365 Photos: Week 51 Palm Springs and Puerto Vallarta

May 7-13, 2013

As I was approaching the end of the 365 Photo Challenge, I was lucky enough to get a vacation for the last couple of weeks. It was so nice.

Doing the 365 Photo project was most fun when I was traveling.  It got me out of my everyday routine and brought me to new places.  However, trying to find fun and interesting things to shoot in my ordinary routine was a good stretch for me.

Tuesday the week began with a hike around the Thousand Palms area of the Cochella Valley. We were looking for a new place to hike.  All and all, the hike wasn’t very scenic. We were mostly in the just the plain old desert.  There was something of an oasis we happened along.  This is a shot of Evan walking along the desert near the trees.

Looking back on this photo, I can’t say  I love it.  I don’t know why I included two pictures for this day.  It is interesting to look back on these photos over two months after the completion of the project.

I do, however, really like this picture from the same day.

I’m a sucker for a long desert road in the middle of nowhere. I love road shots and this kind of vision-cracked pavement going on and on and on.  Where does it go? It’s a lonely stretch of road ripe with opportunity. Perhaps it was growing up in Alaska, where the road trip wasn’t part of my upbringing.

May 8 was our last day in Palm Springs before embarking to Puerto Vallarta. This is a shot of Aloe Vera behind the condo.

And then on May 9, we flew to Mexico.  We stayed at a place called Casa Cupola.  It was lovely. This was the view from the first night.

Have I mentioned lately that I LOVE sunsets. Apparently, the building blocking the view was new and quite controversial. Still, it was a great view at sunset.

The hotel was nestled up in a little valley. This is the view from the other direction.

It was paradise!

I know I am only supposed to have one picture per day, but PV afforded me so many interesting shots, I can’t just do one.

If you’ve been to Mexico, you are familiar with the vendors selling all manner of crap to tourists.  I was taken with the guys who were selling skewers of meat.  Through the week, I found out that these guys walk miles and miles up and down the beaches with this stuff. For MILES!

This is one of those intrepid souls.  One afternoon, Evan and I walked the beach, and we saw this guys.  I liked his face with the shrimp and chicken.  I never did eat one of these.

The next shot was of a statue down the beach from Blue Chairs, where we hung out a lot.

PV had lots of these kind of statues around.  Some of them where very cool.

I was enjoying taking pictures of people.  This is a great shot of the woman who gave us manicures on the beach.

She was very nice. I enjoyed working my very basic Spanish with her.

I also enjoy taking long shots at night. This was the other side of the valley from us.

I love the colors of the building.  We sat on the lanai listening to the voices and music coming from these buildings. It was a very cool way to spend the evening. It made me think this would be a fun retelling of Rear Window.  It was like watching a little movie at times.

I have two more shots for Sunday.  After two straight days of heavy beach time, we decided some walking was in order, so we walked about PV.  We walked all the way down to the end of the tourist area and stopped for a mid-afternoon cocktail.  On the beach were some boats.  When I get into areas with boats, I become fascinated with them from a photography standpoint.

So here’s a boat! I started shooting in RAW mode, but while on vacation, I switched back because I wasn’t sure how much space I would have. I wish I hadn’t. I think I could have done more to help this photo if it had been in RAW.

Then there is this shot from the end of the pier.

This is one of those I got kind of lucky shots. I love the birds in a line with the sun and the water.  Looking at it, I see it needs to be straightened ever so slightly. I’ll get on that. I suppose it could be cropped a bit too. I ended up with two really nice bird sunset photos. The other one will be in next week’s entry.

On Monday we did a beach hike before doing our beach time.

There were all kinds of magical buildings and portals up and down the beach. I loved the look of the various buildings.

And then the colorful flowers on some of them. It was a wonderful beach hike.

There’s just one more week to go!

Costa Rica: Portfolio of Sunset Shots

I started with nearly 2,000 shots of our Costa Rica vacation. Now I’ve narrowed it down to about 60. Then I thought, I’ll theme the posts and upload them a little more slowly. So here’s the first part of the portfolios.

