2024-03-03: African Travel

I wasn’t sure what to call this post, as it is simply all the African images I had saved in my quick collection in Lightroom, some from back in 2019, and others more recent. This finishes off the last of the really old trip images I wanted to edit, but I still have a few from 2022 that I’d like to work through, as well as my cruise images from 2023.

A young man lion, doing what lions do best. Madokwe, November 2022.
A very healthy looking male lion on patrol in the Sabi Sands. May, 2019.
Victoria Falls from the Zimbabwe side. November, 2022.
A leopard looking awkward, rather than regal. Sabi Sands, May 2019.
A lone bull elephant. Madikwe, November 2022.
The milky way from my cabin deck. Sabi Sands, May 2019.

2024-02-04: Sunrises and Sunsets

We’ve had some beautiful weather the last few days, and my road is finally clear of icy and easy to walk, so I’ve been getting the dogs out for nice morning walks. The morning twilight and sunrise have been beautiful, but since I didn’t have my camera with me to capture them, I went through some of the many images I have left to edit, and found a selection that shows some of the beautiful colours I have been enjoying.

Sunrise along the banks of the Zambezi River, just outside the town of Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. November, 2022.
A misty early morning drive in Hwange, Zimbabwe. November, 2022.
The dawn of a beautiful day in Hwange, Zimbabwe. November, 2022.
A rather spooky looking sunset captured in the Sabi Sands. May, 2019.
Sunset along the Zambezi River, just before taking the boat back to Tsowa Safari Island. Zimbabwe, November 2022.
Zambezi Sunset from Livingstone, Zambia. November, 2022.
A peaceful bush sunset from the Sabi Sands. May, 2019.

2024-01-28: Infrared Landscapes

Now that I have moved my editing back to Lightroom, I’ve rediscovered quite a few images that I had flagged in my quick collection as ones I wanted to edit, from my trip to South Africa in 2019. The first four images are from that trip, and the last three from my recent trip to Zimbabwe in 2022.

While a lot of time has passed since 2019, I didn’t spend much of it on photography during the Covid years, as I was otherwise occupied in graduate school (during my free time from work) and when I did have time for photos, I was exploring using Capture One during that time period.

Coming back to Lightroom feels both familiar and very different at the same time, and I definitely need to spend some time relearning the familiar tools, and learning about all that has been added in the intervening time. I felt a sense of accomplishment working through these images and only completing the edits within Lightroom, not moving on to familiar plugins available in Photoshop.

All of these images were shot as long exposures around midday or early afternoon, using an infrared filter and then converted to black and white. It is something I want to work on more as I really enjoy the look of the shockingly bright foliage and inky skies.

The Sand River. South Africa, May 2019.
Lion Sands Tinga Lodge. South Africa, May 2019.
I recall exactly where I took this image, on an elevated walkway path between my room and the next over, while staying at Tinga Lodge. While its just some random trees and bushes, it showcases what I really love about the long exposure infrared images, with the bright fluffy grasses and leaves, and the deep black of the tree trunks and inky sky. Tinga Lodge, South Africa. May, 2019.
The Sand River from the deck of Tinga Lodge. South Africa, May, 2019.
These bright clear skies around lunchtime were long gone by dinner. Hwange, Zimbabwe. November 2022.
Clouds building. Hwange. Zimbabwe, November 2022.
Those clouds were part of a huge storm the ripped through Hwange. We had to abandon our afternoon game drive and barely got back to the lodge before the skies opened up. Zimbabwe, November, 2022.

2023-11-05: Hubbard Glacier

Today I selected a few images from my time cruising around Hubbard Glacier during my trip to Alaska in May. I’m guessing in a month or so, when the snow has settled in here at home, editing images of snowy landscapes may not have much appeal, so I wanted to tackle a bit while I was inspired.

As for this day of scenic cruising, I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect blue sky day. While it was very foggy while out in the open water, it cleared dramatically as soon as we entered the bay, and stayed that way until we left again in the afternoon, and then we were back into the fog.

As for home, there has been a brief glimpse of the winter to come, but thankfully for the next few days at least, we are to be above zero each day.

2023-10-22: A simple tree in Hwange

I want to get back into the routine and habit of working on my photos and posting at least once a week, so I started with the first image that caught my eye when looking through my unedited files. I believe this is an umbrella acacia tree, and it stood out amongst the grasses and shorter brush while out on a game drive. It would have been amazing under a clear blue sky, or silhouetted against a sunset. Even under a cloudy sky, it is a magnificent tree, but it was a rather flat image in the colour version.

I haven’t played around with much black and white editing recently, save for a few infrared images I have worked on. I feel a bit rusty with all aspects of editing at the moment, but like anything else, it comes back as you start to use it again. I am much happier with this image in monochrome, though with more time, I probably could have gotten it to a bit closer to what I had in my minds eye when I started out.

