The Achilleion Palace on the island of Corfu, Greece is our destination for today. The palace was built in 1890 and was named after the Greek mythical hero, Achilles. This image is of the patio in the rear of the palace. The patio's black and white marble squares reminded me of a life-sized chess board. The numerous large marble statues were lined up in similar manner as the start of a game. The early morning light and shadows enhanced the scene.
Falls View
People that have never visited Niagara Falls don't realize that it is actually two falls. The two falls are formed by the Niagara River which flows from Lake Erie to its destination of Lake Ontario. The two falls are actually created as the river rushes around Goat Island which sits close to the New York side of the river. The American Falls are created as the water rushes in between Goat Island and New York while the Horseshoe Falls are created as the water rushes in between Goat Island and Canada. Given the positioning of the two falls, one has to move up-river on the New York side to get an image of both falls (it is possible from the Canadian side but the image is not as dramatic). This image shows the two falls along with the Canadian city of Niagara Falls. The toughest thing to do when photographing either falls is keeping the camera dry.
Alaska #3011
This image off Alaskan Railroad #3011 was taken in the town of Talkeetna, Alaska. We were staying at the McKinley Lodge and decided to take the 45-minute bus ride to civilization, in this case, Talkeetna. There were two draws to visit the town. First, it is known as a very liberal town that has sort of a "hippie" culture. The second reason is that we wanted to visit the Roadhouse, a restaurant that was featured in the television show, "Man vs. Food". We weren't disappointed in either. Talkeetna is indeed a different type of town. It is a very eclectic and entertaining town. We had a few drinks and enjoyed the bands playing outside the bar. The meal at the Roadhouse was excellent.
Talkeetna was established in 1919 when the railroad surveyed and auctioned 80 lots. It serves as the jumping point for all sorts of outdoor activities including rafting, mountain biking, hiking, camping, fishing and hunting. A cat named Stubbs has been the honorary mayor for the past 15 years (as of July 2011) following a successful write-in campaign by voters who opposed the human candidates. My kind of town.
Early Morning at Peyto Lake
There are so many beautiful lakes that can be found along the famed Icefields Parkway that connects Banff and Jasper National Parks in Alberta. Everyone has a a favorite and mine is Peyto Lake. Located about 25 miles north of Lake Louise, the viewing area can be found off the parkway and is well marked. Park your car and climb the short distance to this viewpoint and you are greeted with this scene - one of the best views in Canada (in my humble opinion). The lake is located in a valley that is surrounded by magestic mountains and forests. The water source for the lake is the Peyto Glacier (located to the left of this view) which gives the lake a magnificent blue-green color due to the mineral content.
City Patterns
On my recent trip to photograph Grand Central Terminal, I caught an earlier train to New York than I had planned and had about an hour to kill. I decided to walk around and take a few photographs of the surrounding area. I didn't have to walk that far before I spotted these two buildings across the street from the Terminal. I was attracted by the patterns and textures in the buildings as well as the blue sky reflected in the windows. It can be challenging to get vertical lines when shooting so close to architecture but I was able to do a pretty good job with Photoshop 6's new filter, Adaptive Wide Angle. Pretty awesome tool.
Three Amigos
I have posted a few images of my recent trip to Monument Valley. They were taken from parts of the tribal park that require the hiring of a Navajo guide. The guides are not inexpensive but are well worth it for their local knowledge, stories of the Navajo culture and even playing musical instruments and singing Navajo songs. If you cannot afford to hire a guide, you can still see wonderful scenery as well as all of it's famous landmarks for a $5 per person entrance fee. This fee allows you to drive a 17-mile dirt road that winds throughout the park. It is a fabulous drive and I recommend doing it at least twice - early morning and evening. The light is so different at these times that the formations take on very different looks. This image of the world-famous East and West Mittens and Merrick Butte was actually taken from the visitors center in the early evening. The dirt road can be seen below as well as the shadows of the visitor center. I left the cars on the road to give the image scale - those buttes are really huge.
Money, Money, Money...Money
Walking around the city of Monte Carlo, Monaco is quite the experience. It is known as a playground for the rich, it's famous casino and Grand Prix race. The amount of visible wealth is on display wherever you go. The old saying, "If you have to ask how much it costs, you can't afford it" certainly applies there. All I could think of when walking around was the Pink Floyd song, "Money". This image was taken from the grounds of the Prince's Palace which started life as a Genoese fortress and is one of the city's most famous landmarks. The yachts, buildings and even small "parks" on the rooftops say it all.
