water » Traverse Earth

Horseshoe Bay (Again)

Jun 112012

Today’s Photo: Horseshoe Bay (Again)

I took a lot of pictures on that morning down at Horseshoe Bay. I won’t be publishing all of them but think this is pretty cool. It’s taken with my 14mm prime lens. One of the things I really like about this lens is the fact that it allows you to look off into the distance and almost straight down at the same time. It’s particularly effective when stood at the top of a cliff such as this one.

Next Saturday I’ll be visiting the most Westerly point in Europe, in Iceland. There’s a huge cliff there that’s home to multiple species of birds, including puffins. You can bet I’ll be using this lens to give a view straight down the cliff. With any luck I’ll get close enough to a puffin to include it in the foreground. I’ve heard they let you get really close, especially if you crawl up on your belly.

Something Interesting: Night and Day in One Photo!!

If you’re into photography that breaks from the norm, you should check this out. This photographer takes multiple shots through the days and combines them into amazing night and day photographs. I feel a need to figure out how to do this: http://9wows.com/day-and-night-in-new-york-city-captured-in-single-images-8-pictures/

Prague Breakwater

Czech Republic, Europe, Prague, Travel 2 Responses »

Jun 102012

As I mentioned yesterday I’ve been doing a lot of photo processing this weekend. As a side effect I’ve found photos that needed processing I’d forgotten about. I started by going through my Prague file, even though I was sure I’d exhausted that supply. As a result I found today’s photo, and I’m glad I did. I spend a lot of time while I’m wandering about with my camera looking for a good foreground for something interesting I’ve found. The breakwater, with its ducks and seagulls lent itself very well to this purpose.

The Dawn of Spring

Canada, Ontario, Travel No Responses »

Jun 102012

Iceland Preparations

This time next week, I’ll be arriving in Iceland, quickly dropping my suitcase at the hotel and dashing out to photograph a lighthouse under the midnight sun. So, I’m getting prepared. I’m not checking my bookings or thinking what to pack like a normal person would be. Instead, I’m spending my weekend frantically trying to get photos processed and blog entries written in advance as I’ve reached the conclusion that, although I’ll have access to the internet at the majority of my accommodations, I won’t have the energy to process a photo and write something every day. On top of this I resolved to stop offering up one line posts, which would be inevitable if I tried to maintain them in Iceland. My time will be pretty well allocated with running around taking photos, driving from place to place, and other distractions. The plus side of this push, though, is that I’ve realised something. I actually really enjoy setting aside whole days and nights (admittedly more night than day) to working up photos. I get into a real groove processing photos one after the other and they seem to take less time to complete than if I worked on them individually. I think going forward I’ll be focusing on having photos ready to pick from for the daily post and just keep replenishing that selection. It should also up the quality of photo I produce as I’ll be working on them when I’ve made time for them, rather than rushing to get one done before going to the pub.

Today’s Photo: The Dawn of Spring

Today’s photo is a simple one, taking advantage of the patterns produced by a longish exposure and flowing water. When I first got into photography, I used to take my rebel down to the beach in Bermuda and spend my whole time playing with shutter speeds to smooth out the water. So, whenever I spot fast flowing water I have to stop and grab a photo.

This was taken in Bruce County in Ontario. It was March and it was hot. I had expected I’d be figuring out how to take photos of still frozen waterfalls, instead everything had thawed and Spring was coming early. I paused here on my way to Indian Falls to grab this shot.

Lighthouse Oleander, Southampton, Bermuda

Bermuda, Travel 7,729 Responses »

Jun 072012

This was a tricky shot to get as the light was low and there was an occasional breeze. I had to drop the aperture down lower than I’d have liked to keep the shutter speed fast enough to catch the flowers without the wind blowing. Even so, I had to make about 10 attempts to bracket 3 photos with a minimal amount of breeze. If I’d had a flash, it probably would have come in handy in this instance. I think I’ll go back another time with more light to try for full sharpness from front to back. But I think the blurred background in this version is kind of interesting.

After Dark, Lower Zambezi, Zambia

Africa, Zambia 197 Responses »

Jun 062012

Traverse Earth Now on Facebook

You can now follow Traverse Earth on Facebook. I like the look of the page, it’s nice and crisp and inspiring me to redesign the homepage here. It’s also the first place where you can see the new TraverseEarth logo. Likes and shares on Facebook are very much appreciated!

Today’s Photo: After Dark, Lower Zambezi, Zambia

It’s a fairly long journey from Livingstone to Zambeezi Breezers, where our canoe safari started. We stumped up for the first class bus with 4 seats across rather than 5 and air conditioning so it was pretty pleasant. I spent the time watching the scenery unfold and sleeping. It was actually probably the first bit of rest I’d had in the past week.

The rest continued when we arrived at Zambeezi Breezers and discovered this deck. We plopped ourselves down and had a few beers as the sun went down, watching the hippos commute alongside dugout canoes. Then it was dark and all we could do was listen to the vast expanse in front of us. I decided to try to capture that.

Something Interesting: Carved Book Landscapes

These are really cool! Guy Laramee takes big old outdated books and uses them as his medium to carve striking landscapes. I find the seventh one down particularly impressive. It’s a Buddhist statue set back in a cave.

Lake Ruhondo, Rwanda

Africa, Rwanda, Travel 1 Response »

Jun 052012

10 Days to Iceland!

I’ve got ten days to wait before I depart for a whirlwind tour of Iceland. Looking forward to long nights finding locations to photograph, trying to touch a puffin, watching whales, playing with glaciers and swimming in 2 degree water. I already know a week in Iceland is not enough and I’m going to want to go back again for longer next year.

