Smith Tower

Probably my very favorite building in the city of Seattle is the Smith Tower.  it was completed in 1914, the 38-storey, 489 ft tower is the oldest skyscraper in the city and was the tallest office building west of the Mississippi River until 1931.  It's also for sale and I am counting my pennies.

Soka University

Soka University International, Aliso Viejo, CA

Gazebo at Soka University, Aliso Viejo, CA

Morning fog

Early Saturday Morning

Early Saturday Morning...

Founders Hall

Founders Hall, Soka University of America in Aliso Viejo, CA

Marine Blue butterfly

Marine Blue

The Marine Blue (Leptotes marina) is probably the most widely distributed butterfly in Orange County, and has been since the early part of this century.

photographing hummingbird wings

Using  several remote and really fast flashes I often want to freeze the hummingbird's wings.  I have read remarks of those who support  freezing the wings.  They say that this effect makes the photo of a humming bird  more realistic if you can see the wings clearly. I don't quite understand this because the wings are a blur if you watch the hummingbirds fly. So, why not let them be a blur in your photograph as well.  When a hummingbird is hovering in one position, the body is still enough to get fine detail with a shutter speed of 1/500 or slower. In this shot I took last week, the wings are practically a total blur.

Good Mourning Dove

GOOD MOURNING DOVE
by Kathryn Neff Perry

I heard your cry this morning

Searching for your mate

You seemed to cry please hurry

It’s breakfast, don’t be late.

You sat upon the wire

And watched the world fly by

The other birds don’t bother you

I saw your eagle eye

You called once more

I thought I heard you cry

Where is your mate

Did she fly on by?

You sat alone upon the fence

Looking all the day

Calling out to her

Your call, it seemed to say

Please find your way

Home to me

I don’t know

What to say

I heard your cry this morning

It seemed to me you said,

Good mourning dove

Welcome home my love.

Neighborhood Watch

Arizona sky

My very favorite songbird is the Northern Mockingbird. These slender-bodied gray birds apparently pour all their color into their personalities. They sing almost endlessly, even sometimes all night, and they flagrantly harass birds that intrude on their territories, flying slowly around them or prancing toward them, legs extended, flaunting their bright white wing patches.

This is female fledgling Hooded Oriole. The immature female resembles adult female.

One of Michael Graves' first non-domestic commissions, this regional library is located across the street from the Mission of San Juan Capistrano and near the center of the old town.  In this small one-story building (about 12000 square feet) Graves borrows from the local Spanish idiom, using stucco walls, mission clay roof tiles, wooden beams, mini-towers, small punched windows, light monitors, stencil ornament, and loggias around a central courtyard.

Male Rufous Hummingbird

Mission Basilica San Juan Capistrano behind public library. Library is by architect Michael Graves.