Blog Header Roundup - Week 1

I hope you've all enjoyed watching the header photo change each day for the last week.
Each photo I've displayed at the top of the blog has a story.
Below are the images (small but clickable), each with background information.

8/8 - the "Meadors 2-Shot"A good friend of mine, Cindy Meadors, who specializes in wedding photography, took this photo.

It was taken during a photo shoot here in Newport Beach and was shot from the shore near the base of the Lido Bridge. I'm in the foreground rowing The Phoenix with Jackie Wheeler and a friend as models. the gondolier in the background is Joey Hamamoto on The Wedding Gondola with Kat Tran and Steve O as passengers. The "Meadors 2-Shot" was one of the first header photos here on the Gondola Blog.
8/9 - "Flying Angel"I shot this on March 22nd, 2009 before one of Sunset Gondola's famous pilgrimages to Captain Jack's. The angel in the photo is actually statue of "victory" and sits atop the bow of "Nellie" a Sunset Gondola boat, in the spot where we often see a small rose-vase known as a canon.

8/10 - the "Shimmer Shot"This was taken in Newport Beach around '97. It was shot on film and captures some of the many colors we see in Newport after sunset. The gondola is one of our motorized versions with a varnished mahogany deck and canopy.

8/11 - "Rough Rowing in Venice"I took this from a vapporetto in 2005. The gondolier had taken off from in front of Piaza San Marco and was encountering some moto ondoso. He handled it like it was nothing, but his passengers weren't really enjoying things at that point.

8/12 - "Andrew and Friend"On July 15th, 2009, Sunset Gondola invited a bunch of friends to help them celebrate three years. While sharing stories about Venice, Andrew McHardy talked about going "snail hunting" with an old Venetian. A local snail slimed by and I put it in his hand and snapped off a few shots. The photos were all vertical but I wanted to use one as the header above the "boveoti" post anyway. Stranger things have been done...like eating snails!

8/13 - the "Green Gondola"
In 2006, while motoring around the canals of Venice in Gilberto Penzo's boat, he steered the boat through the Rio Nuovo and towards Dorsoduro. In the sestier of Santa Croce, along the Rio Malcanton I saw this very antiquated green racing gondola and caught a decent shot.

8/14 - Sniping in Alamitos Bay
During one of my passes through Long Beach, I pulled over and shot this with my long lens. The gondolier was just getting his boat together. I took a bunch of shots, but I liked this one the most. Anyone know who the gondolier is?


As promised, the header photo will change each day for the next two weeks, with some more of my favorites, along with a few new images too.
Enjoy!