Cancún 2024 - Pink Flower against B&W Background

This was on one of the tables set up for the reception; full color version below:

So ends the Cancún series.  Think next we'll go to Costa Rica for a very short series...

Cancún 2024 - Hors d'oeuvres at Reception

Had to take a pattern pic of these hors d'oeuvres during the reception, increasing the aperture to augment the bokeh a bit.

Cancún 2024 - First Look

I was asked to capture the "First Look", a thing in weddings now.  When the bride gets into her wedding dress and finery, she emerges from the dressing room so that her mom (and/or other important persons) can set eyes on her for the first time.  I arrived at the location in time, and was glad to see that a couple of other photographer relatives/friends were there to do the same thing.  Good to have backups.  The lighting and background were atrocious so we had our work cut out for us, and frankly I didn't have much confidence in the Bigger Cahoona's ability to make sense of it all.

There was a little delay before the bride was ready, so while I, along with the other two designated photographers, waited, we took lots of test shots to see if the situation was salvageable.  It was definitely going to be difficult; the sun was out strong and in just the wrong place, backlighting a very busy pattern on the curtains.  I was worried.  Are we going to end up with silhouettes here?  Yet to see...

After taking our test shots there was still time, so I began to look around for more interesting stuff to capture, and settled for the ceiling fixture above.

Finally the bride comes out, with mom looking on.  I must admit it was a touching scene, and got a little teary-eyed myself while everyone boo-hooed and blubbered about.  And in spite of the conditions working against us, I was able to create something useful:

The curtain pattern was done in hues of blue and was really distracting, especially since it was backlit by the sun, so I totally desaturated the color and gave it a Gaussian blur.  This allowed the eye to focus on the subject a little better, and in the end I was pleased with the story that it told and the result in general.

Cancún 2024 - Wedding Centerpiece

Since we were in Cancún for a wedding, thought I'd include a pic or two of decorations and other peripheral items.  This was a centerpiece in the "altar" area.

Cancún 2024 - Night Entertainment Reflection Shot

Just like on a cruise ship, these all-inclusive resorts have shows every night in various venues.  Because of its relatively slow lens I've learned not to bother carrying around the Bigger Cahoona at night, opting to capture any night shots with the handy and now-trusty iPhone 15 Pro Max, which did a passable job with this reflection.

Cancún 2024 - Coatimundi

Now THIS guy was a surprise.  Coatimundis were all over the place down there, sniffing out the trash cans or the occasional morsel dropped by a tourist.  They were just as pesky as the iguanas, being shooed back into the bushes if bothering guests in an open-air restaurant.  Saw some of these later during a trip to Costa Rica, so must have a range that extends throughout Central America. 

Images below captured with an iPhone: 

 

Cancún 2024 - Tree-dwelling Lizard

Look up into the trees and you're likely to see one of these guys...

Cancún 2024 - Restaurant Iguana / The Tournament

In an earlier post from 2017 I mentioned the population of iguanas running around in southern Mexico, comparing them to the squirrels in Houston neighborhoods.  I'd bet that our miniature Australian shepherd Koko, however, would only try to chase these guys once...

There were so many on the resort property that the wait staff and custodians were evidently quite used to shooing them away from customers in the outdoor eating venues. 

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Guns were a big part of growing up for me in Orange, Texas.  From my earliest years I've been enamored with the shooting sports, whether with my friends out in the woods with BB guns or later in life with real firearms.  And so far as I know, I'm the only one of my siblings who took to the hobby/sport in any serious way.

Back in the '60's it was a rite of passage when you received your first BB gun, either as a gift or with months of saved allowance money.  I don't remember ever owning a BB rifle, but remember quite vividly my first BB pistol.  Mine was the pride of my friend group because it could shoot either BB's, pellets, or darts framed in an automatic look-alike, so looked like a real gun (and was heavy like a real gun, too).  My buddies and I spent gobs of time out in the woods plinking at whatever could serve as a target, moving or otherwise.

My passion for guns did not go unnoticed by Dad, who bought me a used Winchester .22 rifle for $35 when I was eleven years old, then joined me in a rifle club so that I could learn safety and responsible gun ownership.  The meetings were in the Orange Community Center (at 20th & Burton Streets), so every Monday night Dad and I would go there to first hear a safety talk, then practice shooting in the indoor range.  A new member would always start in the prone position, then move up to the sitting, kneeling and standing positions as proficiency in each was reached.  I've always had a steady hand, so scored well and moved up at a fairly rapid pace.  After qualifying in standing, my dad pulled one of the biggest surprises of my young life.

Every year there was a tournament, when the members would compete amongst themselves in age classes.  I would obviously compete with the younger kids, those under twelve years of age.  The tournament went on for about a month during the shooting portion of those Monday night meetings.  I didn't think a whole lot about it, because the only difference was that my score would be recorded and ranked against everyone else in my age bracket.  No big deal...I practiced at home (dry firing) and just did my best as always.

Then the tournament ended and in a special meeting the winners were announced, beginning with third place in each of the two age groups.  I sat listening, and wasn't surprised - and frankly didn't even care much - when I didn't hear my name for either third, second or first place among those under twelve years old.  So we sat through and I listened with mild interest as they began announcing the winners for the oldest age group, those twelve up to sixteen years of age.  The third-place winner was announced, then the second.  After that I heard something that shook me out of my lethargy...MY NAME!!  Bewildered, I rose, went to the front and accepted the first-place trophy.  Still clueless and naive about what had just taken place, immediately after the meeting while we were still there milling around, I asked him about the discrepancy and he told me to shut up.  Yes, Dad LIED ABOUT MY AGE in the paperwork when he signed me up for the tournament so that I could compete with the oldest group.

I don't have too many photographs from my youth, but one I did keep was a picture Dad took of me holding the trophy when we got home that night:

Oddly, I lost interest after that.  After all, where was I going from there?  "Been there, done that" sort of thing, I suppose.  It took a few weeks before I got the nerve to tell Dad that I didn't feel like going to the meetings any more, so we quit.  But the memory will always remain of the time Dad spent with me on those Mondays, and what he did to give me a chance to succeed at the top of the heap.

Cancún 2024 - Palm Frond with Glowing Edges

Glowing Edges effect below:

 

Cancún 2024 - Purple Flower with Bud

All kinds of plants and flowers, no matter where you were on the property or which way you turned your head...