain, Madrid, Segovia, Seville, Toledo, Granada, Alhambra, photography, Sony Alpha 100, travel, Europe, Segway, Memories, Jay Lee[/tag]

Zoo Portrait

Excursion To The Houston Zoo

Cynthia and I decided we’d go to the zoo and renew our memberships and take a walk through since it was such a lovely day. Once we took care of the renewal we headed head straight for the Meerkat exhibit, only to find it choked off with a wacky batch of seniors with an over abundance of very elaborate camera gear…

There were about 6 of them with high powered lenses, tripods and tricked out flash units not to mention backpacks, camera vests and various other sundry gear. It was rather comical, to say the least.

This guy was the most “loaded for bear” of them all…

Despite the camouflage, I am fairly certain the meerkats saw him in the abundant sunlight.

—

Here’s a few of what I was able to capture using my limited equipment…

click for full size

Those seem a little sad so here’s a cute photo of the baby Orangutan playing peek-a-boo with a red blanket

click for full size

And here’s a pretty bird from the aviary

click for full size

Oh, The Vanity!

According to Flickr, these are my top 25 photos rated in order of “interestingness” ….

1. Classy Chassis Car Show – Fake Miniature, 2. Architecture of the Quilt – MFAH, 3. Macro of flower, 4. Vanishing Point, 5. Lizardo, 6. Minding The Store, 7. Cockrell Butterfly Center, 8. Gee’s Bend Architecture of the Quilt – MFAH, 9. Tiki Heads and Elvis, 10. Triumph, 11. Reflections, 12. Rooftop, 13. Yellow Python, 14. Williams Tower – Twilight, 15. Cockrell Butterfly Center, 16. My first Guinness in Ireland, 17. 3700 Main St., 18. Caught in the rain, 19. Shroom In Bloom, 20. Inside Looking On, 21. Umbrella Shop, 22. DJ Amanda Robinson, 23. Dweezil and Frank, 24. Ruby-throated Hummingbird, 25. Ragin Cajun Christmas (Crawdad Claus)

Happy New Year!

2007 was, without a doubt, an AWESOME year for Cynthia and myself!

The photography keeps evolving we’ve had a blast with it this year.

We planned and executed our most ambitious vacation ever!

Our jobs remain steady (knock wood)

We have our health (knock wood again)

All in all, no complaints. Good health, good friends and good times.
We can only hope that 2008 will bring more of the same.

Here’s to a healthy and prosperous new year for us all!

And a special wish for all my photographer friends that the world around us remains full of interesting and dynamic subjects for us to aim our lenses at!

*photo courtesy of Cynthia

Way Up High In My Beautiful Balloon

Rummaging through old digital photos, looking at them with a fresh eye…

These are from when Cynthia and I took an early morning balloon ride in celebration of our 11th anniversary. Shot with my very first digital camera, the Sony DSC F717.

We were lucky to have another balloon flying along.