Gorgeous Costa Rican Sunsets

We saw some amazing sunsets when we were is Costa Rica.  Some were bright and colorful, others were more muted because of clouds.  Regardless, the sun set fast and direct in Costa Rica affording some brilliant shots.

While I didn’t take this first shot, I love the color, and I am in the photo.

We saw many sunsets from various perspectives.

On this evening, we kayaked out to the middle of the bay to watch the sun go down into the ocean.  I got this lone kayaker as we were headed back to shore.

This shot was taken as we were ending our birding and wildlife tour of the mangrove swamp.  I loved the fishermen working as the day comes to an end.  And the color is pretty stunning.

I captured this on San Juanillo as the day was finishing and this lone man was out on the edge of the bay.

This was the same night as the lone man above.  I love the color and the splashing waves.

Evan found this hole in the rock, and I managed to get to the spot at the right moment to catch the light of the setting sun. I really like how this image turned out.

Here we are in our kayaks watching the sun go down.

This was a long exposure as Evan stood in the crashing surf, but the long exposure gives it a more surreal look.

Below is a complete Portfolio of my Costa Rica Trip.

365 Photos: Week 28 Costa Rica Vacation

November 27 – December 2, 2012

Week 28, as I write this, seems a lifetime ago.  It was filled with the fun from our Costa Rica Vacation.

Because if the diversity of images, I chose more images than seven this week.  The choice was made in large part to capture the diversity of activity we did while in Costa Rica.

Tuesday’s image was of some fishing boats in the little bay of San Juanillo.  After lunch, we drove to this little bay to be in the water.  The bay was part of the little village, and fishing appeared to be a large part of the village life. I took many shots of fish heads, the buildings, the people, and the water.  There were some lovely sunset shots, but I was really fascinated with the boats and getting good shots.  This would be theme for much of the trip.

Perhaps the best part of the whole trip was waking up at 4:30 in the morning to go down to Ostional to see a turtle arribata.  The Olive Ridley Sea Turtle is apparently the only species of turtle who lay eggs in groups.  All other sea turtle lay solitary.  So during a new moon, they use the beach in Ostinal to lay eggs.  It was AMAZING.  I’ve never seen anything like it.  Hundreds of turtles were coming out of the ocean and crawling up the beach.  Tiny baby turtles were coming out of the sand and running back to the sea.  Vultures were picking at eggs and babies.  It was beautiful.  It was chaos.  It was the circle of life.

The turtles come at night, so you either have to go at sundown or sunrise in hopes of seeing anything.  This is one of the best images I got during the trip.  There are others in my previous post. I highly recommend this experience to anyone who loves nature and wildlife.

The day began before sunrise, and also included a boat trip on Rio Nosara to see birds, crocodiles and other wildlife that ended at sunset.  Some of the wildlife was wild.

I was using a 50-200mm lens to get this, but we did get pretty close in the boat.  Notice there are two spiders.  Apparently the smaller one is a male.  She is likely to eat it.

Thursday we went horseback riding through the forest and out onto the beach.  It was a delightful two and a half hours made even more so by our guide, who is here with Evan.

After the horseback trip, we went to Samara for lunch.  As we were heading back to the car I snapped this shot I thought was cute.

I shot many things in Samara, but I really liked the look of this one. The street photography is much different in a little village than in a big city.  I asked her if it was ok, and she said yes.  I’ve found that I am getting more confidence when it comes to asking strangers to take pictures.  I still need more, but I am getting good when I see something I really like.

On Friday, I got a little indulgent with two shots.  They are of the same moment, but so some reason, I was overly fascinated with this pig, dog, and kids playing in the tidal pool with them.

I cannot explain my fascination with these animals or why I took so many pictures. It must have been because I’ve never seen a pig and a dog play on the beach and kids play with their pig in a tidal pool.  I took lots of pictures of all this, and at no time did I see an adult.  Things really are different in Costa Rica.  As the tide came in, I saw the kids leaving the beach with their pig and dog in tow.

