Weekly Photo Challenge: Glow
We have just recently returned from a wonderful safari trip to Tanzania. When I saw the subject of this week’s challenge, I immediately went to this photo. I took this after one our first days in the wild at Tarangire National Park. We were staying at a wilderness camp with just my wife and I, our guide, and 3 beautiful people to take care of our every need in camp. I selected this photo as it captures many glows – the fading sunglow on the horizon, the star glow appearing in the darkening sky, the moon glow almost directly overhead, and the glow from our campfire embers both on the ground and reflected in the massive Baobab Tree above. This is a scene to remember for many years to come.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Evanescent
One of many Grand Canyon morning memories
I just recently returned from 16 days on a Dory trip down the entire length of the Grand Canyon. The trip was remarkable with changing scenes and moods around every bend in the circuitous meandering of the river. I’ve chosen the photo above as an example of one of those fleeting scenes. The sun just peeking over the canyon, the clouds providing some change overhead, and the quickly advancing rays of the sun greeting the canyon and a dry wash littered with rocks – all of these added to this quick flash in time – never to be seen again in this exact form. I was glad I was able to capture it and keep that morning alive in my (and hopefully your) mind.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Earth
Last October as I was driving home from a little time in the desert and the Sierras, I stopped along highway 395 and took this morning shot of the Sierras near Lone Pine, California. The cars were whizzing by me as I framed the shot so I didn’t spend a lot of time to get it right. The lava rock and a few scraggly sage bushes were the only foreground I could use but I still liked this photograph because of the mix of the rocks, the face of the mountain range, and the dramatic clouds above. To me it is a simple photo but one that catches the essence of “Earth”.
Scenic Highway
Weekly Photo Challenge: Surprise
When we were in India in 2013, I took hundreds, if not thousands, of candid shots out the car window. After the first hour or two in country it was apparent that we would never get to our destinations if we stopped for every photo opportunity. I told our driver(s) to just keep going and I would try to get the shots without stopping. While this yielded some bad pictures that were either obstructed or blurred, it also yielded many which I like and show some of the character of that vast country. I looked back through some of those photos for this challenge and decided on this one – taken out the windshield of our vehicle with the subject of a women in the car in front of us. I really liked the juxtaposition of her face and expression with the “eyes” decal on the window (a frequent sight in India). It was a quick surprise encounter but one which I continue to enjoy…..
A surprise eye-full
Weekly Photo Challenge: Dense
I must admit that I was tempted to just post a picture of the guy that currently occupies our oval office…
I thought that might be a little crass so I opted for a different interpretation for this week’s challenge: Dense. I took this photo from a small boat off one of the largest Ghats in the holy city of Varanasi, India. Tens of Thousands of people gather every night to participate in the prayers led by the holy men along the banks of the river Ganges. Our guide told us that during the religious holidays, Varanasi is the densest population center on the planet. While I cannot verify that information, our attempt to exit the area after the prayers certainly had to go through one of the densest and most chaotic traffic jams I have ever seen.
Just a small service….
Weekly Photo Challenge: It’s easy to be Green
Just did a quick search to find a photo for this week’s challenge. While this may not be the best fit, this guy seems to be enjoying his green surroundings…… I took this in the very early morning at one of the stops on a European River Cruise a few years back. I found this statue on a wall just off the empty main square of a beautiful little town (can’t remember the name right now). I loved the look on his face, the natural flora, and even the bikes parked nearby. I still find this photo relaxing and a nice reminder of that solitary morning.
A natural smile…..
Weekly Photo Challenge: Atop
Feeling lazy so I’ll take the easy way out this week and choose another photo from Edinburgh for this week’s challenge, atop. This is a fairly regular view from “atop” one of the hills surrounding Edinburgh. Although it is a normal view for postcards, you can understand why it is popular as it gives you a nice vantage point for the primary sights of the city. In particular, the clocktower on the right centre of the photo is on the beautiful Balmoral Hotel, to the right of that is the Scott memorial (to Sir Walter Scott), and to the left is the Edinburgh Castle high on another hill. I normally don’t like to take views from above cities (skyscrapers or observation towers) because they seldom provide a view into the character of the city. I think this view is different in that it is not high enough to hide the character of the main buildings and it provides a nice overview of where everything is……
Nice view of Edinburgh’s sights
I should mention that the memorial in the foreground is to Dugald Stewart, a Scottish mathematician and philosopher of the 17 and 1800s.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Wish
I hate to climb on the church related responses to this challenge but we recently had the opportunity to do some photography in and around St. Giles cathedral in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was a rainy couple of days so I was able to get some external and internal shots of this beautiful church which dates back to the 1100’s and was rebuilt in the late 1300s after a fire destroyed much of the original structure. I am not normally drawn to take lots of photos of cathedrals but I found this one to be very photogenic and we also used it as a refuge to stay out of the downpour.
