Luckily, a couple of storm troopers were keeping watch at the County Hall.

One more silhouette as the sun went down...sadly, the last we'd see of it.

Sun going down on a beautiful day over the Thames.

Sunset while riding the Eye.

London skyline.

Views from the Eye were amazing. London in December?....You bet your buttons!

Under the Eye....you are being watched!!!

On our way to one of the biggest ferris wheels in the world.....the London Eye.

More of Ben with his little tiny brother towers, also known as the Houses of Parliament. Blue sky!!!

Big Ben looms over head amidst a real London blue sky! And they said it only happens in fairy tales.....

Nice painting in the Tower.

King Henry VIII, in his dazzling armor, was said to be a man of compensation. With 6 wives, methinks so.

The Last Samurai??? Nope, just a Japanese gift to an English king. My guess is he never wore it.

Gin and Beer? That's the names of these two blokes.

A beautiful place of worship at the top of the White Tower.

More decorative weapons in the White Tower. Makes one think they had something to guard, yet I was scared enough by the lion on the wall.

Inside the White Tower, where they certainly aren't gun shy.

The White Tower!.....no.... not Lord of the Rings, but where the English Kings of Yore lived!

These are the living quarters of Yeoman Warders who give tours of the Tower. They are soldiers who have spent at least 22 years in the Royal Army with certain honors and serve as historians of the Tower.

At the grounds of the Tower of London where prisoners were punished for their crimes by means of beheading. This is the fortress where the crown jewels are kept.

One of the many lion statues in London, this guy rests at Trafalgar Square.

Seen from a bus tour, the top of St. Paul's cathedral.

Jolly Old England

As part of a birthday present, a football match, and reuniting with old friends, I took a trip to London Town this last December. My last European trip was in '96 and I figured it was time to explore again and try to retain some culture. It was a glorious trip, but bitterly cold! Still managed to photograph some of the city. Enjoy!

Ready to be served...no more cooking.

Home Cookin'

After buying these foods all the time, Sarah and I got into cooking mode a few weeks back and thought we'd try the do-it-from-scratch method. We worked up these four things in one night...then rested and had left-overs. For those who are wondering, it's Italian herb bread, tabouli salad, cilantro hummus, and salsa.

And finally, the silhouette of a tree and the setting sun.

More trees and sun.

Looks like something out of Endless Summer, sans the surfer.

Going for the framed shot. Hard to eliminate the flare.

On the sidewalk, looking towards the ocean.

Beach, before the sun dropped completely.

Beach, after the sun had gone down.

Santa Monica Sunset

Finally got out and took some sunset pics. Ironically, the smoke from the Malibu fire gave more of an ambience to an already beautiful setting.

Flowers from the farmers.

Produce aisle.

Good plums.

Peter Piper's non-pickled peppers.

These were delicious, especially with jogurt and granola.

Fresh onions.

Herb forest.

Hanging fruits.

Beans, Beans!

Free-sample grapes that I sampled.

Multi-colored zanahorias.

Farmer's Market

I've lived in Santa Monica for almost 2 years now and had yet to go to the local farmer's market. I loved it...great food, cool people, insane prices. Go there!

Had to take one on top of the roof to give a little human perspective.

I was getting some weird effects with a UV filter lens...not really sure why it did this but it looked kinda cool.

This was pretty much the start and end of my shooting. Began at 2am and went till 4am.

Lunar Eclipse

Stayed out late last night to catch the eclipse of the moon. Drove around everywhere to try and find a good spot, but just settled down by the beach near Malibu to view and shoot. This kind of follows the phases in chronological order...played a little bit with white balance on the camera.