Echinacea Purpurea

- Echinacea purpurea a.k.a the Eastern purple coneflower or just Purple coneflower. Echinacea is believed by many people, including me, to stimulate the immune system. A 2007 study by the University of Connecticut combined findings from 14 previously reported trials examining Echinacea and concluded that Echinacea can cut the chances of catching a cold by more than half, and shorten the duration of a cold by an average of 1.4 days. Case closed. Canon 7D, 1/4000 sec @ f/5.6, ISO 200, zoom at 300mm.

Flip Flop

- Cute shoe, cute toes. Canon G1X, 1/400 sec @ f/7.1, ISO 100.

Pink

- This little pink flower was in a bouquet that Cindy picked up at Trader Joe's yesterday. It's only about a half an inch across but up close it puts on quite a show. Canon 7D, 1/640 sec @ f/11.0, ISO 80, 100mm macro lens.

Spoons

- The Annapolis Ice Cream Company encourages customers to decorate plastic spoons using a bucket of Sharpie markers. Thew result are thousand of spoons with all kinds of designs. We decorated spoons while we enjoyed their amazing ice cream. Mine - a Canon Camera complete with image on the LCD display. This is photo of just a few of the spoons on display in the store. I used a "pencil sketch" technique to give it a newspaper comic book effect. Canon G1X, 1/125 sec @ f/5.0, ISO 800, post process done in Lightroom 4.1 with the pencil sketch effect applied in Picasa 3.9.

Full Sail Ahead

- Took my first trip on a sailboat while we were in Annapolis this weekend. Had a spectacular day, good wind and beautiful skies. This is looking up at the mainsail as we sailed towards the Chesapeake Bay from the mouth of the Severn River on the Schooner Woodwind. If you're ever in Annapolis, I'd highly recommend you checkout a trip on the Woodwind. The crew was great and we had a wonderful time. Canon G1X, 1/400 sec @ F/11.0, ISO 100.

Night Chapel

- The US Naval Academy Chapel dome at night from acros the Severn River. The Naval Academy Chapel was designed by Ernest Flagg. The cornerstone was laid in 1904 by Admiral George Dewey and the dedication of the Chapel was on May 28, 1908. Following a 1940 renovation the chapel can seat 2,500 people. The remains of John Paul Jones are interred in a crypt beneath the Chapel. Canon 5D Mark II, 13 sec @ f/11.0, ISO 200. The camera was braced on a pilling and the photography was ankle deep in the Severn River for this shot.

Make Me An Offer

- Say it isn't so, the Maryland Republican Party is for sale or lease. I bet you thought they sold-out years ago didn't you? Canon G1X, 1/250 sec @ f/8.0, ISO 400.