Dave's Travel Blog

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 00:26:00 +0000

Some pictures of Tonto Creek and Canyon Creek on the Mogollon Rim in Northern Arizona. Fishing was subdued but the scenery was magnificent.

All but the last three photos where taken on my new iPhone 4s. Impressive camera, but check out the last three taken on my Nikon 200 and you will see the difference.

Pictures are Here.

Lake Mead

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 06:02:00 +0000

It has be a very long time since I Processed anything to post. I have decided to keep up occasional entries where I make photography excursions. No longer living in Europe, my subject matter is going to be less exotic and expect to see more landscape and nature photography as I get back in my passions for the wilds.

We traveled to Boulder City Nevada, just outside Las Vegas, so Kai could participate in a 1/2 Marathon along the lake and to Hoover Dam. Kai finished with good time and I caught some good shots of the race.

I broke the tripod out for some serious night shots and ran my ultra-wide lens through its paces with some satisfactory results. The glow in the background of the night shots are the light of Las Vegas.

Photos are here.

Scottish Borderlands & Hadrian's Wall

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 00:38:00 +0000

Pictures are Here

We traveled on a tour bus that had stops at Roslyn Chapel, the borders, and at an old Roman outpost along Hadrian's wall called Vercovicium, or Housesteads.

Rosyln Chapel was an amazing structure. It is currently covered by a steel superstructure to keep the rain off and allow moisture to dry out of the sandstone structure prior to sealing. The moisture has been destroying the chapel. Unfortunately, there is no secret Templar library in the basement, just a small room, but there is an intriguing hole in the top of the staircase revealing an empty space beneath the chapel. A few years ago they good sonar readings from the ground beneath the church and found that that their are catacombs beneath it and that the space below is as big and deep as the space above. Pictures where not permited inside and trees and the steel structure made any attempt to frame a decent shot outside futile. It will have to stick in our memory. The steel frame should be dismantled by August 2010.

Hadrian's wall was well worth the long drive southward. The old fort is nearly all rubble, but you can get a real feel for the this one time dividing line between civilization and the frontier by standing on the wall and staring off into the northern frontier. The wind was very harsh and sheep where many making walking very hazardous. forget about laying on that grass.

Very beautiful country.

West Highlands of Scotland

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 18:10:00 +0000

Photos are here.

I have to say I originally hated the idea of taking a bus tour while on vacation, but the more of them I take, the more I like them. Here we traveled from Edinburgh into the West highlands visiting castles and lochs.

Castle Duone -- Used for a number of scenes in Monty Python's Holy Grail.
Castle Kilchurn -- Ask Kai for the story on how the driver almost did not take us to see this great castle. This is situated on the shores of Loch Awe.
Invernary Castle -- The seat of the clan chief of clan Campbell, the Duke of Argyll.
Loch Lomond -- Yes the one in the song.
Stirling Castle -- Everyone who has seen Braveheart knows this one.

The Highlands are striking for their spartan beauty and unspoiled wilderness. Driving in and around Scotland was the first time that I felt like I had entered country that nature holds more sway than man while I was in Europe. A remarkable place.

The best shots of this trip was a series I caught of Kai looking out of the window on the second floor of castle Kilchurn. I try not to repeat a lot of shots, but I like these a great deal so posted all of them. She looks great.

National Museum of Scotland

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 15:53:00 +0000

The National Museum of Scotland allows photos. Some really great stuff here for history fans, but no great aesthitic photos. I liked the Isle of Lewis Chess set and Pictish ornements--particuarlly the chains of estate and authority that look very familar to me.

Pictures are here

Edinburgh

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Sun, 24 May 2009 21:06:00 +0000

Pictures are Here

Our last big vacation while living in Europe was a trip to Scotland. I will divide this trip up into four sections: Edinburgh, Scottish National Museum, West Highlands, and the Borderland & Hadrian's Wall.

In Edinburgh, we stayed in The Caledonian off Princess Street and in the shadow of Edinburgh Castle. The Caledonian used to be a train station in the hey-day of rail. That past lends its classic look to the hotel today and was a great place to stay aside from the late night fire alarms.

I got lucky with my landscape shots of the castle. I hit just the right light for to contrast the rocks beneath the castle. I could not be happier with these shots.

Aside from the national museum, we did a lot of walking around the city. We saw the castle, inside and out, walked the high street a few times, and toured Holyrood.