Early Morning With the Gods
How many of you look back at your older photos and say to yourself, "What was I thinking?" when I processed this? I do this occasionally and I realize how far my editing skills have advanced over the past several years (some may argue not much at all). I have decided to go back to some of my favorite images and re-edit them. I have found out a number of things as I have done this. 1. My skills are definitely better. While I used some of the same processing software, I know them better now and can use them more effectively. By following other photography blogs, listening to photography podcasts and shooting with other photographers, I learn something new every day.
2. The processing software has advanced tremendously over the past few years. Things that were cumbersome (and maybe even not possible) are getting easier and easier to do. Many will bemoan that use of this software is "cheating" and wish for the days when only Photoshop was used to enhance photos. Of course, there are others that say using Photoshop is "cheating". I believe that photography is art and that non-photographers don't really care what was used to edit a photo, they just know if they like it or not. I am also not against the advancement of the software. Anything that increases the speed of editing gives me more time to shoot.
3. My tastes have definitely changed. My older images seem to have a more warm feel to them and I realize that I didn't understand light as well as I do now. My photography has moved from a strict landscape photographer to more of a travel photographer. Maybe some day I will actually shoot people.
I plan to post a number of re-edited images over the next couple of months. This image is from the Garden of the Gods. Located in Colorado Springs, it is one of the best public parks around with wonderful sandstone and limestone rock formations.
Vanishing Point
I grew up in the Philadelphia area and spent my early career there. I thought I knew most places in the area, so when I heard about it's Graffiti Underground, I was perplexed that I never heard of it. Turns out that it is an abandoned pier jutting out into the Delaware River just a few minutes north of downtown. You have to know where it is in order to find it as there are no signs. My first impression of it was that it was pretty big and colorful (it is also used by paintballers). It seemed that every direction I looked, there were great leading lines creating very cool vanishing points like the one in this image. The light was overcast and from the north on this shot. I am sure on a sunny day, there would be some more interesting plays of light and shadows. I will have to head back to see if I am right.
Time for a Dentist Visit
A quick post for today. We recently visited Disney World this past February for the first time in over 15 years. The last time we were there, Animal Kingdom did not exist, so I was very interested to see the park. I had no preconceived notions and was suitably impressed with the park. This photo was taken as I walked through the Asia section of the park and spotted this Bengal Tiger yawning, obviously bored with the visitors. My first thought was how big those teeth were. My second thought was wondering when it had last visited the dentist.
Lake Ontario Reflection
Last year, I headed out to Niagara Falls to photograph this wonder of nature. I had been to the falls in the early 90s on a family vacation but was not taking photos at the time. I spent a couple of nights at the falls (travel tip - go in April on the Canadian side - I was able to book a hotel at the edge of the falls for $120 including a breakfast buffet). The best time to photograph the falls is early morning or late evening, so what is there to do during the day? I headed out to the town of St. Catharines located on Lake Ontario. I had remembered seeing images of the two lighthouses in the Port Dalhousie section of town. When I got there, I spotted two piers that extended into Lake Ontario. For some unknown reason, both of the lighthouses are on the same pier rather at the end of each pier. This image is of the lighthouse at the very end of the pier. It was very windy and the water was splashing over the side of the pier. In between splashes, I was able to catch this shot of the lighthouse its reflection in the pier.
A Different View of Antelope Canyon
When most photographers think of Antelope Canyon, they think of it's famous upper and lower slot canyons. Slot canyons are very narrow and are formed by water rushing through rock. A slot canyon is significantly deeper than it is wide. Antelope Canyon is located on Navajo land near Page, Arizona and the entrance is just a few miles from the center of town. There is another view of the canyon that did not exist before the building of Glen Canyon Dam in 1966. When the dam was finished construction, it created Lake Powell by flooding Glen Canyon. With the creation of Lake Powell, it is now possible to visit Antelope Canyon from the water. It is a short 45 minute boat trip from the Wahweap Marina to reach the terminus of the canyon. As you can see in this image, the walls of the canyon are quite narrow and high. As you reach the small "beach" at the end, you can almost reach out and touch the walls. The trip is well worth it for a different view of Antelope Canyon.
Saturday Hustle and Bustle
This is an image of the Main Concourse of Grand Central Terminal looking east. The terminal's official name is "Grand Central Terminal", although many people continue to refer to it as "Grand Central Station", the name of the previous rail station located on the same site. The Main Concourse (shown in this image) is the star of the Terminal. The space is quite large (275 feet long, 120 feet wide and 125 feet high). During the weekdays it is filled with crowds on their way to work or home. I was expecting the Terminal to be relatively empty on this June Saturday but as can be seen in the image, I was mistaken. I am glad as the hustle and bustle of the commuters is what makes Grand Central quite the attraction.
