ever since we lost andy, i haven't spent much time in here....

[Gato Moteado]

...i never got to meet him but we communicated regularly and he was planning on coming down for a visit, with peggy, to photograph monkeys and frogs and other wildlife at my house this year.

the fact that he was a photography industry professional and a great photographer, the kind words and praise he had for my work meant so much to me, because i'm really rarely, if ever, completely happy with the photos i produce.

something still seems to be missing here. i bet a lot of you guys and gals feel the same as i do.

peggy and some other folks in here will still be coming to visit and photograph rain forest wildlife, hopefully this year, and i'm looking forward to that. in the mean time, here are some recent monkey photos from the last week or so, just outside my house....i know andy would have something to say about them.

[brer cat]

1. I'm glad you are back sharing your little "friends."

Andy will certainly be missed here.

[Gato Moteado]

10. from one gato to another, thank you, brer cat

[BComplex]

2. Andy was certainly one of a kind. DU was his special home.

And he sure didn't deserve what Paypal did to him! I always miss him. ❤️

[Gato Moteado]

8. hey there.....thank you for your reply....i think you might be referring to andy stephenson......

.....who was involved in fighting election fraud after the 2000 election and who died from cancer quite a while ago. i remember the right wing garbage, mainly freepers, mounting a campaign to shut off his access to paypal and other platforms people were using to fund-raise for him to help pay his hospital bills. i actually knew andy stephenson personally....i met him in a political forum before i joined DU (and i joined DU a long time ago). he was living in seattle and i was living in austin, which was actually his home town. he would stay at my house, or the houses of other DUers, when he would visit austin back in the days before he got sick.

my post here was referring to andy, who was a member of this photography forum, and who passed away very recently after a short battle with cancer.

[BComplex]

15. Sorry for the mix up.

And very sorry for your loss. I did not know the photography forum Andy, but DU has had some remarkably talented photographers, and all of you seems special in so many ways! It's obvious in what lies at the heart of your art.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

3. My dear Gato--I'm so glad to see you here today . . .

These are just wonderful photos! I know Andy would have had incisive and meaningful things to say about them. I have no idea what. That was part of his genius.

I really miss his presence.

[Gato Moteado]

9. thanks, peg

yeah it's not the same here without him

[Callalily]

4. Yes, we all miss Andy, not just his presence but his insightful comments.

Glad that you are posting again Gato. Your monkey photos are great, showing off their personalities.

[Gato Moteado]

11. thank you....i take so many photos that i don't upload....

...because i'm not happy with them....and i go thru them all and process a lot of them, and at times i get tired of looking at my work, which pales in comparison to the work of people i look to for inspiration.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

5. +100 and wonderful shots.

[Gato Moteado]

12. thank you.....

...for some nice encouragement.

[wendyb-NC]

6. Those are wonderful photographs

The topic of "rain forest wildlife" is an adventure, in a way, for me since I live north of regions where these precious creatures range. Thank you for sharing them.

[Gato Moteado]

13. thank you.....

....yes, these guys would freeze in the wilds of NC in the winter:

[JustinBulletin]

7. Absolutely beautiful photos!

Thanks for sharing. You have talent!

[Gato Moteado]

14. thank you so much!