14 posts tagged “photography”

There were some beautiful shots of local wildlife over at UrbanArtifact's Vox.  I have had my own recent experience with local wildlife in a similar manner.  Early morning, local deer in search of food and a location to bed for the day.

This past weekend, I experienced the first time away from the grind in years. This is not to indicate that everything in life is a “Grind.” But it was nice to have the opportunity to step away from everyday life and get a taste of what life is like without certain responsibilities.

March was our 6th Anniversary. The plan was, with granparent accessible, to take a one-on-one trip away. Leaving the kids with the elders. For one reason or another, time away just continued to ellude us. The final plan was to take a weekend getaway somewhere within travel reason. The location that was decided upon was Puerto Rico.

Puerto Rico is probably one of those hidden gems on the east coast where you don’t fully appreciate the convenience offered. For one, it is a territory of the United States which means that you are not really travelling international although it feels like it. The other benefit is that there is no currency conversion needed. U.S. Dollars are the coin of choice. Finally although Spanish is the primary language, everyone speaks english, so the stress of trying to communicate basic needs in a foreign tongue are not an issue.

The trip was spent mainly relaxing. No kids meant more sleep. The beach meant even more sleep. It also meant snorkelling which is one of my great pleasures of the tropics.

The trip for me was also about taking pictures as I always do on any trip. I love photography and trips like this amplify that desire. Especially given the history of Puerto Rico. As with many locations in the world, the influence of the spanish on this small island are profound. The architecture and design carry with them today the style of the Spanish.

This all came to me last night as I was going through old pictures I had taken in Denia Spain, Barcelona and even the Philippines. The most striking comparisons were the design of their military forts and castles. What I saw on this trip in a fort at Old San Juan gave me stunning flashback images of the castle in Denia, Spain. I would say that I am a definite fan of Spanish architecture.

This was a short weekend trip, and one that I know was limited in its experience of Puerto Rico. There is the Rainforest the famous observatory and so much more left to explore there. Despite the brevity of this trip, I will say that the decision has been made to return. If not for the sheer beauty of this tropical isle, then at least for the convenient 4 hour flight from the NY, NJ area.

I have posted more of this trip on my Flickr site.  Please Enjoy.

I left a bit of a mystery around the 24 hrs of Flickr on 5/5/07 and what I would do to contribute to it.  Well I jumped on a plane and headed to San Juan Puerto Rico.  This is a sample of the whole deal on Flickr.

I have something special planned for this event.  Dust off your cameras and get ready for this Saturday.

It's coming! 24 Hours of Flickr: A global Flickr community event

What happens around the world in one day? In a word – life. Here on Flickr, our members are sharing the world that they see: snapping daily moments, recording history, telling stories, capturing beauty.

To celebrate this global community, we invite you to join us in 24 Hours of Flickr, a day-long global photo project. On May 5 2007, grab your camera and whatever else you need, and chronicle your day in pictures.

Join the 24 Hours of Flickr group to get ready for the big day. After the big day, post your best photo to the group. We'd love to see the group photos on a map as well, so make sure you add your photos to the map using the Organizr.

Remember! We want the photos here to illustrate one day in the life of the Flickr community — May 5, 2007 — so, you can only submit a photo taken on May 5. (You'll have until May 21 to add your photo.)

The event will be commemorated by a companion 24 Hours of Flickr book, which will contain a selection of photographs chosen from the group. Additionally, the group's photos will be featured at Flickr events around the world this summer.

By adding your photo to this group, you understand that it may be selected for publication in the 24 Hours of Flickr commemorative book and/or displayed at a Flickr-sponsored event this summer.

I have decided that one of the focal areas in my life will be on my photography. As of late, I have had quite a good time roaming the streets of Manhattan and snapping various pictures here and there.

In the next few weeks I will be travelling back to Tokyo after 1.5 years. I am so stokked! In doing so, there is much that I guess I took for granted living there that I now wish I had captured in imagery. This time, I will pull a trip similar to the August Alaska Cruise (I took close to 900 images).

I hope to spend time capturing the goofy images in a city that is by far the largest in the world (since they don't build up due to earthquakes, they have built out). Shibuya, Akihabara (Electric Town), Asakasusa and so much more. Some of which can already be seen in my Photostream, but I have new ideas of shots that I want.

Then the highlight of my trip will be the Onsen. I can't wait!!! For those who don't know... Out door open air hot springs. Some provided as part of your private room. Buck-Assed Naked, sitting in hot water bubbling up from the ground surrounded by snow and stairing at the stairs sipping Sake. It is almost a religious experience.

Oh and don't forget about food. Gyu-kaku will be my first choice of stops for some serious Yaki-niku (Grilled beef). Then of course the Soba, Ramen, Sushi and lest we forget Mochi as it is the New Year.

