Moonlight on Anasco Bay Puerto Rico

Two nights ago the moon was full and rose early and low over Anasco Bay. It was cloudy, dense dark clouds and the moon initially was a dark amber color and as it rose became more yellow and then silver white. I'm not sure what it is about the moon, the water, the night but it does provoke reflection.

There are quite a few poems about the moon on water... many deal with topics of love, love lost, loneliness, solitude and quiet. I found this one in a wonderful collection about Puerto Rico from 1941 entitled Puerto Rico in Pictures and Poetry.

Tropical moon, how you glow tonight,
High o'er the mountains, luminous, bright.
Telling earth's children, from near and afar,
God watches o'er them like yon evening star.

On Lemontree Reef in Rincon Puerto Rico

Yesterday, was magnificent. The water was calm, almost lake-like which is pretty typical at this time of year. The water has remained quite calm for at least several days and so the visibility in the water is, for so close ito shore, spectacular. I decided to grab my mask, fins and snorkel... and of course my trusty Oly 350, in its housing and see what I could do photographically as a snorkeler on Lemontree Reef. As one guest remarked to me yesterday... it was her dream to walk out of her door and snorkel on a reef. Here we can do that. As you might tell from the above picture it was flat calm. The water was warm and refreshing. I swam out to the rocky reef just to the right of the Lemontree and then swam to the left to a secondary rocky outcropping.



We do have sea fans on Lemontree Reef. This image converted to B/W makes it look like an abyss is below. However the depth was no greater than 10 feet. Its just that when you shoot with a wide angle lens distance is somewhat distorted. At any rate I thought that my outing needed a bit of deep sea drama... so here it is. Several guests reported yesterday that they saw octopi moving about on the bottom... which I did not see but the habitat is just right for them.



This is what mostly one can readily see. We were well stocked with reef fish... large schools, as a matter of fact. I was out for about an hour. Just enough time to enjoy myself without getting tired. I kept the pace very moderate and enjoyed the photography and just being on the water. Being able to do this is really a gift.

A "deserted island" on the beach, Rincon, PR

Rincon is a town of many beaches, about eight miles of beaches! Today I took a walk west down Lemontree's beach. I walked about 100 yards west down the beach from the Lemontree and this is what I saw. I felt like I was on a deserted island! The palm tree gistening in the sun and stretched out towards the ocean. The other vegetation giving a sheltering feel to the whole vignette. I perched on the big rock in the foreground of this photograph and half expected a bottle with a note in it to wash up on shore! I did find some sea glass along my walk along with a wonderful shell. One never knows what one will see or come home with when one takes a beach walk in Rincon.

Looking and looking again at the ocean in Rincon, PR

I came out onto the terrace of my Lemontree cottage this morning, as I usually do, and looked down at the beach with the ocean waves gently lapping up on shore. I breathed in deeply of the cool (its all relative) sea air and was happy to see the sun rising in the west. I stood on the terrace looking and looking again at the waves. "Looking and looking again," I thought..."this is like a painting." The more you look, the more you see. Today in my looking and looking I saw the white foam of the waves transform into an abstract painting and I captured it with my camera.

Even when it rains in Puerto Rico...

Today I was talking with some returning guests who are here with us again for a couple of weeks. They were excited to be here and said, "No matter what the weather, I love it here...even when it rains!" Well it did indeed rain this afternoon and I took this photograph. I love the purples in the sky and the softeness of the clouds. We can be outside on the Lemontree terraces, nice and dry under the roof and watch the rain fall in the distance and then approach us as it moves across the ocean.
Then, almost as quickly as the rain comes, it is gone and it is sunny again! Ah, the changing weather of the Caribbean.

Turtle at Desecheo Island, Puerto Rico

Last night we were having drinks with some friends when the topic turned to our adventures underwater... especially at Desecheo Island. I was reminded of this photograph I made at the Island. Usually we see underwater photographs made in wonderful color. This image was made when I was working a bit with BW underwater photography using a dark red/orange filter and no strobe light. I was leading a tour and this Hawksbill turtle came by to check us out. It swam with us for several minutes and as long as we kept our distance the turtle was quiet comfortable.

You never know what you will see out at the Island. Its a great destination for divers, of course and also for snorkelers. The water is so clear that even from the surface you can see everything on the bottom 40 feet more and less below. Taino Divers is the best ticket out to the island. Be sure to book early as they do sometimes fill up. Its a great day out and can be a wonderful, memorable part of a trip to Puerto Rico.

Lizard shows his stuff, Rincon Puerto Rico

Yesterday I was out shooting with a friend, Harold (Hal) Howard at the Blue Boy Inn. We were looking to shoot flowers and the BlueBoy has a wonderful garden. The above picture was made by Hal and is a timely capture. The lizard is displaying his throat sac and a mighty one it is. Its all about love. When courting, if you are a male lizard, its all about the throat sac.

Sometimes new guests are initially a little alarmed to see these little fellows (small dinosaurs) walk up the wall on their terrace and hang there or scamper across the courtyard. Actually they are great hunters of bugs so we think of them as kind of good-deed-doers. Our cat, Irene, loves them as well as she enjoys chasing them.

If you are here for awhile, you will become used to seeing these fellows lazying about in the sun and become an expert on the different kinds with their various colors and sizes. Puerto Rico also has iguana lizards and we sometimes see them in the jungle areas and wandering along the side of the road.