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7 Ladder Gorge, Romania

Europe, Romania, Travel, Waterfall 7 Responses »

May 102012

The original plan, when starting this site, was to not include any pre-HDR photos. I’ve changed my mind. My trip to Romania inspired me to invest more in my camera equipment and I like a lot of the pictures I took there. Today’s photo was taken on the way down a mountain headed toward 7 Ladder Gorge with my old Canon Rebel. Topaz Adjust has allowed me to recover some of the details in the shadows and a few extra tweaks (including applying Unsharp Mask, which I never used to use) have allowed me to improve this photo a bit form the original. Going forward, I’ll release a few more of my older pictures every once in a while.

Canoe Break, Lower Zambezi

Africa, Travel, Zambia, Zimbabwe 86 Responses »

May 092012

I like this photo a lot. It’s not often I’ll open a post like that. The thing is, I’m not sure if it’s that this is that good a photo or if it’s more to do with the memory associated with it. We stopped here for our first lunch on the Lower Zambezi. This is actually on the Zimbabwe side of the river and is the first of two times I’ve set foot in the country (both within a day of each other). You can see where we actually set foot in Zimbabwe for the first time, down by where the canoes are beached. We’d spent about two hours paddling to reach this spot and it was pretty nerve-wracking. We weren’t used to the canoes and were still pretty paranoid about wild animals. It’s funny comparing those first couple hours with the next few days where we became perfectly comfortable floating down the river… for the most part.

When I took this, HDR was still quite new to me (I guess it still is) and I was fascinated with the textures I was able to portray. When I saw this tree I knew that I had to photograph it’s old wrinkled and cracked bark. I also liked the idea of capturing the canoes on the shoreline through the trees, which would be difficult with more traditional photography methods. After eating lunch everyone took a snooze. I thought this was interesting as we were completely exposed to any wild animals that should decide to stroll past. I became numb to this threat over the next five days, except for a couple of moments when I wasn’t in sight of the rest of the group (bathroom breaks mostly).

As the group snored around me, which I decided was a natural wildlife deterrent, I set about taking the following photo, which I must have tried to process twenty times before. I hope you like it.

Horseshoe Bay, Bermuda

Bermuda, Travel 250 Responses »

May 082012

This morning marked trip number 5 down to Horseshoe Bay for the sunrise and today, it paid off. Admittedly the photo I was picturing did not involve the top of the cliff as the foreground. However, after firing off a few shots with my 24-70mm lens, composed as planned, I broke out my favorite lens – the 14mm prime. Going that wide required that I include a nearby foreground and I’m glad I did. I’m happy with a number of shots from this morning that I’ll release over the next few days, but I think this is my favorite.

I’ve started enjoying going down to horseshoe before sunrise. It’s surprisingly active with people walking and jogging for exercise and surprising a number of brave individuals wading out into the chilly waters. Everyone down there is just friendly and happy. It’s pretty nice. I think I’ll keep going down to horseshoe a couple days a month for sunrise shots, it’s a big beach after all. I think I’ll sleep in tomorrow though.

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Lake Ontario Sunset

Canada, Ontario, Travel 1 Response »

May 072012

Continuing with the theme of rocks and water started yesterday, here is another offering from Niagara-on-the-Lake. After scrambling around town trying to find somewhere to photograph the rapidly disappearing glow on the horizon I had scrambled down to the shores of Lake Ontario and was pleased to find some interesting rocks to provide a bold foreground for a few different photos.

The Waymarker, Hog Bay, Bermuda

Bermuda, Travel 1 Response »

May 062012

My Gear

I’ve had a few questions about what camera equipment I use so I’ve put together a “My Gear” page outlining what I use and what I like. I’ll update it with more bits and pieces as I get them.

The Waymarker

Setting out on a cloudy day to attempt to photograph Somerset Bridge was never likely to work out well. It did provide opportunity to scout out the area. Upon arrival, it became clear that photographing the smallest drawbridge in the world may not be as easy as expected. It’s beautiful and in a beautiful area but portraying this on camera may not be as easy as it seems. It was high-tide and one conclusion that can be made is that it will be best to go at low tide, to wade out more in front of the bridge. This would not be possible.

