photography » Traverse Earth

Prague Skyline

Czech Republic, Europe, Prague, Travel No Responses »

Jan 232012

I took this on my last night in Prague. I went out for what I thought was a couple of hours, it turned out I was out for 5 hours just wandering and taking photos. I discovered this viewpoint in a park by the river up from Charles Bridge. This photo is most interesting viewed at full size where you can scroll around the details of the skyline. On the right you see St. Vitus Cathedral jutting above the Prague Castle. Moving to the left the dome of the Church of St. Nicholas is visible with the gateway to Charles Bridge leading into the bridge itself to the left. Up on the hill opposite the castle can see an Eiffel Tower like structure. You could probably take photos all night long in Prague on an overcast night as the lights from the city give the clouds a yellow glow.

Times Square Headlights

New York, Travel No Responses »

Jan 222012

Another shot portraying the hustle and bustle in Time’s Square, New York. It’s very easy to spend hours here, every few steps presents a desirable angle. This is a combination of 7 exposures processed with Photomatix, Photoshop CS5 and Topaz Adjust. I used the de-ghosting tool in Photomatix to select this group of people and to select the streaks for the headlights.

The View from Lunch

Africa, Animals, Travel, Zimbabwe 31 Responses »

Jan 212012

On the first day of our canoe safari, on the Lower Zambezi, we stopped for lunch under a big shade tree on the Zimbabwe side of the river. While everyone stretched out to nap after a sandwich and a salad I started getting my camera gear out. I wanted to get a photo of a hippo yawning. Typically, the hippo let out a huge yawn as I was setting up. Then I had to wait quite a while for him to do it again. It worked out for the best though, as these elephants moved into frame just before the hippo let out a huge gaping yawn.

Get Away From my Woman

Africa, Animals, Cape Town, South Africa, Travel 1 Response »

Jan 202012

This is the second and third penguin we found. If you look in the background you can see the reason for this penguins terrifying, aggressive stance. He’s got his lady sat in the back of the nest. I’ve included a second picture to include Cameron’s National Geographic-esque attempt to get a better view. My 300mm lens prevented the need for me to get quite so close.

Hidden Penguin

Africa, Animals, Cape Town, South Africa, Travel 2 Responses »

Jan 192012

We arrived in Cape Town after two back to back overnight flights. But, it was important that we kept moving. We could have sat around our hostel all day and been bored, then fallen asleep far too early to kick our jet-lag. So, we had a plan. We left the hostel immediately for Simons Town (via KFC for the two heathens in our entourage).

We were going to Simons Town to visit Boulders Bay. This is the location of the Western Capes penguin population. The trip was worth it for the train ride there. The tracks hug the coast and you feel like the waves could break into the trains window. Along the way we saw cormorants, seals, and surfers frolicking in the surf. It was incredible.

We arrived in Simons Town without a clue how to get to Boulders Bay. It was Sunday and the tourist information centre was closed but we kept walking. Eventually, after we’d split up to seek out sources of local information we found that it was a 15 minute walk away. We’d already twenty minutes on our weary jet-lagged legs and had little confidence in our sources time estimate. But, we persevered and it was worth it.

Upon arriving at Boulder Bay we were initially disappointed. It felt like a real tourist trap. We hit a fork in the path. To the left is where all the tour bus crowd were headed. We went right. We discovered penguins huddled under the bushes, but this was not the image I was in pursuit of. Looking down we could see the beach, with a few people sunbathing, with no penguins. However, it looked like the boulders weren’t fenced off, so we decided to do some rock hopping.

Once we got there our suspicions were confirmed and we went in search of penguins. I think we saw four in total, but it was great getting to be so close to them. Climbing over and under the rocks was good fun too. I got a lot of help from my friends in getting my gear through some pretty tight spaces. The below photo is the first penguin we saw on our exploration.

