Hello everyone. Sorry for not posting lately but I've been in recovery mode from recent foot surgery. I just entered a weather photo contest from the weather.com channel. If you appreciate my photos, please go to their website and vote for my thunderstorm photo! You don't have to log any personal information, just find my photo by searching for knovak, and it'll bring it up. Click on the vote sign and that's it! Thanking you in advance.
Sorry it's been quite a while since I've posted anything. Had some foot surgery done recently and it's taken a lot of time away from me. At any rate, I've decided to get back to posting again. So here is a recent shot of one of my last St Maarten trips three months ago. I'm always amazed at the incredible colors and rays I see down there!
Well, the crowds have grown to unacceptable numbers in certain areas of South Beach............no, not the adults, but teens and college students who have arrived in massive numbers. This used to not be a problem until they started getting careless. Fights, garbage (and I mean a LOT of garbage), bottles, liquor, etc., and soon it was out of control. So now the police are making their presence known, and that the South Beach area will not be a playground for those who don't want to take care of the beach or respect other beach goers right to have a pleasant day at our wonderful sunspot. Beware everyone, the police are watching!
Recently I captured a seagull flying that I consider one of my most "graceful" shots. I was unaware of the beautiful lines that flowed across this gull's wings. Going to be on the lookout for more shots like this!
I don't think I've EVER seen this many people at South Beach in Miami, FL, on ANY day! Talk about a LOT of beach lovers! The life guards let me go up on their platform to take this shot. It's nice to see so many folks enjoying the beautiful beaches in Florida, but it was sad to see how much garbage and trash they left behind when they left. Seriously, you have to wonder if they have any respect for the other patrons who many not appreciate how unclean they left it. I wonder if they would like people coming onto their yards and leaving all their garbage behind? Hopefully some will read this and realize the beach won't be very appealing to others if they don't clean up after themselves......................
Well, I've finally had the opportunity to fly back to my favorite island in the world......SXM!!!! Saint Maarten for all you plane lovers!!!! Here's a gorgeous sunset that occurred during my visit last week. I never get tired of going there....always something beautiful to take pictures of!
Here's an interesting photo for you! On our recent flight from Newark, NJ, to St. Maarten, we flew over a relatively calm Atlantic Ocean. In the distance, we saw "swirl" marks on the surface of the ocean. These were probably 50 or so miles across. As we flew closer to them, I couldn't help but take a photo of this phenomenon as I'd never seen anything like this before. Interesting, eh?
Here's a neat shot of a seagull/shadow I took the other day at the beach. (Sorry for not posting more but I've been busy working and don't have much time at home to do this..... :-( ). At any rate, I thought this shot was pretty neat. Sometimes I wish these gulls would slow down just a bit so I could get more shots, but, in the end, I usually get a good picture or two! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone! Thanks for reading my blog!
The beautiful snow covered Rocky Mountains go on forever in this photo I took en route from Las Vegas, to Newark, NJ, on the 9th of December. The low lying clouds continue to dump snow on the mountains for as far as we could see. Looks like it's going to be a good winter for snow lovers and skiers! This shot was taken at 37,000 feet just west of Denver.
During a recent flight from Los Angeles, to Newark, I was able to snap a shot of the world's largest solar thermal farm in California (Mojave Desert). The bright light created by the reflection of the sun on several of the solar panel mirrors is blinding and can be seen 100's of miles away! I took this photo from 37,000 feet when we were about 30 miles north of the field. There are 170,000 mirrors focused on three water towers covering approximately 3500 acres. This solar farm is predicted to power up to 200,000 homes!!!! Nice!!!!!!
Since I was originally hired by Continental Airlines back in 1998, I'm pretty partial to them. Here's a shot I took a few weeks ago..................and shows what little remains of the original company. I've heard the Continental signage is coming down in a few weeks. At least my camera was able to preserve a bit of history!!!!
I'm always happy when the "skimmers" return to South Beach. They are a neat type of bird that skim the water with their lower beak in search for food. I've never captured one on film, but I think I'm getting close. Here's a shot of one flying along the beach last week. They also make a neat "honking" noise.
So, here is the illustrious EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE! This is where many aviation records have been broken, many secret planes flown, and many famous aviators flew! We flew by Edwards a few weeks ago and I'd never noticed it before. At first glance it just appeared to be a dirt landing strip, but upon further observation we noticed the "shuttle" runway and military features. ATC confirmed it for us! Pretty neat!
Well, after a lot of hard work and training, it looks like my girlfriend's son Jimmy, is back with a vengeance! He just won his first seeded tennis tournament this weekend down in Miami! Jimmy was the only seeded player to advance beyond their first match! He really is a spectacular player, and an incredible young man to boot! Congratulations Jimmy!
Even though seagulls are a pretty bothersome bird at the beach, they can be a thing of beauty too! Here's a shot I took yesterday of a seagull taking a trip down the beach. I'm always amazed at how far they can "sense" another seagull getting a morsel of food to eat. Within seconds, a hundred birds will convene from all over the beach for a potato chip that someone threw into the air! At least it makes for good photos!
A blast from the past.......... My most favorite island in the world.......St. Maarten! Beautiful people, beautiful beaches, and incredible airplane viewing. Just doesn't get much better than that!
During a recent flight from Washington Dulles (IAD) to San Francisco, we flew over Yosemite National Park, and were dismayed to see how much smoke and fire are covering this national park. It really is disturbing to think a CARELESS camper could create so much destruction by not following the "no burn" rules during such a critical time. The fire seems to be burning with no regard to where it goes. I just hope it's snuffed out soon..............
Every now and then I see a sight at the beach that makes going that much nicer. Here's a shot I took of a young man taking his mom to the beach to enjoy the water! I think I might have seen something like this only two other times in all the years I've been going to South Beach. I think it's FABULOUS that SOME on this earth understand how much things like this mean to our parents as they get older. I recently had the opportunity to spend a few days fixing up things at my mom's house in New Mexico. She could not have been more thankful for me taking care of the "little things" that make her life a bit more difficult, and I was happy to help her. Our parents are so greatful for the little things we do for them! I congratulate this young man for making his mom's day much brighter! Here's to you my friend!
Here's a great way to NEVER forget your camera! I had to look twice when I saw this idea as it had never struck me before..............LOL Personally, I don't know why someone would get a tattoo like this, but then again, this is pretty tame compared to some I've seen. At any rate, this guy will ALWAYS have a camera with him!
This photo seems to evoke an emotional response without even saying or writing anything. Everyone I've shown the shot to says the same thing............"that is a SCARY looking tree!" I took this photo during a recent visit to New Mexico, and as we were going down the road at 70 MPH, I spotted this gloomy looking tree that BEGGED me to take a photo of it. Here is my "Scary Tree" photo!
