tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-355799882024-02-21T03:37:43.241-08:00A Blogography of PhotographyHighlanderImageshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15666953479523125075noreply@blogger.comBlogger736125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35579988.post-33550313406480531732016-03-13T07:24:00.003-07:002016-03-13T07:25:35.281-07:00New Blog Site at WordpressI have moved this blog to Wordpress so please update your bookmark to : <a href="https://highlanderimagesphotography.wordpress.com/">https://highlanderimagesphotography.wordpress.com</a><br />
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<br />HighlanderImageshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15666953479523125075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35579988.post-82110298866565827602015-12-30T22:30:00.000-08:002015-12-30T22:30:11.280-08:002015 Review<div style="margin-bottom: 6px;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;">Well once again another year has gone so let's look back at the fond memories of this year with 12 key photos that encapsulate some of the best moments.</span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;">Photo 1</span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;">It was a poignant Chinese New Year celebration this year as the family gathered together in late february as my wife's mother sadly passed away a matter of 3 months after this photo was taken. This family photograph with everyone dressed in red will be forever a lasting memory for everyone.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjZOEqmV9Akgu-vvSKmlO7zINfOkTh0vJIni3iZtBbVQYkPEW4BBCKuWhDq61O_WMwV-gxiuGWA0oDh60325ADlC9ZkvWSYAQYsKRz8XMsSInPvCUPbSHcLF5uH0WIjxQwqEbC/s1600/IMG_0205.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjZOEqmV9Akgu-vvSKmlO7zINfOkTh0vJIni3iZtBbVQYkPEW4BBCKuWhDq61O_WMwV-gxiuGWA0oDh60325ADlC9ZkvWSYAQYsKRz8XMsSInPvCUPbSHcLF5uH0WIjxQwqEbC/s640/IMG_0205.jpg" width="900" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;">Photo 2</span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;">In March we made a trip to Bangkok and Hua Hin in Thailand to visit our friends Rick and Bee. We had a memorable trip to the Hua Hin Hills Winery, arriving for lunch and staying on for dinner and jazz and taking time to make our own customised wine bottle label.</span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;">Photo 3</span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;">In April my wife's daughter Tsun Yee was celbrating her 30th Birthday so we managed to arrange a surprise "New York Style" party and invited all her friends to participate. A great evening was enjoyed by all.</span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;">Photo 4</span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;">In May we headed back to UK for a brief stop in London before flying to Copenhagen to catch our Baltic cruise. It was great to visit all the city centre sights early in the morning after we flew in to London as we recovered from our jetlag.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSeJhuQMos85soHB6BFY9hZItRHNx21p9fQ3Se_uDxZdYYt_g8lhu5qaFqhkVQIv31mLPtLSAds0-gmwgxqFRmr3NCyQ1r1SUSOImWomfAOE-4k137LwpH2wsGPwhIb6eoO8-R/s1600/IMG_0507_PE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSeJhuQMos85soHB6BFY9hZItRHNx21p9fQ3Se_uDxZdYYt_g8lhu5qaFqhkVQIv31mLPtLSAds0-gmwgxqFRmr3NCyQ1r1SUSOImWomfAOE-4k137LwpH2wsGPwhIb6eoO8-R/s640/IMG_0507_PE.jpg" width="900" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;">We did a 12 day Baltic cruise in May starting in Copenhagen and taking in Kiel, Tallin, St. Petersburg, Helsinki, Stockholm, Warnemunde and returning to Copenhagen. One of the highlights was seeing the magnificent buildings, art and architecture in St. Petersburg. This image is the inside of the incredible Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood.</span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;">We stayed over in Copenhagen after the cruise and managed to see many of the sites of this wonderful city. This image shows the Nyhavn waterfront area which had some great restaurants.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8yu7VXP5k2RDz_EcUwZOaiwlCz2mPIj5VKFH_CWCxDigFR9Bism3YdqZVoQJ8m14-FKXAHjLLYu5l8bPNq_5AQoYtnNnM2IunXVgR_fx2N4Od9vG5zhQLEA-305-zZt_492MH/s1600/IMG_1944_PE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8yu7VXP5k2RDz_EcUwZOaiwlCz2mPIj5VKFH_CWCxDigFR9Bism3YdqZVoQJ8m14-FKXAHjLLYu5l8bPNq_5AQoYtnNnM2IunXVgR_fx2N4Od9vG5zhQLEA-305-zZt_492MH/s640/IMG_1944_PE.jpg" width="900" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;">Photo 7</span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;">Following our Baltic Cruise we returned to UK and spent a few days in Devon at the seasdide town of Ilfracombe. This image shows the town taken from Hillsborough.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiue5oOPBZyl3i0CAhA-cfG2y5z7-yQPYr8Gsv7UKIY9oFJzqsFCWO9Pr1qAz_flUPelkRUIQbLiX-vT0cIfDjfNZGmpUzCq_MvYeZkkh8miF7zsKX8D0G3rAYgvxyhnxZK12H/s1600/IMG_2340.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiue5oOPBZyl3i0CAhA-cfG2y5z7-yQPYr8Gsv7UKIY9oFJzqsFCWO9Pr1qAz_flUPelkRUIQbLiX-vT0cIfDjfNZGmpUzCq_MvYeZkkh8miF7zsKX8D0G3rAYgvxyhnxZK12H/s640/IMG_2340.jpg" width="900" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;">Photo 8</span><br />
