the LOST EPISODE

so our visit to SALINE was more like an episode of LOST. located behind an old saline mine and within view of a what looks like a bunker built by a russian millionaire, ANSE des GRANDE SALINE has no other buildings within view. it is completely isolated save this one little shack with a mattrese tied to the ceiling and a couple couches stacked on each other. on the opposite side of the rather large beack there is a trench that apparently feed ocean water to the saline mines. VERY "othersish" if you watch LOST at all. more LOST "clues" included a set of stacked rocks postioned north of a strange little rock "vodoo" doll. the adventure continues. TRAVELERS NOTE: the BEST waves for bodysurfing on ST BARTHS are at this beach. RARELY are there more than 50 people on the whole beach. TWO other people were there while we visited.

la PLAGE

rounding out the first day on the warf in GUSTAVIA made for a perfect end to the first full day here. we ate wonderful french cuizine while WWF wrestleing play on the TVs in the bar. GOOD TIMES.

second day here on the island involved another rejuvenating hike over the ridge to several more CHIC beaches in the st john area of ST BARTHS. st john is the area where CHEZ ANDY's seemingly recession proof restaurant is located along with several local shops and a pharmacia. btw - LOVE some chez ANDY - sign out side reads... corked wine, warm beer and lousy food. so lousy we went back today for lunch and scored two pizzas to-go. so good.

we watched several airplanes takeoff and land from the beach. the runway literally ends on the beach, maybe 50 feet from the water. we are making dinner at the villa tonight - fresh tuna and lemoncello are definitely on the menu. in our downtime i've been playing with subtle HDR treatments and pushing exposures beyound normal bounds. i have also very much enjoyed the photography of local photog / publisher JEAN-PHILIPPE PITER in his publication "PURE saint-barth" he seems to have carved out a very nice niché for himself here in the carribean.

http://purestbarth.com/

cheers,

the ISLAND

BONJOUR,

first off - this memorial day let me say how THANKFUL i am for my FATHER and FATHER-IN-LAW's service to our country and how blest i feel that they survived. my thoughts are with those who have felt the lose we remember today.

the first full day on ST BARTHS (in the french west indies) with great friends and clients DAVID STINSON and JOHN ABBOTT has been memorable. our home for the week overlooks ANSE DES CAYES with the sun spectacularly rising out of the bay. we spent most of the morning hiking to and enjoying the very isolated and quiet COLOMBIER beach (overlooked by an estate built by DAVID ROCKEFELLER). which was wonderful because i needed to work off the NEPUTUNE diner and PIZZA from chez ANDY last night. the NEPTUNE consist of a collection of fresh TUNA, SCALLOPS, SHRIMP, SALMON etc. and a hot plate delivered to your table whereyou proceed to cook it your specific taste - so FRESH and GREAT! let me also recomend sitting in the front seat of the small commuter to the island - the approach is fantastic. yesterday, we hear, a private plan missed the strip and went into the water - BIG NEWS on a small island. i'm going to try and capture some of these planes coming in later this week.

cheers,

the BLUE ANGELS

Spent a beautiful saturday in BEAUFORT w my parents and my children watching an airshow. BUDDY and i took pictures next to a gentleman who said he had been photographing the BLUE ANGLES for 53 years. he described a shot he once captured of the two solo planes "nose to nose", which is pretty impressive considering the combined closing distance of the converging F-18's is 900 - 1200 mph depending on the maneuver. when i walked up w the D3 and f2.8 70-200 he commented that he liked my outfit - i said "thanks, i just got these shorts"...
we had allot of fun hanging out and talking about planes and cameras.

BTW - if photographing jets is your thing... the D3 is worth EVERY PENNY. i'm pretty sure my friend went out to buy one to replace his D100 after the show : )

if you follow me on FACEBOOK you know my dad wore the greatest airshow shirt ever... i actually bought it from LIONEL SMITH for father's day last year. it was a NAT NAST with a huge embroidered "Yankee Clipper" seaplane on the back.



sunday morning over coffee i had the wonderful pleasure of listening to JAC and BUDDY reenact the BLUE ANGELS performance with their models the GRANDPARENTS bought them.

it was a good weekend,

cheers.

the RULES

sometimes i break them...

good mini vacation at my aunt and uncle's house in sunset beach, nc. i had wonderful time shoooting sabrina with my old D300 with a 50mm f1.4 and later shot some B/W film with my OLD OLD mamiya 100o. really did feel like a vacation. getting back into the swing of things this week - some exciting shoots coming up in the next few weeks.

cheers.