http://www.reefpix.org photography and scuba diving Tue, 06 May 2008 08:49:48 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Sarah and I got to visit the Whooping Cranes at the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge - something we have wanted to do our entire lives.  Just about the best way to see the cranes is aboard a shallow draft birdwatching boat called the Skimmer - operated by Rockport Birding and ... http://www.reefpix.org/2008/03/17/aransas-national-wildlife-refuge-whooping-cranes Sarah and I went down to the bird sanctuaries at High Island last weekend. The roseate spoonbills and great white egrets are building their nests and starting to mate. Some of the GWE's were sitting on eggs already. Sarah took this photo of 3 roseate spoonbills using my camera ... http://www.reefpix.org/2008/03/04/smith-oaks-audubon-bird-sanctuary We spent five nights camping and hiking over New Years with friends. We started with one night at Seminole Canyon State Park followed by four nights camping in Big Bend National Park. The weather was pretty cold, but we didn't have rain or snow, so the hiking was excellent. We ... http://www.reefpix.org/2008/01/27/new-years-at-big-bend-national-park This little fella was outside my front door when I returned from a run this evening. He/she was kind enough to let me pass by and get my camera for a few snaps before it flew off. http://www.reefpix.org/2008/01/09/eastern-screech-owl So the day after Christmas, I went diving again (by myself) at the Coronado Islands aboard the Lois Ann. This is my favorite boat/outfit to dive with in San Diego (local) because they have such great service, an excellently laid out boat, and really good food. Can you ... http://www.reefpix.org/2007/11/30/diving-with-baby-sealions When I was about 9 years old I visited the Monterey Bay Aquarium and was mesmerized by the 3 story kelp forest aquarium/exhibit. I decided that some day I would dive in a kelp forest. Well, after two somewhat unpleasant wetsuit diving experiences diving at the Coronado Islands ... http://www.reefpix.org/2007/11/30/my-first-and-last-kelp-dive If we went diving together last week in San Diego and you're looking for a photo of yourself underwater, I've uploaded the photos to Smugmug where you can view them and purchase prints. Thanks everyone for some great diving! http://www.reefpix.org/2007/11/27/california-diving-people-photos-posted 18028 Before the Thanksgiving holiday, Sarah and I were lucky to get to go backpacking with my sister and Ben in the Anza Borrego State Park. The domelands are a series of weathered sandstone domes way out in the middle of the Coyote Mountains near Ocotillo. It's about ... http://www.reefpix.org/2007/11/26/anza-borrego-backpacking-the-domelands Sarah and I want to do some dives while we're in San Diego so we spent some time training in our drysuits' in a friend's swimming pool. Since we won't be doing a lot of cold water diving, we both bought used drysuits which are "less than perfect." ... http://www.reefpix.org/2007/11/11/drysuit-testing-and-training I'm happy to be back home. It turned into fall here in Houston while I was gone! OK so this photo isn't from Houston - but it's certainly autumn-like :-) http://www.reefpix.org/2007/11/07/home-from-korea-netherlands-england