Rainy Conversation
I took this first photo not long after we arrived in Edinburgh. There were actually quite a few people on the rainy streets but this long exposure “ghosted” most of them out of the picture. Even though the photo was taken over a period of about 50 seconds, the two ladies in the foreground kept chatting for the entire time so they were captured along with the cathedral. I liked the context they added so I didn’t reshoot the picture or try to remove them in processing……
Almost 1000 years of wishes
The next photo is of one of the main chambers of the church. The lighting was low but dramatic and yielded just enough color to make the stone building seem warm on this stormy day. Any time I am in a historic place of worship such as this one, I cannot help but to try and imagine the different ways the people lived during the lifetime of the building and how their hopes and dreams differed over time while at the same time remaining fairly constant in theme.
Weekly Photo Challenge: The Road Taken
We had lots of roads taken over the last week as we were in Scotland, London, and Ireland. Many of the roads were very shiny as it was raining- a lot. On our first evening in Dublin we went wandering around the city looking for a place to eat and have a drink. We ended up right in front of the famous Temple Bar so I took a couple of shots there before we went on to eat and drink elsewhere. In any case, we were glad to see it and we went on to a great night on the town in Dublin.
The road taken but a door not opened…..
Weekly Photo Challenge: A good match
We just happen to be in London for a few days and snapped a shot yesterday that “matches” this week’s challenge perfectly. I called this “three symbols of London” because it has the iconic underground sign for the subway system, Big Ben in the distance, and it also shows a cloudy sky….which has been consistent since we’ve been here……
Where else could it be besides London?
Weekly Photo Challenge: Against the Odds
I’m a little late on my photo for the week as I wanted to finish my political thoughts before I looked at the challenge. While this photo may not scream Against the Odds to you, it sure does for me. Back in October my friend Ross and I were out in Rainbow Canyon (near Death Valley) taking photos of military aircraft who often fly through that canyon. The photographic process for such an endeavour is a lot like fishing – hours of quiet boredom punctuated by moments of frenzy when an aircraft enters the canyon at high speed. While we were just sitting there waiting for the aircraft to cooperate we amused ourselves with trying to catch a photo of a kangaroo rat running in and out of the rocks that formed our perch on the canyon edge. The fact that the animals were very quick and very small combined with the reality that they can appear from anywhere to make this a very difficult photo shoot. After a plethora of failed attempts, we finally resorted with trying to bait the little fella out of the rocks. While that sounds like cheating, it still did not make for an easy shot – our “model” would still vary his approach direction and timing and also make all of his attempts with a very quick in and out run. We finally did get some pretty decent shots of the little guy but I though I’d post this one showing him on his way in to the Cheeto lunch table that we had prepared for him….
a worthy adversary…
Weekly Photo Challenge: Shadow
I chose a local photo from our neighbourhood for this week’s challenge shadow. I took this about a month ago when my wife pointed out this kitten sitting on a doorstep across the street. I thought the very prominent shadow being cast against the bright wall made for an interesting photo – I’ll let you be the judge….
A mere shadow of itself…..
Weekly Photo Challenge: Ambiance
To me there is no better example of ambiance than a sunset – especially along the coast or up in the mountains somewhere. Combined with reflections off the water (in this case, a very low tide) there is nothing better to set a beautiful and colorful mood. This photo is taken of the crystal pier in Pacific Beach just as the sun sets right on the horizon. Hope you enjoy the calm and peaceful feeling of this photo on a sure to be tumultuous week…..
Breath in and smell the salt water…..
Weekly Photo Challenge: Anticipation
As someone who spends a fair amount of time photographing wildlife it would be easy to talk about the excitement and expectation of capturing a great image of a wild and unpredictable subject. Instead, I wanted to share a photo that is not uncommon but often overlooked – that look of anticipation and wonder on the faces of the wildlife we encounter – concerned about whether we are predators or just wondering what the heck we are doing in their domain. I chose this photo from a walking safari we did in Nepal – if that is not a look of anticipation, then I’ve never seen one…..
Weekly Photo Challenge: New Horizons
There’s nothing that signifies a new beginning or horizon to me better than the sunrise of a brand new day. It gets even more exhilarating and significant when that new horizon happens to be looking to the sea with the sun rising in the east. I took this photo in Poipu beach, Hawaii last year. The colors of the sky were in stark contrast to the black lava rock that rims the coastline. A worthy sight and memory to begin any day or any endeavor.
Colors and Contrast
Gone….
Both summer and the crowds that it brings…..