Probably a trip to one of the several temples will be in order. Again, some of which found on my photostream.  As I will be taking the MCB with me, be sure that I will be blogging on the road as I go along.  I am sure since I have been gone, there is more rediculous change that has occured in and around Tokyo. 

Everyone should know that one of my creative loves is photography.  I have been taking some time to get back to that over the last couple of days and get my 6000+ shots into some form of my favorites from the rest. 

I have begun to post most of these up on Flickr in my photostream so feel free to jump in there and take a look.  Some are creative, and some are just how I view the world.  Oh, did I mention I have a visual fetish for neon?

Then of course you will see some of the kids.  What I have yet to post are various shots I have taken over the course of the past 4 or 5 years.  Things from Mexico, Spain, Vancouver and of course Japan.

My general personality indicates that I have to do something creative or explode.  That was why I worked in Radio/Television for 11 years.  Then moving into Technology, I began to express my creativity in other ways like building web sites.

There are two other loves that remain constant. That of expressing my views through writing, hence this blog, and photography.  I love the art of photography.  If I could make enough money to do so, I think I would do it full time.  Sort of like the struggling artist who paints in hopes of quitting his day job to paint full time.

The one thing that I have found VOX lacks is a mechanism to add links to interesting place.  One place that might be of interest to you other individuals out there who like photography is my Flickr site.  I have been populating it with some of my favorite shots.  Not all of family or generic stuff, but things like my Arctic Exposure Geek Cruise to Alaska.  That was to attend a seminar of sorts strictly on digital photography.  Some unbelievable shots came out of that trip like the Hubbard Glacier shots.

Living in the New York City area, I also have access to various places that I find very interesting and either have shot or need to get off my lazy but and go shoot.  One such location was the World Trade Center.  I have the fortune of working one block away from it and during a lunch outing with my camera on September 12th 2006, decided to go and try to capture the emotion of the previous days memorial events as toursits and family members were still floating around the area. 

These shots and more can all be found on my Flickr site.  So, if you want to drop by and leave a comment or two, please do so.

Well the fat lady has sung. The Geek Cruise Arctic Exposure is over. It actually began at 12:30 AM last night with the depositing of my luggage into the corridore ouside of our cabin. The luggage tags provided by the Cruise Line was firmly attached to the bags and my assigned departure tag indicated that I was assigned to the Orange "1" group.

After a brief explanation, what this indicated was that because my flight from SEATAC was at 7:53pm enroute to San Francisco and disembarkation started at 7:00 AM, I had quite a while to wait and as such was not in a big hurry to get off of the boat. Time to kill on-board.

With my luggage gone, I only had my camera bag (Backpack) to worry about. I grabbed it and headed up to the Lido deck for the last breakfast on board. I think at this point what I term "Post Cruise Stress Disorder" began to creep in. I sat there looking out at Seattle and pondered the trip. It was good. Of course I miss the family, but this was good. Time to snap back to reality.

Up next was a long arduous trip home. Seattle, San Francisco to Newark, NJ. I was getting stir crazy sitting there listening to all of the colors + numbers being called out knowing mine would be the last one. I decided to mosey down to the 2nd deck and hang out waiting some more.

A nice older lady sat down near me and was also headed to Newark as well as sharing the "Orange #1" designation with me. The only problem is, she liked to talk. I, on the other hand simply wanted to lay back, close my eyes and savor these last minutes aboard the ms Oosterdam.

After a bit, she got the joke and sat quietly at the table. Around 10:30 they called for our group to disembark. Grabbing my bag, I exited the ship one last time, knowing this wasn't an excursion and I wouldn't be returning. Walking down the gangway, I glanced back at the ship, then over the side as the crew was hurridly re-stocking the ship for the new arrivals to take flight that afternoon on the same route we just completed. What a concept. The crew got no rest. Sure some fell into some cycle that allowed them a "Vacation." but in a matter of weeks they would be back to replace their repalcements for another cycle through the "Great Northwest."

For me, I headed through customs and over to the shuttle bus to take me to the airport. Now I have to say that this final step of my Holland America experience was as efficient as any part of the cruise. The bus dropped us off not directly at the terminal, but to the side of the terminal where a group of tents had been set up exclusively for us. The United line for checking in was empty.

I handed over my passport and was issued my tickets,. In doing so the United representative infomred me that if I wanted to, I could catch a shuttle back to Downtown Seattle to kill some time. I looked quizzically at him and then he said it.. "You do realize you will be here for another 9 hours." DUH! Why didn't I think about that? Well, I didn't feel like going through the hassle and stress of wandering that far from the Airport, so I simply told hiim that it was O.K. and that I would make due.

In retrospect, I don't think it was actually that long of a wait. After all, I paid the $8 for wireless internet access, so I got alot done with my Flickr account as well as dusting through some of the photos from the trip again. A couple of mails sent off, a couple of phone calls back home and I was golden.

