R. Doug Wicker's Blog, page 141

Fun Photo Friday — Whale Watching Tour Favorites

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The Flag “Waves”

As I noted earlier this week, the whales on this tour were not very cooperative, but there was much to photograph anyway.  It should be no surprise, then, that my favorite photos from this tour had nothing to do with whales.

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Cruisin’

One of the tricks to capturing fun images is mentally cropping what you see and determining if the composition is interesting.  Sometimes monochromatic subjects can actually work in your favor, and without the need to converting to Black & White:...

San Diego for Whale Watching — Part 2

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Flagship Marietta

For the next couple of hours we chased whales . . . at a distance.  If one of the tour boats in the area observed a whale, the whole fleet would reposition close, but not too close, to that area.  Regulations require whale watching boats to approach no closer than 100 yards/90 meters.

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Gray Whale

Fortunately, I had with me a Panasonic FZ1000, which has a 35mm equivalent focal range of 400mm, or about 8x telephoto magnification.

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Gray Whale

The FZ1000 is a very versatile travel...

San Diego for Whale Watching — Part 1

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Ruby Princess in San Diego

Last week you saw our Ensenada wine tour, but before we got there our ship, Ruby Princess, made port in San Diego.  Here Ursula had reserved a tour of a very different sort — whale watching aboard Hornblower Cruises’ ship Adventure Hornblower.  The picture above was taken at the boarding point for the tour, so you can see how short a walk it is from where Ruby Princess docked.

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Adventure Hornblower approaches port

Adventure Hornblower is the second largest of Hornblo...

Fun Photo Friday — Baja Test Kitchen Tour Favorites

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Wine bottle still life

Below is today’s photo gallery and slide show of Baja Test Kitchen tour favorites of the Ensenada wine country:

Filed under: Fun Photo Friday, Photography, R. Doug Wicker, travel, vacation, Wine & Food Tagged: Baja Test Kitchen, Baja wine tasting, Chris Meija, Ensenada, Fun Photo Friday, Valle de Guadalupe

Baja Test Kitchen Tour — Las Nubes & Vena Cava

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Valle de Guadalupe

Today we take one last look at Las Nubes winery, and then head off to our next rather unique destination — a winery built beneath the overturned hulls of large boats!  After that, on our return to the ship, we were met by some very tame sea lions.  That should keep you reading to the very end.

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Las Nubes window

On Monday I promised some exterior photos of the Las Nubes winery, including the Tuscan architecture.  Here you can see that, and the charming outdoor tasting patio:

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Baja Test Kitchen Tour — Cavas Camou & Las Nubes

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Las Nubes Winery and Vineyard

January of this year found Ursula and me taking a cruise we’ve done several times before, a short three- to four-day excursion from Los Angeles to Santa Barbara and Ensenada, Mexico.  This was actually the second of back-to-back cruises aboard the same ship, and it followed a ten-day cruise we’ve now done three times into the Sea of Cortez.  On this trip we did something a bit different, however, thanks to Joyce Verette.

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Joyce and Rod Verette

Joyce is a fellow me...

Fun Photo Friday — Papeete Favorites Part 2

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The Spears of Paradise

I hope you enjoyed this 28-day voyage around the Pacific.  During this series I’ve shown you various sights around the Hawai’ian Islands, Western and American Samoa, and three islands in French Polynesia.  Wrapping it all up is today’s Fun Photo Friday gallery of some more Papeete favorites:

Filed under: Fun Photo Friday, Photography, R. Doug Wicker, travel, vacation Tagged: Crown Princess, cruise vacation, French Polynesia, Fun Photo Friday, Papeete, photography,...

Port Nine Papeete — Out Nanuu Bay and into the Pacific

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Sailing into the Sun

The Crown Princess continued through Nanuu Bay and into the South Pacific Ocean for the return home, but not before I managed to snag a few more photos.  From this vantage we saw the slopes leading up to Mont Orohena beyond Papeete:

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Protestant Church of Papeete

As noted on Monday we sailed past Pā’ōfa’i Gardens, and also had great views of Place Jacques Chirac:

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Outriggers for rent

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Pā’ōfa’i Gardens

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Place Jacques Chirac

Beyond this area, with which we were already familiar,...

Readers Beware! — A particularly clever Phishing Attack

Now here’s a nifty little phishing attack that targeted me over a two-day period, and this one is both unique and, if you’re not careful, very effective.

On Monday my iPad informed me that I needed to log into my Apple ID account, which I attempted using my Apple ID and password.  That attempt was rewarded with an admonition, “This Apple ID has been locked for security reasons,” or something similar to that wording.  Apparently, someone attempted multiple logins with my Apple ID and an incorr...

Port 9 Papeete — Sailing out of Nanuu Bay

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Papeete

On November 5, 2015, the Crown Princess left our last port of call for the long voyage back to Los Angeles.  The time of day was perfect, not only for the front-lighted views of Papeete and Nanuu Bay, but also for the magnificent sunset you’ll see on Wednesday, and again on Friday.

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Yachts of Nanuu Bay

Nanuu Bay’s marina offered up some really fun yachts to photograph, and the angle of the sun left shimmering reflections on those yachts dancing upon the water:

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Nanuu Bay

Looking back in...