On High Street we had the best pizza we had in all Europe and tried the famous deep fried mars bar. All in all the food was much better than we had expected.

Crecy

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Sun, 17 May 2009 09:33:00 +0000

Pictures are Here.

Crecy was the first example of English forces using force multipliers to defeat a larger force of well trained French soldiers and nobility. Crecy also saw the first recorded use of cannons in a battle in Europe and was where the sixteen year old Edward the Black Prince proved himself as a leader and "won his spurs" as it is said.

I did not have a lot of time to take in the battle field. I had scarcely 20 minutes of time to get the layout of the field and take some pictures when a storm from moved in with such speed and violence that staying on the hill, even my car felt like pure foolishness. I saw what I came for so beat a hasty retreat up through Belgium and back to Amsterdam that night.

The English clearly had the high ground, but it was not steep enough to be decisive. As with Agincourt, the English victory depended as much on poor choices by the French as their own initiative or control of the battle.

Agincourt!

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Sun, 17 May 2009 09:10:00 +0000

Photos are here.

Today Agincourt is not much to look at, but in the early 15th century it was the scene of the a pivotal battle in the hundred years war and is where Henry V of the England, together with Shakespear's help in later years, assured his place in history. Visiting the site was well worth the trip.

The story is familiar to military history phials like myself. Starving, and outnumbered, the English defeat a large, well trained and overly confident (arrogant even) force of French soldiers, noblemen and mercenaries. The French had every advantage and proceeded to discard them all for defeat by choosing to drive heavy cavalry head on into prepared positions, in muddy ground, and under the range English longbows. The faintest leadership in the French ranks would have changed history in incalculable ways.

The photos show a a view of the field from the French and English side. You can get an idea for the size and layout of the field as well as the distance between the sides prior to actual engagement.

Probably the most interesting part of the visit is the still creepy French burial mounds where thousands of French soldiers and nobles where buried in mass graves that today remains and undisturbed barrow where trees mingle with clingy vines and darkness.

Somme

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Sun, 17 May 2009 08:22:00 +0000

Pictures are here.

In August of last year I took a short tour of Norther France with the purpose of seeing the medieval battle fields of Agincourt and Crecy. I needed to overnight in France to visit both sites in a single day and I choose a hotel just north of Amiens in the Somme region. I was able to spend the morning visiting a few sites around the Somme and see some of of the battle fields including the Lochnager mine crater.

Lochnager, is a massive scar on a farm field that was created by tunneling beneath enemy lines, packing said tunnels with explosive and setting it off as a means of breaking the bitter deadlock of trench warfare.

This country is dotted with dozens upon dozens of commonwealth cemeteries which speak the deadly nature of the "war to end all wars".

In the evening I caught some great pictures of the Somme in the waining light and stumbled across Bray-sur-Somme which was in the throws of celebrating their liberation by American Forces on September 1 1944. The town was covered in American flags and a couple dozen people in 1940's era clothing, along with a bunch of "American GI's" where dancing in the streets. At midnight, there where fireworks, the a group of re-enactoers rolled into town on restored Willy's jeeps. Strange what you stumble upon in france. No light for photos for this, so use your imagination.

Included in the strangeness was a lone tower on the road between Amiens and Agincourt.

Tanks in Town 08' Mons Belgium

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 06:14:00 +0000

Stopped by Tanks in Town on my way to Nothern France to check out the Somme, Agincourt, and Crecy. Pictures are here.

TiT was great this year. Perfect weather and a larger variety of vintage hardware then two years ago. Intersting stuff:

Turretless M5 Stuart
A working Kettengrad
M8 Scott
Lots of Greyhounds
A modern Belgium tank that threw it's track
A tow truck with a .50 cal on top.
And a Jeep armed with dual bazooka's mounted on the .50 cal mount.

Visit Home

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 20:10:00 +0000

I was back in Phoenix to fix my failing roof. 10 grand thrown after a house I have not lived in for three years!. On a lighter note, I caught some desert colors from the top of my brothers roof facing the setting sun over the valley. Pictures are here.

I had a great time over the two weeks with the family and friends. I found a contractor to get my roof on the way to being fixed and added a new member to the family. It went all too fast.

Best Pictures of 2005-2008

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 00:25:00 +0000

Just a quick link before I hop on a plan. Here are the best pictures, in my view, of the last three years. It is about 2% of the total.

