THE FOX & TORCH

I thought that might be a good name for an English pub.
Actually, those are the respective names of these corals.
The rain has finally stopped here, but I know there`s some freezing weather about, so be careful, please.
Off to snoozeville.

REEF DIVER SITY

I really have to post & get some sleep.
Tonight, there are no linked images that are new. This is an older image of one of my reefs from a few years ago.
Get more sleep than I`m getting & have a great day.

KUNG FU

With all the rain we`ve been having here in "sunny" California, it should be a very green spring with an eventual green harvest.
These images are from a few years ago, I think.
But it`s all green, except for a few "Buckey Ball" geodesic style space station shots.
As it was suggested to me, I hope you stay warm. I, on the other hand will strive to stay dry.
Have a nice week-end.

MUSHROOM FARM

For those who rely on mushrooms for their laughs, I present you with a few chuckles of mine.
These are Leather Corals. Some are "toadstools", some are "fuzzy fingers". No they are not soap suds, although that is funny.
On Planet Earth, a lounging star next to a Turbina Peltata, a type of cup coral.
It`s been pouring constantly here for a few days so I`m feeling dampened tonight. Off to snooze for a while, then back to the valley on a project I`m working on. Images forthcoming on that project.
Stay dry, please.

PRIMROSE IB CLONES

This pinkish tan coral is a "Toadstool" Leather.
I thought that each individual polyp head on it looked like the Primrose IB`s that Olivia posted a few days ago.
In the foreground is a colony of Green Zoas.
The header is a panorama I made this evening from 5 images shot at dusk, through the rain.
On Planet Earth, I let you revisit the "Ladies Of Planet Earth", a collection of Horned Toad images from a few years ago.
Although I`ve relocated them back to nature, I still miss their funny antics, I observed while I sheltered them.
I`ve been 'up & at em' pretty early today & will be doing the same in the morning, so I`ll just get on with "Tony`s Tips"
Please get plenty of rest.
Good Night

BACK TO THE FUTURE

I took this rainbow this afternoon & put it above the native dwelling I see from my backyard.
You can also see my observatory access, (blue ladder) with the rainbow framing my place, if you click to see more images.
The header is a mandala I made from one of the rainbow images.
Over on Planet Earth, I have my baby clone, an RBTA that is taxing my ability to shoot it properly.
Once again, I have Murphy`s slide show in progress. I hope you have all enjoyed it.
For those of you in extremely inclement weather, be careful & try to stay warm.

BLENNY`S CHARIOT

This is Blenny`s ride. I made it from an Apple Snail shell.
I thought a funny image of this little clown would be nice to start off the week.
I added some other disconnected images connected to this one.
In the header, a sunset from a few weeks ago is linked to Sunday night`s one.
The linked images are a little more dramatic.
On Planet Earth, I left up some images from last week.
I hope you will continue to enjoy Murphy`s slide show in the upper right.
I`m leaving it up for those who have not yet seen her artwork.
Clicking on any slide show image will take you to her Flickr page where you can see lots more of her unique take on life, through images.
I also take this opportunity to thank Murphy very much for gracing my place with her presence.
Thank You Murphy

And please, take a closer look at the little things in life. You might be amazed.

MURPHY`S LAW

Today I am happy to introduce a Guest Blogger.
I call her "Murphy", only because I was embarrassed to ask how she pronounced her name.
Her images are linked in the slide show. You can click on any of those images to get to her extensive photo stream.
I think you will appreciate her eye for images. Here she is.
Tell your friends.
My name is Murphy Funkhouser. I call myself an actress, comedienne and a playwright and amateur
photographer. I liken myself to a newborn shutterbug. "Photographic Larvae", I oft say in jest.

I met Tony on Flickr. I can't remember how his photographs came to flash before me. But, I sensed a kindred spirit in his pixels.
I knew the eye behind the lens had similar purpose in the moments it captured. Just a hunch. Turns out, I was
right. We enjoy each others work daily and I was honored when he asked me to be a guest on his blog.

