We are now officially residents of Big Bear Lake, California. Here's a few images taken with the Pentax K-3 and the DA* 16-50mm.

Email: brqyvn@gmail.com 

 Hi Photographer friends,

We finally settled in and today was our first outing. We just drove across the lake, stopped by the Big Bear Lake Discovery Center and walked along the beach.  We ended our mini-trek at Starbuck.

I spoke with a ranger at the Discovery Center and learned that Bald Eagles were making Big Bear Lake their home in the winters. The reason is that moist of them live up North in the summer, all the way to Northern Canada, and when the lakes freeze over, they travel south. Big Bear Lake is at around 7,000 ft elevation and the lake doesn't freeze. They are approximately 30 Bald Eagles around the lake. Next week, we will participate in counting Bald Eagles that are around the lake. They will drive us at a location where the eagles have been seen before.  There will be dozens of us all around the lake, spotting them.

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Big Bear Lake As many as 30 eagles winter around this and other nearby mountain lakes in the San Bernardino Mountains. They typically arrive in November from Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Canada and Alaska, heading to Big Bear, Silverwood and Arrowhead lakes and staying until early April. Starting in December, the Big Bear Discovery Center offers guided van tours around Big Bear Lake to at least 10 spots where the birds nest and hunt. 

Info: (909) 382-2790, www.bigbeardiscoverycenter.com.

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I think I'm going to love this place. Nature is all around us and I can only imagine what photo opportunities awaits.

The Ski resort on the South side of the lake.

There is no pollution at that elevation.

Billboard for lovers

Tall grass, fresh water and blue sky

We named her Ruby!

A neighbor taking a walk.

She has a permanent smile since we moved here.

Our house is about where she points at.

Thank you for reading,

Yvon Bourque

2014 was a busy year for me. Writing e-books for the Pentax DSLRs, travelling and blogging.

Email: brqyvn@gmail.com

 Hi Photographer friends,

The year 2014 was a busy year for us. It was our second year travelling across the U.S. with our RV. We started the year in Donna, Texas, travelled east all the way to Florida, and then North all the way to Maryland and all the interesting places in between.

We started our way back to California at the end of July and ended up in the Temecula Valley, in an RV Resort. Mid-December, we decided that we had enough of RVing. It’s one thing to travel, but being stationary with the “Snow Birds” is not our cup-of-tea. We found a house in Big Bear Lake, where believe it is going to be the perfect combination of outdoor activities, beautiful scenery and cultural interaction.

I will concentrate more on my photography here and will certainly continue using Pentax as my preferred photographic equipment.

Thank you for allowing me in your cyber world and I wish you all a Happy and Prosperous New Year.

The following images are some of the places visited in 2014, in no particular order.

Donna Texas

Victoria Palms RV Resort, Texas

Mexico

Padre Islands, Texas

New Orleans

Las Cruces, New Mexico

Breaux Bridge Swamp, Louisiana

St Augustine and Jacksonville, Florida

Lancaster, Pennsylvania - Dutch Country

Bandera, Texas

San Diego, California

RV Resort in the Temecula Valley, California

Big Bear Lake, our new home.

Big Bear Lake is like an Island at 8,000 ft elevation, in the middle of Los Angeles. Where else and you go to the beach in the morning, Ski in the afternoon and eat at a five star restaurant at night...all within about an hour drive, and almost all year round? I think we found our niche.

Thank you for reading,

Yvon Bourque

Visit us on Facebook and please like us. Our Facebook page is updated more often with news about Ricoh / Pentax.

Click here to see our e-books for Pentax DSLRs.

I'm turning another page of my life, but I'm not ever abandoning photography or my Pentax equipment.

Email: brqyvn@gmail.com 

 Hi Photographer friends,

If you followed my blog for the last seven years, you might remember that one of my first hobby, beside photography, was four wheeling with a 1988 Jeep YJ that I restored. I had named her " Ms. Peggy". I loved the Jeep because it also provided me with a way to go just about anywhere to take pictures. In 2011, I reluctantly sold the Jeep and got my first travel trailer with the idea in mind of using it to go places for short periods of time and take pictures. 

This is my 1988 Jeep YJ, named "Ms. Peggy".

The Jeep brought me and my Pentax camera system
 to locations otherwise unreachable.