Best of Gallery here.

Updated: Arrived safe in sound in Phoenix. Good to be home even for just a few weeks.

It should be apparent that photography has developed into a hobby for me in my time in Europe. I have enjoyed it from an early age, but never had found the time or money to develop it in a meaningfully until now.

There are two types of photography from my perspective. One is auto-biographical where I take pictures of places I travel and visit including collections in museums and of my niche interests and hobbies. This stuff is only of interest to me and perhaps to people who share these niche interests.

The second is aesthetic, or dare I say “artistic” photography. These are pictures that capture a collection of visual elements in a way that can draw forth an emotional or aesthetic response. This can be achieved by unique, light, camera angles, and subject matter, but only fires on all cylinders when all three elements come together. While its easy to understand why the picture of the cloudburst above falls into this category, pictures heavy in subject matter alone can fit as well. An example of this is the little blond girl clinging to the leg of the Nelson Mandela statue in Johannesburg.

While the first category is part of the hobby I am most interested in the second and have started to divide out one category from the other. In future albums, I will not mingle the types at all. Also, I am becoming progressively more demanding on what constitutes a picture worth posting so though the number of pictures will go down, the quality will go up. At least in the sense of my view of quality.

Denmark - June 2008

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 20:35:00 +0000

I am off to Denmark for one last business trip in Europe. Which reminded me I needed to get my photos out form when I was in Denmark in June.

All the hotels in the city where booked, so we where forced to suffer the week out in a beach resort on the black sea, or Kettegat waterway that seperates Sweden from Denmark.

Kronborg Castle was a short walk away. Holger danske is said to be housed there in the casements.

Photos are Here. Enjoy.

Keukenhof

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 19:24:00 +0000

Pictures are here.

The world famous Keukenhof Gardens. Lots of pretty flowers and perfect weather makes for lot of great pictures.

Best picture of the day.

Delft

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 19:05:00 +0000

Pictures are here.

Delft: A quaint Dutch town known for its pottery and as the home town of Vermeer. We did not go to the museum-his best works are elsewhere.

We visited the Royal Delft porcelin factory. That was better than I thought it woudl be. They have some great examples of ceramics as decor.

Also in Delft is the Dutch military museum that is housed in an old armory on an island between two canals.

Haarlem

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 16:18:00 +0000

Pictures are here.

Haarlem is a short 15 min drive from my home. 15 min to drive, and over an hour to find a parking space that is. The day was perfect and Haarlem is more like what you think of as a traditional Dutch town. It has some great character. Nothing special to note except the hammer ride stuffed in the town square right along the towering church.

La Roche, Belgium

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 16:09:00 +0000

Pictures are here.

La Roche is a small town East of Bastogne that figured prominently in the battle of the bulge and has a very old castle at its center. I stumbled across this town when I stopped for a late lunchon the route back to Amsterdam from Luxembourg.

There is a small WWII museum and a the castle was a short easy walk. Some great pictures, but not much to comment on this stop.

The American Cemetary in Luxembourg

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 12:02:00 +0000

Pictures are here..

I stopped off on the way out of Luxembourg while there on business. I could not resist the visit to Patton's grave for the 5 minute detour.

Patton rests facing the main burial section. The personification of iconic military leadership in an eternaly grim pass and review. Such an arrangement seems to fit the popular image of the uncomprimising General.

The grey skies that day lent a somber note to the visit. Not that such places are every jubilant, but the greyness was enveloping. I think I caught that in the photos.

It is remarkable that there are one thousand more American soldiers buried in this cemetery alone than have lost their lives in the whole of the Iraq conflict. Even more so when you consider that all of these boys lost their lives in the Ardennes and on the push to the Rhine, after Germany's defeat was imminent. What did they die for? Was it worth it? Depending on your political leanings you would probably answer that differently. Myself, I think these kids where the first casualties of the cold war.

Regardless of your feelings on the war, its clear that we are spoiled compared to the challenges and rewards of our fathers and grandfathers. They faced madmen at the head of powerful armies, dealt with real doubts and questions on the morality of conflict, suffered a much higher body count, and from the chaos forged the greatest period of prosperity the world has ever seen while in a nuclear stand-off with the other half of the modern world.

