Hwy 84

We took a small road trip a couple weeks ago to Nacogdoches.  On the way home, we drove Hwy 84 most of the way.  I stopped several places for some pictures, and ended up with some nice images.

Red Shed

I liked the contrast between the color of the shed and ramp and the surrounding winter vegetation here.

Fairfield White House

The way the overgrown vegetation was melding with this house was quite interesting. And, the two vultures on the roof were rather symbolic.

Chihuly museum

While in Seattle, we visited the museum dedicated to the glass sculptures of Chihuly. It is located right next to the space needle. 2014-02-02-at-11-06-19 The sculpts are in various rooms in the museum, but they are also in various garden settings. 2014-02-02-at-11-25-34 2014-02-02-at-11-37-24-1

Seattle

I had the pleasure of spending a week in Seattle recently and was able to take lots of pictures.

Seattle

This one shows their ferris wheel and the football and baseball stadiums.

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This one is looking towards downtown from the top of the space needle.

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This is the ferry across Puget Sound.

Marksville, LA

I have been attending meetings in Marksville, LA for the past few days.  Before going, I looked at a map and found there are two wildlife refuges on either side of Marksville.  Yesterday, I took some time to visit Gand Cote NWR.  It didn’t have a great deal to offer, but I think it is rather early for migratory waterfowl.  Anyway, I got a couple of good landscapes.

Grand Cote NWR

There was a rather substantial wetlands area.  The nature trail led up to it, and then a bridge led to an observation platform over the water.  These are two images taken from the bridge.

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Pier 21

An add in local Galveston publications features a picture of Pier 21 at dusk.  It struck me as an interesting picture, but an HDR treatment might add to its effect.  Debbie and I went to a concert Saturday night, and after it was over, we went down to Pier 21 and tried to get some pictures.  I ended up with two versions, and I can’t quite decide which one I like better.

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The statue on the left adds a strong foreground element to the composition of this version, but, I wonder if it is not also a distraction compared to the second version.

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Cozumel

The third stop on our cruise was Cozumel.  We have been there several times before, making it easier to just head out on our own.  We took a cab into town and shopped, stopped at Palmeres and had a margarita, then stopped at Margaritaville for lunch before going back tot he ship.  The port area is much more built up than the last time we were there.

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Another shot of a boat, this one not as stylized as the one from Belize.  This was taken in downtown San Miguel.

 

Altun Ha Ruins and Belize

Our second stop was Belize, and we took a tour to the Altun Ha Mayan ruins. It was unbelievably hot, and the “guide” (as typical) went on and on and on about trivial details.  There were about 40 people in our tour and two other groups besides us.  So, getting reasonable pictures without lots of people was a problem.  However, by using photoshop, I was able to produce some pretty good images.

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On the road, as we drove along the shore, I noticed there was an old boat leaning against a tree.  So, I took a quick picture of it as we passed by.  With the use of a variety of NIK effects, it turned out to be a pretty good image.

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Roatan Honduras

The first stop on our cruise was the island of Roatan.  We took a tour to the Carambola Botanical Gardens.  It was an absolutely terrible day.  It was raining and humid.  I wanted to get some good flower pictures, but it was almost impossible.  I did get a really good shot of an orchid.

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Following that, our bus toured the west side of the island, stopping in a small village. From there, we went to a resort area.  I got this picture at the resort.  It took some manipulation to better balance the details and the contrast, but it was worth it.

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Cruise 2013 – Galveston before we left

We went on a cruise a couple weeks ago.  Prior to departing, you sit on the boat and wait. While waiting, I did get a couple of interesting shots.  Then, when we did sail away, I was able to get a couple more really good ones.

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This is another HDR shot.  I shot it from the deck of the ship and did my best to get a straight shot along 25th St.  The deck I was on ended a little short of where I really wanted to be, but this worked pretty well.  You can see from the harbor all the way to the Pleasure Pier.

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As we were sailing away, I was able to get this HDR image of The Elissa.