This is the last of the waterfalls I visited on my trip to Ontario. There’s a rope in place to help you down the cliff. Unfortunately, I was low on time so didn’t venture down there.
I’ve decided that I’m going to spend this week going down to Horseshoe Bay for sunrise. I feel like I should have the standard shot from atop the large rock at the West end. Going down for a few mornings should ensure that I get to see a good sunrise.
On our drive from Musanze to Gisenyi, in Rwanda, we stopped briefly to take a look at one of the tea fields in Rwanda. There were loads of people working these fields, which you can see if you zoom in on this photo.
If it looks like I’m standing in the water here it’s because I am. Well, not really. My camera was though. I spotted this weir next to this old mill above Walter’s Falls in Ontario. After failing to be satisfied with a shot from the bridge I went clambering down the bank, through branches covered in thorns to get down to the river edge. I landed heavily on a pair of rocks which immediately gave way under me. I looked like I’d be getting wet for sure. Somehow, I managed to back pedal faster than the rocks were falling and build myself a new platform of rocks landing beneath my feet.
From my precarious perch, I lent out as far as I could to place my camera closer to the middle of the river, and fire off 7 exposures, before clambering back up through the bushes. Following this I went down to the bottom of the waterfall to get some shots there. I and my gear got pretty soaked once down there, but that’s a story for another day.
On the way from Ruhengeri to the basket weaver’s, we waked through a few villages. Each time the kids would run out to greet us. They all wanted their pictures taken. and after taking photos of a big group I turned around to find this lone boy standing here watching. I motioned to my camera to ask if he wanted to have a photo. He smiled and nodded and posed ready. I decided to kneel down to get down on his level. But, as I knelt, he crouched, trying to stay on the same layer as he’d been with the camera. I motioned for him to stand up and he wouldn’t. So I stood up and he followed. When I knelt back down again so did he. This happened a few times until I managed to get the shot.
I kind of wish I’d stopped down my aperture to blur the background. I’ve just spent about an hour trying to achieve this in photo shop (for the first time) and wasn’t happy with the results. So, I decided to stick with the original image: boy in front of sugar cane, all in focus.
If you’re watching the sunset on the South Shore of Bermuda it’s worth turning around and looking towards the East. As the sun dips below the horizon it’s pretty common for a pink band to appear on the opposite horizon that gradually moves up into the sky until it dissolves into the deepening blue sky. This photo was taken just as this pink band started it’s march upward.
When I was working this photo up in Photomatix I clicked on the rocks for a close up to check on the detail. I was surprised the discover that right where I clicked, perfectly centered in the preview square, was etched JANIE4JASON.
On my recent trip to Ontario I lucked out weather-wise. It was abnormally warm and, despite packing a big jacket, I was comfortable in just a t-shirt most of the time. It felt like the middle of summer. When I arrived at the shores of Lake Huron in Tobermory I found this remnant of winter. Across the water you can see Big Tub lighthouse.
In a previous post (Dip on a Rebel Elephant) I wrote about how Soniko and Chris’s elephant was a bit of a rebel. Here, early in the trip, you can see it stopping for an unplanned snack. I feel I should mention that Soniko and Chris didn’t plan on getting so cozy atop a munching herbivore. When the elephants were being assigned, there were three available for single riders. A man there with his two daughter’s jumped at the opportunity, quickly followed by Soniko and Chris. Unfortunately, one of the elephants decided that it didn’t feel like going for a walk so was left behind, putting Chris and Soniko on the worst behaved elephant they had. Sharing was probably a good thing, at least they could share some of the trauma they went through. This included charging through thorn bushes, swimming through crocodile infested water, and regular breaking into a trot as the handler tried to slow it down. All the while, they must have heard the sound of Shannon and I laughing off in the distance. All summed up though, they definitely had the most adventure.
Soniko had a knack for finding himself in the most exciting situations. It was interesting because, as he readily admits, he was the person in the group least interested in the more adrenaline filled aspects. Despite this, he got to sit closest to the open doors of a Huey Helicopter, in Cape Town, for a simulated combat ride. He was first to get thrown from our raft on the rapids of the Middle Zambezi. He was even the first to get involved in a staring match with an agitated silver-back gorilla in Rwanda (until he snuck behind Cameron as evidenced by this video… watch the navy blue legs move behind the khaki ones). That being said, he survived it all and definitely seemed to enjoy himself.
I’ve mentioned before that it’s not easy shooting while straddling a lumbering elephant. My three exposures for this shot weren’t even close to being lined up. As a result, this is an HDR image from a single RAW.
It’s amazing what you can find when you leave the road and set off on foot. I pulled over because I saw a lone tree standing at the end of a dirt lane surrounded by dried up grape vines. The sun was setting behind it. I kept walking closer, trying to find a picture. I fired off a couple and then decided to continue on past the tree. It looked like it was at the precipice of a hill and I thought there my be a view out over the landscape from there. As it turned out, the elevation wasn’t as great as I’d expected. Despite that though, I’d stumbled upon this scene and quickly set about trying to capture it.
My upcoming trip to Iceland is starting to come together. I’m going for the solstice so that I can take pictures during the extended sunsets/sunrises. The sun only dips under the horizon at this time of year so it’s going to be light 24 hours a day. To take advantage of the golden hours I’m going to have to be shooting from about 10:00pm until 4:00am. My original plan was to stay up all night taking photos and sleeping during the day. I was trying to plot a route that would allow me to arrive at a new hotel every morning. The next step was going to be convincing hotels to let me stay for just the daytime.
This got frustrating because, assuming I’d managed to book hotels, it was very difficult to make these jumps from hotel to hotel on the back roads I want to photograph and manage to make it all the way around the island in a week. It also made it impossible to schedule in a few activities I’d like to do that take place during the day – snorkeling the rift, whale watching, and a somewhat odd museum.
I’ve come up with the solution. I’ll be sleeping twice a day. So, I’ll drive from hotel to hotel in the middle of the day, sleep for the evenings and then head out all night for the best light. Then, I’ll go to sleep again from about 4am until about 5 minutes before the hotel forces me to check out.
This route actually means that I can spend a couple of nights in two locations, allowing me to dedicate a day to whale watching as well as a day for snorkeling the rift. The only thing I need to fit in now to make me perfectly happy is a visit to the ice caves of Kverkfjöll. They’re in the interior so I’m not sure I want to drive there on my own. Apparently, there’s also a chance of cave-ins so a guide is pretty essential. Unfortunately, the only tours I’ve found so far last 12 hours! That’s not going to do the trick.
I found these taxi garages in New York really interesting. They were really long and narrow, this one particularly so. It must be a real pain getting cars in and out, having to empty the shop every time. I took this photo with a wide angle lens in order to emphasize the depth. As i mentioned in a prior post I didn’t have my tripod with me as checking in at the Yotel was proving complicated and I’d let them store my bag without removing my tripod. As a result, I had to shoot handheld so I had to use a smaller depth of field than I would have liked.
I’d have liked to get out to Toronto Island during my time there. In fact, my plan was to head there immediately after checking into my hotel. Unfortunately, I missed my connection in New York and got in far too late. I walked by and decided the ticket booths would make for a good photo.
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