The setup provided me with shelter, and everything I needed to print or publish my images.  I enjoyed that venture a lot and we indeed drove to many locations and took a lot of pictures. I traded the Jeep for a Chevy pickup and a used travel trailer.It turned out that a trailer was an ideal place to write and publish my e-books. Internet was available almost everywhere and all my computer gear and photography equipment came along with me. 

My ole Chevy and my first travel trailer that
 I restored inside and out. It was a fun project.

It served as my Photography studio and office for a while.

Although we didn't travel very far with it, this RV was helpful
in getting acquainted with the life style.

I liked it so much that on the second year, we decided to upgrade to a newer RV and a bigger Pickup truck. So I bought a 28 foot Road Ranger Fifth Wheel. The sales person assured me that my Chevy pickup with a 350 cu engine and four wheel drive would be plenty strong to pull the RV. WRONG! So I had to sell the Chevy and finally got a Ford F350 dually with a 7.3 Liter diesel engine. That certainly did the trick. In July of 2013, I decided to retire and travel the Country in search of adventures and locations to take pictures in a photojournalist way. My spouse was not that enthusiastic as me but she accepted the challenge. The first year was wonderful. We travel from California to Florida and several places in between. Then we headed up North-East almost to New-York. Again we visited many Cites along the way. On our way down South, we realized that a 28 foot Fifth Wheel RV is great but still a little cramped. Once in Jacksonville, Florida, we traded the RV for a much bigger Fifth Wheel. 

My first Fifth Wheel RV.  This is when we actually decided
 to plan our retirement as full time RVers.

We traveled half the Country with this RV. We have made memories
for a life time. We also met wonderful people
and made new friends all over the Country.

I had my own little office in it. An office with a view.
Most of my e-books were written while on the road.

We traded for a 35 foot Alpenlite Fifth Wheel with three slide-outs. The actual length, front to end , actually measured more like 37 feet. This thing is, like home with plenty of space. It has a home size shower, washer and dryer, three flat screen TVs, including one that can be watched from an outside compartment, electric fireplace, etc. There is plenty of room for my photographic equipment and computers. This unit is self-contained and  setup to stay just about anywhere for extended periods of time. So we left Florida toward the end of the summer and headed back to California for the upcoming winter. We are in the Temecula valley for the winter. It's a great area and the weather is perfect.

This is where the complications started. My wife has developed some health issues through the years and now this nomadic life is becoming harder for her. This is where another page of my life is turning. The traveling setup will be sold and we will settle in a brick & Mortar home.

That's when we made a leap-of-faith
and got a much bigger setup.

I will miss this period
and I have nothing but good memories of this trip.

I even have another office within the RV space.

That's life! However, I am not abandoning photography, and will continue using my good Pentax equipment. I am not quitting RVing all together. I will get a smaller travel trailer and a smaller vehicle to tow it with. Our trips will now be for a few days or weeks at a time, and not across the Country. We will established ourselves somewhere close to California, Nevada and Arizona. The weather is ideal and there are so many National Parks and interesting places to visit and photograph. Think of Las Vegas, Yosemite National Park, Sierra National Forest,  Death Valley National Park, Joshua Tree National Park, Grand Canyon National Park, and so on.

I see a future full of adventures and photographic opportunities.
The road ahead is promising. I need ti live to one hundred...

So in the end, unless something really bad happens, I am just modifying the approach to my passion. I have to tell you that travelling with a big rig, the camping fees, the fuel, the food, the tolls, etc aren't cheap. 

Thank you for reading.

Yvon Bourque

Check our e-books for the Pentax Cameras.

Visit us on Facebook and  like us. 

Our Facebook page is updated more often with news about Ricoh / Pentax.

Click here to see or purchase our e-books for Pentax DSLRs.

Yvon Bourque

Attended Montreal

Lives in Apple Valley, CA

5,086 followers|5,113,498 views

Photography is changing. It's now the media of choice for many.

Email: brqyvn@gmail.com 

 Hi Photographer friends,

In my opinion, photography for the professional photographers and advanced amateurs will continue to expand with new DSLRs and other types of digital cameras, but I believe the majority of people under 30 are going another direction completely. 