Blue Fog
I often love to capture an image that I hadn't planned for or wasn't expecting. We were on our first Mediterranean cruise and were entering the Bay of Kotor in Montenegro. I was pretty excited as I had seen images of the location beforehand showing these large mountains that almost fully surround the bay. We were scheduled to dock early in the morning and I woke up just as we were leaving the Aegean Sea and entering into the long winding entrance to the bay. When I looked out of the cabin window wall I saw was thick fog. Fortunately, as we traversed the fiord-like entrance (15 miles long), the fog began to lift and took on this really cool blue hue from the brilliant sky. I took a few photos and wasn't sure if they would properly convey the beauty of the scene. This is one of those photos and I am pleased to say that it came out pretty well.
Beacon
Quick post and run. Lot's going on today as my niece is getting married and the house I am staying in will be crazy. Arguably the signature lighthouse of Maine, the Portland Head Light is actually located outside of Portland on Cape Elizabeth. The lighthouse is surrounded by a huge park. This image was actually taken on my scouting trip for the following morning pre-dawn shoot. The day was beautiful and, although it didn't have the soft early morning light, I was pretty pleased with the result.
Dammed Up
The Glen Canyon Dam is a dam located just north of Page, Arizona. The dam was built to provide hydroelectricity and control water flow from the upper Colorado River Basin to the lower. It is actually situated on Federal land (Glen Canyon National Recreation Area) and is run by the Federal Government. When it was built in 1966, it created Lake Powell which is the second largest artificial lake in the country. It took 17 years for Lake Powell to completely fill for the first time. The city of Page was created in 1957 to house workers and their families during the construction of the dam and now thrives as a tourist destination. Tours of the dam are conducted daily and I highly recommend taking the tour if you are in the area. Security measures are high at the dam for obvious reasons. This vantage point is from south of the dam looking north toward Lake Powell.
Disney's Fort
Earlier this year, we visited Disney World for the first time in 10 years. Our friends, who own a timeshare in Disney, invited us to stay a week with them at Disney's Fort Wilderness Lodge. It was our first stay at the lodge and I was quite amazed on how big the lobby (pictured in this image) was. Even though it is one of the original resorts (opening in November 1971 -- a month after Disney World officially opened), the lodge was meticulous and so well maintained. I was determined to get a photograph of the lobby without the crowds of people that seem to be there night and day. I knew the only way to get a shot of a vacant lobby was to get up before dawn, set up my tripod and shoot away. As you can see in the image, I was the only guest up except for one other person. I left him in for readers of my blog to see if they could "Find Waldo".
Golden Hour Reflection
The Icefields Parkway connecting Banff National Park and Jaspar National Park in Alberta, Canada is probably my favorite road to take photos. That's saying a lot as it beats out California Highway 1, the Alaskan Highway, Montana's Going to the Sun Road and Arizona's Apache Trail. It is probably the combination of pristine mountain lakes, beautiful glaciers and towering mountains that makes it my favorite. I am often asked how far I had to hike to reach some of these lakes and my answer sometimes surprises them -- very little. Of course, there are some lakes that hiking boots and a long hike are required, but many are just a short distance from the highway. The lake in this image, Herbert Lake, is a prime example. I literally had to walk about 20 feet to set up my tripod, wait for the golden hour glow (in this case just past dawn) and shoot the shot. The biggest variable for photographers is the light which can never be predicted. I was lucky this morning to get some great light.
So what are your favorite roads to photograph? If I don't have them on my "to visit" list, I will be sure to add them.
Commuting Ramp
Living in Connecticut, I have often visited New York City for various reasons such as work related trips; meeting friends and family; going to concerts; or just spending the day. Driving into the city is not only challenging but can also be quite expensive. As a result, I take the train from New Haven to Grand Central Terminal. All of the the many times I have been through the terminal, I have never stopped to take photos. That all changed a couple of weeks ago when I had the opportunity to join Denise Ippolito's workshop where we had the full run of the terminal for four hours with our tripods and gear. This image is of one of the commuter ramps from the main level of the terminal to the gates below. Shown prominently are the beautiful chandeliers that illuminate the terminal.
Pueblo Glass
The Taos Pueblo is an ancient pueblo belonging to the Taos Pueblo Native American tribe. Most archeologists believe that the Taos Pueblo Indians settled along the Rio Grande and were descendants of the Anasazi. The Pueblo is approximately 1,000 years old and is located on a reservation of 95,000 acres with about 150 people actually living at the Pueblo. Taos Pueblo's most prominent architectural feature is a multi-storied residential complex of reddish-brown adobe. It was designated a National Historic Landmark and became a World Heritage Site in 1992. As of 2006, about 150 people live in it full-time. One of the first structures you encounter when entering the Pueblo is the San Geronimo Mission that was built in 1850. What struck me most about the Pueblo was that the only color in most of the Pueblo's structures was reddish-brown except for the light blue windows of the Mission.