Travel Photography

Back in February we took a much needed 7-Day Caribbean Cruise (more on that for another time). We started in St. Maarten and concluded in Barbados. The weather couldn’t have been more perfect, and the cruise itself was beyond our wildest dreams.

While we were docking into our next to last port of call in Granada, Michael and I were standing on the bow of the ship checking out the city. The colors and lines of the various buildings peppered the mountainside flowing, as if, into the blue waters of the Caribbean coastline.

As we scanned the landscape, we took note of a tree, standing tall on the highest peak of the horizon. A single tree rising up through the brush like a great conqueror of the mountain. Can you see it?

Fortunately, I had packed “the big lens” and was able to zoom in closer.

With the exception of what looked like new, seasonal growth, it was fairly bare compared to the rest of the landscape growing at its base.

Very quickly, and almost in the same breath, Michael and I both commented that it would make a great black and white photo. And so, I switched up my camera settings and took a few shots using the in-camera monochrome setting.

It isn’t a bad shot, but even with some basic modifications it just seemed flat and a little generic. It wasn’t the dramatic, storytelling shot I had envisioned. The clouds to the left of the tree really irritated me in black and white.

So, I went back to the original color photo and played around with the editing settings. After several edits I finally landed on what feels like the tree took on a whole new dimension. Plus, an added bonus of no more clouds to the left of the tree. What do you think?

There’s a lot to be said for the “picture within a picture.” As photographers we learn that multiple perspectives can be found in a single image. This image started out as a landscape photo of the city of Granada and ended up telling a “story” about a single tree off in the horizon.

Until next time,

~donna

“Life is a journey, not a destination….You are the artist, paint what you will.”

For our challenge this week, John from Journeys with Johnbo encourages us to share images that focus on our journeys, possibly the modes of transportation which took us there. Or to even share images of places we discovered while on our journey.

I think my love for travel started when I was a child. I couldn’t tell you when exactly it started. But if I had to guess it was the trip, we took out west when I was about six (6) years old. It was so exciting because this was my first plane ride. And from what I remember we saw a LOT of the country – everything from The Hoover Dam to The Grand Canyon; San Diego to Disney Land, and lastly to San Franciso. I remember it being so much fun I cried (literally) when we had to come home.

“A photograph is a return ticket to moments already gone.”

Trip out west – Stop at the Grand Canyon Dad’s missing because he was the one taking all the photos (I’m the one in red pants).

Yes, I’ve been very fortunate throughout my life to travel to many places here in the U.S. and to other parts of the world. And I’ve pretty much been on all forms of transportation, too: planes, trains, automobiles, sailboats, cruise ships, helicopters and yes, even The Goodyear Blimp!

But one of my most memorable adventures was another trip out west which Michael and I took Christmas of 2011. We couldn’t decide where we wanted to go, so we narrowed it down to three (3) places. We wrote the names on pieces of paper, folded them up and dropped them into a bowl. I don’t remember which one of us drew the winner, but we landed on a road trip up the Pacific Coast Highway.

Our motto for the trip was “No map, no plans, no place to be.” It’s a line from Toby Keith’s song “South of You.” The only parts of the trip planned were our airline and rental car reservations. And so, on Christmas Day we headed to the airport and boarded a plane to San Diego, CA

Once we landed and picked up our sporty Mustang convertible for the trip, we headed to our first stop just outside of San Diego (Carlsbad, CA) for a quick visit with our nephew and his family.

Our activities for the day included lunch, a walk on the pier, and a visit to Mission San Louis Rey de Francia – Oceanside, CA. You can tell the boys were quite warn out from our day’s outing and scooting around in the convertible!

The real adventure of “no map, no plans, no place to be” started when we left San Diego. Our first stop that day was lunch in Laguna Beach. It’s definitely the artist colony it’s known for.

We didn’t stop much that day because we were too busy enjoying the coastline scenery. But, by the time we reached Los Angeles and navigated our way through the traffic, we decided to call it quits for the day.

We pulled into Malibu, just in time to grab a place for the night. And, since we didn’t have any reservations, we had no idea what we were in for when it came to hotels. We were lucky enough though, to find a wonderful little inn on the ocean and were greeted the next morning by a cute seagull at our balcony door (which was at the foot of our bed).

Day 3 – More driving, but we didn’t care, the scenery was amazing. We stopped for the night at Moonstone Beach in Cambria. THIS was the downfall of “no reservations.” We ended up in a dive of a motel. It was one of those places where you wouldn’t dare take your shoes off, let alone get under the covers! But it was a small price to pay for a beautiful sunset.

After that fateful night when we were ready to stop for the day, we would go to the nearest restaurant/bar and ask the locals for their recommendations……they never failed us.

**Sunset at Moonstone Beach in Cambria**

“Due to the Interstate Highway System, it is now possible to travel across country from coast to coast without seeing anything.”
~Charles Kuralt

This is one of Michael’s favorite quotes and it’s so true. We may not have been driving coast to coast, but the quote is still appropriate for our south to north journey on the PCH. Afterall, if we had chosen to take the interstate look at all we would have missed.

Our last stop just in time for New Year’s Eve was San Francisco. We decided to return the rental car and walk or take BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) instead. We wrapped up our trip with a nice dinner catching up with some longtime friends.