Thanks, Dave for sending this shot of Lori & Pat’s tree. What’s that then, a maple? Is this tree in Lyons, Wisconsin? Who are Lori and Pat?

Andrew caught this fantastic shot of Sophie and Ursula on their first visit to Disneyland.

thedude and Kellster like the shot so much that we made a magnet out of it and hung it on our refrigerator. That’s saying quite a lot, because like at least nine other people on planet Earth, thedude also hates refrigerator magnets!

Grant makes a pretty good case with this shot – frozen at 1/4000th of second.

Once in a while a friend sends a photo that amazes me. Dave was practicing with his new camera, and managed to capture this cool image of googly-eyed puppies going crazy in the Wisconsin snow.

Dave, I’d say this picture proves that some pet-owners do look just like their pets! :)

Andrew took these awesome panoramic shots on a recent vacation trip. The arrangement on the left is the Ring o’ Brodgar, the Stone Circle at Castlerigg is on the right. I don’t know much about how the circles came to be, but then, neither does anyone else.

Today we discovered that we have not one, but TWO wineries within stumbling distance of our loft. Both JC Cellars and Dashe Cellars recently opened tasting rooms less than three blocks away. What a great addition to our neighborhood. This is the kind of urban development we can support!

Tasting is free, and the rich, delicious wines are served in beautiful Reidel “Ouverture” stemware. We took home a yummy Roussanne/Marsanne blend from JC Cellars and a couple fruity Zinfandels from Dashe. We especially liked the late-harvest Zin. Yum!

Photos by Grant and Sandy Goya

Chris and Ben hosted another fabulous shindig at their home in the Oakland Hills. No Thai food this time, though. Instead, we had good ol’ steak and corn-on-the-cob. Yum!

These images were all shot by Grant with his amazing Canon 5D. This dang camera produces absolutely the best color and simply amazing sharpness. I own a Nikon D2X, and I’m jealous. :(

Even though this panorama was shot “with a tiny Canon SD500 on a crappy overcast day”, Grant’s image of the Shoshone Falls in Twin Falls, Idaho works for me!

As you know, thedude was not the only person with a camera on the Philippines trip. Here are a few of my favorite shots by Grant Goya – in no particular order.

Grant shoots with a Canon 5D. I think his camera outperforms my Nikon D2X in almost every category. Dammit!

A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the sweet earth’s flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

Poem by Joyce Kilmer; photos by Dave Seitz.

It’s not that I have a soft spot for cute kids in leaf piles. It’s just that this is the sort of picture parents tend to e-mail to their victims friends. In fact, some of these images are pretty good – like this one.

This adorable shot of Leah was taken by her Dad, Jeff Kerkman somewhere in Wisconsin. Awww. The bird shot ain’t bad either. Thanks, Jeff! This reminds me that I have some really nice shots taken by Dave Seitz – also in Wisconsin. I’ll post a couple of may favorites from Dave soon.

Another gorgeous panorama by my good friend Grant. I’m posting this at a rather high resolution so that you can see just what a nice image this is. The shots were taken with a Canon 20D and stitched with PhotoVista.