Today is Christmas Eve and I am sure everyone is busy getting ready for the big day tomorrow. I wanted to post something special for today's post and I happened to remember a post that I read last year on Denise Ippolito's blog where she had created an ornament that featured some of her images. I really like the creativity and decided that I would create one this year that featured images that I took in 2012. Thanks for the idea Denise. If anyone is interested in creating one, here is a link to a video from Gavin Hoey Photography that describes the process.
Last of Route 66
On our trip to Arizona and New Mexico, the friends we were traveling with wanted to drive along the famed Route 66. Many of you who live in the American Southwest know that this famous road no longer exists as a US highway. Route 66 was officially replaced in its entirety by the Interstate Highway System in 1985. You would have laughed at us Easterners as we drove around looking for this famed road. There are still some sections of Route 66 that still exist but it wasn't until we stopped in Williams, Arizona and saw this sign that we realized we were searching for something that no longer existed. As a side note, Williams still has a stretch that still has some of the feel and look of the road.
Clearing Fog
One of my favorite scenic drives was when I visited California for the first time and took the drive from Los Angeles to San Francisco on California Route 1 (also known as the Pacific Coast Highway). Being the first time on the west coast, I fell in love with that drive. Whenever I traveled to the west coast on business, I always managed to get there a day or two early to hop onto the highway. There are so many things to see and visit that it is hard to pick one that is my favorite. It is no secret that I have a love of lighthouses. That being the case, it would be hard to leave off the Pigeon Point Lighthouse pictured here off of any list of places to visit on the Pacific Coast Highway. The Pigeon Point Lighthouse is arguably one of the most picturesque lighthouses on the Pacific coast. Built in 1871, the tower measures 115 feet tall that seems even taller as it stands on a rocky promontory above the Pacific Ocean below. It is located just south of San Francisco outside the town of Pescadero. This particular morning, we left Monterey with my brother-in-law and his family and headed to San Francisco. The weather was quite foggy and a bit wet when we left and, along the way, my brother-in-law hopped off the coast onto a major highway. Knowing that the Coastal Highway can clear at any time, I stayed true to my route and by the time we reached the lighthouse, the fog was clearing. Sometimes, perseverance for the shot works out.
Christmas Castle
Just being back from Disney World has put me in the Christmas mood. Disney does such a great job decorating their resorts and parks for the holiday season that you can't help from getting into a festive mood. One of the really cool things they do in the Magic Kingdom is the way Cinderella's castle is used during their "Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party" show. The castle is lit with over 200,000 lights and is used as a movie screen in such a creative way that your jaw drops in amazement. The castle appears to be covered in ice throughout the evening and when they change the color of the lights that shine on the castle, it takes on a different look and "personality". This image is just one of the many shots I took. I picked it to post because it had that "icy" look.
City Walk
I have posted a bunch of images of Lake Lucerne and Mount Pilatus but I realized that I have never posted any of the city of Lucerne itself. Lucerne was founded in the year 750 and has long religious and cultural history. Its architecture is very unique which makes the city a popular tourist destination. On one of my many city walks, I spotted a prime example of the great architecture, namely, the Jesuit Church. The church is the first large baroque church built in Switzerland north of the Alps. Its "onion" shaped steeples are quite the unusual sight in the middle of Switzerland.
Beach Club Reflections
It feels like I haven't posted in ages even though it has only been a couple of weeks. Had a great time in Disney World. The Christmas decorations are everywhere and the lights and parades are second to none. I will be posting a few of those Christmas shots in the coming weeks. In the meantime, this is an image from our home away from home, Disney's Beach Club Resort. I noticed this reflection of the resort but I was pretty tired so I decided to get it later in the trip. This is usually a mistake but the weather was so great (mid to high 70s) that I was sure that I would be able to get it. I captured this a few nights later and have decided I like taking night images.
