Layne's Lunch

Let's take a pause from the vast Alaska scenery and look at what is right at our feet.

Here are a few more shots around the Mendenhall Glacier.  I did HDR on all of these, but I tried to keep them more normal looking.  Sometimes HDR, if taken too far, starts to look unreal.

We took a tram ride up Mt. Roberts in Juneau.  Even though it was a overcast, it still offered some great views.  Here is our ship: 

Here are a few more shots around Mendenhall Glacier.  Even though it was overcast, it was still spectacular.

Here are a couple of shots from the ship looking toward Juneau.  We had a nice day in Juneau, we went to church, saw Mendenhall Glacier, and took a tram ride up mount Roberts.

There wasn't much to do during the first day at sea.  Pretty much everyone was sick and the weather was marginal.  So, I walked around and took a few shots of the boat. This first one is of the main lobby.  I thought this hanging sculpture was kind of cool looking.  This one is the morning we docked in Juneau.  You won't find this picture on the glossy brochure.  Come to Alaska!  Bring your rain coat.   Another shot of the deserted pool area.  Look at the steam rising off the pool. 

Here is a shot of Seattle from the deck of our cruise ship.  It is a single shot raw image that I did +/-2 on the exposure and then ran through Photomatix.

It was a bit chilly and overcast on the day we went to the Mendenhall glacier outside of Juneau.  However, the colors of the ice were amazing.   I tried to capture the colors with a 3 shot (+/-2) HDR.

The first day of the cruise was a bit rough on all of us.  Some lost their lunch, some lost their nerve, but I decided to go up on deck and see what all the fuss was about.  I'm not much of a seaman, but the swells looked pretty big to me.  Up on the bow of the ship you had to hang on as the ship pitched up and down over the waves.  We didn't have many sunny moments, so the pool chairs were empty most of the trip.  It never really warmed up above jacket weather.  Some of the less hardy even donned a winter coat.  

Just finished our 7-day cruise to Alaska. Lots of great photos coming soon. Here is a quick shot with my Iphone as we were leaving Seattle. LBP

I am going to digress from photography for a minute.  Last night I picked up my new Surly Long Haul Trucker from Saturday Cycles.  ( http://www.saturdaycycles.com/ ).  This morning was my first day to ride it to work.  Here are a few thoughts. Mark and Steve and Saturday Cycles were outstanding!  A great couple of guys and a great bike shop.  I got fantastic advice and outstanding service.  They sell the stuff that the rest of the bike shops won't sell.   After talking with Mark last night, it seems that his business model is working well.  Sell great steel framed commuter, touring, mountain, and comfort bikes with all the accessories and only be open on Saturdays (except by appointment).  Who would have thought that would work?  Thanks Mark! Now on to the bike.  I did the whole thing up in black.  Here are a couple of pictures: First Impressions:  Very comfortable!  Nice riding and pedaling position.  Most people have never seen a bike like this.  Basically it is half way

I know why the seagull is the state bird of Utah, but it is still just a big rat with wings.  While at the park I tried to take a few pictures of birds in flight.  None of them worked out.  However, I ended up with this cool blurry picture.