I’m off to Guatemala and Redhill, Cape Town

 Africa, Cape Town, South Africa, Travel  2 Responses »
May 152013
 

I’m off to Guatemala

I decided it’s time to expand my supply of photographs beyond Bermuda and Southern Africa. So, on Saturday I’m heading down to Guatemala for a week. I’m hoping to visit El Mirador. It’s a Mayan city still overgrown by jungle. You can trek there, which takes two days both ways. I don’t have time for that but have discovered it’s possible to get a helicopter in, overnight in a hammock and then take a helicopter back out. I’ve found a website that offers this service, but haven’t managed to get in touch with them. So, I’m turning up with nothing booked and hoping I can sort one when I arrive. If not, there’s another site called Tikal I can visit. There’s actually hotels right next to the temples there, so that won’t be a bad alternative, just not as adventurous.

For the second half of the trip I’ll be visiting Guatemala’s former capital, Antigua. It’s an old Spanish colonial city nestled amongst three volcanoes. My plan is to climb one of them, the easiest one.

I don’t think I’ll be able to get a load of photos done to upload prior to leaving so this will likely be my last post until I get back on May 26th. Then, I should have lots of photos and stories for you.

Today’s Photo: Redhill, Cape Town

On my last trip to Capetown I was lucky enough to stay with my travel buddy’s family. They have a cleaner, Grace, come in once a week and always drive her back home. She lives in this small township called Redhill. It’s in a strikingly beautiful location with vineyards in the valley below. It makes for a startling contrast.

the shacks of Red Hill township, Cape Town, with mountains and water in the background

Bermuda Dinghies at Sunset 2

 Bermuda, Travel  2 Responses »
May 082013
 

I’ve been working on a time lapsed scene tonight, but didn’t have much luck. I decided to pull one of them out and give you another version of the dinghies at sunset I posted earlier. It was amazing how much the sky lit up that night.

Dinghies on the shore in front of a beautful bermuda sunset

Nordhoek Beach, South Africa

 Africa, South Africa, Travel  43 Responses »
May 022013
 

This beach is an amazing, rugged expanse of sand. This shot is taken in the corner of the beach, just as the sun reached the horizon. It was a little nerve racking trying to catch this water swirling around me. It was very cold.

Ocean swirling over rocks at Nordhoek Beach Cliffs, South Africa

 

Selfoss Up Close

 Europe, Iceland, Travel, Waterfall  No Responses »
May 012013
 

I’ve been rationing my few remaining Iceland photos for quite a while now. I really need to get back there. When I took this photo, my travel buddy was still recovering from becoming a quivering mess at the top of Detifoss and decided not to get this close. She claimed she was tired, but I’m pretty sure she was just scared.

When I got this close I started getting a little nervous. I’ve used a wide angle lens so it looks like I was further from the rushing water than I was. The water level here was level with the rock I was standing on. It definitely made me concentrate on where I was putting my feet and my camera.

Selfoss waterfall in Iceland up close

Foot of the Lane, Bermuda

 Bermuda, Travel  13 Responses »
Apr 242013
 

Bermuda can be tricky. Anyone here today knows that it was nice and hot and sunny over the weekend. Today was chilly and overcast. It didn’t look like there’d be any photo opportunities this evening. Then, as I was leaving the squash club, I could see that the sun was peeking under the clouds as it set. I thought I’d missed an opportunity as I pulled out. I had my camera gear in the car but didn’t think I’d make it anywhere in time. As I got closer to home, the clouds just kept getting brighter so I went to this spot not far from my house and hurriedly set up for a shot.

I took 7 photos bracketed from -3 through to +3 and combined them using Photomatix. To get a better idea of how I do this, check out my Free HDR Tutorial.

White dinghies upside down on the shore in front of a vibrant sunset sky at foot of the lane in Bermuda

 

Follow the Leader, Hippos in Botswana

 Africa, Animals, Botswana, Travel  2 Responses »
Apr 102013
 

As we waited to go on our boat safari in Botswana, the waiting area of our safari operators filled with Japanese tourists. When we were told to head to the boat we managed to take off in front of the crowd. When we saw the boat we noticed it was a double decker and decided we definitely wanted to secure a spot up top. Unfortunately, they’d reserved the upper deck for the tour group so that they could all hear the translator. As a result, we were stuck with the bottom. As it turned out, we were the only three on the bottom. Apart from getting hit in the head by a lens cap dropped from the upper deck, it was actually great. It was like we had our own private boat and guide for a few hours.

I snapped this shot from the lower deck, of a mama hippo and her baby.

A baby hippo following it's mother as they swim in a river in botswana's chobe national park.

 

Giraffes Have Long Necks

 Africa, Animals, Botswana, Travel  3 Responses »
Apr 012013
 

I’m Time-lapsing

I’m writing this from an interesting location tonight, perched on top of a rock at the far end of Horseshoe Bay, Bermuda. I’m making use of the Digicel Hotspot here while shooting a timelapse. I took the photo to the right on my Blackberry, a few hours ago.

I decided to timelapse Horseshoe as the time moves from early evening to night. It was a beautiful sunset tonight. Unfortunately, I think I overexposed the whole thing. Not too bad though, I can come back here again. Assuming I find a way down off this rock.

Today’s Photo: Giraffes Have Long Necks

Well… they do!!

There’s no trickery involved in today’s shot like the one from a few days ago of two giraffes grazing in Botswana.

Close-up of giraffe face and neck with small bird resting on the mane in Botswana.

 

 

 

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