My three sons

Looking out from the deck of our room at the Bed and Breakfast toward the beach, I thought the house across the way was under construction. But when we walked up to it take some pictures, I realized that most of it had been blown away by Hurricane Ike and just the shell remained.

I did like how the exposed beams made a frame for a picture of the boys.

Crystal Beach Texas

A year after Hurricane Ike.

Our family spent the past weekend at a B&B in Crystal Beach. Little did we know when we booked the rooms we were going to ground zero where a year ago Hurricane Ike hit and ravaged the Texas coast.

It looks as if this little coastal community is in a war zone. We thought we were going to spend some quality family time by the beach playing in the surf.

As it turned out, we came to know and empathize with the people who find it hard to talk about their friends and neighbors who are still among the missing, the homes and possessions that are lost forever and the intense feelings of vulnerability.

I became mesmerized with the items still buried in the sand everywhere you walk.

Does anyone else think this is funny?

A sign on the Women's Restroom at Roaring River State Park in Missouri:

Who owns your photographs on Facebook?

It pays to read the fine print.

Even if you delete your photographs from sites such as Facebook, they may still have the right to publish them without your permission long after you have taken them off the web. Apparently, in February 2009, Facebook changed its terms and conditions. You might want to read the fine print before you post any more photos on their site.

This same caution might need to be exercised when entering photo contests. Be sure to check and see who retains the copyright and that you are not giving a royalty-free license to distribute your image. Look for wording such as 'Copyright in all images submitted for this competition remains with the respective entrants'.

Pro-imaging (http://www.pro-imaging.org/) looks at the terms and conditions of various photo competitions and rates them as good or bad.

Article from Digital Photographer, Issue 82, page 10-11.

Meeting little Miss Emma in Missouri

We had to go to Missouri this past week to attend the funeral of my
husband's brother. Into the somber moment walked a little ray of light and her name was Emma.

Emma is the six-year-old daughter of David's niece. She was a polite delight and I asked if I could take some pictures of her after the funeral was over.
When I got back home and processed the pictures, I decided to create a little book of poems to send to Emma as a special gift to this delightful child. I think I'll have about a 20 page booklet to send her when it is all said and done.