the Artist’s Way, a book by Julia Cameron, has been a wonderful encouragement to do more of this kind of expression/sharing of artistic effort. Photography has been an interest for a long time and hopefully efforts like this one will help encourage me all the more to review and enjoy some of my photos (no “digital darkroom editing” of these, other than perhaps cropping on a couple!)
THIS IS STILL A CONSTRUCTION ZONE – ADDING NEW PICTURES AND CAPTIONS IN WHAT HOPEFULLY IS A “SLOW, STEADY EFFORT”
Encouraged by Julia Cameron’s book and other sources, another project is capturing something of a photo diary HERE.
Listed below are some all-time favorite photos with captions and/or explanation… [viewers can see larger images by double clicking on a particular shot.]
While on a 2023 trip to Italy, the opportunities for photos were everywhere! These couple visual were particularly fun to document
- the Amalfi Coast “framed” by the fruit at a vendor’s stand
- Florence bridges and landscape out the window of the Uffizi Museum
During a 2021 trip to the Fingerlakes with Deb & Kim, we toured Mill Creek Park in Boardman, OH. This picture involved crossing the bridge to get the angle that seemed right
Tower Bridge got attention during our 2019 trip. The daylight shot benefits from cloudy skies and a nicely colored ship going under the drawbridge and taken from the “other side of the stream” The evening shot was a special trip we took on “the tube” specifically to get shots like this, near The Tower, with the lights in full display.
That same trip also included time in Scotland. While lots of good shots came along during our time, this picture involved getting up EARLY with two other smarTours travelers and venturing on a miles long hike…
Myanmar was exotic – exactly what my mom desired when deciding on where we’d take our trip in 2015. The personalities of the people were wonderful and our hearts are troubled by all going on in that country with the Rohinga people.
While in the Costa Rica Sarapiqui River area, our tour director saw others pulled off the road and suggested we do the same (quite similar feeling to US National Park approaches.) We got this view of a 3-toed sloth racing up the tree (actually going VERRRRYYYY slowly, but it was a relatively sprint-like effort according to our guide!)
On that same Sarapiqui River trip, Steve noticed movement on the river and though we were past the area, asked the boat captain and tour director what that was. They backed up and it turned out to be this Jesus Christ Lizard (so named because it appears to walk on water!)
Traveling to South Africa provided MANY photo opportunities – the raptor in a Capetown park tree finding its lunch, a view of the touristy area and impala making their way from danger
Perhaps my all-time favorite picture is of Fallingwaters, a Frank Lloyd Wright built home an hour or so SE of Pittsburgh, PA
While walking our Anderson Township neighborhood, what should appear to my eye? This pair of Cooper’s Hawks just perching out on the neighborhood fence! 
Stormy weather brought excellent opportunities for a park walk with the camera in Phoenix, AZ near the home of cousins Bruce & Debby. Capturing the diving hawk picture involved a 10 minute wait for movement; the scarlet tanager caught my eye with its flight between trees
Taken from our dining room window, this picture involved waiting for just the right hovering hummingbird with that gorgeous, autumny-colored japanese maple in the background
Then there’s the anhinga, probably my favorite bird to photograph. First awareness of it was in 2001 during a trip to The Everglades. Subsequently we’ve enjoyed several times with this “haunting” bird, including the reflection shot taken in 2021 during a visit to the Highlands Hammock near Sebring, FL
Hummingbirds, woodpeckers and raptors come in a close second to anhingas as favorites to photograph so here’s a little gallery of those not already listed separately…
Then there are pictures of our kids when they were young, sometimes including others too
My sister-in-law’s brother honored me by asking if I’d take their wedding pictures. What a fabulous day and photogenic couple!
Natural beauty not already mentioned in a specific trip is here for the moment, with specifics listed in the future for each of the trips – Yosemite, Denali,
And other critters – may get to telling more of these stories sometime too…
And a variety of other experiences and photos will get an explanation, “in good time…”
NOTE: Sadly, Shutterfly has suspended their sharing approach – it was a wonderful thing while it lasted! This website approach will need to be the next best option, at least for now…