Mid-tide

Bermuda, Travel 2 Responses »

Jan 182012

Another shot from the girls’ house in Spanish Point Bermuda. I had a lot of trouble getting onto the internet earlier and for some reason it’s just sprung to life, so I’m doing a quick upload and then heading to bed. Glad I didn’t have to miss a day already.

Old Town Square, Prague

Czech Republic, Europe, Prague, Travel 7 Responses »

Jan 172012

In this picture is the astronomical clock and the Tyn Church. I got up early so I could get a shot without any people about. This area is typically overrun with tourists waiting to see the clock spring to life every hour.

Madonna and Child

Africa, Animals, Mountain Gorillas, Rwanda, Travel 2 Responses »

Jan 162012

I haven’t had time to work on any photos from Prague. So, I’ve reached into my file of completed pictures. This may be my favorite photo from my entire time in Africa. When I walked over to try to take this photo her entire face was covered by a leaf. Then, she reached up and moved it just long enough for me to grab three exposures

It’s snowing here, I’m hoping it sticks but it doesn’t look too likely.

My First Shot from Prague

Czech Republic, Europe, Prague, Travel No Responses »

Jan 152012

This is probably not what you’d expect my first picture from Prague to look like. However, I slept through two key points of the day – sunrise and sunset. I’m not sure what happened this morning, either my alarm didn’t go off or I just didn’t wake up for it. I went out midday and took a bunch of pictures of the Charles Bridge and the castle up on the hill. I got back to the hotel room and didn’t feel particularly inspired to work on any of them. They’re all a bit too much like the standard postcards I’m seeing everywhere here. So, I resolved to go out again later, at sunset. Then I woke up and it was dark outside. I don’t remember going to sleep.

I still went out. I’d spotted this building in the taxi on the way to my hotel, it’s just around the corner. I knew exactly what I wanted this photo to look like and needed long exposures to get it. This is composition of 5 shots at the following shutter speeds: 1 min, 2 min, 4 min, 8 min, 16 min.

Also, it’s bloody cold in Prague! Fingers crossed for sunrise tomorrow. It’s also supposed to snow on Tuesday, which I think would be great.

At the crossroads, which way to go?

Africa, Rwanda, Travel No Responses »

Jan 142012

I’ve made it to Prague! I’m staying in a pretty cool little hotel/hostel called the Mosaic House Hotel. It’s got a very tempting bar downstairs in the lobby. I did set out with my camera earlier but it turned out to be more of a scouting trip. The sun set surprisingly early, it dipped below the horizon by 4pm. However, at 5pm it still looked like the sun had just gone down. It was quite strange. I think I’ve found some good shots and plan on going out tomorrow morning to get them before there’s so many people about.

“At the crossroad, which way to go?” sounds like it could be a line from a blues song, maybe it is. This is another shot from Rwanda, and if it looks vaguely familiar it’s because you’ve seen part of it at the top of this page. Just to the right of this shot is an orphanage that we visited. When we got there the kids came running out and greeted us. One even embraced Cameron in an enthusiastic hug. We’d brought a football for them, which they quickly went about playing with, and destroying. We’d been there about twenty minutes when we discovered that the ball had split. Fortunately, Cameron had packed the roll of duct-tape he’d insisted on bringing to Africa. He’d also insisted on bringing parachute cord, which was vindicated when it acted as a belt for me during white water rafting and a chin strap for Soniko’s hat. We got the ball patched up nice and quickly. Then, 2 minutes later, it happened again. Cameron went to work and covered the entire ball in what had to be two layers of duct tape. It’s officially indestructible.

When Cameron saw my banner above all he said was, “Why did you take a picture of a dirt road?”

I didn’t have much of an answer at the time but now I remember. I set up for this shot because I liked the contrast between the wet and dry tracks. I got all set up and a truck decided to drive up the track on the left, moving me aside and sloshing the water about as it went. I thought it was going to ruin the shot. To the contrary, the truck pushed the water up so that the wet soil met the dry at the midpoint of my frame. Excellent timing.

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