Category: Landscape

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2023-08-06: Hubbard Glacier

One of the days on my recent cruise was a scenic cruise to the Hubbard Glacier. While I was told that it is not as impressive as cruising in Glacier Bay National Park, I thought the scenery was breathtaking and beautiful.

Similar to most mornings when we were out at sea, I awoke to pea soup fog, and I thought that perhaps we wouldn’t see much of anything. I took in the morning talk by the onboard naturalist, and then headed to the coffee bar for a mid-morning pick me up. I got to chatting with some people while having a coffee, and it was explained to me that as we headed into the bay, and got closer to the glacier, the weather would shift very dramatically. At noon, we headed into the bay, and sure enough, we left the fog in our wake and had gorgeous sunny blue skies and beautiful scenery (and, when we left the bay, the fog closed in as rapidly as it had lifted earlier in the day). There were some whales spotted from the ship, both on our way to and from the glacier, which was wonderful to watch.

I took an enormous number of photos during this scenic cruise, and since I am behind in my cataloguing a bit, I just selected a few that appealed to edit and share.

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2023-07-23: Brewing Storms

We’ve been having a lot of thunderstorms recently, but it’s not particularly picturesque or open where I live, so I am not able to get interesting photos of the storms. I did try once driving around to see if I could get a decent vantage point, but didn’t find anything that made me want to take my camera out.

However, I did get some fantastic storms while I was away in November, complete with open vistas to take pictures of the towering clouds approaching filled with rain. Here are a few of those shots.

A storm in the distance; seen whilst staying at Jaci’s in Madikwe. November, 2022.
Clouds closing in over a dam in Madikwe. November, 2022.
Interesting cloud formations seen whilst on a evening river cruise from Tsowa Safari Island in Zambezi National Park. Zimbabwe, November 2022.
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2023-07-16: The White Pass Rail

Without a doubt, the favourite excursion I did while on my Alaskan cruise in May was take the White Pass rail trip from Skagway, Alaska, to Fraser, BC. After disembarking in Fraser, we carried on by bus into the Yukon (my first time in one of the territories). I had hoped to be able to do a longer rail trip all the way to Bennett, but it was too early in the season.

There was still significant snow at the higher elevations, and a definite chill in the air on the 8:00am departure, but I spent as much time as possible on one of the outdoor platforms, watching the scenary and taking lots of photos. I was quite fortunate as only two other people in my rail car had any interest in being outside for any length of time, and there was enough room for three on the platform, so I had a great view to entire way. I’d duck in for few moments when my hands got too cold to warm them next to the heater, and then back out for more photos.

A view from the train not far out of the town of Skagway, Alaska. May, 2023.
Traveling alongside a river. Being in one of the end cars gave me the chance for nice images including the front of the train.
A view near the summit. Fraser, BC. May 2023.
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2023-07–9: Infrared Landscapes

These infrared landscape images I took in Zimbabwe caught my eye as I completed the process of moving back to Lightroom and reorganizing the images that I have left to edit. They look rather strange scrolling past unedited, as they are almost a neon red/orange tone, but once converted to black and white, offer a different look than a typical monochrome landscape.

These were both shot near mid day, and the infrared filter requires a long exposure, providing some nice movement in the foliage, like this palm tree.

A lone palm on the banks of the Zambezi River. Zimbabwe, November 2022.

This second image was shot by the waterhole at the camp we stayed at in Hwange. The pair of marabou storks were almost motionless with their wings outstretched, making them look almost fake in the long exposure image. The sky looks extra dramatic in black and white, and later in the day, we had a spectacular thunderstorm with torrential rains.

Marabou storks with wings outstretched. Hwange, Zimbabwe. November, 2022.
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2023-06-18: Mount Edgecumbe, Alaska

I recently returned from a trip I had wanted to do for some time – a cruise to visit Alaska. I found an itinerary that worked with my schedule and booked it, and hoped for the best weather wise, but anticipated the worst. I packed a toque, gloves, scarf, fleece, rain coat, rain poncho… all the things to deal with excursions in damp and cold weather, and instead needed to apply sunscreen at each stop and spent my time outside in t-shirts. Many of the people that I met on board, some that had done Alaskan cruises on multiple occasions, agreed that we had strangely amazing weather (and not to expect that if I should go again).

I’ve not yet done a full review of my images, but this one caught my eye when importing. I took this from my balcony as we left Sitka, heading for our next port of call. I’m looking forward to sharing more images from this trip, and especially interested to start looking through the images I took while whale watching, to see if any turned out.

Mount Edgecumbe viewed in the evening after leaving Sitka, Alaska. May, 2023.

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2023-06-04: Victoria Falls

I’m recently back from a trip, and I took loads of photos that I am excited to go through, But, since I only managed to get them onto my computer today, sharing them will have to wait a little bit. Instead, I have an image of Victoria Falls, taken from the Zambian side of the border, from my trip in November, 2022.

This is such a different feel to the first time I saw Victoria Falls in April of 2013: the volume of water was significantly less. One of these days, I am going to get around to finding some of my old images to compare just how different it was in the spring versus the autumn.

That’s all for today, have a great week!

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2023-04-30: Zambezi Sunrise

Today, I made it to the end of the weekend long before the end of my to do list, so I’ve just selected one image today to work on. I’ve decided to share a lovely sunrise along the Zambezi River. Our group was fortunate to have a few sunrise and sunset river cruises, thankfully they happened after all the wild weather we had with heavy rains at the start of the trip.

Sunrise on the Zambezi River. November, 2022. Zambia.
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2023-03-19: Stormy Skies

These images caught my eye while I was trying to decide what to work on this week. I do love a dramatic sky, and while the rainstorms I can do without, the clouds at sunset are beautiful watch, as the colours change moment to moment.

Dramatic skies on the Zambezi River. Zambezi National Park, Zimbabwe. November, 2022.
A sunset boat cruise on the Zambezi. I had to balance between sipping my wine and taking pictures.
This cloud was the beginning of quite a thunderstorm. I didn’t manage any still shots of the lightning, as we were far from camp and pushing to get back before the rain, and it didn’t seem right to ask to stop for photos. I caught this image while on an evening drinks stop, just before we collectively decided it was best to get a move on. Madikwe, South Africa. November, 2022.
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2023-01-29: Tsowa Island from the water

Tsowa Safari Island seen during a sunset cruise. Zimbabwe, November 2022.

Tsowa Safari Island was a beautiful place to stay in the Zambezi National Park in Zimbabwe. Getting there involved a game drive through the park, with some dramatic views of the river valley, and then arriving at a boat launch and transferring to a small craft for a short crossing to the island. The afternoon we arrived, we set out for a sundowner birdwatching cruise. While not a traditionally good time of day or direction for photos, I love seeing the sun peaking through the fluffy clouds.

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2023-01-22: Zambezi Sunrise

During my recent tour in southern Africa, we headed out for a morning of birding, and started the day walking along the edge of Zambezi River. We were a few kilometres upstream of Victoria Falls, where the water was flowing at leisurely pace and we could safely walk along the rocky bank. While most of the group was focused on trying to find new birds, or spotting birds on distance sand bars and tree branches, I was enjoying the beauty of the sunrise and the rapidly changing colours in the sky. When we finished along the edge of the river, we returned to our vehicles for a picnic breakfast before a leisurely drive around some of the birding sites in Victoria Falls.

Sunrise along the Zambezi River. Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. November, 2022.
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