Johhannesburg

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 15:21:00 +0000

Pictures are Here.

I was in Joburg on business. Security concerns are such that wondering taken photos--especially in the evening hours after work-- is a bad idea. A such I only got a few shots around the hotel and at an interesting restaurant we visited.

It's unfortunate I could not take a few days off and visit a game park, but I needed to be back on the continent (Europe) for March 1st, so it was not in the cards this trip. I don't think I will be back on business.

Carnivore is a Joburg restaurant that serves various wild game meats on open skewers in the fashion of a Brazilian Barbecue. I tried everything:

Warthog tastes like...well warthog--yuck.

Crocodile is kind of nasty--Ammonia like flavor.
Giraffe is some tough meat to gnaw on. I think it takes more calories to chew than what you get out of it.
My favorite was Hartebeast. It had substance without being tough, was lean with only a slight game flavor. It was somewhat reminiscent of Elk from the American West.
Also very good was the ostrich which was lean, tender, and not gamey at all. It was like a fine cut of pork.

I did not get to see much of the underbelly of Joburg. Most of what I saw was around the upscale Sandton. It actually looks much like a western American city does with its liberal use of abundant space, modern architecture and city planning. It departs from there in the slums where millions like in crude huts with few facilities.

One morning I was waiting in front of the entrance to a client campus while people streamed by on their way to work in the facility. I had my suit and tie on so I was clearly dressed for business. People entering the office had to pass within a few feet of me to get in. The native manual laborers that came past me, gardners, janitors, ect, all turned their eyes away from my and said "sorry" as they walked by me. I can only guess they felt that I had some power over them and that I might be upset that they approached me. I have never had the imbalance of of wealth and power throwing so crudely in my face. This country has long hard road ahead of it.

However, there is hope. As the country struggles with poverty and corruption, the economy booms and opportunity is growing for everyone in the country. In Sandton I saw a little blond girl cling playfully to the massive bronze leg of the Nelsen Mandela statue in the square named for him. We can hope this is symbolic of South Africa's future in becoming more free of its past.

Aalsmeer Sunrise

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 00:00:00 +0000

Pictures are here.

Aalsmeer, a community that surrounds a large inland waterway, is about 10 minutes from my home and looked like a good place to take some pictures. I was up at 5am for these and I am pleased with the results. It is a shame that the wind was up as calm waters would have made these shots iconic.

Brno, Czech Republic

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 23:22:00 +0000

I arrived in Brno for a week of work. I will be visiting often in the next sixth months. Pictures are here.

The Czech republic is a the first Slavic country I have had a chance to visit. European city's are starting to look the same to me, but the people, food, and general culture does have its own flare. After shuttling back and forth from the UK and Netherlands on work for most of last year, this was a great change.

Brno (pronounced Bruno) is an 800 year old city in the province of Moravia. It still has some of that cold war charm in stark public buildings. The airport has a load out of hardened hangers buried in earth that now house Cessna's and other small aircraft. The people don't say "when communism went away", they say "after the revolution". The Soviets wore out their welcome in Czech R. and Slovakia big time and its not hard to see why they where quick to embrace NATO.

I found the food to be very good in the fashion of comfort food. Not very classy maybe, and surely not healthy, but very filling and tasty. I had a lunch of chicken, dumplings and a sort of creamed sour kraut that was really good. I am told this was a typical Czech dish. Its tradition to began every meal with a soup and even got questioned several times for not having soup.

There is a very cool restaurant downtown that is in the bottom of a very large cellar and has a medieval theme. Sure it borders on renfair, but its still charming in its own way.
Brno is a college town with over a dozen small specialty schools; medical, technical, arts, ect... So it is pacted with students, bars, and nightclubs.

Zurich, The Black Forest, and Heidelberg

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 23:03:00 +0000

There are three galleries with this entry. Sadly most of photographs from Zurich and mount Rigi are trapped in a failed microdrive and can't be recovered without proseional data recovery services which would be in range $1000. These where some great photos so I am not a happy camper. These are the first shots from the new camera. I like the results. Here is what survived:

Zurich Fireworks (old camera)

Zurich was a great place to spend new years eve. The fireworks show over the lake was the most spectacular I have ever seen. At one point I was seriously questioning if it was under control, or if the launching barge had just exploded. The place was trashed. Rubbish filled the streets if the form endless firework detritus and broken champagne bottles. By morning the streets where spotless. German efficiency.