<span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;">My son Christopher got married to Tamsin in Oxford in early June. The wedding was wonderful and held at the historic Rhodes House which is part of Oxford University with a reception after the event at the Cherwell Boathouse.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHnNFIrzd7Od7uub5kd4EF-19qlD9KSQ1QluwOH2Qg3bo2VxAn_ti1xQ8CNP_RRvCMJDbArrUS37kA7kBtvOQM1vA866ULkxNZLR2X0CKrs6Cm8m5OLbhXfuZKP8ZDvc9qyng8/s1600/IMG_0584.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="900" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHnNFIrzd7Od7uub5kd4EF-19qlD9KSQ1QluwOH2Qg3bo2VxAn_ti1xQ8CNP_RRvCMJDbArrUS37kA7kBtvOQM1vA866ULkxNZLR2X0CKrs6Cm8m5OLbhXfuZKP8ZDvc9qyng8/s640/IMG_0584.jpg" width="900" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;">Photo 9</span><br />
<span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;">My son and his new wife Tamsin and son Ruben came out to Malaysia to visit directly after the wedding so it was great to have my grandson here. This photo of him sums up his charismatic character as he made friends with everyone he met, particularly the Asian ladies we noted!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTuWI8XSiNhdXgrMD3_kFRCqHMTL5bgHO7Et6GWY_JUFwJQId1bZxm8i-LD9j6Dza7lT2zAI1p3qEPzOnWeX0TJRHAPQ-BcYeR2uQvT1Spiy25ZA8LHsIlMoGMlCRubtcXLQlY/s1600/IMG_0533.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTuWI8XSiNhdXgrMD3_kFRCqHMTL5bgHO7Et6GWY_JUFwJQId1bZxm8i-LD9j6Dza7lT2zAI1p3qEPzOnWeX0TJRHAPQ-BcYeR2uQvT1Spiy25ZA8LHsIlMoGMlCRubtcXLQlY/s640/IMG_0533.jpg" width="900" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;">Photo 10</span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;">Having thought my offshore days were over I had the opportunity to do a photo shoot for a friend who ran an oil company based here in Malaysia - so I had a nostalgic helicopter trip to two floating production platforms doing many aerial shots as well as photos taken on the platforms.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOhwF1wJH4xn4581_9wYznE9YeUyr0dBDtgJS9Xn0yU4bmIfCI68nGJXGNN0f7y_pYX56WUwF65_fcjFhdt4YcCZzA1zrHpXYMWR7alsYmbDCW11ACjJ0MC4ZYaaOwF5A8xUOm/s1600/IMG_0244_ON.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOhwF1wJH4xn4581_9wYznE9YeUyr0dBDtgJS9Xn0yU4bmIfCI68nGJXGNN0f7y_pYX56WUwF65_fcjFhdt4YcCZzA1zrHpXYMWR7alsYmbDCW11ACjJ0MC4ZYaaOwF5A8xUOm/s640/IMG_0244_ON.jpg" width="900" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;">Photo 11</span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;">We escaped the haze that was engulfing Malaysia in November and sneaked away to Western Australia for a very relaxing stay in Dunsborough followed by a few days in Perth staying with friends. We had the opportunity for some great walks along the stunning coastline, this image shows the Sugar Loaf Rock on the Cape Naturaliste peninsula, as well as sampling some great local food and wine.</span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;">Photo 12</span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;">As a Christmas treat we headed off to Hong Kong and Macau for a few days. It was great to see this vibrant city after so many years and despite all the modern buildings which have mushroomed on Hong Kong island the classic old trams were still there as shown in this image.</span></div>
HighlanderImageshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15666953479523125075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35579988.post-39087629563654292352015-03-22T00:17:00.000-07:002015-03-22T00:17:33.553-07:00Capture One Pro Ver 8 from Phase One - A Brief Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><u>Introduction</u></b><br />
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With the decision by Apple to cease the development of Aperture and the early reviews of the "replacement" Photos app not being very positive (in terms of not being a true pro users tool and in no way a replacement for Aperture) I decided to take a closer look at Capture One Pro from <a href="http://www.phaseone.com/" target="_blank">Phase One</a>. I had dabbled last year with an evaluation copy of Lightroom but was not overly impressed with the application. It was not that intuitive and felt clumsy in comparison to Aperture. Further more its embedded integration with the rest of the Adobe suite and the subscription issue did not really excite me. </div>
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I downloaded a 30 day trial version of Capture One and evaluated the app with a set of images I had recently processed with Aperture to do a direct comparison. A brief review is described below showing my thoughts on a real life workflow process.</div>
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<b><u>Image Import</u></b><br />
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I tested the file importation from a recent SD card with 480 RAW images taken on a recent trip to Thailand. You can choose to import to the Capture One Catalog or another external file location so I guess similar to Aperture with it's Library or referenced file option. There are options to add in Copyright info or preset filters as well as file renaming conventions. You can save the preset filters and a variety of Copyright settings.</div>