The cell phones are definitely pushing the point & shoot cameras out of the way. Cell phones are having better sensors and better glass than just a few years ago. The generation pushing us out of the way do not care much about printed photographs.  I was reminded of that the other day when my youngest daughter told me she never uses her Pentax K-r. She uses her iPhone and post photos of her life on Facebook and Instagram.

She said "Dad, I really don't use my Pentax. With the iPhone, it's like I document my whole life. I save the pictures on my hard drive, and its also saved on Instagram, plus Apple iClouds".

Instagram allows some cool photo manipulations and it's what the pushing generations are using.

I have to agree that it's a great way to document one's life and events and share it with your family, friends or the whole world if you choose to. I have two daughters and, although I talk to them often on the phone and converse with them on the net, I know what's going on in their life daily. 

We live in a great technology era, all the while the world is financially crumbling around us.

Here's some pictures I get from them. I know that these images mean nothing to you, but it's the idea that I can see my children and grandchildren growing day by day.  

Photography is changing.

Yes, the "Still Crazy after all these years" weekend was great.

Email: brqyvn@gmail.com

Hi Photographer friends,

My reunion with my friend Pierre went as planned and even better. Firstly, you know, it’s been thirty four years since we have seen each other, and that’s a long time by any standard. That's more than half my life and his as well.

I imagined what he would look like after all these years, and I'm sure he did the same. Well, our physiques have changed, but our craziness hasn't. Of course, our brains now make promises that our body can't fulfill...but we try anyway.

I was hoping that all would go well between Pierre's wife "Marie" and my wife "Anne" added to the mix, and it did. Both wives got along really well and that made the weekend an even more enjoyable and wonderful experience. All four of us felt like we were all old friends. Their dog, "Jinny", a full size female Poodle was also part of our weekend. What a great dog.

A lone palm tree along the Colorado River.

The view on the River is spectacular.

Tthe Jet Boat Pierre brought with them for the winter.

A baby Burros in Oatman, Arizona.

They come in the Town everyday to get their share of food.

It rained on the way back home, but even the rain was beautiful.

The first day, aside of reminiscing, we went for a long boat trip along the Colorado River, between Needles and Lake Havasu. I didn't know that the Colorado River was that nice along that stretch. We closed the first day with a good steak at the "Outback".

We were going to go boating the next day, but as it turned out, it was a little cold and windy. We went for a long drive in the area, on the old Route 66. We ended up in the small town of Oatman, Arizona. This used to be a gold mining town. When the gold rush was over, the burros that were used to carry materials in and out of the mines were abandoned. They survived in the wild, and still today, they come to town to get fed by the local people and tourists.

We spent a day in Lake Havasu City, and were surprised at how much it has grown over the years. That's where the old London Bridge was moved to and reassembled one stone at a time, like a gigantic puzzle. Lake Havasu is known for its boat racing and Pierre has been there often during his career as a power boat owner and racer. He owned many racing boats and won major races through the years. He broke some bones at one time or another, but racing was in his blood, and still is. His eyes light up when the conversation includes boats and racing.

I believe Mr. Cognac was his first sponsored race boat, about thirty some years ago.

This is the last boat he raced with...scary!

That was the reunion on the surface. The other part of our reunion was one that few people get to experience. Pierre and I were best friends from the day we could walk through our primary school years. We were both dreamers from the "get-go" and dreamed of building all kinds of revolutionary stuff, and God knows...we tried. My wife Anne, realized quickly why we were such good friends...we're both alike, yakking away about technical stuff, things we did as young boys, and wondering how we made it thus far, etc. For me, it was sort of a bitter sweet reunion. Sweet because we started right where we had left off,  just like we had never gone on a different path in life.  Bitter, or more like a little sad, because looking at our older selves, it made me think of how fast life goes by and that we should never take anything for granted. We likely have more years behind us than ahead of us, and I intend to live each day like it was my last. It won't be another thirty four years before we get together again. We're already planning to get together in the near future. This time around, I plan to stay in touch. Like I said in the previous blog, you have a lot of acquaintances in life, but very few true friends. I feel blessed that Pierre and I are true friends.

Thanks for reading,

Yvon Bourque

Pierre and Marie

Me and Anne

P.S. This article, being on a photography blog, I would like to mention that all the pictures were taken with my trusty Pentax K-5, the K-r and the new Q.