Butterfly Dance

Here is another shot of Averi. This time, getting ready for the start of the Butterfly Dance.

Sleepy Bunny

Here's another picture from the CNY rehearsal. This is Averi pretending to be asleep during the opening moments of the Bunny Dance.

CNY Dance Rehearsal

I took an astronomical number of pics while attending the dress rehearsal for the upcoming Chinese New Year festivities at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. Obviously, most were of Alayna, but I took any opportunity to get shots of any well-lit subjects I could find. I am particularly happy with this one.

Ammonite

Since I seem to be so hard up for interesting subject matter, I've decided to start photographing interesting specimens from my sizable mineral and fossil collection. This ammonite is my first attempt, but I need to get a cheapo light box set up to get better lighting and a neutral background. I never should have sold my macro lens, though.

Sammy the Cockatiel

Sammy was feeling cooperative this weekend and allowed me to get quite a few detail shots of him. If only my child were as patient with me...

Cement Pagoda at KC Zoo

I've always liked this little cement pagoda which sits in some bushes near the entrance to the Asian section.

Lunch bandit at SeaWorld

These guys would lay in wait for some unsuspecting tourist to set down their food and immediately swoop in for the grab. Some were flat out aggressive and would come and try to forcibly take your food. This one is hanging out at the Sting Ray petting tank, just waiting to grab someone's Sting Ray food.

Another unidentified bird from Animal Kingdom

This is another remarkably cooperative bird from the SE Asia section of Disney's Animal Kingdom in Orlando.

Beautiful mystery bird at Animal Kingdom

This bird was in the SE Asia section of Disney's Animal Kingdom. The blue color was simply stunning.

Sleepy Head

Not trying to turn this into another site for pics of the kid, but I'm still giddy from the acquisition of a much coveted lens that is delivering wonderful results.

Moon Festival Paper Lanterns

As part of our Moon Festival activities, we had the kids paint their own paper lanterns. Afterwards, we set them out on the deck rail to dry. It was a much prettier scene than I was able to capture with the camera.

Veronica

We had a Moon Festival party last night and all of Alayna's little friends came over. Some of them are fairly cooperative when it comes to photography, so I was able to get this decent snap of her friend Veronica. The unfortunate object in the lower right foreground is someone's head, not my thumb.

Captain Dave

This shot was taken at speed in our friend Dave's ski boat on Lake of The Ozarks. I got really lucky somehow and it turned out super.

Artsy Fartsy Lantern Shot

Another forced artsy shot from the farmstead photo excursion. Obviously, this is a rusty lantern that was hanging on the side of a covered wagon.

Artsy Fartsy Tractor Shot

I snuck out behind Alayna's back and went to the Deanna Rose Farmstead (her favorite destination) with Dave Page for a photographic change of pace. Try as I might, I just can't get into the whole "here's a detail shot of an obscure part of a tractor/door/brick wall" type of photography. I would much rather have a center-frame shot of the entire rusty tractor overgrown with weeds. Nevertheless, I followed Dave's lead and tried to get into the spirit. This was my best result of the evening.

BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir

This gorgeous mandir is in Lilburn, Georgia and was built by volunteers for the BAPS organization, which builds mandirs and provides other services to support the spiritual needs of North American Hindus.

For more info on this particular mandir and the BAPS organization, visit http://atlanta.baps.org/mandir-info.html. Be sure to check out the interior photos because it is stunning.

Juvenile finch at Lake of The Ozarks

Another handrail shot of a seed-baited finch which was probably too young to be afraid of the guy with the camera.

APL flashing the horns on Lake Koronis

Uncle Randall and I have been trying to convince Alayna to convey her enthusiasm in an appropriate way, and I am delighted to report that she finally did it while riding in Big Bertha on Lake Koronis, Minnesota.

Sammy the Cockatiel

Carol and Dave's pet cockatiel Sammy is a big fan of sitting on your shoulder and pooping on you. He finally held still long enough for this portrait.

Lake of The Ozarks at 10pm

Here is my very amateurish attempt to get a nighttime shot of the view from our friends' house at Lake of The Ozarks. Unfortunately, I am still learning this type of photography and am not yet able to make such a capture without star trails or overexposed dock lights. Oh well.