Gone
Didn’t have a camera with me this morning at the beach in San Diego…..remembered I had my I-phone to capture the deserted beach walkway.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Relax
When I saw the subject of this week’s challenge, I thought of many photos but ended up choosing this one from a 2012 trip to Alaska. We had just landed and set up camp for a week with the Brown Bears in the Katmai. We took a short walk from our camp and watched as some of the bears grazed in the field. We eventually followed this bear as he made his way to the stream, plopped down, and immediately dozed off. He didn’t seem to mind at all that the 5 of us were nearby clicking away with our cameras – He was much too relaxed to care…
let sleeping bears lie….
Thanksgiving for Dog Lovers
We’ve had a tradition for several years now to walk with the Fathers Joe’s charity walk here in San Diego. Its a nice walk through Balboa Park and our local neighborhood so its easy and always fun.
We head to the start line….
The whole local community turns out to support the run. I liked this scene as it spoke to me about the America that I know – not the one we heard so much about during the election…..
Donald never met these folks
The highlight for me every year is not the exercise or the uniformly beautiful mornings we always seem to have – it is the dogs that are out walking their people. They are large….
Big boy
Chihuahua parade
They are all colors …..
and even black and white…
Some were in costume
feathered friend
or just dressed up for the occasion.
thanksgiving colors
Some helped pull their people along…..
stroller puller
Canine company
Some of them mugged for the camera and the paparazzi ……
aren’t I pretty?
While other pets just watched the procession go by from their royal perches….
how “common” they all look…..
In any case, it is always a great way to start the holiday. I hope that your turkey day was great and that you enjoy the rest of the season.
Gotta go…..!
Pre-Holiday Cuteness
I’m in the process of backing up my thousands of photos and combining some of my Libraries. As I transferred some files from one our Alaska trips I started to look through some of the pics. Couldn’t resist sharing this one with you before the holidays – hope you all have a great holiday season!!
Who says puppies are cute?
Weekly Photo Challenge: Magic
I chose a simple photo of something that is completely natural and expected but is still something that is just plain Magic. My friend Ross (from Scotland) and I were up in Yosemite National Park a week or so ago (with thousands of our fellow gawkers) and did a quick run around the sights as he had never been there before. We managed to find a parking space in the valley in the afternoon and did a quick walk around a pasture looking up at the massive rock faces as the sun started to go down. I just snapped this photo of a tree in its full fall colors with the sun sifting through the leaves and with the cliffs in the background. While this short lived transformation and explosion of colors happens every year at this time, it is still magic if you take the time to think about it.
Magical Change….
Weekly Photo Challenge: Tiny
I took a photo earlier this week that fits the challenge “Tiny” perfectly. While leaving the house I noticed some hummingbirds feeding on a bird of paradise next to my front porch. I quickly got my camera and got a few decent shots of this tiny, agile flyer. The colors of the hummer and the bird of paradise blended pretty nicely…..
Weekly Photo Challenge: Transmogrify
I decided that my recent trip to the Eastern Sierras would provide good material for this week’s challenge “transmogrify”. I chose this photo from the Trona Pinnacles for the challenge because of two factors. The first is that the pinnacles are a drastic and out of this world change from the unappealing town nearby. That is one of the reasons that it has been chosen for many hollywood films, from sci-fi features to “Top Gun”. The second reason is that the pinnacles become even more impressive during changes in lighting such as sunrise and sunset. This photo was taken just at sunset before the stars and the milky way made their appearance. The transition of colors in the sky and the shadows of the pinnacles was rapid and dramatic. Well worth the stopover……
Trona Transition
Weekly Photo Challenge: H2O
It took me a long time to get to the last photo challenge but here is my interpretation of H2O – in 3 physical states. I took this photo early on our trip to Svalbard, Norway. This area was one of the first glaciers we came across after our first night on the good boat Polaris. It was a gloomy morning until the sun started to burn off some of the clouds and the mist near the glacier. I caught this scene just as the fog (gaseous H2O) was lifting over the Glaciers (solid) and the Fjord (liquid). It was quite a spectacular sight – the photo does not do it justice but it was a great first morning on our Arctic journey…..
Serene and Scenic
Discover Challenge: Here and Now
I went on the Daily Post looking for the photo challenge but there didn’t appear to be one – instead it featured a challenge for “here and now”. Since I had just returned from La Jolla Cove where I was trying out a new camera I thought I’d post some photos of that particular here and now (from a couple of hours ago). I went to the cove with the intention of catching birds in flight but there wasn’t much going on so I just took what interested me. Here are some of the here and now photos ….that I took…..then.
The sun was out at first but there wasn’t much moving so I walked over to where the sea lions normally bask by the water and found this little guy enjoying the sun and the surf.
When the sun was still low in the sky there were numerous cormorants nesting in a tree above the cove. I managed to catch this silhouette of one of them coming in to its perch.
The light got pretty flat after a while and there still wasn’t much flying so I caught this shot of the cormorants also enjoying the crashing surf. As here and nows go, this was a pretty nice one.
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