2026 Spring in the Washington D.C area

Cherry blossom At Tidal Basin, Washington d.C.

Autumn's Last Hurrah!

St Moritz & Bernina Express

Two years ago we traveled to Zurich and took two trains to get to the rail head for the Bernina Express which cuts through the mountains and ends in St. Moritz.

A few days in Vermont

Don't get too excited!  This is not my photo--we were too early for the Fall colors!

                                                         Courtesy Lake Champlain Hotel.

PUGLIA: Voyage of Discovery

We recently spent almost 2 weeks in Puglia, Italy. It is a phenomenal region of Italy's heel and is surrounded by two startlingly blue seas, the Adriatic and the Ionian.  The following photos are just a few of the first five days of our trip.  More to follow in due course.

Drifting Down the Rhine

Bad Weather & Reflections

Capitol Hill

I went down to watch a small demonstration on Capitol Hill the other day and took a few photos.  It was 17F (-8C) but the sun was out and the white buildings against a brilliant blue sky were magnificent.

Black & White: For a Change!

I recently accepted a challenge on Facebook to publish some black and white photos, one each day for seven days.  No people. No explanation.  I rarely work in black & white but used some old photos to see what might happen.  Who knew that black & white could be quite colorful and so much fun?

Here they are plus a few that I considered.  No people and no explanation--but they are, after all, self-explanatory!

Click on "Read more" below to see some more photos

Visit to New York

 St. Patrick's Cathedral

Mount Pinatubo, Philippines

This is the crater created by the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1995.  The water looks appealing 

but it is still toxic

Tuscany

We stayed at a refurbished 12th century hostelry (Podere Spedalone) that had been used by pilgrims on their way from Paris to Rome along the Via Francia.  Podere Spedalone is located between Montepulciano and Montalcino so you are never far away from a good bottle of wine.

Beautiful Batanes

Batanes Island is the northern-most island in the Philippines archipelago.  It is brilliantly green, primarily because it is constantly whipped by high winds and sudden rain storms. 

In the Wilds of Patagonia, Argentina

In March 2006, I signed up for an insane trek through some of the wildest parts of Patagonia.  We trekked for up to 14 hours a day through magnificent but daunting country.  The saving grace was that there was always a camp waiting for us at the end of the day and a bottle of Malbec in our make-shift camp!  

I had a small 4MP Nikon camera with throw-away AA batteries; but Patagonia looks amazing whatever photographic gear you may have.

Quincy's Kaimito

The above photo was taken by my dear friend, Quincy Castillo, of a kaimito (star apple) from his garden in Manila.  It was one of the first photos he took with his brand new Sony RX100 iv camera.  I think you will agree that this is a true work of art. I proudly include it here, with Quincy's permission, to show both his phenomenal camera skills and the amazing resolution achieved by this Sony camera.  Maybe time for me to update my old Lumix LX7?

And just to let you know how delicious kaimito are on the inside, here is one of Quincy's succulent star apples which we had for breakfast this morning.  If only I had Quincy's Sony camera this might have looked even more sarap (delicious).

Quincy later made a mixed media painting of the photo which makes the kaimito look even more intriguing.

Women's March on Washington D.C.

Over a MILLION women (and men) marched through Washington D.C. on Saturday, January 21, one day after President Trump's inauguration.  Similar events occurred in other cities in America and around the world.  Here are some photos which might give you some idea of what the Women's March was all about.

Click on "Read more" below to see more photos.

Food Photography with a View

Imagine that you could eat this delicious Filipino food and, at the same time, have this spectacular view over Lake Taal in the Philippines.  Just visit the Balay Dako Restaurant in Tagaytay!

National Arboretum, Washington D.C.

I have lived in the Washington D.C. area for over 30 years but have never visited the National Arboretum.  I finally managed to do that on a beautiful Spring afternoon when the daffodils, bluebells, snowdrops, peonies, azaleas, dogwoods and pear blossoms were in bloom.

Great Falls: After Snowzilla

Great Falls Park on the Maryland side of the Potomac River re-opened today after “Snowzilla” (officially, Winter Storm Jonas) dumped several feet of the white stuff in the D.C. area.  There were only three cars in the vast car park, so I more or less had the place to myself for over an hour.

 Visitor Center with no visitors

 This guy was not so friendly--or maybe just stretching his wings?

Mather Gorge looking towards Virginia 

Man on the bridge--don’t you recognize me?

Charleston, South Carolina

Lake Taal, Tagaytay, Philippines

Lake Taal is located in the Province of Cavite, about 35 miles south of Manila, Philippines.  It has an active volcano in the center (first “island” below) which has erupted several times in the last fifty years.  It was pretty quiet at dawn on this particular day in February, 2015.

Iwo Jima Memorial

I got up early one Sunday morning and went down to the Iwo Jima Memorial and the Arlington Cemetery nearby.  I was the only one there!

Sussex Downs

I recently went for a walk along the Sussex Downs coastal path from Birling Gap to Beachy Head.  You walk perilously close to the edge of the cliff along the public footpath.  It was a beautiful day but the wind was blowing quite hard.  I was more or less alone for three hours before I encountered a large group of Czechs heading out as I was heading back!

Shwedagon Pagoda, Rangoon

The Shwe Dagon Pagoda is reputedly made up of over 20,000 golden bars 

A phalanx of sweepers keep the pagoda's marble floor clean in return for good karma

The pagoda is lined with small temples, altars and holy shrines where people make offerings
and say prayers

Banaue to Sagada, Philippines

Banaue and Sagada are small mountain towns in the northern-most part of the Island of Luzon in the Philippines.  They are separated by about 60 miles of rugged roads that are often washed out by heavy rains or landslides.  It is a spectacular journey through green rice terraces inhabited by native peoples belonging to different tribes.

Old Ifugao ladies will smile for the camera for some small consideration

The water in the rice terraces glints in early morning sunshine

A tiny church lost among the rice terraces near Bontoc

Great Falls, MD

After rain and snow on the first day of Spring (March 20, 2015), I went for a walk at 7.30 am the next day to Great Falls, Maryland.  It was freezing cold and the the Potomac River and its tributaries were swollen.  These photos were taken with my iPhone 5c.

Banff, British Columbia

In the Heat of Battle

Some photos from a Civil War re-enactment at Newmarket, VA.  At times, it gets quite real.