Graves on Golden Ground

After leaving the beach and heading back home to Houston I spotted what I thought was tall dead grass in the old Galveston City cemetery on Broadway. After taking a second look I realized that it wasn't dead grass but yellow flowers covering the grounds of the cemetery.

I thought this would be a great place to take some late afternoon photos before we headed home for the day so I made a quick U-turn and we pulled into the cemetery. There were many other visitors with their cameras in hand who apparently had the same idea as me.

A family mausoleum surrounded by yellow

My wife loves pictures of old doors so I took this one for her. You can't see her, but she was standing to the left of this image taking her own pictures of this door.
I liked the twisting branches of this small tree and the high peeks of the monument behind the tree. Did you notice that the tree doesn't have any leaves? That is extremely odd for May in south Texas. Many of the trees in Galveston or dead or very late blooming because of the many days they spent soaked in salty Gulf water that inundated Galveston during hurricane Ike. This cemetery was covered in three to six feet of water by the hurricane.

To get this image I crouched down as low as I could on the sidewalk to position the sun behind the top of the crucifix to hide the sun but allow the rays to burst around the sides of the monument. I like the image except for the lens flares (small dots caused by the sun bouncing of the glass lenses of the camera) you can see in the middle of the image.

A clump of the flowers growing out of a crack in the sidewalk.

A wide angle view of a small portion of this very large cemetery

My lovely wife and three wonderful boys were very tired and ready to get some food and head home for the evening after a great day in Galveston. We'll be back in a few weeks.

All images copyright Daniel Ray Photography.

Saturday in Galveston

Last Saturday we headed to Galveston Island so our boys could play on the beach and in the Gulf of Mexico. The weather was nice with the temperatures in the low 90s and the humidity at nearly 100% or so it seemed. I think it's going to be a HOT summer. The following are some images from a walk up and down the beach while I was looking for interesting objects or subjects to photograph.

These bright red freshly painted poles caught my eve. They are used to divide Stewart beach between the area where you can drive on the beach, where we were located, and the pedestrian only area of the beach that you can see behind the poles.

This old post had some blue paint that really stood out. The sand dunes behind and to the right of the pole is a new man made barrier that was installed after hurricane Ike.

Many wildflowers were growing a long an old fence line on the left side. In the background you can see the red poles and umbrellas on the beach.

This old discarded and weathered truck tire was laying out in the sandy meadow with wildflowers growing all around it. I wonder if this was left on the beach by someone or was it washed up onto the beach by hurricane Ike.

More wildflowers growing around another fence post with fading blue and yellow paint .

There was a junior volleyball tournament going on at Stewart beach with about 18 to 24 courts setup on the beach. This group was sitting on the steps of the Stewart Beach pavilion chatting and watching a game.

All the lifeguard stands were unoccupied which I thought was very strange with the large number of people on the beach.

This young lady was pushing that snocone cart all over the beach, and it appeared that business was very good.

All images copyright Daniel Ray Photography.

San Diego Waterfront

Terry, a coworker of mine and I ventured out one evening and walked from out hotel to the San Diego waterfront to see the sights and looking for a good seafood restaurant. Of course I had my camera with me and capture these images of the San Diego waterfront.

Condos overlooking the waterfront

A fishing boat moored in the marina
A closer view of the same fishing boat.
Can you see the sea fog on the horizon

Black and white image of a group of fishing boats in the marina

Sun reflections off the bay waters

I dared Terry to look under her dress and he did.

Several people enjoying the sunset with the USS Nimitz in the background

When I saw this sail boat cutting through the bay waters with the bright purple sail against the late afternoon sky and the blue water.

The same sail boat with the USS Nimitz in the background.The harsh back lighting from the sun washed out the colors of the sky, water and sail so I had to use Adobe Lightroom to replace the colors I saw when I took the image
Terry was using his BlackBerry to determine the names of the two US Navy Aircraft Carriers in the background. The carrier to the left is the USS Ronald Reagan and the other is the USS Nimitz.

A close-up of the USS Nimitz flight desk

A gull waiting for people to toss him some food

Pedestrian ferry that travels between San Diego and Coronado

All images copyright Daniel Ray Photography.

San Diego Zoo

As a kid I remember being fascinated by all the cool animals the lady brought from the San Diego Zoo to Johnny Carson on the Tonight Show and I always wanted to go to that zoo.

Well guess what. I did finally make it to the San Diego Zoo and it was every bit as cool as I had imagined. I just wish my wife and three boys could have been there with me.

The following are a few of the several hundred photos I took during my visit.

Entrance to the zoo

What were they looking at?

Hello little fella!

He was a big bear
This guy was no bigger than a house cat

Hungry hungry hippo

Tiger cub

Curious monkey

Pink flamingo

Koala Bear

Kangaroo????

Baby llama

Tiny little deer

Meerkat ManorRight Turn Clyde

Clyde's huge hand

Polly want a cracker

Big panda munching on some bamboo

A different kind of blue bird

All images copyright Daniel Ray Photography.

Morning in the Gaslamp Quarter

While I was in San Diego I woke up early the first morning and decided to make some time before breakfast to get out and take some photos of the city. I was staying at the Omni hotel adjacent to Petco Park in the Gaslamp Quarter so I walked around the parameter of Petco Park and captured images of the city waking up and starting it's day.

All images copyright Daniel Ray Photography.