Good morning from Wyoming. Here’s a photo for my Dutch girls in Curacao who asked me before I left for a photo of a real live Western Cowboy! This is Danny “and girls he is single” who works daily from sun-up to sun-down as a cowboy out here on the ranch. Yesterday I got to watch as he (by himself) rode out on horse-back and rounded up a herd of horses out on the prairie. It was like watching a live Western film except with flying dust, the sound of thundering hoofs and Danny swinging his lasso over his head, it was great! He told me this is a great roping horse, I am guessing that’s because the horse is used to running fast and having Danny swinging that rope over it’s head all the time. He stopped here to demonstrate just how a lasso is used, and folks let me tell you these guys are good with a rope! In the next few days the boys are rounding up cattle and I will most likely go out and watch and I think Aimee will be joining them tomorrow to help as she is a pretty good rider unlike me.

Yesterday was beautiful here, still in the 80′s during the day! Aimee and I spent all day out in the field collecting ammonites and we did pretty well. My dear wife found something that looks like a seed from a prehistoric 130 million year old tree, it’s super cool, she found it sealed inside a big rock ball that she cracked open. While out hiking yesterday we found countless horned-toads of every size and saw beautiful butterflies throughout the day and I even found a crazy colored beetle that of course I had to shoot. Today will be a repeat of yesterday, can hardly wait.

Hope all is well, if you need to contact me or Aimee send a note to; barry@coralreefphotos.com

See you soon, Barry

Good morning everyone, surprise:  Aimee here!  Yes, Barry and I finally went on vacation together! It is so wonderful!  Yesterday was the best day ever! The weather could not have been more perfect with a slight breeze blowing over the golden prairie just enough to cool us down, the brilliant blue sky with hardly a cloud in it and this little oasis of flowers and animals right in the center of it all! To begin with, it seems like a holiday around here and we have eaten more food in one day than in most weeks! This involves about 10 people, huge tables, ham and potatoes and all the fixings. We keep laughing about all the eating that is going on. After the birthday of the night before there  many people here and soon after breakfast Karin took me on a great horseback ride around their place.  This was quite a ride (for over an hour in just one, single pasture) on one of their working horses and I really enjoyed learning how to guide and cue the horse to open gates from up on top of her.  Out on our ride we got to see so much of their local wildlife from deer, to coyotes, to quite a large herd of antelope making a dust storm moving across the prairie; it’s life a wildlife park out here!  Barry took this time to go with one of the kids to check out a new fossil area and see what it had.  The afternoon was spent with people relaxing in the front yard, watching the turkeys and sage hens, kids playing and women getting lunch made. It was a wonderful picnic in the yard with hamburgers and beer and cake. Wow. Barry spent his afternoon taking photos of a 50 caliber sniper rifle in the barn, where he fixed up an entire studio area.  Some of the kids helped him as assistants and that gave me time to help in the kitchen and then to set out to video and photo some of the turkeys in the yard. There is one mamma and about 10 of her young; wow, so much fun.  I learned if I sat down and started reading and ignored them, they got quite curious and came within about 10 feet of me, clucking and talking all the way. Soon after it was once again time to eat, as others headed out to their respective homes for the beginning of the week. Wow.  What a great day. I could just get lost here for sure.

I love this photo, it’s a “Flower Face” that we found in the garden, I guess you need to use your imagination.

We are off for a full day of hiking and then at 5:00 Barry is photographing some cowboys. See you tomorrow, Aimee

Good morning from Wyoming again. Aimee and I had a super fun Saturday out here on the ranch yesterday. We went with our friend Karine (who was just in Curacao with us) on four-wheelers in search of new fossil locations on their land. Aimee and I shared a vehicle and she drove, it was pretty much non-stop fun from the beginning till the end. We ended up finding some great new areas that I will go back to today while Aimee and Karine go horse back ridding. Last night we sat in on a fantastic home made country dinner and after celebrated two birthdays, again it was a really fun evening. Still fighting my cold/throat infection junk, what a drag, I am blaming my boss Dutch and his son for this as they were both super sick when I left, I knew I would get it!

Here is another fast snap-shot of the garden they have here. These are Gloriosa Daisys or Rudbeckia that are still busting with color and were screaming at me to come take their photo.

Off to play, talk to you again soon, Barry

Hello all, remember me? The last few days have been crazy! I lost my compact flash drive with all my pre-made and ready underwater photos, I can’t find it anywhere! I am thinking it fell out of a sweater pocket when I was taking it off but who knows!? Well let’s see, Thursday night I drove out to the airport and picked up Aimee who flew in for two weeks. After collecting luggage we had to stay in the airport for awhile due to an incredible thunderstorm that was dumping rain like you can’t imagine but after we all were treated to beautiful rainbows and the sound of chirping birds. I am still sick and yesterday went to a doctor who said I have some kind of lung infection and gave me some pills but so far they don’t seem to be doing much. Aimee and I spent yesterday shopping and driving around to see friends, it has been so much fun! In the afternoon we drove up to Hill City (about 25 miles from Rapid City) and spent the afternoon with our friend Neal Larson who is owner of the Black Hills Institute of Geological Research. Neal was great, he took us all over and gave us the grand tour, it’s really the most amazing place in South Dakota, I highly recommend this place on your next vacation to South Dakota. After that we met our friends Leon and Sheila at the World famous Alpine Inn steak house for dinner, it was fantastic and we all had a great evening. Aimee and I are now back up in Wyoming, we drove here early this morning. We will probably hang out on the ranch for a few days then head out fossil collecting starting on Monday.