Goofy's Houseboat
I have posted a number of images this past year from Disney World. We visited there this past February for the first time in over 15 years. It looks like the time between visits is dramatically shortening as we are headed back there today for a little over a week. I was going to dig out a photo to post from Disney for today's post until I remembered this surprise that we spotted on a canal in Amsterdam. After visiting the Anne Frank House, we walked along the canal looking at the numerous houseboats. These houseboats are common due to the cost of owning real estate in the city. Ironically, they are now very expensive because of the limited number of moorings. This one, in particular, brought smiles to our faces. It seems that wherever you go, Goofy and Disney are not far behind. I will not be posting on the blog for the next week and a half while I am away. I will try to catch up upon my return.
Pilatus
I hope everyone who celebrated Thanksgiving had a great one. I have posted a number of images from Mount Pilatus in Lucerne, Switzerland. All of the previous posts were from the top of the mountain. This image today is of Mount Pilatus itself from the waters of Lake Lucerne. This viewpoint shows the beautiful green countryside and small towns that line the lake, all within the shadow of the 7,000 foot mountain. The mountain got its name from a legend that states that Pontius Pilate was buried there.
Night Spires
Last week I posted this image of Cologne, Germany's waterfront. In that image, the spires of the Cologne Cathedral (also known as the High Cathedral of Saint Peter) can be seen in the background. Later that afternoon, it started to rain and we headed back to the ship for some drinks and dinner. During dinner, the rain stopped and I decided to grab the camera and tripod and head to the top deck of the ship to take a few night shots. The spires of the cathedral was even more pronounced in the night sky with all of its lights on. I usually don't shoot at night but I really enjoyed it and hope to make this more of my routine.
On a personal note, with Thanksgiving tomorrow, I want to thank everyone who has visited my site this year. When I started this blog, I wasn't sure how long I would do it. It has been 18 months since I started the blog and thanks to all of you, I am inspired to continue to do so for quite a long time.
Sunrise Over Monument Valley
Two of the characteristics of the American Southwest are the unique shapes and colors of its many sandstone formations. The combination of these characteristics are most prevalent in Monument Valley where you can sometimes feel that you have been transported to Mars. There are certain times of the day where the colors are nonexistent and the shape of the formations become the main focus. Such was the morning when I captured this image. I had gotten up early to shoot the sunrise. We were staying at Gouldings Lodge and was headed to photograph the Mittens a few miles away. I noticed that dawn was about to break and saw the outline of the formations known as (left to right) Brigham's Tomb; The King and His Throne; Stagecoach; Bear and Rabbit; and Castle Butte. The silhouette created by the dawn's colors made the shapes stand out more that in daylight.
Glacier Bay Ruggedness
Of the many attractions in Alaska, the area surrounding Glacier Bay in southeastern Alaska has to be one of the most beautiful. The area includes the national park of the same name along with numerous glaciers and mountains. When sailing the Inside Passage, there are mountains towering above the bay on every side. As a photographer, I have a habit of shooting with a pretty wide eye in trying to capture the overall scene that I am experiencing. I sometimes forget that I should should capture tighter shots that show the details within the scene. In this instance, I remembered to zoom in to capture the ruggedness of the mountains above Glacier Bay.
Indian Burial Ground
One of the cool places we visited in New Mexico this year was the Taos Pueblo Village. It is estimated to be over 1,000 years old and belongs to the Taos Pueblo Native American tribe. As we walked around the pueblo and listened to our Indian guide, it was hard not to feel the spirituality of the Pueblo culture. This was all too true for me as I wandered off and found this ancient cemetery. The simplicity of these grave markers spoke to me and I wondered how many have been buried here over the past 1,000 years.
Reading Crime and Punishment?
I have posted a number of images from the Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia. I shot a ton of photos that day and as I sift through them, I rediscover those unusual cells that show a little bit of prison life. This is one of those images. I am not sure if this image is an accurate portrayal of one of the original cells, but it almost looks like an inviting place for a convict to sit and either write or read (at least compared to the other barren cells).
