With the shortening days (at least here in the Northern Hemisphere) we are being treated to some of the most glorious sunsets and sunrises. Do you have trouble capturing sunsets or sunrises? If so, here are a few tips to help you capture all those blazing colors.
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Some of us call it urban blight, some of us call it street soul, some of us call it a shame, while others of us simply call it, “beautiful.”
Is there a city or town in the world that doesn’t sport its share of graffiti? Our city in central Alberta is no different. And while our city has sent out its graffiti-removal brigade, thank goodness the cleaning squad hasn’t found all of it. This artwork, with its nasty invectives and racial slurs, especially viewed against the backdrop of the setting sun, can be very intriguing.
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(An early morning view of the beautiful Mission San Jose in San Antonio’s Missions National Park.)
Thank you, Hurricane Gustav. We are sitting high and dry in one of the loveliest cities in North America, San Antonio. We are supposed to be in New Orleans. But thanks to a little convincing by Gustav and American officials, we changed our plans.
On the day we were set to arrive in NOLA, evacuation orders forced nearly two million folks to leave the southern seaboard. We had planned a holiday riding the rails, the Amtrak rails, but the trains were needed to take people out of New Orleans, so Amtrak cancelled our reservations.
We were in Houston (another area slated to be hit by Gustav) so we had no choice but to rent a car and head north to San Antonio. In fact, on our way, we passed a convoy of 2 dozen buses that were heading south on a rescue mission. Later, on TV, we watched as an endless line of buses, filled with those folks escaping the storm, headed away to safer zones like Dallas and Houston.
Now we are watching as the eye of Gustav makes landfall — the good news, maybe, for New Orleans, is that the eye will be passing farther to the west than expected.
But in the meantime, we are in San Antonio, where we have rented a comfortable house, we have walked the famous Riverwalk, we have ridden the canal boats, we have paid homage to the Alamo, and we have made an early morning trek to the old Spanish missions. What a joy!
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Have you been told to shoot in RAW? Have you looked at photographs that seem not up to par? Are you having trouble getting great shots from your expensive DSLR?
Then maybe you should put down the camera, and do some reading instead.
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My husband and I celebrated our 21st wedding anniversary yesterday. Our formal plans had us dining at a very cool eatery called “The Bootlegger Italian Bistro,” in South Las Vegas. We had eaten there when we first arrived in Vegas and thought it would be a nice place, with its classic old gangster ambience, to have our anniversary dinner.
But our plans changed. Vegas has a way of doing that to plans. So, we cancelled our reservations in favor of another place. And we are so glad we did. We had one of our best times yet in Las Vegas.
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There are almost no words to describe traveling an authentic portion of Route 66. If time machines exist, then this is one of the finest.
There is an ambience of days gone by, the good old days, when Mom and Dad packed up the old Chevy with 3.5 kids, a dog, a cooler, Dad in his best driving hat, and Mom in her finest traveling clothes, and hit the road in search of adventures, or maybe a new life on the other side of Amercia.
The atmosphere, the sense of nostalgia along “The Mother Road” is so poignant, so acute, that it will bring tears to your eyes. At least, it did, to mine.
My husband and I set out yesterday in search of Americana history. We left Vegas about 7 AM and reached Kingman, Arizona about 3 hours later. With a few stops in the desert along the way, we had set up the perfect photo safari. But we had no idea just how perfect our day was going to be. Because the adventure that is Route 66 still lay ahead of us.
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There is a place in Las Vegas that very few visitors know about. Even fewer will ever see it. It is a place called, “The Boneyard,” and it is a photographer’s dream, even if all you can get is a glimpse through the thick mesh and wire fence surrounding the compound.
The Boneyard is aptly named as it is a sanctuary for old Las Vegas neon signs - the bones of historic Vegas, if you will.
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Planning our next trip is nearly as much fun as taking the trip itself. Well, nearly.
My husband and I are bound for one of our favorite hot spots, and I mean, hot! Las Vegas, Nevada. But we aren’t really into the Strip; we tend to tool around in other parts of Vegas, spending most of our time off the Strip, visiting spots like the Nevada Atomic Testing Museum.
But we have gotten the Route 66 bug, so we’ll go further afield this time. Also, known as the “Mother Road,” Route 66 is just barely visible on modern maps, but a little research shows parts of the roadway can be reached in just under a two-hour drive from Vegas. But it’ll be one hot drive, since we’ll be headed right into the Mojave Desert, at the height of summer heat. But the photo opportunities are just too hard to resist.
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If you have never taken the train, or you haven’t ridden the rails in some time, then check out the nearest Amtrak station. Especially when exploring a new city. That’s the Philadelphia Amtrak station showing above.
With the high cost of rental cars, gasoline, insurance, and with the irritation of battling traffic in a strange city, travel by Amtrak train is like a gift from heaven.
My husband and I have just decided to include at least one Amtrak day trip while traveling, and we are very glad we did. We took the Amtrak between New York City and Philadelphia, and loved the trip.
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With millions of people, all eager to catch a glimpse of some of the world’s best Fourth of July fireworks, where does a visitor - or for that matter - a local New Yorker go to catch the show?
It’ll be my first visit to New York during the 4th of July, and I wanted to do this visit up right. I have already done Christmas and St. Patrick’s Day - so I am expecting great things from New York City on Independence Day.
But I am glad I did the research first. Here’s what I discovered about how best to enjoy the Fourth of July in New York City.
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