My husband and I first heard about Kakabeka Falls when visiting Thunder Bay, Ontario. It happened to be my birthday, so it was the time for something exciting too see. It really was, and we didn’t regret our trip 🙂 – A great way to spend a special day!. You can walk over the bridge and the wooden built viewpoints while admiring the wonderful surrounding nature and landscape. Tourists come here all year round, as the park is accessible in all seasons. * Click on the pictures to see them larger and clearer!
I’m not a big hiker, so I preferred to see this massive waterfall from the water level – so to speak. (I actually love to take photos of water). We also crossed the bridge for a different point of view. Although it’s not dangerous at all, I can say that it was a little intimidating. There is a lot of water running under your feet there 🙂
We also learned that this was in fact the second highest waterfall in the province. From the level of the walking alley, the water goes down over a steep cliff into the Kaministiquia river with a spectacular splash. That actually explains the name Kakabeka. The indigenous Canadian people first called it “Gakaabikaa” which translates to “waterfall over a cliff”.
Some travelers even also call this waterfall “the Niagara of the North”. That’s probably because it has a drop of about 40m (130 ft). When you look down you can see how tall it is… almost scary. The ground in this area seems to have quite a few minerals, most probably iron – thus giving the water its brownish color. But regardless of the color, the fall is majestic and beautiful. I hope you enjoyed seeing these pictures as much as we enjoyed the trip 🙂 They are all available as art prints in my FAA gallery.
Pet photography can make a good variation in my travel activities. It’s not a priority, but sometimes, when I see these cute animals I just cannot ignore them 🙂
I know pets are precious friends and they can get quite close to our heart. But because we travel we don’t have any. In order to surmount this inconvenience, I take photos of other people’s pets 🙂 It’s a great opportunity to approach pet owners and make friends. The fun is on both sides. Most of the time I photograph them outside using the natural light. I also like to snap them when doing what they like to do, rather than constraining them in a studio. * I don’t do studio photography anyway 🙂 This is just part of my travel experience…
Backyard pet photography
While living in a small Wild-West village in Arizona, my neighbor had a horse and a goat as pets. Really nice cute animals. The female horse was especially friendly and attached to her owner. I called this shot bellow “a friendly kiss” 🙂
I’m not sure how many of the horses from my travels could be considered pets, so I’ll jump to the next category.
Pet dogs photography
Dogs are my favorite pets, and I like to photograph them in natural conditions too. This one for instance is Tail, the Golden Retriever. He was fetching a stick in a pond, and I captured the scene. I actually made a previous post about this.
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Another time I saw this little white cutie playing in the snow in Ontario, Canada:
Oh, dogs are cute, aren’t they… 🙂
Look at this poor little one. It was at the barbecue festival in Ottawa, Canada, and the smoke and smell of grilled meat was all around. Sadly, this dog got only water instead – sometimes I don’t really understand dog owners… 🙁 I couldn’t help him, but I took a shot…
But dogs definitely need to drink water, especially on a torrid day of summer in Madrid, Spain:
One more cutie to go. I couldn’t resist snapping this one in Germany. It was looking so comfy in a portable puppy seat.. Well, some pet owners find and buy the most incredible things for their puppies 🙂
Pet cat photography
Cats are not on my list of favorites, but occasionally I think they can make good shots. I found this lazy selfish one in a hotel lobby in Panama. She occupied the whole front desk, without any resentments 🙂
Pet birds
Pet birds are not on my favorite list of photography either. This is not because of them, but because the way some owners treat them. It was just incredible to see this cardinal bird kept in a cage in Mexico.
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One of my favorite bird image is this colorful parrot in Mexico, pet of a photographer. He was helping his owner who was taking tourist portraits on the beach as a business. The tourists were holding this beautiful tropical bird to get a souvenir photo. The parrot was treated very nicely and was very friendly too. Lucky me to be able to get close up and make my first ever shot of this kind! 🙂 You can see more images in my “Parrots are cute” post on my GiftSmart Web site.
Pet reptiles
Oh, yeah… reptiles can be pets too 🙂
Here is one giant Iguana, pet of the Tulum Mayan Site, Mexico, for the delight of the tourists.
… and these cute turtles were pets at Palenque Mayan Site park in Chiapas, Mexico
Some of these pictures are available as art prints in my FAA collection
Lens-Artists Challenge #61 – Precious Pets | Photo Challenge Close
Travel windows framing photography can create great pictures of subjects like people, flowers, artifacts, landscapes, or just reflections. * Please click on the images for a larger view!
This wall of multiple reflecting windows was a beautiful piece of urban art in Bremerhaven, Germany, see my earlier post.
As with doors, windows will nicely frame scenes looking outside-in and vice-versa. One of my passions is to observe people, habitats and lifestyles.
Window framing photography with people, habitats and lifestyles
I photographed this scene in Belize City, motivated by a photographic contest on SmugMug/Dgrin on “Windows or Doors”. I called it “Hopes and Dreams in Belize City and I’m proud to say that it was the 3-rd Prize Winner! 🙂 *It is available in my Doors and Windows Wall Art gallery
In one of my earlier posts I have shown you this photo of a lady looking out of the window in a historic living museum near Ottawa, Canada – It was a sad story, but the light and framing opportunity were just great.
But talking about travel windows framing photography and habitat, I just couldn’t resist to take this photo of Panama City skyline viewed from a taxi cab – posted earlier in the TravelArtPix.com FAA blog
Windows framing photography – Curtains
During one of our trips, it was dinner time when we thought to enter this bistro in Quebec. Before stepping in, I just couldn’t miss the outside window looking in. It was partially covered by a nice French old country style lace curtain. Above the curtain I could also notice some inside activity – I think that it is always a good idea to have a little snapshot of the place before you enter…
In Quebec, people like to display handmade lace curtains in their windows. I think they look very nice and show character:
Two more I liked are these windows with curtains below taken in Guatemala, San Pedro village on Lake Atitlan – lots of frames there…
Windows framing flowers
It is most common to see flowers in windows, especially in Europe, or European influenced places. Here is one I’ve seen in Quebec, Canada and really liked. It is available as art print – just click on it.
Windows framing outside scenes
When creating travel windows framing photography, looking inside-out is more common, but the scenes can differ. While visiting Seville, Spain, this is what I saw in the morning from our hotel window. Not too bad, I think… 🙂
BTW: I used this window frame with a given image of a garden and a cat silhouette I found, in an editing contest at FAA. Both images are available as art prints in my gallery. Click on them for details:
Last but not least, is this image “Looking Out Grandmas Window” – It frames a flower, lace curtains and also an outside view on the Newfoudland coast, Canada. It is available as art print in my FAA galleries – just click on it.
Travel windows framing photography is just one way to emphasize your subjects and scenes.There are however many other elements that can create frames. Stay tuned for the next post on natural framing in photography.
Challenges:
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Rectangles and Squares | Photo a day: Window | Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #60– Framing the Shot | Photo of the Week: Windows