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
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
Looking west across Lake Louise; Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada:
Canada Day fireworks in Banff, Alberta:
This shot was taken from the Banff Avenue Bridge, with a few seconds’ display reflected in the Bow River.
EXIF:
Olympus E-M1II, 12-40mm M.Zuiko Pro lens @ 24mm
f/8, ISO 200, 3 1-second frames stacked via Live Composite
Nothing too profound here, just a great sunset we had the fortune to witness — in beautiful Piran, Slovenia:
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):
An aerial shot of waterfalls above Waimea:
Some payoff for the usual rainy day trade-off — hazy air for active waterfalls. Â Shot from a helicopter over Kauai, Hawaii.
The Aqua Azul waterfalls, uphill from the ancient Maya ruins of Palenque in Chiapas, Mexico:
When we visited Palenque last year, we split the first day between the ruins and some nearby sights.  The Aqua Azul (blue water) waterfalls are a beautiful set of pools and cascades not too far uphill from the ruins along a twisty, winding road.  Great place to decompress!
BTW, sorry for the sporadic blog postings lately — I’ve been working to finish up the next “A Photographer’s Guide” eBook. Â This one’s on the ruins at Palenque, and should hit the (metaphorical, electronic) streets in the next week. Â But first, I need to finish up some editorial work on it…
Seen at the Embarcadero in San Francisco, California:
Not having spent much (really, any) of my life near an ocean, I’m not used to just how rough water can get when there’s a storm nearby. Our recent Puget Sound trip gave us a little reminder of that on a day when we drove along the west coast of Vancouver Island:
Normally, Long Beach in the Pacific Rim National Park Preserve is a serene place. As you can see, it was a bit more… boisterous when we visited.