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For my friends celebrating the festival of Hanukkah today and for others with Christmas just ahead, I wish you all a new year of health and happiness.  See you next week or in 2009.
- Cheers!

Americans have much to be thankful for this year.  A good turkey beats a lame duck any day.  This one was flirting with me at Fort Louisbourg, Nova Scotia, Canada.  She was very happy with me until I shot her 20 times (with the camera).

From the side of the Ann Richards Bridge (Congress Avenue) over Lady Bird Lake (formerly Town Lake) the Austin Rowing Club filled it's boats with picture perfect volunteers. The two ladies on the left were particularly photogenic just below me.




A wide panorama of five images spanning almost 180 degrees.  25% of the net proceeds from the sale of the FLEET DAY photo on the right will go to the Austin Rowing Club as a contribution.

This is National Novel Writing Month if you were unaware.  I only learned of the event last night in late evening reading in Macworld (thank you Jason Snell).  I have signed up and will in the next day or so formulate my plan to write 50,000 words by the end of the month.  Since I am a novice at this, I will base it loosely on a detailed log (hand written) that I kept in 1977 of some time in the Caribbean on an old sailing vessel.  More details as I imagine them on that.

Today, I have been working on images again, and this time from the city that has inspired a lot of novels in the past and present, New Orleans.  I pasted through New Orleans last August on a fast trip from Georgia to Texas.  I had one evening and one morning to take photographs.  The image on the left of the cigar shop is a hand held HDR composition of five images, 1 EV apart from 1/15th/sec. to 1/250/sec at f/7.1, ISO 200, EF24-105mm f/4 IS mounted on a Canon 1Ds Mark III.  Precisely at +29° 57' 29.73" N, -90° 3' 55.27" W, at 9:05 a.m. on August 11, 2008.  I could spend weeks in this city taking photographs.

The one on the right is obviously from seven images in the same area.  For the technically inclined these RAW images were all shot hand held, and aligned in Adobe Photoshop CS4 Extended as a "smart object" in the "stack mode".  Then the maximum filter was applied to the stack mode.  I love the contrast of the fellow walking in his dress whites against the vivid colors of the street.  It is a great city and a fabulous place for photography, I hope she stays afloat.  So much history is written on the walls of every building.  Interpretation is an endless journey down each alley.  The best of the city however was a late night visit to Cafe du Monde.  Truly some things never change.

Last night my friends and I had the privilege of attending a talk and book signing of the "Belo Book" by Judith Garrett Segura.  A history of the Belo Corporation and families involved in it.  Here are a few photos from the event.  Thank you Judith for a lovely evening with your friends and admirers. - Rusty

As of this posting I have moved my web log from TYPEPAD, which I liked very much, to my host server.  Hopefully all the posts of the past year or so are still intact.  Let me know if you see any problems.  I am still tweaking the interface. - rj.

Colleville-sur-mer, Normandie, France. As Rudyard Kipling said "Lest we forget".  I have not.  I am grateful and I am proud of them all to this day.

also...

All we have of freedom, all we use or know - This our fathers bought for us long and long ago.
~Rudyard Kipling, The Old Issue, 1899