My Dog's Favorite Day - Hotdogs and Squirrels...

So today we went to my colleague's home in CT, and we brought Luna with us. She was in doggie heaven instantly. A large multi-acre fenced in property, with hills, valleys, streams, and....SQUIRRELS - her favorite! She almost caught one too. I think Luna became one with nature today - and now hates Brooklyn even more than before. I know it's just a saying, but - The grass was literally greener! (SEE PICTURE)

Personally, I would love to move out of the city. But ya' know... there are days in NYC where the traffic getting in or out of the city is mind numbing. It would be nice to wake up to the sounds of nature, versus the local garbage truck or car alarm. One of these days we'll do it, but most likely to another state or more likely another country....but for now we're happy chillin' in Brooklyn.

Asia Dive Expo (ADEX) Report

You know what they say – better late than never. I usually like to get these show reports up shortly after the shows, but after nearly a month in Bali after the show, flying from Bali to LA for a big meeting, and then flying back to NY on a red-eye flight. It took me a few weeks to get back to normal (ok normal for me isn’t that normal – but you get the idea).

It's funny how many new friends you make in this industry. There are a lot of like minded people traveling halfway around the world for the same purposes, we're all bound to click. Cheers to my new friends in Singapore, Bali and Hong Kong!

Read the ADEX report here.

Rama Hotels & Resorts Photo Shoot in Bali, Indonesia

While in Bali I did a photo shoot for the Rama Hotels & Resorts Group. The images are being used in marketing campaigns for the various resorts.

The main image in the flyer to the right was taken at night at the Rama Candidasa Resort, a beautiful waterfront property with a great modern restaurant, a cool pool and beautiful grounds. The 'postage stamp' image is a wide angle close up of one of the beds in a bungalow.

Model Shoot in Bali

Although I'm used to shooting sharks, fish, coral and marine environments, I did one shoot with a model while in Bali. It was a perfect sunny, blue skies day and so I experimented, trying to get the model's "hair flip", freezing the hair and water in the air. This is the end result of that particular shot.

Magical Temples and Crazy Monkeys

Among the spiritual icons in Bali are some of the most beautiful and intersting temples I've ever seen. Granted, I haven't seen that many ancient temples in my travels, but I've seen a lot of pictures, and these are pretty cool! This one temple was on the top of a cliff at least a thousand feet up or so. You were required to put on a Sorong in order to access the temple grounds, as a sign of tradition and respect. The temple and grounds were sprawled out over an area about half a mile wide, and was inhabitted by monkeys. In order to take photos, I had to hire a guide with a stick to keep the moneys from stealing my sunglasses, hat or camera.

This one angle of the temple at sunset sums up the exotic feeling of this special place.

Manta Ray Experience in Bali, Indonesia

I just returned from Bali, Indonesia, where among the amazing scuba diving I experienced was one particular Manta Ray encounter that was truly magical.

When we first entered the water, there was a group of divers chasing 2 Mantas, arms outstretched trying to get that "proof shot" to take home to their friends. Such a shame to see such ungraceful divers chasing such a majestic and graceful creature. So I backed off on my own, left the group, as well as the group from my own boat, and tried to predict the direction that one particular Manta was banking in, so I could end up right under him or her to get some great shots. I had my fisheye lens on, so I would have to be less than a few feet away from the animal to get the shot I was looking for. Eventually I ended up in 9 feet of water with this solo Manta Ray, just he (or she) and I, for 40 minutes. The Manta would head out about 30 feet, bank, and come right over my head, turn around and do the same over and over again, sometimes coming within inches of me. I resisted the urge to touch him, and just kept shooting. Eventually my dive guide came to find me and get me out of the water. But not before I got some amazing images and had an even more amazing experience. This is what diving is all about.

Mother's Day in Philly

We celebrated a weekend full of Mother's day, going to Philly to celebratre with Wendy's mom on Saturday and then lunch with my mom in New York on Sunday.

We were really impressed with the restaurant in Philly called Pod. It came fully equipped with customizable neon lighting inside our "pod". The spot seemed out of place in the middle of Philly. It could've been in NY, LA or Miami and would be very successful.

In NY we at at Les Halles, can't go wrong with good french food. We got to celebrate our mom's this weekend.

We enjoyed our weekend of Mother's day celebration - fine dining and quality time with our families, which we don't get to do nearly as often as we should in our busy lives!