After seeing Phil off this afternoon I grabbed the Nikon D300 and the Tokina 100 macro with UV filter. It was bright out today, so I put the hood on the lens. There was a moderate breeze, which made shooting difficult when trying to capture close-up subjects such as flowers and spiders on webs. I was successful in getting only a few “very sharp” photos. I’m also shooting handheld, as I didn’t bring a tripod or monopod. I’ll post what I think are the best photos over the next few days, after I cull them out. Tomorrow morning should bring softer light and calmer winds.
Until then, here are a few abstract photos using natural and manmade objects as the subject. I like shooting patterns, or blurring the background or foreground, to obtain a variety of effects and/or distortion. Some of you may not like these photos, but to me they add dimension or stretch our visual reality. Whatever trips your trigger. These are the original natural light shots from this afternoon. No post-processing or photoshop funny business was applied.
Food report: Phil and I ate dinner at La Cordeliere last night. I had sea bass, Phil had Mexican tenderloin strip. We opted to order off the menu, though it was “Prime Rib Night”. We both were happy with the service, the dining environment, presentation, and quality of the food. This was my idea of a “litmus test” for La Cordeliere. As I stated previously in this blog, my last dinner experience at the restaurant was less than acceptable. This time I give La Cordeliere an A-.
There are only a few things that continue to “bug” me when eating at La Cordeliere: First, the response I seem to get from the La Cordeliere servers when I ask to order off the menu, rather than ordering the nightly special or the breakfast buffet. Each time I order off the menu, I get a brief “glare” or “mild grumble”. I’m not imagining this. It happened again this morning, with an unfamiliar server, when we turned down the daily breakfast buffet, and requested menus. When we eventually received our food, everything was fine. Weird. Secondly, the hostess is sometimes very polite and accommodating, at other times not. The restaurant needs to be a bit more selective in hiring those positions. Mind you, I’ve never asked a La Cordeliere hostess for preferential seating, or anything, for that matter. And, I’m always cordial. Why should they be bitchy? I do seem to get better treatment, overall, at La Cordeliere, when Angel is here with me. Hmmmm … what’s that all about?
Anyway, the La Cordeliere food and service for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, has been “very good to excellent” this trip, so they are off my “will not recommend list” for now. I will send the management an email at the end of the trip, along with the standard written “Personal Guest Assessment”. I recommend that all guests do this if they are planning to return. The Emerald Bay management welcomes your feedback. This will likely result in an improved facility and services, if the criticism or recommendations are both polite and constructive.
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