Hi folks,

Here is a preliminary timeline for the April Photography contest. It's not written in stone, but this should work out.

George McGovern, winner of the previous contest, has chosen the theme "Beauty in Black and White." This would include any and all things in black and white that you think might fit the subject matter.

So here is the tentative timeline. I reserve the right to make minor changes in this schedule.

Now until April 5th: Go through your archives and see what you have, or better yet, go out and shoot some new subjects. Many people who produce black and white usually shoot the originals in color, and then convert them to B&W. However, you can also set most cameras to B&W while you're shooting, which may help you visualize your final image. Also, if you're like me, you may have boxes and boxes of old Tri-X and Ilford images.

April 6th to April 14th: Submissions. Submissions will end when there are 30 photos. Each photographer may submit one photograph unless I open the contest for a second one later on. I'll do that if we go a day or two without a submission.

April 15th - April 17th: Preliminary Threads

April 18th - April 20th: Finals Thread

April 21st: Announcement of the winners.

One final note: This is my first time running the contest. I'll do my best not to mess it up, but your patience will be appreciated if I do.

This is a first edit. I want to work on it a little more to see if I can bring out some detail in the moon.

Growing up in the fifties, my parents always told my brothers and me that we were half Russian and half Hungarian. Our paternal grandparents immigrated from Russia, and our maternal grandparents immigrated from Hungary. Needless to say, we always felt a special connection to "Fiddler On The Roof," as that was probably the circumstances our grandparents experienced. As far as we know, no one from our European family survived the Holocaust.

With adulthood came the birth of services like Ancestry.com and others like it. Several members of my family did genealogy searches, tracing our grandparents and others in the family back as far as they could. One of the things we learned was that our Russian family came from the area around Odessa. It never occurred to me that my dad's side actually came from Ukraine, not Russia. I'm guessing the reason for that is that, at the time of their immigration, Ukraine was probably considered part of Russia or the U.S.S.R, and they considered themselves Russian. In my ignorance of geography, I had no idea that Odessa was in Ukraine, and not Russia as we know it today.

This has definitely affected me as I watch events unfold on the other side of the world. All this time I had no idea that my family was from Ukraine, and not Russia or the U.S.S.R. It's a very strange feeling to learn that there is a connection there that I never knew I had.

Bolsa Chica is one of the California birders' favorite spots. It didn't disappoint yesterday. I saw, and photographed, my first kingfisher.





Great blue heron in a palm tree



Northern Pintails





House finch

The old pump from the same vintage fire engine.



The Battleship Iowa



The Raven and the Eagle





A vintage streetlight in Stewart, B.C.

I shot these today at Point Vicente Lighthouse, where we stopped last summer.

(I edited this to add the shots of the blimp).

I went to Malibu today to photograph the resident osprey. Unfortunately, the cranky old bird wasn't cooperating. I did get to see a few other beauties though.

Thanks to all who sent me a heart. I am flattered, and I am thankful that I have made so many friends in my brief time here.


A black phoebe surveys the scene from an old weathered tree stump.



A killdeer searches the shoreline for a tidbit. Thanks to fargone for the bird ID.



Egrets always produce the best reflections.

My wife and I recently changed our rooms around, and I have a new office for my photography efforts. I also inherited the hummingbird feeder that she hung out the back window. Stay tuned for more. This was shot with a Canon SX40 HS Bridge camera.