After scouting out the area I went to check out a couple more locations. Unfortunately, as it turned out the researched spots were all on private property. After wandering a bit lost in Hog Bay Park I arrived here, the beach covered by the tide. I snapped a few photos, well after sunset, not really expecting to make anything of them. However, I did get today’s photo. It’s simple, but I like it.

Masked Volcano, Rwanda

Africa, Rwanda, Travel 9 Responses »

May 052012

Operation Horseshoe Bay

First, a quick note on this. In case you’re wondering why I haven’t posted any photos from my successful sunrise at Horseshoe it’s because I wasn’t as successful as I’d thought. For some reason I had my ISO cranked right up. This has resulted in too much noise in the original images for me to merge them to HDR. Always keep your ISO as low as possible!

So, I’m starting again. Tomorrow I’ll be checking the weather reports and picking a few days I think will be good for the sunrise down there. Tonight though, I’ve used the Photographer’s Ephemeris to realise that it’s a good time to photograph the smallest drawbridge in the world. So, I’ll be heading up there in about an hour. Using this tool has also allowed me to spot a few other areas nearby that should be good at sunset.

A friend of mine mentioned that the moon is currently appearing larger than usual, so I’ve also identified a spot to capture the moonrise from, something I’ve never done before. I just hope the sky’s clear for long enough.

Sun Behind Clouds Behind Volcano Behind Clouds Behind Farm Land and the Boundary of Volcano National Park

Rwanda’s landscape really is stunning. Every corner leads to breathtaking views. Here you can see the typical Rwandan terraced farming in front of one of the volcanoes that gives Volcanoes National Park its name. It’s also pretty clear here why Rwanda is known as the Land of a Thousand Hills.

Mike has commented on a few of my posts and mentioned on Tea Time that this intensive level of farming must result in massive pressure on local reserves/wildlife. One thing I found interesting, while driving through the hills, was just how defined the line between the farmland and the national park is. If you look at the volcano in this image, just below the cloud level, you can see this line.

Grey County Farm

Canada, Ontario, Travel No Responses »

May 042012

Scenes like this are common place as you drive through Grey County. As I crested the top of a hill I came across this one. The sun was low to the left and just lit the scene in a beautiful golden light. So, I quickly whipped the car around to park at the top of the hill.

Inglis Falls, Grey County, Ontario

Canada, Ontario, Travel, Waterfall No Responses »

May 022012

I arrived at this waterfall shortly after sunset. After parking at the top of the falls I went about looking for a good view. I came across a path but a sign said it was closed. I came across this a lot as I traveled around Ontario in March. They were closed due to the danger of ice, but the conditions could only be described as summery. So, I quickly slipped around the sign and found this vantage point.

Left Behind Rwanda

Africa, Rwanda, Travel No Responses »

May 022012

That’s right, I’m posting yet another photo of the fishing canoes used on Lake Kivu, Rwanda. I love them. they remind of two days of absolute relaxation reflecting on the most amazing, tiring, action packed, three weeks getting a taste of three very different versions of Africa: Cape Town, Zambia, and Rwanda.

The boat here was left behind by the fleet, which can just be seen on the horizon. At night, you could look out to the horizon and all you would see were the lights of the fisherman’s lanterns against the dark sky. These guys go out rain or shine (100% rain while I was there). Although, I guess I’m assuming they go out rain or shine, as I did not see them fishing under any beautiful, starry night skies.

This photo is a combination of 7 exposures, ranging from -3 to +3. The boats actually moved around quite a lot so the ghosting tool in Photomatix was particularly useful.

Cute Cheetah

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

Apr 302012

Operation Horseshoe Bay: Day 3

My original plan to head down to Horseshoe Bay for a week didn’t really pan out due to a couple of alarm clock errors. I went down this morning and got exactly the conditions I was hoping for. I shot the photo I’d been picturing based on the Photographer’s Ephemeris and went about taking some more creative images. I now have so many shots from the 40 minutes I spent down at the beach that I don’t know where to start.

Cute Cheetah

In the meantime I’ve decided to upload this cute cheetah today. I’ve been reluctant to upload it as I’m not sure how good a photo it is. The composition isn’t particularly interesting. It certainly doesn’t measure up to the other cheetah cub photo I uploaded here. But, in the end I decided that this cheetah is so cute and has such amazing eyes that I had to upload it. At this point in time one of the cheetahs’ handler was preparing a ball on a rope for the cheetahs to chase.

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