On Saturday, we headed to the Four Seasons for the rest of our trip. At beach that night we saw the prettiest sunset of the whole trip.

I used the flash to fill in this shot.  I love the colors and everything about this shot.  We had been frolicking in the surf, hence Evan’s wet shirt look.  It was such a gorgeous sunset. And fast.  Near the equator like that, the sun goes straight down and then it gets dark.  Not at all like Alaska, where sunset last for over an hour.

On Sunday, we went snorkeling.

We bought a Canon D10 for the trip to take some underwater shots.  The first day was me getting used to the underwater features and the quirks of the camera.  I did get this fun shot of Evan underwater.  I do like the Canon D10 for this kind of work.  Also, it is great for being in out of doors places where there is lots of water.  More on that later.

Because I do love snorkeling do much, we went again on Monday.

I was getting better with the camera on the second day.  There is a bit of post processing to get the images sharper and more colorful.  The water was pretty murky when were out. But I like the way this puffer fish looks.

Because this day was jam packed with other activities, I do have three images total for Monday.  We took another boat ride and saw tons of wildlife.  The light was better this day than the previous boat ride.  I got a lovely picture of a crocodile and a bird.  Again, this was with the canon 50-200mm lens I borrowed for the trip.

I have more of Costa Rica for Week 29 before heading home.  That will be in the next post.

Costa Rica Day 8: Snorkeling and Crocodiles

This puffer fish was shot today while snorkeling. We decided to have a low key morning here on day 8 in Costa Rica. We got up with the sun again at 6:30. After breakfast, we got snorkeling gear and made our way to the beach.

We were in the water for a out 45 minutes. When I got my second jelly fish sting, I figured we should get out. The stings were more of a nuisance than anything. They simply itch and burn. It while in the water, I took a couple more shots. I was a little obsessed with the puffer fish.

We did another massage today too. This was all before noon. This massage was a bamboo massage. They used pieces of bamboo and rolled them across the tight spots. It was amazing! I think it might have been the best massage I ever received.

Then it was a quick change and off to the bus for the surprise group tour. On the way we encountered this little critter by the pool.

But you saw lots of these in an earlier post. After the tour, we ended up at a ranch house where we had dinner and did some shopping for local ads and crafts. Our entertainment was performed by the minister of culture for Costa Rica. What a cool thing, a minister of culture. He played piano while vide played of beautiful Costa Rican scenery.

As I said, it was more of a low key day.

We are told it is the Costa Rican equivalent to a raccoon. We saw one the other night in the garbage.

Once on the bus, we headed to a wildlife preserve where we went a on river tour. After last week’s river tour, we felt like experts. Evan was picking it iguanas left and right. We saw much of the same wildlife as before, but also saw some much larger crocodiles.

Also, instead of being just six to a boat, we were nearly 30 per boat. AND apparently, Elvis was on the tour with us.

He was on our bus too, but kept a low profile. Since the guides company had so many board and people on the river at once, they kept their own ambulance on sight, just in case.

We felt much safer. Although, I’m not sure what they would have done had someone been bitten by a crocodile.

Of course, there were tons of birds.

After the tour, we ended up at a ranch house where we did some shopping for local arts and crafts. They were even hand rolling cigars! $5 a piece! What a deal.

As with lots of these corporate tours, there was entertainment. We got to see the Costa Rican Minister of Culture perform. He’s quite a piano player and composer. He reminded me of George Winston. He played while beautiful scenery of Costa Rica was shown. This was all done under the stars. It was pretty magnificent.

As I said, it was a much lower key kind of day.

Finally, here was today’s sunset.

Costa Rica Day 7: Snorkeling and Sunburn

My morning began with Evan on the lanai sitting in the light of the rising sun. He was up early, because, as usual, with this trip to Costa Rica, everything starts early. We showered, ate, and were at the boat for our 8am departure for a snorkeling and sailing cruise.

