Archives ~ Bermuda July to December 2005
Archives ~ January to December 2006
Archives ~ January to December 2007
March/April 2008 ~ Back in Bermuda
May/August 2008 ~ Florida
September 2008 ~ Goodwin Clan at Pt. Bob
December 2008 ~ Bermudian Christmas
March 2009 ~ Belize

Lori and I would like to wish all who view "Life is a Beach" a beautiful Christmas and a great New Year in 2009. I hear those back home are getting their share of winter weather and even in Bermuda things have cooled off considerably. Although there is no snow in Bermuda and the only ice comes in the form of frozen Margaritas, we too feel the pinch of winter in that one often dons rain gear for the scooter trip to work or pulls on a sweater in the evenings. Right now it is 62 degrees F, not exactly vacation land but better than freezing.

This December posting will be much like the past in that it'll display Lori's photographs of Bermuda. I must apologize to those who could not view September's posting of the Goodwin clan gathering in Point Roberts. All computers are different and some refuse to allow the presenter plug-in to be downloaded.

You may see a difference in the imagery as Lori now uses a High Dynamic Range process where she combines three or more exposures to get the perfect image.

Lori and her light meter

How to light a picture seems to be a constant learning process, involving the ambient light, time of day, type of flash, soft boxes, reflectors ...

Much to our delight, Lori's entry into the "Imagination" theme at the Bermuda Art Center at Dockyard sold for $450. Seen below, the picture shows our friend "Frannie" on West Palm Beach just after her wedding to Dani. Of course there is only one of her (I can't imagine more than one Frannie) that Lori triplicated and flipped and then re-colored in Photoshop. Bring out the printing press!
Triplets!
Whaler

The closest to snow here in Bermuda has to be the pink sand and white roofs of the buildings. Seen at left is an image of the Southampton Princess beach and Whaler's Restaurant. You can see an even more wintry version by "mousing over" the image and viewing in in black and white. Personally I prefer the color version.

Most days that I'm off work, I run by this beach on my way to the public Horseshoe Beach to do a few laps.

This picture and the images below, are an example of the HDR process and are worth clicking on to view in full screen mode. By "bracketing" each picture with three or more exposures and then overlaying them in Photoshop, the photographer can create an image with full detail and without the "blowouts" of overexposure and the hidden darks of underexposing.
The Whaler's Inn and Southampton Princess Beach
Often while I toil away at the incinerator, Lori will pack up her guns and go hunting for something to shoot! This day she headed towards St. Georges, her favorite end of the islands. At right is an old church of a unique building style. They were singing inside while she was shooting this. At left is a small rundown cottage. Mouse over for a different view.
"Yellow Church" ~ St .Georges

A landscape showing the houses and lights and ....The Moon. We read in the paper that it was the closest it gets in 20 years ....which is wrong of course. The moon sometimes looks closer but is always the same distance from the surface of the earth. Now the "Man in the Moon" gets more identifiable the longer you stare at it.(Mouse over the moon ... at the top of the page.)

If you click on the picture at left to see the moon in greater detail, you'll notice a large crater. I'll have to quiz my brother Randy as to it's name ...

A night shot from our back yard involving a tripod
Of course, as in all our postings about life in Bermuda, we can't leave out our favorite pastime. A constant struggle to become a fair player, even when on the beach! Actually I think Lori enjoys finding balls as much as playing the game. What to do with all these golf balls?
Lori drives off Cross Bay
Showing fine form, Lori drives from the 10th tee-box at our Princess Golf Club. Although the temperature is in the 60s, it is still perfect weather for playing. Many of the visitors to Bermuda this time of year are golfers from the east coast of the U.S.
A final "golf" picture! This one of Riddles Bay golf course just as we were finishing up at sunset. Although still warm, the light fades around 5:00 pm. "Where are my fluorescent balls?"
Sunset on Riddles Bay golf course
Lori at Dockyard
I would love to have a discussion with the driver of this trolley bus! Much better looking than a "bug on a windscreen" is Lori, who was convinced to pose in front of an old wall. Mouse over to see a different angle.
Another example of HDR image work, the picture to the left is of Ronda and Adrian's place from the lawn outside our apartment. Without the HDR manipulation, the roof would be completely blown out in the bright sunshine and the rest of the house in shadow.
Ronda and Adrian's House
One of the more intriguing drives in Bermuda is this one into Southlands. The Banyon trees are incredible with tentacles reaching to the ground from every branch and a solid overhead canopy of leaves.
Southlands
Would you pick up this lonely character if you saw him at a bar? Now it's my turn to "look natural for the camera" while we lunched at the Coco Reef Hotel. With tourist season over and the world recession in full swing, many of these beautiful places are near empty and they have great deals on food. Here we drank wine at $2 a glass!
Myself at the Coco Reef Hotel
Another of our favorite places in Bermuda is the Swizzle Inn on South Road. This image and the one below are more examples of high dynamic range processing in Photoshop.
Mallard duck in the "ball eating pond" at the Southampton Princess Golf Course
Swizzle Inn
Lori had a rather important birthday last month and got herself a new toy! It's called a Wacom Centique and consists of a drawing tablet where one can work with imagery directly on the LCD screen. (Eat your heart out Jude!) The painting to your left is actually a picture of me strolling on Clearwater beach. (Mouse over to see the real picture) No more post processing with a mouse!
Clear Water Beach
A fish boat and a cactus ...more examples of Lori's new found painting ability.
Wait a minute .... how come this "still life" isn't painted? You'll notice how in season this basket of fruit is ... see the santa hat?
Christmas Fruit Basket
Wall Art
St. David's Lighthouse
So OK ... only a few more pictures to show. I know there are a lot of them but I haven't posted to Life is a Beach in a few months! Above left is a picture of St. David's Lighthouse. At the bottom of this page you'll see the other lighthouse (Gibbs) that we see from our back yard. St. David's is at the far Eastern end of the Bermuda Islands. Above right is a very small house with someone peering from the window.
Great Bay ~ St. David's
Flatts Village
I can't upload all these pictures without a few images of Bermuda's crystal clear water. Although a bit too cold to go swimming right now (sea surface 20.4 C or 68.7 F), it's probably warmer than it ever gets in the Georgia Straight! I'm getting spoiled. Oh well ... one can always go fishing!
Flowers ~ Riddles Bay
Some colorful shots, one of the sky above Somerset (taken while we ate sushi at the Salt Rock Grill) and a framed photo of flowers above (don't ask me what kind)
Roof tops ~ Somerset
Entertaining the guests at the Reef Hotel.

So that is all for this posting as of December 25th, 2008. It's Christmas Day and we wish all of you the Merriest of Christmases. Next posting to Life is a Beach will be in 2009, a new and hopefully great year. If you have any suggestions on how we can improve on our little web site, (or inform on spelling or grammatical mistakes) please email us. It would be nice to hear from you.

I'll leave you with a final image of the lighthouse as seen from the field behind our apartment. This one slightly different than the last one.

Lori at Elbow Beach
Gibbs Lighthouse from our back yard