Loreto Bay National Marine Park

Baja Shore

This was taken in Baja with a Vilia. It's a POS from the 80s courtesy of Belarus. Of all the bad things the Soviet's did, they did manage to crank out some cool cameras.

Look What My Yashica Can Do

I have a Yashica Electro 35 rangefinder camera that's probably 35-40 years old and it still works like a dream.

The squadron needed a new digital camera. Come to find out, the rules about what we can purchase are very complex. When we suggested buying a high-end refurbished camera, the idea was nixed. We can only buy new equipment. Oh yeah, and it has to be the cheapest out there that will suit your needs. I asked if quality was a factor was told it was not. "So what you're telling me' I asked the Resource Advisor guy, 'is that I can't buy a quality product for a fraction of its regular price, but I can buy a brand new piece of crap?"

Basically, yes. Of course it's not the squadron RA guy's fault. It's just Air Force rules.

I used the camera at commander's call today and I wanted to drop-kick down the aisle of the auditorium. I would have gotten better pictures with my Seagull TLR and my cheap Sunpak flash. When I do finally buy a digital camera, it won't be a KODAK EASYSHARE PIECE OF CRAP!

Hammocks

Candles in Church

I took this picture at a church in Monticristi, Ecuador.

San Lorenzo

El Gatito Carlito

There are warnings posted around the base admonishing us not to pet, feed, or otherwise encourage stray cats--they may have ringworm.

Carlito wandered up to the guard shack one night as a kitty, skinny and starved. The security guard on duty threw caution to the wind, took pity on Carlito, and fed him. Now they have an official base cat. He gets shots and everything.

He's a bit of an attention slut. When he first saw me, he made a beeline for me and rubbed up against my legs. He's also a food slut. He follows people with styrofoam food cartons shamelessly.

The head security forces guy hated Carlito. I hope in his next life the Captain comes back as a mouse.

Lonely Cart

Playa Murcielago

This is the beach in Manta where all the restaurants are located. I've gotten on a sepia toning jag lately.

Quito Marketplace

I got the opportunity visit Quito for a day for a conference on women in the military. We had some time to kill, so we visited the market. It was all just a big tease. We weren't allowed to go back again.

Come On In!

Ecuador has some really cool doorways.

Stampa Spa

While I was deployed to Ecuador, a co-worker and I visited the local spa on a regular basis. I was able to get a manicure, pedicure, haircut and style, and an hour-long full-body massage for about $55. Needless to say, we were valued customers and the nice lady that owned the spa was very sad to see us leave. We probably paid her rent for three months. I was also very sad to see us leave. I can't afford to do all that in OKC once a week.

Friends Don't Let Friends Drink and Shoot

I got some of my pictures back from Ecuador. These were taken on the beach in San Lorenzo with a Seagull TLR.

The first shot came from the roll I shot when I first got to the beach. The second shot was taken about five hours later. When I initially opened the pictures and saw the first one was slanted, I was slightly irritated, but when I saw the rest of them I was mad. Of course there was nobody to be mad at except myself. The sun finally came out late that day and I ran down to the beach to take more pictures. I even made it a point to pay careful attention to shutter speed and f-stop. I bracketed and everything. Guess I should have paid more attention to making sure the camera was level.

It's not hard to figure out which picture was taken earlier in the day and which picture is post-Mai Tai.