Boats

Today's photos of boats were scanned from slides originally taken between the early 70s to the mid-90s. Since I live on the sixteenth largest islands in the world, boats are a common sight in most communities near the ocean. I have been photographing boats for many years and when I look back at the images, I can see changes in the number, size and types of boats I see in my travels.

The first shows a few small boats moored in a harbour on the Burin Peninsula. This may be Mooring Cove, but since I didn't photograph town welcome signs when I was shooting slides, I have forgotten where this slide was taken. I think it was fairly near the Town of Marystown. The second image was taken in Hibbs Cove on the Port de Grave Peninsula, a scenic community that I have visited several times. The single boat was located in King's Point, Green Bay. I also liked the four boats lined up in Harbour Main and the stage and boats in Quidi Vidi.

Photos of the Day are for sale as stock photographs
and photographic enlargements.

They can also be purchased as slide shows
and/or wallpapers/screensavers.

Boats

Today I am returning to series showing images of boats that were originally taken using Kodachrome slide film.

The first shows a tour boat following a humpback whale in Witless Bay. You can see the people on the shore who were also watching the whale. The second photo shows a few boats in Port de Grave harbour. People familiar with the area will notice a red building in the background that is no longer there. As well, the entrance to the harbour (to the far right) no longer exists. That whole area was filled in with huge boulders several years ago. As well, the small boats in the harbour have been replaced by much larger boats. The third photo shows a small dorey pulled up on a wooden slipway in Holyrood. The fog was just lifting off the boats moored off St. Shott's when I made the fourth image in the mid-80s. Royal Viking Sky, the cruise ship sailing out of the harbour in 1981, was among the first cruise ships to visit St. John's.

Photos of the Day are for sale as stock photographs
and photographic enlargements.

They can also be purchased as slide shows
and/or wallpapers/screensavers.

Foxglove

This morning I am sharing photos of foxglove which was growing prolifically in a couple of areas in my yard.

In the summer of 2008 my wife purchased one foxglove plant from a local nursery. I planted it near the front steps and watched it grow. The next year I noticed hundreds, if not thousands, of a new "weeds". I thought it might be foxglove, but wasn't sure. Several plants grew, but it wasn't until last summer, two years later, did the foxglove really bloom.

I really liked the plant and the beautiful flowers, but when I found out they are poisonous and could kill a small child, I tore all the plants up before they could produce more seeds. My 17 month old grandson will be out and about this summer and I don't want him near poisonous plants.

I included a wide view to show you how these flowers, which grew wild from the seeds from one original plant, added colour to a section of the yard that I am letting go wild. You can see how the meadowsweet, hawkweed and buttercups have grown on what was excavated ground with very little, if any, soil just three years ago.

Photos of the Day are for sale as stock photographs
and photographic enlargements.

They can also be purchased as slide shows
and/or wallpapers/screensavers.

Pansies 2

Since yesterday's photos of pansies evoked positive memories in so many of you, I thought I'd share a few more today.

In the summer of 2009, my wife purchased a "tiger" pansy, a variety that I had never seen before. I found a spot in the yard to plant it, but it was too far away from the house to really enjoy the interesting blooms. The information that came with the plant stated that it may or may not grow in the second year. In the spring of 2010, I moved the entire plant to a spot just off my back steps and waited for it to grow. We were pleased to see it bloom in mid-June, and like the other pansies, it had flowers until after a couple of very heavy frosts. I wonder if it will grow again this year?

Photos of the Day are for sale as stock photographs
and photographic enlargements.

They can also be purchased as slide shows
and/or wallpapers/screensavers.

Pansies

After another 5 cm (2 in) snow yesterday, I thought that people in this area might like a reminder of Spring and Summer.

Pansies are extremely hardy and are among the first plants to bloom in Spring and the last to stop blooming in the fall. They are very prolific and produce brightly coloured flowers all season. As well, other than occasional watering and weeding, they require little care.

Most of the pansies in our yard are located in two beds which have grown quite thick after three seasons. As soon as the snow melts I plan to thin them and start a couple of more beds near the house. Of course, I will photograph the process and probably share a few with you.

