Meetup Photo Shoot ( SURVOPS ) at the Botanical Garden

Great weather, good subjects, plenty of places to practice different settings, super companions. Aimelie, Jeff and I headed for the Rose Garden first, hoping to loop back around and regroup with Kelly and the rest of the unit. We bribed a troll and crossed his bridge and sneaked up on a pair of enormous cranes and tried different aperture settings to get different DOFs. Aimelie hypnotized them so they didn't move a muscle the whole time. Then we checked out the Eagles' Nest, The NATO Tower ( where we watched a goose orgy in the nearby creek - no respect for the visitors ! ), then through the Colonial Herb Garden where we shot some selfies whilst watching out for IEDs disguised as duck doo. A detour through the outback off the trail led us to the shore of Lake Whitehurst where we encountered a rare wetlands sea monster sunning on a log. Somebody tried to make it look like an army helment, but we knew better. Jeff used his expert tactics to send him scurrying. After recon in the Statuary Villa and searching, identifying and questioning the usual suspects, we thought about navigating the Coronation Pool until I remembered the double-headed cotton mouth serpents with rattles hiding there. We cut a trail through the brush and encountered nine lions guarding the pond from the other side. They appeared to be non-hostile, so we left the area. Through the Camellia Garden and around the Friendship Pond where we spotted an orange alligator who had sabotaged the fountain. ( Well, it looked like a gator through my lens. ) A short cut through the Sunken and Japanese Gardens finally led us back to Command Post, but it was abandoned. We had left a trail of bread crumbs to mark the trail, but the ducks had eaten them. We kept hearing a lot of aircraft activity within close range, but it appeared to be friendly. Aimelie's cell phone was out of range and it was getting dark and stormy and there were strange noises coming from the trees, and a squirrel ran off with my shoes so we decided to retreat to our vehicles and assess the damages and stow our gear. I think we had a good mission, considering all the unexpected. We never did see the other units. I hope they didn't fall prey to the Pumas or Gazorts that live in the crevices. Bring 'em back alive has always been my motto. I think we may have managed to capture a few good images during all this. If so, they will be posted in the Picture This Photostream on Flickr

Strange resemblance to Yours Truly