Looking south from Venice proper toward the island of San Giorgio Maggiore.
In 2022, we were able to visit Venice during the “shoulder season” just before the onslaught of tourists in the summer’s main tourist season. Taking a late-day gondola ride was one of our best choices — scenic and quiet!
EXIF:
Olympus E-M1 Mark III, M.Zuiko 8-25mm lens
15mm, ISO 500, f/9.0, 1/60 sec
An American Bison (a.k.a. Buffalo) keeps a watchful eye on me while hunting for grass under snowfall.
Seen at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge just outside of Denver, Colorado.
EXIF:
OM System OM-1 camera, M.Zuiko 100-400mm f/5.0-6.3 lens
100mm, ISO 200, 1/1600 sec, f/5.6
The Flatirons, just west of Boulder, Colorado. But seen in infrared, and with some color tweaks in post-processing.
I love the Flatirons, but they’re one of those subjects that is exhaustively photographed here in Colorado. So, how to make a shot of them that doesn’t look like a million others? Oh, and I went hiking on kind of a “blah” sort of morning — light overcast, some snow on the ground (but not enough to really set off the rock). My regular color photos taken with a regular digital camera were… underwhelming.
Fortunately, I also took along my E-PM2 camera body (which I’d had converted to full spectrum imaging), and a 720 nm infrared filter. Do a little color channel swapping, fiddle a bit with levels to separate the rock from the trees, and presto — you’re on a distant world.
EXIF:
Olympus E-PM2 camera (full spectrum conversion), M.Zuiko 14-42mm F3.5-5.6 EZ lens, 720nm filter
ISO 200, 19mm, f/8.0, 1/250 sec
A pair of American Bison (Buffalo), taking a break from grazing through snowfall.
Seen at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge near Denver, Colorado.
EXIF:
OM Digital OM-1 camera, M.Zuiko 100-400mm f/5.0-6.3 lens
f/5.9, 186 mm, 1/1000 sec, ISO 200
A simple scene, of a male Wood Duck enjoying a peaceful morning in Sterne Park; Littleton, Colorado.
EXIF:
OM System OM-1 camera, M.Zuiko 100-400mm lens
ISO 8000, 400mm, f/6.3, 1/800 sec
Liftoff of a Colorado-themed hot air balloon at the closing session of the (rain plagued) 50th annual Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.
We haven’t had a chance to attend the Fiesta for years, but this year’s event lined up perfectly with some family travel we had on the calendar. We showed up in town the Friday night at the end of the Fiesta, just in time for the Saturday morning and evening main events to be cancelled due to bad weather (an unusually wet October for New Mexico meant many events were cancelled through the week).
Luckily for spectators and the remaining balloonists, the weather improved overnight, so the Sunday morning mass ascension could still take place. A lot of pilots had given up before that point, so it was a relatively “thin” mass ascension, but we were all happy to see a respectable number of balloons airborne.
EXIF:
OM Digital OM-1, M.Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8 II lens
34mm, f/13, 1/80 sec, ISO 200
Looking down on the Cinque Terre town of Vernazza on a stormy afternoon. The harbor would normally be full of small boats at this time of day, but they were all pulled out of the water due to dynamic sea conditions.
Earlier this year, we were able to spend a bit of time in Italy. Out of this, we had three days to rattle around in Cinque Terre — a group of 5 old fishing towns. They’re quite a photogenic group, although I’d vote for Vernazza as the prettiest. They’re all also connected by both a seaside hiking trail, and shuttle service on the local rail line — so you’ve got multiple options for getting around to see the sights, as a function of your schedule and exercise tolerance. I took this shot from the trail on the north side of town — not terribly far to go for a “postcard” view.
EXIF:
Olympus E-M1III, M.Zuiko 8-25mm f/4 lens
8mm, f/11, ISO 200, 1/200 sec
A calm, yet colorful scene in Keukenhof Park, Netherlands.
What can I say about Keukenhof….? Well, it’s a big flower garden / park outside of Amsterdam, that’s only open to the public for 2 months out of the year — and during those two months, it’s covered in mind-blowing levels of floral color. We were able to visit it this year, and it’s got to be one of the most amazing visual experiences that I’ve ever had.
A Ruby-throated Hummingbird, seen at the Denver Botanic Gardens’ Chatfield Arboretum.
EXIF:
OM System OM-1 camera, M.Zuiko 100-400mm f/5.0-6.3 lens
f/6.3, 328 mm, 1/1000 sec, ISO 8000