Paul Konerko, first baseman for the Chicago White Sox, at bat. Fans call him "Paulie" and love chanting his name when he's up.
He came to running late in life, but since has completed 40 marathons and hundreds of 5K and 10K races. He also wrote a book on marathon training for non-runners, and another on how to start running--how to train, how to work it into your schedule, etc. He's also the man responsible for one of my favorite quotes for runners training for their first race: "The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start." It definitely made me feel not quite so bad about my failed marathon attempts...the hard work, and the accomplishment, is just as much in the training as it is in the race itself.
A leaf beetle, shot on a bright summer day at a small park near home.
Another view of the Sweden-to-Denmark bridge that I featured in yesterday's post.
I shot this while on vacation last year. This is in the Baltic sea, and the bridge joins Sweden and Denmark. I called it "Bridge to Infinity because you can't see its beginning or its end. I shot a sequence just as we went under the bridge, and this was my favorite of all of them.
A macro shot of a beautiful red rose in full bloom.
San Francisco's iconic Golden Gate Bridge. The color version of this looked a little flat, but I really like the contrast in black and white.
I shot this fairly early in the morning at a small park near my work. I was really struck with how calm and mirror-like the surface of the water was. It reminds me of some of the paintings Monet did of water lilies.
The mist hanging on the mountains and hillsides of the the Inner Passage in Alaska. In person, it looked even cooler than the photo does.
I took some pictures recently at a small park on my way to work--it's a quiet lake that's just off a busy street. As I was walking back to my car I spotted this backlit leaf. I pretty much just framed it, opened up the lens wide (to blur the background), and shot it as is. Other than cropping, I did no real post-processing.
In the past week or so, a group of 5 juvenile blue herons has been making its way through our neighborhood--I've seen them at various times in our back yard, our front yard, in the trees, etc. I managed to catch a couple up in the trees on the 4th, and here is the best-looking one of the bunch. Enjoy.
From the recent crop of pictures I posted to Picasa. These are a lovely crop of wild forget-me-nots, the official state flower of Alaska. They grow all over the place, and they're really beautiful. 
A humpback whale's 'tail slap'. This is a technique humpbacks use to stun their prey, making it easier to collect and eat.
In the 9 years or so that I've been travelling to San Francisco for business, I must have driven over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge about a bajillion times. I've always been struck by the symmetry of the architecture, and how at the right angle it repeats into infinity. I was able to catch this shot while driving over it yesterday, on a bright and sunny day. I got some other shots while driving (with someone else holding the wheel, mind you) that I will put up later...
A guest photo that I was supposed to post on Friday, but I didn't get to it until today. This comes from my friend Kate, who has submitted a guest photo before. The picture is from the Walt Disney concert hall in Los Angeles. I love the shapes and the shading of grey. This is a picture I'd buy and hang somewhere as a work of art. Nice work, Kate! 
I took this while on a bus driving over the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. I took full advantage of the 5 fps (Frames Per Second) feature of my Nikon D40x, and I think the results on this one came out pretty good. It's abstract, and not the typical view you'd see every day. Hope you like it.
A patient and tame seagull--this guy sat on his post while I snapped about 10 shots of him. I liked this one the best.
The legendary corner of Haight and Ashbury streets in San Francisco. I took this from inside a moving bus, hence the glare spot just to the right of and below the "Ashbury" sign. I still liked the shot a lot, and thought it looked better as a black and white. To me, b&w evokes the '60s era, which was the Haight-Ashbury heyday...
I got a new toy this weekend...a telephoto zoom lens for my camera. It's a Tamron 28-300mm zoom and it'll take the place of two lenses on my older D70 camera body (I can use it both as a "regular" lens and as a zoom). I've been trying to get some good shots of the moon for a while now--I took this tonight, and it came out really crisp and clear, like I wanted to see.
Another photo from my recent trip and tour of San Francisco...the iconic Golden Gate Bridge. This is one of my favorite shots of the tour.
These are the famous "Seven Sisters" of San Francisco. These Victorian houses are referred to as painted ladies, and are among the more recognized examples of this style of architecture. If you recognize these houses, it may be from postcards or pictures from San Francisco--or from the opening credits of the TV series Full House. I took lots of shots of these houses but for various reasons, I liked this one the best. Hope you do, also.
The buds of an ornamental pear tree that stands in our front yard. I captured this at the end of last week--as of this weekend, the tree was in full bloom. These tiny buds sprung open and completely covered the tree with white flowers. They're delicate and don't last long, but they're beautiful while they last.
I've been fiddling with a new 10x macro filter, mostly because I'm too cheap to go out and buy a full on macro lens. I'm a big fan of coffee--I love the taste, and loved the smell of the beans years before I started drinking it. I thought this would make an interesting shot, especially since I used a very wide lens opening to shrink down the depth of field.
Buds on the trees...a sure sign of the emergence of spring. I shot these in my neighborhood while I was out on a mini-walkabout today. I hope it makes you feel warm.
I live in a suburban area that's right on the edge of farm country and open land. This barn sits just off a 4-lane road, across from a light industrial park. It's an interesting mix of old and new. I've thought for a long time that this barn would make an interesting shot--I happened to catch it one day last week when the light was just right. I converted it into black and white--but the original picture is so devoid of color it's hard to tell the difference between the two versions. Still, I felt the b&w version was more "gritty".
It's been a while since I've had a Guest Photo Fridays submission. My nephew Ryan, a regular guest photographer, pinged me about posting this pic. I think it's a great shot, and so it's our picture of the day. Hope you enjoy!
Catching the 8:30AM departure of the Yamanote line at Shinagawa Station, Tokyo.
This is a statue of Willie Mays (nicknamed "the Say Hey Kid") that stands outside AT&T Park in downtown San Francisco.