We are in Costa Rica as part of a “work” trip for Evan and his parent company, Carpet One. Last night we had an opening dinner reception where we met some great people, many of whom were on this cruise.

We cruised out about an hour to a little cove. On the way, there was an open bar! Bloody Marys and beer were flowing freely. We met more great people and generally had a really fun time.

Today was also the day to try out the new Canon underwater camera. It did ok.

Shooting fish underwater is tough. They move pretty quickly, and there is a bit of a delay with this camera. Still, it was fun to capture some underwater shots.

I can’t say the fish were terribly abundant, but there were enough to keep it interesting. Plus the water was warm.

In general, we mostly relaxed and drank on the boat.

Of course, I never remember that snorkeling equals sunburn. The $20 bottle of aloe via is helping, and you would think I would remember this fact. There are many of us from the tour who are a little pink and red this evening.

We finished the tour around noon, and took a brief siesta in the room. You know those safes in the room where you can store your belongings and valuables? Well, if they malfunction, which ours did, they send someone with a magic device to open it. Anyone cane open these safes. I’m not sure how safe I feel anymore.

The rest of the afternoon was about relaxing on the beach.

The Four Seasons is a little ridiculous when it comes to service. When we approached our chaise lounge, a gentleman was there to get us towels and covers for the lounge. Later he brought us water and drinks. A woman came and cleaned my sunglasses for me. It was amazing service.

We relaxed and took some pictures.

I’d like to think I look like Daniel Craig here, but I’m probably the only one who feels that way.

I got this one of Evan as we walked the beach.

I’d like to think he looks like Daniel Craig too.

The afternoon concluded with a kayak trip into the bay to watch the sunset.

When we got into the middle of the bay, the sun was about 15 minutes from setting. So the group of us in the kayaks just floated there as the sun gradually made its way into the sea. It was spectacular to just sit and float and watch the sun.

After that, we hit the hot tub. With us in the hot tub was a couple celebrating their honeymoon. I asked the guy what he did, and he said he played tennis. Evan asked if he was any good. The guy said he did pretty well. Turns out, this guy is Mike Bryan. Until, I got back to the room and looked him up, I had no idea who he was. He only won a gold medal at the London Olympics with his twin brother! Nice guy, and pretty humble. And apparently pretty good at tennis. 🙂

We had the most amazing meal at the Italian restaurant on the grounds-Di Mar. If you are in the neighborhood. Try the risotto and the prosciutto chicken medallions. And the side of polenta wasn’t bad either.

It’s hard to believe its been a week in Costa Rica for us. More still to come before we trek home on Thursday.

Here’s one more sunset shot

Costa Rica Day 2: This REALLY is a Third World Country

The morning began with the alarm going off just before seven thanks to the previous occupant of our hotel room. Although, considering we were in bed around 10 the night before, I wasn’t too upset.

Day 2 in Costa Rica was all about getting to the Hotel Luna Azul. Getting there, in fact, proved to be an adventure.

First there was the matter of getting the rental car. We were supposed to meet someone in the lobby at nine for the shuttle to the rental office. 9:15 came. 9:30 came. I had read in the travel book that time was something of a suggestion. People run late in Cost Rica. The more I travel to relaxed places–Hawaii, Spain, and now Costa Rica–I do think that America’s blood pressure would decrease if we weren’t so focused on being on time. Evan seemed only slightly annoyed. He was much more annoyed when the final quote for the rental car came in at twice the price he had expected. They never include insurance in the online price quote.

We did eventually get to the office-after two phone calls.

Once the car was checked out, we were on the road, GPS in hand. At first the GPS was as useful as a blind man with a map. Let me explain.

In the days leading up to this trip, I had been reading travel guides about Costa Rica. I was reading about little towns on the Nicoya Peninsula. These little towns sounded like so much fun and seemed like they would be easy to get to. But the GPS didn’t seem to know many of these towns or places. That seemed odd. And that was clue #1.

