New Project/Equipment Change

I have made some recent equipment changes.  I really like the Sigma lenses, so I have traded out one lens for a new one.  I now have a Sigma 18-250 f3.5-6.3 lens.  It should be good for our trip to Alaska this summer.  I can't wait to try it out.  I have also purchased a new camera.  I just bought the Nikon Coolpix P7000.  It is a great compact camera.  In fact, I carry the P7000 with me almost everywhere.  I am starting a new summer project called: Farm Barns, Silos, and Water Towers.  Most, if not all, of these pictures will be taken with my new Coolpix P7000.  Here are a couple of the images to start my collection.

Pictures for a Gloomy Midwest Winter

A little less than 1 year ago I took a trip to Newport Beach California.  May, 2010 to be exact.  I have been to San Francisco a couple of times, but never Southern California.  I am addicted.  SoCal is great.  The weather is perfect and the sights are fantastic.  I was staying in Anaheim.  I asked the concierge for the closest beach and he recommended Newport Beach.  Swore it was a short cab ride (I did not have a rental car).  Turned out to be the most expensive cab ride of my life.  Following are a few of my best pictures of the hour or so I had on the beach in Newport Beach.  I love them anyway, but it does bring back warm thoughts on a cole midwestern winter day.