One of the girls I work with (Alexis) asked me why the hell I’d want to go to Iceland. I’ve had this question a few times, so I thought I’d post a link to what inspired me to go in the first place, Stuck In Customs: Iceland.

Today’s Photo: Lake Ruhondo, Rwanda

While I was taking this photo of Lake Ruhondo, one of the twin lakes, Cameron was off making friends. He spent quite a while chatting to a few of the local guys who asked that I take a picture with him. After the first shot this turned into a bit of a photo shoot. They gave us their e-mail addresses so we could share the pictures with them. At lunch on Monday, Cameron reminded me that I had yet to sort them out so we could send them. So, I’ve finally done it and figured I’d include them here.

Local boys met while visiting Lake Ruhondo in Rwanda.

Something Interesting: National Geographic Photo Contest 2011

I mentioned in a previous post that I’d seen a photo taken on a train where half the image showed what was outside the window and the other looked inside. The other day I happened to come across the same page again. So here it is: 45 photos selected from the entrants to the 2o11 National Geographic Photo Contest. They’re all incredible images!

Lake Kivu Contrast

Africa, Rwanda, Travel 1 Response »

Jun 042012

I’m Okay!

Anyone who checks regularly for my daily update may be wondering what happened to me. It’s okay, I didn’t fall off the face of the Earth. While having lunch on Friday I realized that I had the opportunity to go to Wembley for the England vs. Belgium game. Coupling that opportunity with the fact that my travel buddy to Iceland was in London, I found myself spending Friday night on a plane. I had packed my laptop so that I could keep up with my daily posts. Unfortunately, in my haste to pack I forgot my external hard drive, where all my photos are located, and as a result couldn’t upload anything! I’m back in Bermuda now, after a great weekend, and had planned on making amends by uploading a whole series of photos. But, it’s late now, and I haven’t finished the photos I had planned on uploading, so you get a normal post today and a larger one tomorrow.

Something Interesting: Imperial History of The Middle East

I’ve decided to start adding interesting things that I find on the internet to my daily posts. It should provide a few more minutes of entertainment if you’re looking for a distraction at work. I’m not going to set out to do this on a daily basis, I’ll just upload bits and pieces as they strike me as interesting. I plan on keeping the topic travel and/or photography related. However, already today I may be stretching these topics a bit.

This link (click here) is to an animated map showing just how much turmoil the Middle East has experienced throughout history as it takes us through the various empires that ruled the region. I figure the geography and history of a region is closely related to travel, so have decided it just about fits the “travel” topic. Let me know what you think of it in the comments section below. I was particularly shocked by the extent of the Mongol Empire!

Going forward I think you’ll find the “Something Interesting” part of my post below the daily photograph.

Today’s Photo: Lake Kivu Contrast

I saw this scene developing and thought it would make for a pretty funny photo. All those tourists in their bright orange life jackets contrasted with the local fishermen on their way out for a night of fishing. The tourists had arrived at the Paradis Malahide on a bus tour. They ate lunch and then set out on a boat to explore Lake Kivu before piling back on their bus and taking off.

Queen’s View

Bermuda, Travel No Responses »

May 302012

FriFotos on Twitter’s theme this week is “Fit for a Queen”, in honor of the Queen’s diamond jubilee. As a result, I decided to go out and find something I could contribute. It’s certainly undeniable that this view is fit for a Queen. The plaque in the foreground reads the following: “On this spot her majesty Queen Elizabeth II paused for a while to admire the view, Wednesday the 24th of November, 1953.”

It’s located just below Gibbs Hill Lighthouse, the subject of one of my earlier posts: Guiding Light

Soniko Air

Bermuda, People, Travel 7 Responses »

May 282012

It’s wake-boarding season again, with the water warming up and wave free days popping up. I decided to bring out my new Canon 7d to give it a test. After all, it was supposed to compliment my 5d mk II by excelling at action shots. I was not disappointed. The 7d’s burst mode sounds like a machine going off in comparison to the 5d mk II. On top of that it’s more complex focusing system, with far more focusing points, make holding focus on a moving target a breeze. To illustrate the action capabilities of the 7d, I decided to upload the best photo of the day, next to a couple falls that were captured brilliantly.

I used one exposure shot in RAW to create this HDR image. As there was so much white in the scene, between the boats’ wakes and the clouds in the background I had to bump up the exposure by one stop to expose Soniko correctly. In post processing I adjusted the RAW photo to provide exposures at -1, +1, and +3. These were then combined in Photomatix and tweaked in Photoshop.

The Parrot in the Window

Christmas, New York, Time-Lapse, Travel 28 Responses »

May 272012

My First Time-Lapse!

I know I told you that my first time-lapse would be of an ice cube melting and that you’re all really excited to see that. Unfortunately, I’ve got to disappoint you. Yesterday, I shot a time-lapse of my friends as we cruised through Hamilton Harbor, Bermuda. The intervalometer was set to take a photo every 10 seconds. The end result is a 30 second video. I feel like it needs a sound-track, but can’t think of anything.

Today’s Photo: The Parrot in the Window

As a happy side effect of buying a second camera body, I took out one of my backup memory cards. Happily, I discovered some photos from New York I thought I’d managed to lose. Early in the morning, just before last Christmas I decided to set out and take some photos without anyone else around. The streets were empty as I’d expected. It was also really cold. Colder than I’d expected.

Bergdorf Goodman always has pretty extravagant window displays, so I decided to try to incorporate them in a few photos. I had seen a picture someone took on a train, where half the photo showed what was outside the window, the other half showed what was inside. This made me decide to try taking a similar approach with this shot.

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