That’s about it in a nutshell. Here’s a beautiful Zinna with a little green spider sitting on top, one of the zillions of beautiful and cool things out here on the ranch.

Talk to you all soon, Barry

Howdy all, how is everyone doing this fine Thursday morning? I am meeting my friend Dan early so I got up at 6:00. I still am fighting a cold but did get some much needed sleep last night. I am now back in South Dakota in Rapid City, I will stay here for a few days to get things ready to go back to Wyoming on Saturday morning. Yesterday was busy, it was only about an hour and a half drive to get home but then I went shopping and stopped in to see some friends that I had not seen for ages, it was great! I then spent around 2-3 hours going through mail that gets delivered to my US address and then re-packing that stuff and putting it with the rest of our stuff in storage!

Here’s a beautiful head of Lettuce Coral with great pattern and a little Peppermint Goby sitting on top claiming ownership! I was going thru a bunch of my old photos and realized I do not have many photos of Lettuce Coral and it’s so beautiful, something I will soon be watching out for and taking more pictures of. Some friends asked me yesterday if my gills were starting to dry out from being out of the water? My answer was yes! For those of you who have never been to the mid-West or the Wild West it’s dry! It immediatly started to burn my nose when I took a breath, I am used to such wet and humid air, this is really quite a change.

Sorry so short, just checking in like a good boy, I have goo meet Dan. See ya, Barry

Good morning friends. here’s a cleaning shrimp we hardly ever see and I finally found a place at Vaersenbaai with lots of them, they are called Scarlet-Striped Cleaning Shrimps. Like other cleaning Shrimps he spends most of his day waiting for a fish or eel to pull up into his own personal cleaning garage and then free of charge he will do what he does best, CLEAN! Without the help of these creatures on the reef we would have a lot of sick fish swimming around because they remove parasites that can cause infections, they are like shrimp Band-aids of sorts. I found a bunch of these guys in small cave and it was just big enough to get the front of my camera into, these  are the challenges of underwater photography.

Still sick with a dumb cold but I did go out hiking yesterday just the same. I didn’t have a great fossil day but did find a few things. Today I am heading back to South Dakota for a few days but will return in a few days again to pick up where I left off.

That’s about it, sorry so short I have lots to do. Barry

Good evening all, I am down with a cold or some kind of flu today so I took full advantage of my surroundings. I figured since I am completely surrounded by western motif and staying on a large cattle ranch why not put together a Western photo for my faithful readers. For many of you this gun needs no introduction, it’s the most sought after and famed gun of them all, the Colt 45 revolver. My friends here at the ranch were a big help today helping me put together this nostalgic collage for you and I want to thank them again for all their help and hospitality. Many historians remember the famous post-Civil War slogan that said, “Abraham Lincoln may have freed all men, but Sam Colt made them equal.” Before Colt’s revolving cylinder, “a shooter could only obtain a pistol with one- or two-barrel flintlocks,” according to ScopesGuide.com. The Colt revolver signaled a revolution in ballistic weaponry, transforming the tedious reloading process and low rate of fire. Samuel Colt’s legacy lives on as the company bearing his name continues to sell Colt revolver. 

Good morning friends, look what I found yesterday. This is called a Horned Toad. There are 8 species of horned lizards found in the United States. The horned lizard (“Horny Toad”) is the Texas State Reptile. Horned toads hibernate or sleep through the winter  usually from late September to March and April. A female horned toad may lay a clutch of 30 eggs and the babies will hatch in five to nine weeks. The Texas and Mountain Short Horned Lizards are a protected species and it is illegal for anyone to take, sell, or keep them. Their favorite food is ants and they can eat over 200 a day, but they will eat grasshoppers, crickets, beetles, pill bugs, and spiders as well. When I found him he was laying here on this rock with a very fat belly next to a big ant hill and could have cared less that I was there, he never moved. I think if I remember correctly they can spit blood as a defence but not sure about that.

I had another great vacation day yesterday, the weather here is still beautiful! I did come down with some kind of crud last night, I had a fever and a cough which made for a rough night, feeling a little better now.