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The first time I tried to import images I noted there was no way to just choose RAW files in the import dialogue box .... it would choose all the RAW and JPG files together so you would end up with duplicate RAW files and JPG files in your catalog. I eventually found a Global Filter that allowed me to exclude all JPG files then you had to choose all the RAW files in the import dialogue box so that only the RAW files would be imported. A little clumsy - it would have been so much easier had the import dialogue box had options like Aperture for RAW only, RAW+JPG pairs, etc.</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
As the files are imported previews are built and like Aperture you can choose the size of these previews. It took just over 7 mins to import the images and then 2.5 mins to finish building previews for the 480 photos, so a total of 9.5 mins. You can however start to work on the images before all the previews are completed in a similar way to Aperture.</div>
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<br /></div>
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For comparison I imported the same card into Aperture and this took 3mins 48 secs to import the 466 images and then a further 3 mins 22 secs to generate the previews for a total time of 7 mins 10 secs. So a big advantage (approx. 25% faster) for Aperture for the image ingestion.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Preview sizes for both Capture One and Aperture were set at the same size (fit 1920 x 1920).</div>
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<br />
<b><u>File Management </u></b><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Capture One stores images in a "Catalog" whereas Aperture stores in a "Library". You can set up this Catalog on a local or remote disk system and you can set up a number of differently named Catalogs. You can store files in the Catalog or in another defined folder so a similar setup when compared to the Aperture Library and Referenced Files.</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
Capture One also has the ability to set up Projects within the Catalog and inside the Projects set up Groups, Albums and Smart Albums. So a very similar hierarchy to Aperture, other than an additional level of Groups, just different nomenclature.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Filters allow you to sort your Catalog by star ratings or colour tag or location.</div>
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<b><u>First Impressions</u></b></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
The layout of Capture One is fairly intuitive and familiar. A large Viewer window takes up most of the workspace real estate with a smaller browser or thumbnail viewer at the bottom. At the top of the screen are an array of tool tabs and cursor tabs. On the left is a panel showing information about the library where the images are stored and filter options including ratings, colour tags, date, keywords and location data.</div>
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<b><u><br /></u></b>
<b><u>Tool Tabs</u></b><br />
<b><u><br /></u></b>
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<b><u><br /></u></b>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
There are a number of tool tabs at the top left of the window allowing access to a range of categorised tools :</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Library</b> (to view catalog and folder locations and filter on start rating, colour tag or location data)</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Capture </b>(shows exposure evaluation of the image and where it is being stored, also tethered capture setup tools)</div>
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<b>Colour </b>(colour tools including white balance, colour balance, black & white options and colour editing)</div>
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<b>Exposure</b> (controls for exposure, contrast, brightness, saturation, highlights, shadows, curve tool, clarity and vignetting tools)</div>
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<b>Lens</b> (lens correction tools)</div>
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<b>Composition</b> (crop, rotation and keystone tools)</div>
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<b>Details</b> (focus, sharpening, noise reduction, film grain, moire and spot removal tools)</div>
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<b>Local Adjustments </b>(local adjustments like the brush tool in Aperture for any of the adjustments)</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Adjustments</b> (adjustments clipboard)</div>
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<b>MetaData</b> (keywords and metadata tools)</div>
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<b>Output</b> (file output tools with sizing and naming facilities)</div>