Photography is really not a passion, a hobby or even a side project for me. I discovered it about a year ago as a life tactic ;
a means to by-pass the survival mode. I live in one the most beautiful places on earth, Breckenridge, Colorado.
And, tragically, I rarely absorb it. Like a plant that only takes in trickles of water but, desperately needs more,
I live my life in a state of over-commitment and under-connection. There are days I go to bed and am unsure if 24 hours or
3 months has passed since I woke up that morning. I am on some sort of self-imposed mission to take over the world…
at least the world within my reality bubble. I often find myself living like a latte fueled machine, racing to work, to meetings,
to pick up my daughter, to perform, to write. Even writing is no longer the pleasure it once was.
But something I must schedule into an agenda. I knew something had to change.
I no longer had time for yoga, or meditation, or sleeping. Photography was the next logical choice.
(Continued in the first comment)

A VISION IN A DREAM

"But oh! that deep romantic chasm which slanted
Down the green hill athwart a cedarn cover!
A savage place! as holy and enchanted
As e'er beneath a waning moon was haunted
By woman wailing for her demon-lover!"
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Inspired by a quote that Nancy P inserted in a comment, I did this little study on Coleridge`s vision in "Kubla Khan".
Have a nice day, & please eat at least one piece of fruit a day.
Good night.

LOST & FOUND, LOVE

This is a big fat lover.
Separated a few months ago, he had finally gotten over his sadness.
Today, a friend came by & gave me a clone of one of my anemones I had given him.
It`s generational.
Click on the image to see the good deal he got.
Talk of pink was overheard here earlier.
How about "Hot Pink"?
Ya wanna see hot pink.
It`s very small right now (the size of a quarter) but it will grow up & start cloning for me again.
I put a little something for dada, on Planet Earth.
For Nancy P, I left the pier you like, but it is a new day. I changed the sunset, to a sunrise.
It`s only a sunrise because I say it is, & geographically in relation to the view of the pier, the sun does not set in the east, nor anywhere for that matter.
I`m exhausted so I`m off to snoozerville.

GO TO GIRL

This post is dedicated to another photographer.
I`ve always been thrilled to see her work, & look forward to the emails from Flickr, announcing her latest posting.
There`s a little more to this dedication than images we look at.
There`s the image I have of her, from our interactions.
When ever I asked for advice, there she was with it, & pronto.
There was never a time limit on how long she took to help.
I hope there will never be a limit on the time we can remain friends.
I have this site to share my images with you, as a direct result of her friendship.
You might know her as Olivia, but I know her as "my friend, Olivia".
So Olivia, my friend, here`s a little color for you.
I haven`t had a Ladies Night in a long time, so what better lady to dedicate this post to.
As for the post title, it seems like you`re the "Go To Girl" in many peoples` eyes.
Thanks for that.

I`m also posting some images of a new way to shoot my tanks. I`ll get it perfected as I practice more.
The images with "technique" in the title, are the ones I`m talking about.
They are shot from overhead, rather than from the sides of my tanks.
Those who enjoy "Blenny" might be pleased he`s back.
He`s the babe magnet alright, but sometimes he has crabs.

ENVY TREE

This is a Green Torch coral. I grow these beauties to trade with other reefers.
The Green Bubble coral linked to the post, is in full retraction. Within five minutes it can be fully opened up.
It must have loved the squid chunks I gave it for dinner.
Nancy P`s pier is still in the header, & on Planet Earth, a collection of what nots.
Have a nice week ahead try out your whistle. Pick a song & whistle. No it doesn`t really look stupid.
Does happy look ugly? Not.

THE PIER

I went for a walk on the beach down by the lagoon today. The lagoon is formed by the flow from Malibu Creek.
The ocean waves create a sand berm which traps this water & causes it to back up & enlarges the area of the lagoon. It sometimes is this way for months, & becomes a great wildlife habitat. Then a rain storm will swell the creek to the point that the berm is breached & all the lagoon drains into the ocean. Today, while I was there, a fog bank started to roll in just at sunset.
The recent storms had also caused the lagoon berm to collapse. The outflow prevented any crossing to the other side, so I took some pier shots. I will return to the lagoon from the other side of the outflow soon & get some shots from that vantage point.
I hope you`ll enjoy the walk in images. All linkable areas here are to the same set of images.
I mention it, so you don`t overexert yourselves after the walk.
Have a great week end, & I hope you`ve all listened to dada`s Blues Legacy tonight. If you missed it, I`ll see how to put a link here, or dada might just do it himself.

