Tag Archives: Travel

Shootin fish in a barrel…

A few days ago the family went to the zoo/amusement park known as PAL.  PAL is about 30 minutes outside of Moulin France and for a zoo/amusement park it wasn’t too bad.  Being August and all, it meant that the entire nation of France would descend on the same place at the same time.  I knew the day would be full of walking and riding rides so I came equipped with the D70 with the 18-135mm lens, which is my best travel/snapshot set up.  I brought along the Quantary 2x converter, which does not work well with the lens but I wanted to attempt close up shots of the animals.  I have horrible eye sight and manual focus is not good for the nearly blind but I think some of the photos came out OK.  No art will be found here, just snapshots of the zoo and having fun with the family.

Momma elephant protecting her baby from the American paparazzi…

Elephants at the French Zoo

A seal having fun with the little bit of room it has.  Difficult shot, the lighting was awful, this is luck and playing with the camera.

Bored kitty cat, hanging out.  Shot with the 2x converter on the 18-135mm, good manual focus.

Portrait of an ostrich.  Also taken with the 2x converter and not as good manual focus.

Portrait of a cute goat.  The petting zoo was completly unattended by any staff, imagine that, an entire population of people who might be killed by a free roaming goat.  It could never happen in America.

Enough pictures and words for now.  Enjoy and leave long-winded comments about your love of goats.

Provence #2

Today we revisit our vacation to Provence with our second day in Orange. We were there for a Thursday market, let me tell you…The southern French markets are what the hype is all about. Super fresh food, amazing quantities and selection of everything. We went to the market in Orange for supplies for the night’s dinner of stuffed zuchini blossoms with grilled eggplant and sauted Girole mushrooms and fresh goat’s cheese.  No Recipe, I made it up as I went along…

The eggplant.

Auburgine Photo Provence 2008

The girolle mushrooms.

Girolle mushroom photo Provence 2008

The assembly line.

Fleur de Courgette photo Provence 2008

A really old door and entrance way.

Doorway Orange Theatre France Photograph

An old door and entrance way.

Doorway Orange Centre Ville France Photograph

Nothing more to write.

Provence #1

This is the start of a few short posts from Provence. We start back up next week with 4 and a half weeks of tours so the postings will be sparse.

Provence is absolutely beautiful! I’ve said it, it does not need to be said again. It is a photographers paradise, everywhere is amazing color, ancient architecture, blooming botanics and plenty of people. I brought as big a kit as I would on vacation, with the D70, the Nikon 18-135 3.5-4.6, Nikon 80-200 2.8 ED, Sigma 10-20 3.5-5.6, SB-600 for lighting and the Manfrotto for all of those tripod shots. A whole lot of gear and I didn’t see any of it! I left the 18-135 on the front and the rest of the stuff in the bag. I’ve come to the realization that when your not very good at the taking the pictures part of photography, you don’t need a bunch of gear, it’s neat but it’s too overwhelming. Composition, exposure, ISO, lighting, F-Stop are what I want to perfect, so down with you Nikon and all your toys, I’ll buy you later.

We drove down to a camping club outside of Remoulins which is right close to Uzes (ooz -es) and took our time on the drive. It’s about 500km from Patinges to Provence so we stopped to visit and take some photos along the way.

Roadside Ruins on the winding climby road down to Provence.

Roadside Ruins almost Provence

We stopped for lunch in the town of Florac and had a nice little wander around this beautiful town.

Waterfall Photo Florac France June 2008

Thelma thought a drink of this water would be a good idea on a 33 degree day!

Thelma drinking from the source Florac France June 2008

That’s it for day 1.  I took quite a few photos of this leg and they’re on my gallery page if you care to see more of my photos.  Check back for more soon!!!

Belgium Post #1

I will tell everyone that will listen that Bruges, Belgium is one of the best places ever.

  1. The Beer
  2. The Beer
  3. The food (Fries & Waffles)
  4. The town and its laid back atmosphere and bohemeian lifestyle
  5. The Beer

I will have the patience to write more tomorrow for now, the pictures from the last few days including Bourges, Sancerre & Bruges…

Boats in Bruges

Boats in Bruges, Belgium

Night Scene from Bourges, France

Bourges, France

Church in Sancerre France (Shot multiple HDR with different exposures for building and sky)

Sancerre France

Cool Gate in Nevers France

Nevers, France April 2008

Market Square in Bruges Belgium (shot 10mm multiple shots stitched together with PS3)