So folks, the time has come. This is the last scheduled post from me for awhile. I may change the format in the future, or use another method of blogging/posting. I am still undecided. For the time being the blog will stay up, and I will keep you informed on any future changes. I am looking forward to the unknown path my life is about to embark on!
Reminder that keyFOTO’s print sale is still happening until Sunday Dec.2/12. See the last post for info, prices & photos available.
On to the final post: I am sharing a bunch of wildlife photos from The Badlands National Park. Enjoy!
Mr. Bison and his escort Magie.
Prairie Dog
Big Horn Sheep
Bison
Coyote
Mule Deer
Next week I will be publishing a list of prints already made & mounted for sale (hint, hint!!).
In the meantime, here are some more shots from a sunset in Badlands National Park, South Dakota – taken at Hay Butte lookout:
Just a short announcement. Come December, I will be taking a hiatus from weekly blog posts. I am expecting the birth of my first child so life is about to be turned upside down! I’m sure there will be posts, just not on a weekly/regular basis. Keep checking back to keyfoto.com!
In the meantime, enjoy some sunsets from The Badlands:
Sticking with the bird theme this week. A few more speicimens from The Badland National Park in South Dakota.
First up some wild turkeys, caught walking about just after sunrise on our last morning:
And next up we have a Mountain Bluebird. They have amazing colouring, but are rather hard to take a photo of, or at least this one was. It rarely sat still for more than 3 seconds, so by the time I composed the shot it would take off.
These two photos are from my recent trip to Badlands National Park in South Dakota. On the last morning, Mike and I woke up early (3am our time) to catch the sunrise and for me to take some photos. I had picked out this spot the night before (it’s actually just outside the park) for a distant view of the formations. I was having a rough morning, and getting frustrated, which usually leads to more problems. This pack of horses came by, to check us out and say hello, and the pictures I initially tried taking were fabulous – minus the lens cap I left on…! Gah! So I’m pretty sure this horse was laughing at me, and it was only right he mooned me on his way back to the pasture.
The husband and I were on a photo trip a few weeks back, in Badlands National Park in South Dakota, USA. I’m sure over the next few weeks/months you will see more and more photos from this trip right here on the blog. I thought as a jump-off I would share some startrail photos I took on our last night in the Sage Creek Road campground. It was an amazing experience in the park, and Mother Nature offered us some beautiful sunrises, sunsets and magnificent starry nights. During the photos at Sage Creek we were being grazed by bats flying around, and it would have been more amusing if I wasn’t so freaked out. There’s just something about being somewhere unfamiliar in the dark. Boogeyman or not.
Taken infront of our tent (a.k.a. homebase):
A 5 minute hike from the campsite, Sage Creek:
Well, this is the last of the Cuba posts! Kind of exciting to be moving on to other things next week! A big reminder that my show for ’150K From Here’ is opening this Thursday, May 17 – 7-11PM at Cre8ery in Winnipeg’s Exchange District. I hope to see you there!
Gibara
The only place we stayed besides the hotel that had a bathtub.
I thought the fish were a cool personal touch!
Morón
Varadero.
A few more casas in today’s post. And next week I believe is the last of the Cuba posts. Kind of sad, as it is such a beautiful country, and yet now it’s an opportunity to share some more recent stuff. I’ve been working on a new website for keyfoto.com, and I am thinking that once that is done, I may tackle a new template design for my blog. This one is alright, but not exactly what I want. So stay tuned for changes!
Our room in Trinidad.
It had these thirty foot high ceilings, and the space kind of gave me the creeps. Mike loved it.
I almost electrocuted myself in this shower. The shower head electrically heats up the water as it passes through. I went to change the setting as it was scalding me, and it started arcing. Kind of scary when you're standing there naked & wet!
Bayamo. The only place we actually watched tv.
Nice spacious bathroom.
Baracoa, the first casa. Spent 2 days in the room, without leaving much due to being sick. (Mike doing some laundry)
This photo is decieving, but this bathroom was tiny. When you sat on the toilet your knees were up against the wall.
2nd casa in Baracoa. This was one of the most comfortable beds we had. Also the only house that had any sort of wood accent (ceiling).
While staying in Havana, as we were packing up to go, I thought to take a photo of the room (& bathroom) we were staying in. It was something I did at every casa particular we stayed in. I often took the photo on the last day right before packing up my camera gear. I kind of wish now I had taken more time for the photos, rather than just rushing and quickly taking one. It’s sort of neat to see them as a series, and I wish they were better thought out photos. But none the less, here they are:
Casa in Havana, Mike taking a break from packing.
Bathroom in Havana.
Casa in Viñales.
Casa in Playa Larga.
Bathroom in Playa Larga.
The last 3 nights of our trip were spent in Cuba’s famous resort town of Varadero. We stayed at an all-inclusive at the very end of the Varadero peninsula. It was a very nice hotel, but after the 3 weeks we had spent driving, staying in casas, eating amazing Cuban food, and struggling from time to time – the hotel seemed way too North Americanized and over the top. I highly encourage anyone who goes to resorts to step off of them, and take in some of the country’s real culture. The food we had in the hotel was bland and not very good. Yet the food we had all throughout Cuba (gas station pizza aside!) was amazing. One of my favourite dishes were baked plantain chips. I’ve made them here at home a few times. The only new fruit I really liked (I know, tropical island and I’m not a big “fruit person”) was passionfruit, and I haven’t been able to find it since returning to Manitoba.
I was sick for the 3 nights we were at the hotel, and by that point I kind of wanted to just get home. Being sick while traveling makes me homesick. I want my own bed and my dogs. I’m a wimp, I know! With me being sick, we didn’t venture very far form the hotel. We went to the Centro de Conveciones Plaza América (an American style mall) to go to the cigar shop and buy some last minute souvenirs that we had yet to find. Had I been feeling better I would have liked to have spent a day walking around the actual town of Varadero, but the Universe had decided otherwise.
The main reason we stayed in a hotel and not in another casa was that I really wanted to go sailing, and it made more sense money-wise to stay in a hotel that offered sailing. But the 3 days we were there were too windy and the hotel wasn’t taking boats out. So, yet again, Murphy’s Law kicked my butt. The whole trip had been like that though. Anything minor that could have gone wrong, went wrong. Right down to the last day before we were headed to the airport. We had travelled the whole island in a loop for 3 weeks, and on the last day we had a screw in the tire of the car. So, Mike quickly changed it and we were off to the airport. But it was such a kick in the pants, as this kind of stuff seemed to happen to us on the whole trip. Even while we were in the plane waiting to take-off, there was a delay as someone on the plane was sick and they had to get a doctor and eventually took the passenger off. To us, it was: “Of course! Why wouldn’t that happen???”
Originally when we got back from Cuba, we were both tired of travelling and not quite over all the frustrations of our trip. Many people couldn’t understand why we had difficulties or didn’t enjoy it 100%. But they weren’t there on the trip with us. They didn’t experience the ups & downs we did. And that is all part of travelling. Since being home, my hindsight on my trip is being seen through rosier coloured glasses. I now know all the things I wouldn’t do, and all the things I would. Cuba was definitely a learning trip, and for that, I am grateful!
So here are a few photos of the typical Cuban wares we picked up to take home, while staying in Varadero:
The above was the last photo I took in Cuba, sitting in the Juan Gualberto Gómez Airport near Varadero.
Next week I will start some theme posts of photos from the casas I took.