ANTIQUE ROSE SHOW

I saw this rose on a walk early today, & after my return, I took a camera back for a few shots.
I came back & shot the red rose in our yard & puttered around for a while.
I left some images from today beyond this image. This one I worked on for a while trying to get an antique yellowed look while trying to get the forgotten feeling the rose seemed to have when I first saw it. That`s actually why I went back. It seemed to want some attention.
In the header, one of my new fish, a Rainford`s Gobi.
That`s it for tonight, but I`ll be back tomorrow. Hopefully I`ll get to the lagoon tomorrow to get some shots & maybe even the pier.
Have a great day & be kind to strangers.

LEMON TWIST

For christmas, my friend Alex & his dad, presented me with a gift certificate redeemable at Vivid, a great aquarium supply store. I went & purchased some new specimens today, & am revealing them to the public tonight. Yes folks, you saw them here first.
The main post image is a Yellow Clown Gobi.
It is about one inch long & will probably never double in size. In this image, it is getting familiar with some Branching Green Torch coral. Beyond the coral head he`s in, there is another larger Green Torch that I`ve been propagating for years.
In the header is a pair of Fire Fish. Beyond the header you`ll also see some Green Chromis, I have a school of six.
I also got a few more but I`ll show them off tomorrow maybe.
On Planet Earth, (I really hate to do this, but) I took some shots of tonight`s sunset to show off. The sky couldn`t be taken in one shot so I took a series of shots & melded them together. That one is called 6 shots.
If you do enter Planet Earth, Please click on that shot & view the large file, not the original file. The original is very large.
You`ll get a better sense of how intense the whole sky was & you`ll also see that there is a lot of sky that I didn`t capture.
Please enjoy the new things here, as much as I enjoy showing them to you.
Be kind to animals, please.
I forgot to mention about the moon. On Planet Earth, you can also see a timed shutter release shot with a 3 second exposure I think. You can see the earth shine on the dark side of the moon, light reflected from the surface of the earth. Just as we have moonlight, the moon has earth light.

ROSES R READ

A little study on a lone rose that`s blooming in the yard. I have a difficult time shooting the color red so bear with me.
On Planet Earth a peaceful cockfight with a colorful Bird Of Paradise. This one has been blooming for over a week.
It is better kept than most that are blooming here because of it`s protected location.
Through the header you can access a series of bird shots that will show you how we can all get along. A little red headed finch is living with a few much larger birds. It was basically the boss, & was Coconut`s protege.
Have a nice day tomorrow, & deal with the one after when you need to.

BLACK BEAUTY

This COMET also called a Marine Betta, is the fish who`s fin was on Planet Earth yesterday.
I selected the spots on it & pasted them onto a black canvas in one of the images linked to the main post.
In the header, another sunset taken from the deck here, although not from my upper observation post.
The "Stormy Monday" image was taken yesterday I believe, & shows my neighbor`s home across the canyon.
Since I`ve been a little busy lately, some of the images on the usual links are from my photo archives but will be just as interesting I hope.
Also, I should save you any trouble by indicating that all usual linked locations lead to the same images.
I`m trying to resolve a few kinks in how images come up.
I hope you like the colors I chose tonight in trying to add a little color to your day.
Please have a good one & don`t forget to eat healthy.

BABY IN PINK

This baby is really a baby. This is a clone from one of my anemones, a rose bubble tip. This one was actually a surprise to me because usually my anemones split into two approximately equal sized specimens. This one, I noticed peeking out from behind some rocks & much smaller & pinker than usual.
I have been busy with unanticipated events,(what`s new) that precluded my posting in a timely manner. I hope I didn`t cause anyone to check in for their dose of surprise, only to be disappointed.
Today I have many different images that should satisfy any of you that are accustomed to the varied subject matter I post.
May you not be displeased.
I hope to have a guest blogger on Tuesday which I`m sure you`ll appreciate.
In the header is a little sequence showing a determined hermitess`progress from 'A' to 'B'
On Planet Earth, a fin says you click. It`s from my Marine Betta, & shows the delicate web of propulsion engineering.
With all the varied weather extremes across the country, please try & be careful, & above all stay healthy.

THE END OF THE BEGINNING

This is the first sunset of the new year. There are more images of tonight`s beauty in the slide show ongoing at the upper right.
On Planet Earth, a study in black & white with images I shot of a framed picture in the bathroom. Other shots on that place are from around the house.
If you need your fortune told, mention it in the comments.
I hope your new year is off to a great start & may you all be healthier, wealthier & wiser in time`s progression.
One more thing, be careful out there.