This is a series of photos from my files. The event was staged in California a few years ago, but it's still amazing to watch this guys perform their acrobatics at anytime. As you can guess, not all of the riders made clean landings. However the crashes were quickly brushed off and the riders were soon at it again - after a few moments of reflection about what went wrong.
After another day of rain and cold, Thursday was much different. It was sunny and warm and those conditions led to plenty of activity in New York's midtown jewel called Bryant Park. And since it's spring, the ice skating rink there has been put away and the grass on the great lawn is nearly ready to be occupied by lunch time sun bathers. On this day - from the top - the twice weekly free yoga sessions are underway. The position in the first photo is called "happy baby." The second picture shows how life continues for the lady walking thru the frame while yoga is happening near her feet. The free table tennis and chess tables were thriving and the spring flowers are in full bloom.
Little did I know that when I took Oakland A's outfielder Coco Crisp's picture - with his son Caden - at a Los Angeles Clippers basketball game last November that I would have a reason to use it here on the photo blog. But recently, the Associated Press ran some shots of Crisp who gave his hair a break when he took his braids out. The result is giant afro that got plenty of attention.
Since 1995, this Yankee fan has been coming to games in the Bronx with his hand puppet he calls Jackie "Rabbitson." He entertains kids and adults alike with his creation and lends an innocent air to the sometimes rough and tumble image of baseball at Yankee Stadium. I saw the both of them on the number 4 subway platform located outside the entrance to the ballpark and I just had to take a picture. 
I took this shot of pro surfer Bethany Hamilton a few years ago when I was based in southern California. I finally have a good reason to showcase it here - she's the subject of a new movie about her life and triumph over having a shark bite off her left arm. Soul Surfer is the story of Hamilton's recovery and return to the professional ranks. 
Whenever I'm St Petersburg, Florida I try to get over to Pass-A-Grille beach to get a shot of the Don Ce Sar Hotel. And - as always - I strive to dress up the scene with people, birds and much to my surprise - a really good sand castle that looks as if it could have been a classic hotel in its day. Thanks to the long zoom lens on my camera all the major elements of the scene are compressed into a tight composition. The sand castle and the hotel are actually about a mile apart.
It's not every day that I can get a good shot of a Monarch butterfly, but this was my day. It's one of two butterflies that were flitting around the garden where I was walking. Neither stayed in one place very long, but when this one took a brief rest, I was ready. As for the second shot, it looks like the gull is swooping down on the white duck - like it was a possible meal to be taken back to the nest. But it really is a case of the bird flying into the frame just as I was taking a picture of the ducks and suddenly the photo - to the uninformed - takes on an ominous tone.
These two very different subjects were kind enough to hold still for their portraits. The fly landed on a table setting of yellow flowers during lunch at Whole Foods. I was able to get several shots as I kept getting closer and closer without the fly batting an eye. The ibis was on a wall outside of Whole Foods. Its white feathers and curved probing beak stood out nicely from the background of pond water and Lilly pads.
The setting sun gives the Tampa Bay Rays' Manny Ramirez a larger than life shadow as he prepared for a game against the Yankees in Tampa. Ramirez is in his first season with the Rays after a rocky 2010 season with the Dodgers and White Sox. Meanwhile in downtown Tampa the UCLA Bruins scored a two point win over Michigan State in a second round NCAA tournament game at the St Pete Times Forum. UCLA's Reeves Nelson (L) attempts a shot over a Spartan defender on the same floor where the Bruins will play the University of Florida Saturday for the right to advance in the tournament.
A gull with the moon on its head and a man walking his cat. That's a combo you won't find very often. The bird-moon shot was simply a case of me lining up the duo at just the right spot and the plus was the gull calling out to its buddies at the moment I pressed the shutter button. As for the man and the cat ... he and his wife who are visiting Florida from West Virginia decided to walk their cats near the break water across from a fishing pier. They said they started harnessing the leash to the cats when they were kittens and that the animals are comfortable being walked with it on.
I'd like to say I traveled to the Florida Everglades to get this shot of a snowy egret who is relaxing by the water. But, in fact, I made this picture in the heart of Tampa at a pond behind the supermarket where I was shopping. What elevates this picture about the norm is that I walked around until I found an element to give the photo a unique quality. That wavey black line in the water is actually the reflection of a telephone pole that was bent out of shape by movement of the surface of the water. 
Here is another entry in my intermittent series on fire hydrants. This one is found on the campus of the University of Tampa in downtown Florida. Had it just been painted all yellow I probably would have passed it up. But the blue cap attracted me to it. However it still needed something to make it stand out. So I got lower and was able to see a frame of flowers and trees that helped elevate the image beyond the ordinary.
This Carnival cruise ship is heading out to sea by traversing Tampa Bay in Florida and sailing under the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. From this photo it looks like the ship is barely able to fit under the span. And you're right. Check out the video from the top deck as the vessel cruises the underside of the bridge.
Matt Downs of the Astros (L) and Eduardo Nunez of the Yankees need only to look at the shadow cast by umpire Mark Wegner to know the outcome of an attempted pick-off throw to first base. Wegner is signaling "safe!" This was a lucky shot that I didn't notice until several hours after the game. It pays sometimes to shoot first and ask questions later. You never know what you might get.