Seafoam

Open Safe

Safe on the slab of the White Cap Restaurant. Taken in Gulfport.

Incongruous

This bench seems incongruous. It sits in splendor among the ruins of McElroy's Restaurant at the Biloxi Small Craft Harbor.

Every Once in A While

Piers off Deer Island in Biloxi



Every once in a while I'll take a photo and the end result is not the one I desired. So I risk playing around with it. The photo I took was too dark. I don't have Photoshop but I do have HP Image Director and a fun little program called Photosuite. First, I auto-enhanced in HP Image Director. It looked okay with all those shades of pastel but not quite what I was after. I started playing around with it in Photosuite. I converted the enhanced photo into RGB channels. The one I saved was from the B channel.

McElroy's

McElroy's Restaurant was another local favorite. It has been located at the Biloxi Small Craft Harbor for over 30 years. Hurricane Katrina left little more than the slab, some steps, and a portion of one wall. Yesterday, the sun lit up the rusted underside of the steps.

Rest in Peace

Hurricane Katrina slammed through many cemeteries and wreaked havoc. I took this shot of the Biloxi cemetery back in September of this year. It still looks the same now. It looked like this in November of 2005. The oldest headstone I saw was from 1848. Hopefully, it will be soon be put to rights and those buried can rest in peace once again.

Silos

The white of the silos at the Port of Gulfport just popped against the grey and blue skies yesterday.

Another Coastie!

I do enjoy finding photographers who are from my area. I find one today who is from Ocean Springs. Ralph Lyons has blog called Ruminations. I glean ideas and inspiration from many of the photoblogs I visit every day and since he's photos are of familiar areas, it will be a delight checking in.

White Cap Restaurant

The White Cap Restaurant at the Gulfport Small Craft Harbor was one of my favorites. It had gumbo that only Mary Mahony's Restaurant in Biloxi could beat. It was reduced to slab after Hurricane Katrina.

Festive Lights on Hwy 90 in Biloxi

Usually, this time of year, the houses along Highway 90 in Biloxi and Gulfport are strewn with festive lights. Sadly, Hurricane Katrina either demolished those 100+ year old homes or left them like this:









The house in the process of being repaired and this year, the owners had a few decorations up:

Big Boy

The shrimp boat Big Boy heading back to port.

Snowy Egret

Harbor at Dusk

Biloxi Small Craft Harbor at dusk December 18, 2006.

Shadows

Taken Monady night. The Hard Rock Cafe Casino is being repaired after being damaged by Hurricane Katrina in Biloxi. It was set to open the week Katrina hit. It's new opening date is sometime in 2007.

Night Lights

These are the lights from the Hard Rock Cafe Casino parking garage. I took it last night and liked the pattern. I was across the street from it and used my 18-55mm lens.

Evidence

Like most pet owners, I become slightly goofy when it comes to my animals. I have two cats that spend most of their time outside. I've spoken with these cats and they seemed to have agreed that birds are off limits. But I was mistaken as evidenced by this picture of Guido.



Feathers in his whiskers!! I had another long talk with him and his brother, Smokey.

Marsh Wren

These little birds are the size of parakeets. They are very fast and skittish! This one seemed to pose for me while it was preening in the branches of a tree. It was about 100 feet from me.

Need for Speed II

Thank You!

I started my hobby pf photography in March 2005. I started with an HP Photosmart. The joy I took in it was tempered after Hurricane Katrina struck my hometown of Gulfport. I took many, many images of the destruction, recovery, and the ongoing rebuilding. I outgrew my Photosmart and bought a Nikon D50 in April 2006. The joy of photography came back when I was able to take those shots of pelicans, herons, egrets, least terns, seagulls and other birds in flight. I'm still learning. I was overjoyed to have my photoblog nominated and then accepted as a finalist in the The 2006 Weblog Awards in the Best Photo Blog category.

I was able to see the wonderful photos by such bloggers as:

X-Processed
Travis Ruse
Joe's NYC
Daily Dose of Imagery
Chromasia
A Walk Through Durham Township
Cute Overload
Daily Puppy
Little People

Thanks to all who voted for me and I feel honored to have made 6th place. Thanks to all the wonderful folks who put together the Weblogs Awards every year.

Shabbat Shalom and Happy Chanukkah!

Thanks to all who have voted for my photoblog.

On My Porch

Need for Speed I

Learning Process

I've only had my Nikon D50 since March 2006. I'm still learning about it. When I first got it, I concentrated on the 55m-200m zoom lens. It was a joy to see the pelicans, terns, and seagulls arched against the sky and be able to take shots I couldn't before. I also used my camera to take pictures of the progress being made in the aftermath of Katrina. But around June and July, I started to play with the camera. I'm still learning about ISO, white balance, and depth of focus and what works best when. I'm making efforts at night photography. This is the Biloxi Light House.



I'm working on avoiding the graininess and the red glow cast by sodium lights. It's a learning process but it's also so much fun.

Pink House in Biloxi

The chorus of John Cougar Mellancamp's song Little Pink Houses runs through my mind every time I see this house.

