Morning comes to Flores

Posted on 3 March, 2014 by Eric

Sunrise in Flores, Guatemala:

We didn’t get to spend much time in Flores on our autumn trip to the Yucatan — really, just a night sandwiched between the ruins of Tikal and our flight east to Belize. But we had a great night on the island, and were greeted in the morning by this amazing sunrise.

The original part of Flores (where we stayed) is an island in Lake Peten Itza — it was once the last Maya holdout (from the conquistadors) in the Yucatan peninsula. Now the island is connected to the mainland by a causeway, and the town of Flores covers more ground there than on the island.

The Queen’s Bath, revisited

Posted on 15 February, 2014 by Eric

Along with all the amazing ruins, the ancient Maya site of Palenque also offers some really nice waterfalls not too far from the site center. Dubbed the “Queen’s Bath,” it’s actually a series of waterfalls with terraces. It can be a really amazing thing to see and photograph.

But can it ever change its appearance with the seasons.

Our most recent trip to Palenque was timed to fall just after the end of the wet season, in early December. Enough water was flowing in the Otolum creek to give the Queen’s Bath some life:

Note that this is a 1/13 second exposure, so you can see that you can get some nice blurring of the water without a tripod (note that you can’t use a tripod in the ruins without a permit requiring paperwork in advance, etc.). At least, an exposure like this will work if your camera or lens offers image stabilization.

For comparison’s sake, here’s a shot taken from nearly the same spot two years earlier (but at the end of the dry season, in mid-May):

Frosty mirror

Posted on 22 December, 2013 by Eric

A few nights ago, we took advantage of a warmer night to check out the “Blossoms of Light” display at the Denver Botanic Gardens. They put on a nice show, as always, and it hasn’t been as warm since — so, fortunate timing.

I took this shot toward the north end of the gardens; with the lens closed down to f/22, a nice long exposure erased the slow parade of other viewers along the path…

Blue, white, blue

Posted on 15 December, 2013 by Eric

Seen at 35,000 feet, somewhere between Denver and Atlanta:

The clouds really were this smooth â€” I love the simple, semi-abstract look that the matching sky & jet engine colors gave this view.

Dark little forest

Posted on 6 October, 2013 by Eric

When we stopped at the Chicago Botanic Garden on our recent trip to the windy city, we found they had a whole courtyard devoted to bonsai trees. Â Better still, the trees were displayed with frosted glass backings — making for some really nice photo compositions.

In this particular case, the glass could have been a bit taller. Â But I’d never been to Chicago before, and have no plans to return anytime soon, so I wasn’t about to be fussy. Â A bit of work in PS Elements, and the size of the frosted glass became immaterial.

Personally, though, I prefer the silhouette / monochrome version. Â Gives it a nice, crisp look, don’t you think?

If you’re curious, this tiny forest is a Sawara False Cypress (Chamaecyparis pisifera ‘Boulevard’).

Plein air

Posted on 24 September, 2013 by Eric

On our recent trip to Chicago, we did our usual tour of the local botanic gardens (one of the benefits of being married to a garden-loving woman). Â While wandering through the Chicago Botanic Garden, I spotted an in-progress plein air watercolor:

Sadly, the artist was nowhere to be found, so I couldn’t chat with them. Â Just the same, I liked this composition…

Waiting for breakfast to come along…

Posted on 4 September, 2013 by Eric

We managed to sneak away for a few days’ vacation this past holiday (in the U.S.) weekend — for its cultural amenities, we chose Chicago. But this little guy (gal?) was just waiting for breakfast outside our hotel room window our first morning in town:

It must have been a good judge of real estate, as its web was littered with the remains of past meals. I thought the local buildings made a nice colorful backdrop (not too cluttered, though, when you put them out of focus):

If you’re working on your own case of GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome), I took these with an Olympus E-M5 camera equipped with a Panasonic Lumix 12-35mm lens. A potent combination, if you ask me…

Scooting on around

Posted on 27 August, 2013 by Eric

So I went on a little trip to Texas last week for business, and managed to grab a window seat on the way down. Â This gave me a fantastic view when our plane’s flight crew had to play dodge-the-thunderhead a few times on the way.

This is just one of the beasts we had to work our way around (the orange tint is from the last bits of sunset working their way through the clouds).

Coming to a point

Posted on 14 August, 2013 by Eric

Interesting things, flowering cacti — they give a photographer such a list of contrasts to work with. Â Bright vs. muted colors.

Spiky vs. soft shapes.

Angular vs. rounded shapes.

These are all shots of a “Nipple cactus” (Coryphantha sulcata, a.k.a. Pineapple cactus), seen at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin, Texas. At least, that’s how it was labeled — but all the online information on this species shows it to be both smaller and bearing yellow flowers. Â Not sure what’s going on there…

A flower grows in Rock City

Posted on 29 July, 2013 by Eric

Kansas — definitely not the first place that comes to mind when it comes to photogenic geology. But it does have some gems tucked away here and there.

Rock City is a small park about a half-hour’s drive north of Salina, run by a non-profit corporation, and home to hundreds of spherical limestone boulders:

Admission costs a mere $3 (cash only), and it’s also got some beautiful local plants and birds — so a great quick side-trip if you’re ever heading through Kansas on I-70.