I thought we might start the new year with a much needed chuckle or two so I'm calling the first challenge of 2009 "Comic Relief " which means any shot that you think would cause a smile, grin or even a good old fashioned belly laugh !

Let the humor flow !

Hope this is in time. These were taken on Doubtful Sound in New Zealand a couple of years ago.

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Last week we were out at a local wildlife reserve and saw an osprey skimming the water with it's feet trailing behind it in the water. As luck would have it, it decided to make a return run and I managed to get a few shots. Apparently this is quite a common practice but no one really knows why they do it. Suggestions vary from vascular cooling through its feet to washing off remnants of a kill. Anyway, I thought it would make a reasonable entry in this months challenge.

 Osprey skimming  Osprey 2  Osprey 3 

 Vintage racers at speed 

If you've checked out my web site you will know that photographing auto racing is my main interest. Capturing the sense of speed while keeping the vehicle in focus is always a challenge. I've pulled out three of my attempts for this months challenge.

 Another side of Paris 

We recently took a trip back to Europe mainly to look up old friends and relatives that we hadn't seen for a while but managed to fit a few days with some friends in Paris before crossing over to the old country. I took plenty of shots of the usual sights but thought you might like to see another side of my favorite city.

 BCIP_009  KL_008  KL_026  PFS_116 

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Last month we took a most enjoyable cruise up the coasts of British Columbia and Alaska ( small ship - 120 people ) followed by a couple of days in Denali National Park and some bear watching at a place called Silver Salmon Springs. The small ship allowed access to places that the big guys can't get to. Needless to say I took hundreds of pictures, a few of which are attached. For anyone interested there are a few more on my web site www.L8developer.com together with a couple of sets from recent vintage motor racing meetings. Looking at the pictures after returning from the cruise shows how difficult it is to capture the vastness and grandeur of the scenery in mere images - but one must continue to try !!

I added the images as pop-ups because for some reason the system won't save the slide show I prepared.

Yes, I have been on vacation - just back today. Sorry about the challenge and thanks Mima for bailing me out.

Now all I have to do is edit about 2000 pictures of BC and Alaska !

Then I'm off to the UK for more trains and vintage racing.

This retirement is hard work !