Oh but ain't that America for you and me
Ain't that America we're someting to see baby
Ain't that America, home of the free
Little pink houses for you and me

Overpass Reflections

Taken in Biloxi from the pier that follows the curve of the I-110 loop.

Shabbat Shalom!

Soul Mates

The male least tern has brought some fish to his lady love.


They notice me and he became very protective of her.


Both photos were taken April 27, 2006. Least terns are a protected species. Protective nesting areas had been established for them but Hurricane Katrina trashed them. But the based on the number of nesting pairs along the beach in Biloxi, in school rafters, and on a parking lot in Gulfport, the least terns did okay. The nesting areas have been re-established and the least terns should be in their accustomed spots in 2007.

Fallen

Taken yesterday in D'Iberville Mississippi.

Cat in the Window

My son's cat Frisky was watching me try out my camera. This was one of my first attempts at night photography and was taken April 2006.

Normal

With repairs made to the Ken Combs Pier in Gulfport, fisherman can once again spend Sunday afternoons fishing. This was taken November 26, 2006 around noon.

Beach Seen

Normally, diamondback water snakes are not seen on Biloxi beaches. This one was there in May. It's a non-poisonous snake but will bite and has a musk sack akin to the skunk. I was about ten feet away when I spotted it and thought to myself, how beautiful.

Sand Castle

I Spy

I spied this beautiful orange cat amidst some scrap metal. The cat was shy around me and no amount of coaxing would make it come out. Every time I tried to get closer, it would move away. Taken in D'Iberville Mississippi.

In Search Of

Hurricane Katrina devastated the Mississippi Gulf Coast. In October of 2005, I finally made it to Biloxi's Point Cadet. I was on a mission. A mission in search of friends homes. My friends were okay and thankfully, I lost no friends during Katrina. But I think my friend Billy, who died a couple a months ago, did so from a broken heart. His home which had been in his family since the 1850's was obliberated by Katrina. But, back in October, almost two months after katrina, I was in search of Pete's house as well as a few others. This is what his street looked like:




I could not even find where Pete's house once stood. All the familiar markers were gone. This one street is just a small slice of the 29,960 homes that were destroyed in the cities of Gulfport, Biloxi, Pass Christian, Long Beach, and St. Martin. This is what a direct hit from a major hurricane looks like. This is what we are still rebuilding. I do have some good news on that front. Up to 7,000 were rebuilt in Harrison County since Katrina hit. If that pace is kept up, that means it will only take 4 more years for all the homes to be rebuilt.

I Am But a Grasshopper

I don't know if that line was ever said in the Kung Fu series but it seems apt. For I am still learning about photography and how to use my Nkion D50. One of my goals is to be able to take pcitures of the moon such as this one by Rick Lee.

I am improving. This is one I took back in March or April after I bought the Nikon:



This one I took a couple of nights ago:



Shabbat Shalom, y'all!

Here's Looking at You

Down on the Bayou

I took this a few months ago. It's the James Hill Nature Walk at bayou Bernard in Gulfport.

Full Steam Ahead

Mississippians want nothing more than to get on with their lives as this picture attests. Even with the crumpled barge of the Hard Rock Casino in the background, the shrimping boats went out when the waters opened in June. The rubble of the barge has been cleared and the Hard Rock Casion is expected to open in 2007. We are full steam ahead!

Mississippi Tango

Dive, Dive, Dive

A brown pelican diving for its supper in Biloxi Back Bay.

Moorings

The moorings for the President Casino in Biloxi did not do their job during Hurricane Katrina. The casino went through the Broadwater Marina, crossed Highway 90, and floated a half-mile down. It smashed into some apartments.

Deck Hand

I spied this lorn glove aboard the oyster boat Joey C.

Monster, Inc

Transformed

Stark

As I was organizing my photos of the small towns of D'Iberville and St. Martin, Mississippi, I came across some that I had taken in black and white. I'll be creating an online album of Hurricane Katrina's devastation of these two small towns.

Below, is behind a building that was having rebar put in place to put up higher and stronger walls.


Sunset St.


Both of these were taken in D'Iberville Mississippi. If I remember correctly, they were both taken in December 2005, 4 months after Hurricane Katrina hit. I keep putting Mississippi in because it's almost like many in the US, (or more accurately, the news media) don't even realize that Katrina hit Mississippi and caused catastrophic damage that will take years if not a decade or two to recover from. I think the last straw was last week when one of the news organizations said Bay St. Louis Louisiana instead of the correct name, Bay St. Louis Mississippi. Even Discovery Channel in it's documentary about Hurricane Katrina used footage from Mississippi and said it was from New Orleans. It's a losing battle but to all the volunteers out there who know what it's like, I can't say it enough, thank you for helping us in Mississippi.

Subtle Fall

Fall in south Mississippi can be very subtle. You might see a stand of popcorn trees (Chinese tallow):



Or the burnt orange of a cypress tree:



But my favorite is seeing a yaupon holly tree laden with bright red berries: