Lioness up a Tree, Zambia

 Africa, Animals, Travel, Zambia  18 Responses »
Jan 242014
 

Once you get over the initial holy-crap-there’s-an-unrestrained-lion-five-feet-away-from-me moment you kind of relax into enjoying your experience walking with lions. Then, the female decides to suddenly burst on ahead and climb 10 feet up into a tree to look down on you and you feel your adrenaline spike again.

If you’re wondering what she’s staring at so intensely, it’s my travel buddy. She works with large animals for a living, but that didn’t stop her from turning her back on the lion up the tree to pose for a picture directly below it. I turned my back on a large cat I was a handler for once, a friendly puma called Gato, and wound up with my hip in its mouth. Thankfully, it only applied light pressure. So, watching my friend turn her back on a freaking lion made me nervous. The guide was fine with it though. He was the one holding her camera.

And yes, this is the same pretty lion I posted a close-up of here.

a lioness up a tree looks down at the animals below in Zambia

Tikal Temple, Guatemala

 Central America, Guatemala, Travel  1 Response »
Jan 232014
 

For viewing archaeological sites in something close to their natural state, it doesn’t get much better than Tikal. This temple has been excavated, but it’s sister, which was located behind me was still very much in the condition it was found in, buried and covered in trees. It looked just like a big hill.

We had the added bonus that we were on a sunset tour, meaning we started in the blazing afternoon heat that most tourists aren’t stupid enough to mess with. As a result, we had the whole place to ourselves. I thought it was worth it, though it officially marked the sweating through of every t-shirt I had brought to Guatemala on my second day there.

Back when Tikal was buzzing, the entire area was cleared of vegetation and paved with gleaming white stone. The temples and stele like those shown in the picture were painted in gaudy bright colours.

I found it interesting that the Mayans had flattened a large portion of the jungle for their city and farmland, considering that we have this idealized view that the ancient natives of the Americas lived in tune with nature.

Mayan temple and stele at Tikal, Guatemala HDR

 

The Trevi Fountain, Rome

 Europe, Italy, Travel  5 Responses »
Jan 222014
 

Last night, I arrived back home after a few days in Rome. We had a great time there and I can officially say that I found the absolute best, thinnest pizza in the world near the Piazza Navona. Following stuffing my face and consuming a fair amount of beer and wine, I retired to bed relatively early in comparison to my London schedule because I wanted to get up and photograph Rome at sunrise in beautiful light and without the tourist hordes, which were still quite prevalent despite it being the January low season!

My first stop was the Trevi Fountain which I marched straight to as I wanted to get the below picture during the blue hours before the sun had actually come up, so that I could include the lit streetlight.

The Trevi Fountain in Rome before sunrise with glowing street lamp in foreground - very detailed high resolution photo.

View from the Shard, London, England

 England, Europe, London, Travel  5 Responses »
Jan 202014
 

It’s not easy to take photos from the top of the Shard as it is all enclosed in glass. As a result, I had to try to find a way to position my camera to avoid all the reflections of the people moving around behind me. We had arrived at just the right time though, as golden light bathed London below us.

View of London from above in the Shard including the tower of london, tower bridge, city hall, and canary wharf as well with the Thames weaving up from the bottom left corner to the top right

Speedy Tuk-Tuk in Flores, Guatemala

 Central America, Guatemala, Travel  1 Response »
Jan 182014
 

It was a sleepy Sunday morning in Flores, Guatemala. I’d been woken from a light slumber by the increase in temperature from sweltering to unbearable and made my way for a cool shower before heading out to catch the last light of sunrise. I went out with one photo in mind, this one.

After taking that picture and watching the mist over the jungle burn off, I began making my back to my hostel for breakfast. On the way, I came across this brightly painted building and decided I wanted a photograph. As I unpacked my camera, a tuk-tuk drove by and the image I wanted entered my mind. So, I stood there, waiting for tuk-tuks to drive by and attempting to perfect my timing to get one to blur nicely in the foreground. Then, I got extra lucky and caught another tuk-tuk further up the road.

Tuk tuk in front of a colorful building in Flores Guatemala near Tikal

Beneath the falls, Niagara Falls

 Canada, Travel, Waterfall  3 Responses »
Jan 172014
 

I found this picture, taken from the base of Niagara Falls on the Canada side, that I hadn’t processed before. I think I tried in the past but couldn’t get it to come together. It did take a lot of time masking in different photos and adjusting contrasts to get it looking like this. Swirling mist doesn’t make for the best shooting conditions.

Niagara Falls from below the waterfall with blue sky in the background, mist to the left, curtain of water and cliff to the right

Approaching the Shard, London

 England, Europe, London, Travel  4 Responses »
Jan 152014
 

My arrival in London went as smoothly as is possible. We landed early, my bag arrived quickly and I stepped onto the Gatwick Express to Victoria as the doors closed. Upon reaching my hotel, my room was already available and I was able to be in bed by 8am. That’s pretty good after an overnight flight where I hadn’t slept.

I had plans to meet up with some friends at the Shard and go up to the viewing deck. I wasn’t exactly sure how to get there from London Bridge tube station and my directions were that it’s a huge building, I’d have to try to miss it.

As I came up the escalator I had a thought that I’d probably bump into Amy on the way, who could help me find it. I have no idea why I thought that, or why I thought it’d most likely be Amy.

I walked out and looked up for the building but all I saw was blue sky. Then, I heard someone say my name. I directed my gaze down and found that Amy was stood three feet in front of me. I’d walked out and promptly looked straight over her head. We set off walking and, when we rounded the corner to see this, we knew we were probably heading in the right direction.

Looking up at the Shard in London in front of blue sky with white puffy clouds.

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