Reflections of the Netherlands
Our visit to Zaanse Schans, an open air conservation area and museum just outside of Amsterdam, was intended as a visit to see the six working windmills that are situated there along the banks of the Zaan River. After parking after our drive from Amsterdam, we walked to the entrance and discovered this scene of some of the houses and their reflections. We found out that Zaanse Schans is actually a small village complete with wonderful little houses, small museums, shops and restaurants. It was a beautiful time to spend the morning taking in the Netherlands countryside.
Cologne Waterfront
The Rhine River flows from Lake Toma in eastern Switzerland and flows through Switzerland, Austria, Germany, France and the Netherlands before flowing into the North Sea at Rotterdam. Along the way, there are beautiful towns and cities that dot this beautiful route. Some are small towns while others are large cities. What is so great about a river cruise is that the boats often pull up to the side of the river so that passengers can just hop off and be in the city. One of my favorite stops in Germany was Cologne. After the ship docked, I hopped off and was only a few steps from this scene on Cologne's waterfront. While the weather wasn't at its best, the town was quite inviting as we sampled the local brews and cuisine.
Headed Inland
Sailing along the Alaskan coast is an amazing experience. The scenery is wonderful with majestic mountain ranges seemingly guarding any intrusion inland. Wildlife is plentiful from humpback whales that can be seen swimming parallel alongside our ship as well as seals and otters that surface everywhere. Above our heads, bald eagles are searching for fish in all of their magnificence. As we headed toward the Alexander Archipelago via the Icy Straits, our destination was through Glacier Bay to its inland jewel, Glacier Bay National Park . As I stood on deck in the cold morning, I couldn't help but stare in wonder at the beautiful scene in front of me. As I composed each image, I wished that instead of only spending the day in this beautiful part of Alaska's coast, we could set anchor and spend a week.
Empty Benches
A quick post and run today. This image was taken during last year's trip to shoot Niagara Falls. After shooting the falls at sunrise, I headed out to St Catharines and Lake Ontario to see what I could find. I stumbled on this marina that had a long jetty along with two lighthouses. The marina was surprisingly deserted and I really liked these benches that extended out toward the lake with one of the lighthouses in the background.
The Bird Cage
Disney is one of the most popular and successful companies in the world. There are probably a myriad of reasons why that is so. Many of their resort hotels, as well as Epcot, are beautiful renditions of other places around the world. How do they seem to pull it off? To me, it is in the details. It seems that Disney has created or recreated places and things that, upon examination, are so detailed that they make you believe that you have been transported somewhere else and are seeing the real thing. This is everywhere you look at Disney. Take this bird cage that is in the middle of the atrium in Fort Wilderness Lodge. This is no ordinary bird cage. If you look at the image closely, the amount of detail is incredible. Sure, they could have put an ordinary cage there but that would not elicit a "Wow" form its visitors.
Canal View
Every time I visit Europe, I am always surprised how prevalent canals are in many of its cities. This is very unlike the majority of cities here in the United States. The canals give each city a unique feel and character. This is particularly true of Amsterdam which is know as the "Venice of the North". Amsterdam has over 60 miles of canals, 90 islands and approximately 1,500 bridges. While this obvious comparison to Venice is only natural, I found that the architecture of each city differentiated itself from the other. There were times, however, when I turned a corner and wouldn't have known whether I was in Amsterdam or Venice. This image of an Amsterdam canal is such an example. Maybe it is the architecture, the light or something else, but this scene screamed Venice to me.
Ancient Drainage
The first stop on our recent river cruise was to Kinderdijk, Netherlands. Kinderdijk is located in a polder at the the meeting of the Lek and Noord rivers. After docking, we headed to the Mill Network at Kinderdijk-Elshout. This attraction is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and consists of 19 windmills that were built around 1740. The reason these windmills were built was to reclaim the land from the water thus creating the polder. Before visiting the Netherlands, I hadn't realized that 27% of its land mass is below sea level and how much land has been reclaimed from the sea. It seems amazing to me that about 250 years ago, someone came up with the idea of building these windmills to reclaim land. This is an image of one of the windmills at the the Mill Network. The river is to the right of this windmill and I was standing in front of another windmill. I really liked this composition as it shows some of the reclaimed land.