The flight from Seattle was uneventful and after some empty seat shuffling, I found myself the lone person in a row of three seats. Kicked back and watched the movie "Over the Hedge." The short animation. Not bad, kinda stupid in a kid sort of way.

Into San Fran at around 9:45 and with only an hour to kill before the Red-Eye to Newark, my plan is to get some sleep. I get in at 7:35am and have a full day ahead of me. So, that's it. It is done. Time to catch some sleep and wake up to reality.

Special Shout-Outs to Bill Durrance, Ben Long, Leo Laporte and Neil Bauman the CEO of Geek Cruises for putting together an awesome program.

One thing that can be said for Alaska is that the weather is truly unpredictable. From the time we set ashore in Juneau it had rained. Not a normal rain mind you, but almost a mist of sorts. What made the various stops majestic was how the clouds seemed to hug the mountain tops in almost a tropical manner. It wasn't an "Oh Shit" type of rain, more of a "it isn't that bad" type.

Of course it was cooler than what I had been used to prior to the trip but armed with my Nike ACG gear I was well protected from the elements and even had room to tuck the camera away into my rain jacket.

As you know by now, Ketchikan was the last stop in Alaska and we pulled out around 1pm. Wouldn't you know it, as soon as we cleared the port the skies parted and the sun returned. DOH!

For the most part this evening I have been playing a mean game of tag with the Whales and Dolphins that seem to crop up everytime I don't have my camera. For example. I came up to the deck from my room to find everyone looking towards the back of the ship. Off in the distance I could see the blows of a pod of whales that apparently had passed really close to the ship. So I stood there pissed because I missed it.

Shortly after that a shipboard announcement was made that another pod was approaching the Port (Left) side of the ship. I was on the 3rd deck and my room was on the first. Surley I could make it to the room to grab the camera and back up. NOT! I realized coming back up the steps that there was no entrance to the deck on the Portside from my part of the ship, so I had to quickly make my way to the 1/2 way point of the ship before I could get outside. They were gone. DAMN!

I hung out for about another hour and took various shots of the seabirds flying around as seen in this post, before giving up and going downstairs to get changed for dinner. It was, after all, Formal night. That meant slipping into the suit. What I forgot about was that we had slipped into an additional timezone in Alaska which meant that my presumed 8pm dinner was not for another hour. Imagine the embarrassment going into the dining room to only find my table fully occupied by strangers (the early dinner session). Of course I was on the late dinner session and looked like moron not knowing what time to eat. O.K., time for a drink and off to the sports bar to kill an hour.

While sitting in the sports bar getting caught up via ESPNHD, I glance out the window and what do I see? A freakin Pod of Whales going by!!!!! DAMN, DAMN, DAMN. Nothing I could do at that point but take another sip and let them go. 10 minutes later.... ANOTHER POD!!!!!! WTF!?!?!?! I swore they were screwing with me.

Well made it to dinner, on time this time, and quickly changed, to come up for a beer and to post this vent. Damn Whales!

Early this morning we docked at Ketchikan, Alaska. By the time I was up and came up for breakfast on the 9th Deck of the ship, I was eye level with some homes built on the hillside next to the dock. The one thing about most of these ports is that the homes are generally built close to the water. Pretty scarey if you think about how prone Alaska is to earthquakes. But hey, to each his/her own.

I downed my omlette, grabbed my gear and headded out because we were only here for a relatively short time. Whoever went ashore had to be back on the boat by 12:15pm or thier asses would get left. I was not going to be made an example of.

Ketchikan is a typically quaint Alaskan town. There is one thing that Ketchikan has thought that was quite fun was Creek Street. It is a little boardwalk strip of buildings that have obviously been around since the gold rush that various shops have set up in. Some of the buildings are painted bright colors and make for some good picture taking. I don't expect I got anything unique as it was the place to go for most of the ships that were in.

After walking about and taking random shots, I decided to make today about portraits of people. I grabbed some wood on one of the tables near the dock where it was the most busy and challenged myself to sit and wait for unique shots of people. This is where we get to the picture on this blog. I have to provide some background.

You see, I noticed some reflection out of the corner of my eye and saw this black man who had been there a while and was one of the locals trying to scalp some tours or what not. However, he was talking to the woman in this picture. I was dumbfounded when I saw her. Now I could fault her for wearing that get-up, but what disturbed me more was that security on the ship, who screens everyone leaving and returning, thought it would be fun to let her off of the ship dressed like this.

A damn gold glitterball with green pants and gold shoes. Sure the sunglasses work, but absolutely nothing else on her did. I was so much in shock that it took me a second to break away from being sucked into her outfit to grab my camera and fire off a couple of snaps as she got closer to me. Now I thought she would know how rediculous she looked and give me shit for taking her picture. But no, she quickened by me to her friend and I didn't dare turn around as she proclaimed to her friend "Girl, why did you leave me, that man was all over me!" Speechless is all I can say about that comment.

Off to Victoria Island next........