Then we got in the car and started driving.

The first 20 miles or so were great. Sure the road was narrow, and people were not heeding to the speed “suggestions.” But the road was paved and mostly two lanes. I was frequently amused when the GPS would ding and alert us to a “dangerous bridge.” It did also point out the school zones, of which there were plenty. Good to see Costa Rica has lots of schools.

Then we turned left. And that was clue #2.

Abruptly, the pavement ended. The road was a mere hint to what is literally a road by most standards. To call this a road is to imply that a skein of yarn could function as an anchor line for a cruise ship. It was dusty, rocky, filled with pot holes and ravines. I then knew that zipping up and down the coast was no longer in our plans. And I knew, without a doubt, we were in a third world country.

The little towns we drove through were even smaller than the little one road towns in the states. I was pleased to see that each had a school. I saw quite a few little girls in white blouses and blue skirts that looked like school uniforms.

It took us about two hours, but we made it to our destination, the Hotel Luna Azul. Here’s a view from our room.

The hotel is simply amazing. We have an outdoor shower which is too fun. Although there was a giant bug in the shower, and the hotel owner told us, when we showed it to him, that isn’t the largest bug we will see. Hmmmmmmmm.

I’ll go on more about the hotel later. Again, it is amazing.

Ok, so then we gathered up some beach stuff and went into “town.”

On the way we stopped at a black sand beach and found some dead baby turtles. 😦

The town was tiny. I can’t really describe it any other way. And all these little towns have soccer fields. We ate rice, beans and chicken with the beer of choice in Costa Rica, Pilsen. Then it was down to the beach.

The beach was a small cove filled with fishing boats. By the sand was soft and the sun was warm. We spent most of the rest of the afternoon there swimming, hiking, and watching the sunset.

Shells and coral we all over the beach and made for some colorful spots along the white sand.

This boat and the green tree seemed like a pretty picture. I liked the colors. And I liked this house too. Or ruined house.

The fishermen were very busy while we frolicked on the beach. I thought this was a fun shot with the boat on the shore.

And Evan got cute on the beach.

The fishing boats were also very cool sitting in the little bay. I really liked the way the light looked at the sunset.

And finally, there was the sunset. It was pretty magnificent.

And now we are back at the hotel, sitting in the common area with Roberto bringing us cervezas. We are being kept company by lizards, a giant frog and lots of bugs. But they are all friendly and quiet. We are up at 4:30 to see the sea turtles emerge from the ocean.

But that can wait until tomorrow.

365 Photos: Week 12 Back in Alaska

Week 12 had me firmly on the ground in Alaska. It seemed like a long time since I had spent this much time at home. And even being home, I was on the road to Kenai.

My first welcome home was when Evan and I decided to do a evening hike and we were confronted with a bear warning sign in the park 100 yards behind our house. We don’t commonly get bears in our yard, but we have seen the evidence of them being in our yard.

The shot of the corks was something of a desperation shot. Some days, if I wait until the end of the day, I look around the house for some thing. Fortunately, we get great evening light in the living room, so it’s fun to look for shots around the house. It’s taken us the better part of four years to fill the jar. That was a lot of wine!

The airplane was shot in the Air Museum in Anchorage. I only had my new 50mm lens that day, so it was a challenge to shoot bit planes in cramped quarters.

The boat was shot at Summit Lake on the way to Kenai. I was feeling a little uninspired that day.

The shot at the top of the post was taken on Saturday. That’s my dad fishing. I realized that you can’t see his rod, and I liked the composition of this shot the best. The other shots with the rod were less interesting to me. I liked the position of the boat. I shot a bit that day because the fish weren’t biting so good. It was a great day with our dads out on the River.

The Sunday shot was on the return drive back to Anchorage at Summit Lake, where the previous boat shot was taken.

Monday was dinner at our house. Hmmmmm. Prime rib. This is another shot of Jodi and Evan. I really like the lighting. Jodi likes to tell me I have good equipment and that is why it looks so nice.