The Black Forest (Nikon D200)

We drove through almost the entire length of the black forest. It looks like it is in pretty good shape with lots of trees and small ski areas spread throughout. We saw a frozen lake with hundreds of people skating or walking on it.

Heidelberg City

&
Heidelberg Castle

Heidelberg is a small but very cool town. the castles massive and though very late period, gives you a good sense of how difficult it would have been to assault the main gates up. You first have to run up a 300 30 degree incline. You would be lucky to keep your lungs in your chest after that. I caught some great shots and we drove back to Amsterdam the next day along the Rheinland driving through the down of Hammerstien with its ruined castle looking over the the Rhein from a cliff.

Winter in Amsterdam

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 17:40:00 +0000

Link to Photos is Here.
Link to Flash Gallery is Here.

Please give the flash gallery a try and tell me if it works! Thanks. This is the best way to view these large photos because it downloads ahead of you viewing them. I can view it fine, but if it’s a problem for people I keep posting in HTML. Note you will need the Flash Plug in which you can get here.

After one week of grey sub freezing temperatures Saturday was a blue sky day to remember. The trees were covered with inch long "snow icicles" that were as fragile as they were beautiful. They gave the trees a white puffy glow to them that would dissolve in a cascade of little snow flurries as the morning warmed the branches. These flurries would catch the light only adding to the spectacle.

Also the The Canals froze-- a first for me in Amsterdam, and rare enough event for anyone. Weather like this for about three weeks will produce the biggest spectacle in all of Holland in the "Elfstedentoch" the eleven cities ice skating race that takes place on the local canals. The last dates it was cold enough for this race was 97', 86', 85' and then 67'.

This weekend was just for the kids though.

Pompeii

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 16:15:00 +0000

Link to Photos is HERE.

Everyone has heard of it. Pompeii, the city buried in ash by Mt Vesuvius (pictured above) and locked in place in time only to be excavated 1700 years later to reveal a never before seen detailed glimpse of life in the Roman Empire.

I have only have a few observations then some bullet points. First of all the city is much larger than I anticipated and there is still much more to be excavated. The whole complex is huge and some of the greatest treasures may yet to be found in outlying villas. We took a day tour from Rome that only went to the site but any visit include the Museum in nearby Naples which contain the artifacts found in Pompeii.

Our guide was a Dr. of archeology who has spent most of his life studying Pompeii. His book was for sale in the gift shot for something like $100. He held that the famous plaster castings of people who died in Pompeii were not actual copies as reported in many places including the big piece in National Geo. According to the good Dr. these are basically artistic renditions by archeologists based on the evidence found of a body and not in fact a plaster pouring into a cavity left by the body of the victim. This makes a great deal of sense, so I am inclined to believe him.

A Brothel still stands with their "menu" pained on the wall in a fresco. Patrons would choose what they wanted with the corresponding number. "Give me a number seven".
Many mosaics are still on site.
Many frescos are still on the wall such as this one from the house of the huntsman.
This is a poor picture, (the light was impossible for this shot) but we did get to see the famous floor mosaic that says "beware of dog" in Latin “Cave Canem”.
My favorite shot of the day from inside one of the Baths.

Ancient Rome

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 15:36:00 +0000

Link to Photos is HERE.

I have switched photo processing software from Picasso to Lightroom. Lightroom is incredibly powerful in processing, but needs more options for web exportation. I might use Picassa for my export and develop in Lightroom. The jury is not in yet.

Here is a series of photos form our trip to Rome in August. They consist of the ancient structures around Rome that we visited such as the forum, coliseum, and the arch of Constantine (above).
Rome is the most historically rich city I have ever visited. Like Paris, you could spend a month and not see everything, but unlike Paris, Rome's observable history extends back several thousand years.

Though Rome is everything you would expect there were some surprises. Construction workers found a complex of ancient temples to Roman gods some years ago. They have been excavated and converted in a sanctuary for Cats of all things. The cats gather around the alters and steps and its does not take much imagination to feel like they are there to attend to these old gods. The cats are apparently prized in some fashion as at least one person hired someone to catnap one from the complex.

Palatine hill is a must see. It is the historical birthplace of Rome and the seat of Roman emperors. Mussolini’s Presidential Palace was built there and it still stands bearing his imperial eagle.