Photos of the Day are for sale as stock photographs
and photographic enlargements.

They can also be purchased as slide shows
and/or wallpapers/screensavers.

Animals

I hope you have been enjoying the animal photos taken at the Calgary Zoo during my visit there last Spring. Today is the last in this series for a while. If you are interested in other images of animals at the zoo, check my Blog entries for May and June, 2010.

I believe the fist photo shows a couple of prairie dogs, though I am not certain. I usually take photos of signs, but didn't as I walked through the exhibits. I assumed I would find a list (with images) of the animals when I checked the web site when I got home. The Calgary Zoo does have a list along with images and information, but I haven't been able to find all that I photographed. The deer and pelicans were photographed near a small pond but I didn't see any signs nearby.

Neither of the species shown today live on the island of Newfoundland and the only way to photograph them is to travel outside the province. Zoos give you the opportunity to see (and photograph) animals that are not native to your area.

Photos of the Day are for sale as stock photographs
and photographic enlargements.

They can also be purchased as slide shows
and/or wallpapers/screensavers.

Mountain Goat

Though I had seen mountain goats on TV programs, I had never seen one in the wild. These interesting animals live high in the mountains and survive despite the steep terrain, harsh weather and dangerous conditions. At the Calgary zoo, the enclosures with mountain goats were very realistic looking. I was happy to make these photos and it looks as though they could be in the wild rather than in a zoo.

Photos of the Day are for sale as stock photographs
and photographic enlargements.

They can also be purchased as slide shows
and/or wallpapers/screensavers.

Bison/Muskox

As I said yesterday, we were rushing through the Animals of North America section of the Calgary Zoo when I visited there in May 2010. In fact we were going to skip that section all together, but decided to try and fit it in. I was glad I did because I had never seen a muskox other than on TV. I had seen bison before, but I was able to get pretty close to a couple of them that afternoon.

To think that bison were almost hunted to extinction during the late 19th and early 20th century is unbelievable. They are such large creatures, but I guess their size was no match for rifles. I am glad their numbers have rebounded in recent years. It would be a shame to lose this animal forever. I was close enough to the bison to make an image of its eye with long full lashes!

The muskox is similar to the bison, but is adapted to living in Arctic North America. Both these animals were losing their winter coats when I made these photographs last Spring.

Photos of the Day are for sale as stock photographs
and photographic enlargements.

They can also be purchased as slide shows
and/or wallpapers/screensavers.

Whooping Crane

The first whooping crane I had seen was in the Calgary Zoo and I made a few images of it even though it was just sitting on the ground. I zoomed in close enough to get a few decent close-ups of its head and just as I was leaving its enclosure it stood up and started picking at something in the water. We were on a tight time limit by the time and I couldn't stay to get more photos of this large bird.

As you know, the whooping crane is an endangered species with less than 500 left in the world. I've seen several shows where scientists take eggs from nests and hatch them in captivity. Apparently whooping cranes lay two or more eggs but only raise one chick so removing fertilized eggs to raise young birds elsewhere sounds like a good idea. I believe this is helping increase the numbers of whooping cranes, the tallest birds we have in North America. Hopefully I will get an opportunity to photograph these birds in the wild someday.

Photos of the Day are for sale as stock photographs
and photographic enlargements.

They can also be purchased as slide shows
and/or wallpapers/screensavers.

Tiger

I've stated previously that when I walk into the woods around here, there are few animals that can hurt me, but in other parts of the world there are animals that can eat you. The Siberian tiger, shown in today's photos is one of these animals. You can see that it has teeth that are both sharp and large making it one animal I wouldn't want to meet in the wild. It looked towards the people watching from behind the safety of the glass and licked its lips as if to say, "Mmmm" or "Yum"..

I shot through a glass enclosure but didn't like the wire mesh visible behind the animal. Since the animal was close to the wire, I couldn't compose an image without it.

Photos of the Day are for sale as stock photographs
and photographic enlargements.

They can also be purchased as slide shows
and/or wallpapers/screensavers.