Hope all is well, see you tomorrow, bye, Barry

Good morning from the States! It is so weird being here but in a good way! The first thing I did when I landed in Miami was head straight to a Pizza Hut, then I made a b-line directly to a Dunkin Donuts were I downed two yummy raspberry jelly filled donuts and topped it all off with a big thick home made pretzel, it was great! I was like a kid in a candy store, one could just fly to Miami and never leave the airport, they have every kind of food and all kinds of great stores! The worst thing about the Miami airport is the INSANE amount of walking you have to do to get thru customs and to your next flight, I mean really it’s too much! I kid you not, I walked fast, in fact faster than anyone else and it still took me one full hour to get all the way down to customs and then to my next flight,maybe that’s why I was so hungry! And as luck would have it by the time I boarded my flight to Chicago that I rushed to make, the Caption came on and said “folks we have a problem with the plane and we are waiting for parts, it could be 30-45 minutes”.  This message stirred concern with so many travelers who had to make connecting flights and after 20 minutes of waiting the Caption once again came on and said “folks, I am real sorry but we are going to have to ask you to take your carry on items and get off the plane”, hearing this everyone started to panic and there was a mad rush to the American Airlines desk where everyone made a long line and tried to re-route their flights, it was the biggest mess I have ever been involved in! I finally got to Chicago hours later and then once there had to find another flight other than American to get me to South Dakota as it had already left, I can’t even begin to tell you how much walking I did that day, good thing I was in shape for it! Like I said before traveling just plain sucks!

I had another super fun day of hiking yesterday and even got pretty sun-burned, especially my neck! It wasn’t the greatest day of fossil collecting but still I wouldn’t have wanted to be any where else, the day was perfect! I had again started my day with photographing flowers after a wonderful breakfast and then set out by jeep to my collecting areas.

During my days out on the prairie I am constantly being watched and surrounded by Pronghorn Antelope, they are so cool! The males are more brave than the females and come pretty close and stand above me on a hill barking at me! Yes barking, it’s the weirdest noise you will ever hear. I have also seen two baby Swift Foxes,a bunch of rare Sage Grouse, an owl with a snake in it’s mouth, a mother Wild Turkey with it’s nine babies,  a coyote, deer and countless birds and butterflies, this place is great!

Last night we went on a lightning watch. Right now there is a lot of dry grass out on the prairie’s and if they get a lightning strike it could start a bad grass fire. So what we did is drive to the top of multiple hills and just sit and watch for any lightning that may hit the ground and start a fire. Then, if there is a strike and fire starts they race to the spot with a truck and trailer with water in a large container and put it out! Thank goodness last night was uneventful even though we did see some big lightning strikes but it was far away over other areas which other ranchers will have to deal with.

Here’s a beautiful Intermediate Queen Angelfish for your viewing pleasure today, they are one of my all time favorites, so graceful and colorful!

That’s about it, off to play, hope all is well, Barry

Good morning friends, I am waking up in one of the most beautiful and peaceful places on planet Earth located in the upper right hand corner of Wyoming. Yesterday I arrived at my destination at around 8:30 and after a few hugs I immediately grabbed my camera and started shooting flowers that our friends have growing in their own prairie oasis! The garden these ladies have here is nothing short of spectacular, they should charge admission! So after an hour of running from one flower to the next I then took off on a fun afternoon of hiking the prairie on their ranch. I wish I could describe to you how quiet it was out there yesterday, no planes, no cars, no people, no nothing, just a gentle wind and the sound of my footsteps, it was great! I have told my friends from Curacao and Holland that you can stand at the top of any given hill here and look out in any direction and see nothing but land but I think that’s hard to believe unless you see it for yourself. I had a great day yesterday driving around in a jeep and collecting fossils and pretty much just singing to myself most of the day. In the evening I was treated to a dinner fit for a King with fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, and corn from their garden, yummy!

The above flower is for my dear wife who is working hard in Curacao today,  I sure wish you were here!

The good news, my luggage arrived! Better late than never! See you tomorrow, Barry

Hello friends, remember me? Well I finally made it to South Dakota but not with my luggage, they are still looking for it! My trip was terrible to say the least, it was one problem after another and in the end I was able to get a flight out of Chicago via United instead of with American Airlines. I arrived late last night flying thru a terrible lightning storm and finally got home at around midnight, traveling seems to just be getting worse and worse! The good news is, I am alive and all is well here. South Dakota is so green and beautiful and tomorrow I drive to Wyoming to start my week off by hiking in the field looking for fossil ammonites, I can hardly wait! I spent all day doing errends with my friend Dan like sending my camera equipment off to Ikelite to be repaired, going to the bank, meeting friends for lunch, shopping and going thru tons of old mail. Most of my friends here are laughing at me because I keep saying how cold it is yet they say it’s warm, will take some getting used to!

Here’s a fun shot of two different colored Trumpetfish hanging out together. We have four colors of Trumpetfish here in Curacao, yellow, red, brownish gray and my favorite, blue. I have been trying for years to get a photo of all four colors together but so far I haven’t had any luck but I am still trying!

I will try and send out another note from Wyoming tomorrow evening so please check back. Very sorry about the poor comunication this week, not even sure if Aimee got our internet fixed at home yet as well.

Have a great evening, Barry