Douglas Shoop Photography

This old volcano sure makes a beautiful island.  It's interesting volcanic rock plunges into the ocean and the vegetation grows out of the crevasses. This is Roatan, Honduras, with one of the most beautiful beaches I've ever been on.  More pics from here later.  Enjoy.

I believe this wild Turkey was saved from enjoyment by humans this year.  Actually, he was walking across the road in Rockport, MA, so unless he and his pals got hit by a car, he's safe for another year.  Enjoy!

As fall sets in on the Gervasi Vineyards, the swans get their last feedings in the distance and two empty chairs await their admiring visitors.   Enjoy!

This guy is really aging well.  Looking good after a million years or so I suppose.  Tyrannosaurus Rex looks as menacing as a skeleton as he does with flesh.  Taken in Cozumel, in a museum in a mall.  Enjoy.

I saw this lone, giant leaf resting on the steps of the Mayan temple we visited this summer.  It was out of place, but wonderfully beautiful in its withering colors, juxtaposed on the ancient steps.  Enjoy.

When I took this photo, I was thinking black and white would be the best way of showing the texture and depth of the roots, leading up to the Mayan temple ruins in the background.  I'm not sure what kind of tree this is.  Taken in Costa Maya, Mexico next to the Mayan ruins at Chacchoben.  Enjoy.

How's this for irony.  I realized that this photo reveals the ship we sailed to the western Caribbean on this past August, was docked beside the infamous Carnival Cruise ship, as seen here in Costa Maya.  We heard bad things from the passengers on land about this ship months ago.  Today they finally got towed from peril at sea.  So glad we didn't go on Carnival.  We were on the Royal Caribbean's Celebrity Solstice, a truly remarkable ship.  Highly recommended.  Enjoy.

Well, the water was pretty cold, so I don't think she's going to jump in the lake in late October.  My daughter pondering life while looking out across Lake Winnipesaukee in NH.  Enjoy!

I saw a story on the news tonight of this mysterious orange vertical smoke plume in, of course California.  The military doesn't know what it was, nor does NORAD, nor does our defense department.  It looked like a rocket trail, but the mystery remains.  This photo I took off the deck of the Celebrity Solstice while heading into the western Caribbean looks eerily like that photo on the TV.  I think this is more like a weird cloud thing or jet contrails.  Definitely not a rocket.  Enjoy.

While vising my parents this past weekend, I was in amazement how in November, the roses were still in bloom in the front of their house.  On a cloudy day, they were grabbing their last day of live before the frost that would come the next night.  Enjoy.

"Fall Leaves Fall"  That was the name of a song we did in HS choir.  Well this is a real "Fall" photo, lots of colors.  Taken at Gervasi Vineyards in North Canton, OH.  What a place.  Fantastic restaurant, incredible grounds, gazebo, pond, swans, a gem in the middle of middle America.  I've got some more pics from here to share later.  Enjoy.

I won't be posting for several days so I'll leave you with this photo I took from the beautiful beach on Roatan, Honduras.  Enjoy.

While waiting in line for dinner one night in Ft. Lauderdale, the sunset in the west lit up these clouds on the eastern seaboard nicely.  It's unusual to get such a colorful sunset from the opposite side of the pond.  Enjoy.

Here I go again with lines and patterns.  You can see I'm fascinated with repetitive lines, perspectives, and beautiful details.  This is another photo of one of the restaurant details on the Celebrity Solstice cruise ship.  You just can't put down the Architect in me.  Enjoy.

I can guarantee you won't know what this is.  I thought it was very cool so I just had to take a photo.  Give up?  The circles look like the tops of batteries, but they are actually lighting devices.  This is a ground mounted exterior tree lighting device.  I believe this may be LED technology, but the array of lenses, capacitors, wires, circuit boards, and chipsets make it very techie.  Enjoy.

OK, so this wasn't a planned photo sunrise shoot.  We woke up from our cruise after docking in Ft. Lauderdale and bam, this was waiting for me.  I grabbed the camera, ran to the side of the boat, and after waiting for the lens to un-fog, started firing away.  Spectacular sunrise.  All I had to do was wait for the birds.  Enjoy.

I literally crawled in the sand for this photo.  I think the topless sunbather next to me was wondering if I was trying to get a shot of her "no tan lines" body.  It was all about framing the photograph.  In order to appreciate the beauty of the sand flowers ??, I wanted to get the sand crab perspective.  Taken on Roatan Island, Honduras.  Enjoy.

More patterns and rhythms here.  Can you guess what this is?  Making it black and white enhances the focus in my mind.  Here's a clue, it was taken at sea.  Still can't figure it out.  It's a photo of the sunlight patterns cast on a bench seat in the Bistro on Five on the Celebrity Solstice cruise ship.  The restaurant has these horizontal slats running everywhere, sort of a Japanese motif, but they made for some very interesting shots.  More to come later.  Enjoy.