Friday, November 14, 2008

On Monday I took a few pictures in Seattle and during the week I took some time to turn them into something more interesting. The one above is of the Columbia Tower. And I recognize the one of Seattle below won’t be to everyone’s taste but I like it.

The second photo started out in life as a relatively boring picture of Seattle taken on a sunny day. 25 Photoshop layers later, I ended up with the image above. If you are interested in what the original looked like ...

Click here for the rest of the story ...

Posted by Digital Quixote in • Out and About
(0) Comments • Permalink

Sunday, November 09, 2008

We travel because, no matter how comfortable we are at home, there’s a part of us that wants - that needs - to see new vistas, take new tours, obtain new entrees, introduce new bacteria into our intestinal tracts, learn new words for “transfusion,” and have all the other travel adventures that make us want to French-kiss our doormats when we finally get home.

--Dave Barry

As you may know, we just returned from a couple of weeks vacation in the Himilayas. It was a wonderful, insightful trip to one of the worlds most interesting places. We started with a couple of days in Bangkok (see above and here) and ended with 10 days in Bhutan (see below and here).  I’m not going to repeat a lot of the story here, just go to the photo galleries for the rest of the story.

Posted by Digital Quixote in • Serious Travel
(0) Comments • Permalink

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Two weeks ago we left for our trek in the Himalayas, to the Kingdom in the Clouds, Bhutan. As you read this, we are on our approach to the Seattle airport and our reentry back into Western Civilization.

Among the travel documents we received before departure was a short briefing designed to condition our expectations. Below, I am quoting from this briefing:

We will be traveling to remote regions of the Himalaya that, until a few years ago, were impossible to reach without weeks (if not months) of arduous travel. While it now seems quite reasonable that one should be able to fly to places like Paro ... these trips remain on the fringe of mainstream travel and one should not expect the same ... conveniences found at home. Please prepare yourself for the adventure such travel brings.

At the time of our departure, I was tremendously excited about this trip. I liked the notion of the adventure we expect to experience. I loved the notion of traveling to a place few outsiders have visited. I was personally looking forward to a few weeks of decompression from my day to day responsibilities and stresses and the opportunity to lose myself in an adventure.

Did it work out? Was it all I expected? Will I have amazing pictures to prepare and share?

All I can say is, “Stay tuned, film at Eleven!”

And to borrow the last line from the last Calvin & Hobbs cartoon ever published ... “Let’s go exploring!”

Posted by Digital Quixote in • Serious Travel
(1) Comments • Permalink

Friday, October 03, 2008

Seattle is one of my favorite cities. This is partly to do with its liveability, partly its architecture, and a lot to do with the eclectic residents. I hope you enjoy these and note: there are even more hi-res photos ... here.

Posted by Digital Quixote in • Out and About
(2) Comments • Permalink

Sunday, September 28, 2008

We took ourselves off to Mt Rainier again two weeks ago today. Hiking at Sunrise and a circumnavigation of “the mountain.” The photo above is from Reflection Lake, on the Paradise side of the mountain, looking back toward Mt Rainier.

To get to where I was standing, you follow a short boggy trail and stand in the middle of a mosquito storm.  Set up the tripod (swat mosquitoes), adjust camera settings (swat mosquitoes), and take multiple bracketed shots (swatting mosquitoes).

As I was finishing, a couple came up, he carrying a Canon 1Ds-Mark III. He hands me his camera and says, “Will you take our picture with the mountain in the background.” Sure. Looking at my Nikon D3, he says, “Do you know how to use a Canon?” Sure, how hard can it be? They head off down the trail and a few minutes later stand on the little peninsula you can see in the photo. I snap about 5 shots. They head back and a few minutes later I hand him back his camera. That’s trust.

Check out the rest of my Rainier photos here.

The photo below was taken from the Sunrise side of the mountain.

Posted by Digital Quixote in • Casual Travel
(1) Comments • Permalink