2023-08-06: Hubbard Glacier

One of the days on my recent cruise was a scenic cruise to the Hubbard Glacier. While I was told that it is not as impressive as cruising in Glacier Bay National Park, I thought the scenery was breathtaking and beautiful.

Similar to most mornings when we were out at sea, I awoke to pea soup fog, and I thought that perhaps we wouldn’t see much of anything. I took in the morning talk by the onboard naturalist, and then headed to the coffee bar for a mid-morning pick me up. I got to chatting with some people while having a coffee, and it was explained to me that as we headed into the bay, and got closer to the glacier, the weather would shift very dramatically. At noon, we headed into the bay, and sure enough, we left the fog in our wake and had gorgeous sunny blue skies and beautiful scenery (and, when we left the bay, the fog closed in as rapidly as it had lifted earlier in the day). There were some whales spotted from the ship, both on our way to and from the glacier, which was wonderful to watch.

I took an enormous number of photos during this scenic cruise, and since I am behind in my cataloguing a bit, I just selected a few that appealed to edit and share.

2023-07-23: Brewing Storms

We’ve been having a lot of thunderstorms recently, but it’s not particularly picturesque or open where I live, so I am not able to get interesting photos of the storms. I did try once driving around to see if I could get a decent vantage point, but didn’t find anything that made me want to take my camera out.

However, I did get some fantastic storms while I was away in November, complete with open vistas to take pictures of the towering clouds approaching filled with rain. Here are a few of those shots.

A storm in the distance; seen whilst staying at Jaci’s in Madikwe. November, 2022.
Clouds closing in over a dam in Madikwe. November, 2022.
Interesting cloud formations seen whilst on a evening river cruise from Tsowa Safari Island in Zambezi National Park. Zimbabwe, November 2022.

2023-07-16: The White Pass Rail

Without a doubt, the favourite excursion I did while on my Alaskan cruise in May was take the White Pass rail trip from Skagway, Alaska, to Fraser, BC. After disembarking in Fraser, we carried on by bus into the Yukon (my first time in one of the territories). I had hoped to be able to do a longer rail trip all the way to Bennett, but it was too early in the season.

There was still significant snow at the higher elevations, and a definite chill in the air on the 8:00am departure, but I spent as much time as possible on one of the outdoor platforms, watching the scenary and taking lots of photos. I was quite fortunate as only two other people in my rail car had any interest in being outside for any length of time, and there was enough room for three on the platform, so I had a great view to entire way. I’d duck in for few moments when my hands got too cold to warm them next to the heater, and then back out for more photos.

A view from the train not far out of the town of Skagway, Alaska. May, 2023.
Traveling alongside a river. Being in one of the end cars gave me the chance for nice images including the front of the train.
A view near the summit. Fraser, BC. May 2023.

2023-07–9: Infrared Landscapes

These infrared landscape images I took in Zimbabwe caught my eye as I completed the process of moving back to Lightroom and reorganizing the images that I have left to edit. They look rather strange scrolling past unedited, as they are almost a neon red/orange tone, but once converted to black and white, offer a different look than a typical monochrome landscape.

These were both shot near mid day, and the infrared filter requires a long exposure, providing some nice movement in the foliage, like this palm tree.

A lone palm on the banks of the Zambezi River. Zimbabwe, November 2022.

This second image was shot by the waterhole at the camp we stayed at in Hwange. The pair of marabou storks were almost motionless with their wings outstretched, making them look almost fake in the long exposure image. The sky looks extra dramatic in black and white, and later in the day, we had a spectacular thunderstorm with torrential rains.

Marabou storks with wings outstretched. Hwange, Zimbabwe. November, 2022.

2023-06-18: Mount Edgecumbe, Alaska

I recently returned from a trip I had wanted to do for some time – a cruise to visit Alaska. I found an itinerary that worked with my schedule and booked it, and hoped for the best weather wise, but anticipated the worst. I packed a toque, gloves, scarf, fleece, rain coat, rain poncho… all the things to deal with excursions in damp and cold weather, and instead needed to apply sunscreen at each stop and spent my time outside in t-shirts. Many of the people that I met on board, some that had done Alaskan cruises on multiple occasions, agreed that we had strangely amazing weather (and not to expect that if I should go again).

I’ve not yet done a full review of my images, but this one caught my eye when importing. I took this from my balcony as we left Sitka, heading for our next port of call. I’m looking forward to sharing more images from this trip, and especially interested to start looking through the images I took while whale watching, to see if any turned out.

Mount Edgecumbe viewed in the evening after leaving Sitka, Alaska. May, 2023.

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