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<b>Batch</b> (batch process facility)</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
You can also setup your own customised tool tab with all the tools you perhaps use on a routine basis within your image workflow. This is a very useful and powerful capability.</div>
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<b><u><br /></u></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><u>Rating, Tagging, Keywording & MetaData</u></b></div>
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<b><u><br /></u></b>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Like Aperture you can rate photographs by a star system (0 to 5 stars) and there is also a colour tag system you can use to tag photos for your own personalised reason. Keywords can be added for images as well as location. </div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
I have not found anyplace as yet that you can manually enter GPS coordinates of the photo location - there is a place in the EXIF data for GPS coordinates but this will probably only work for cameras with built-in GPS. The map function in Aperture is great for adding in locations of your images.</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
You can add IPTC metadata such as description, category, location, city, state, country, etc and you can then copy this metadata from one image to a set of images in a similar fashion that lift and stamp works in Aperture. However one first testing the copying of key attributes seems a little more clumsy than the Lift & Stamp option that Aperture offers.</div>
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<b><u>Image Editing</u></b><br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
Image editing is very comprehensive and has all the usual suspects such as exposure, contrast, brightness, saturation and a useful highlights and shadows tool under the High Dynamic Range tool set which is similar to Aperture's Recovery and Blackpoint tools. </div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
There is a really excellent automatic button which can automatically adjust key functions individually within the individual tool or globally using the large <b><span style="font-size: large;">A</span><span style="font-size: x-large;"> </span></b>icon in the top right tool bar. The global automated adjustment covers exposure, white balance, levels, highlights, shadows, rotation and even keystone (you can choose which ones you want in the global auto adjustment). I tried this on quite a number of images and the results were truly impressive and offering a rapid adjustment for images.</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
There are local adjustment capabilities for any of the adjustments and this seems similar to Aperture's Brushes tool for adjusting parameters locally within the image.</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
There is the usual cropping tool but a useful addition over what is available in Aperture is the Keystone tool allowing you to straighten bending verticals or horizontals.</div>
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There is range of colour tools for adjusting white balance and colour balance with a basic black and white tool and colour editor</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><u>Comparisons to Aperture</u></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Capture One certainly has all the tools you would need to store, keyword, tag, and edit your images. In terms of usability it is hard to judge at the moment being a novice user ..... it seems slower than Aperture probably mainly due to unfamiliarity of where all the tools are and the best workflow process to adopt. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Listed below are some of the first noted advantages of each product ..... I'm sure I will uncover more as I continue to test Capture One.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Advantages of Aperture</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Robust and comprehensive image management</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Flexible and non-linear workflow</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Stacks</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Extensive plug-ins to retain post processed images in Aperture Library (round tripping)</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Mapping functionality for photo locations (Places).</li>
</ul>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Advantages of Capture One</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Keystone adjust</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">The automatic adjust which adjusts exposure, white balance, levels and highlights and shadows works very well</li>
</ul>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><u>Costs</u></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The cost of a 2 seat personal license is Euro 229. Not cheap and by comparison Aperture was a bargain.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><u>Conclusions</u></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
If I had to abandon Aperture I would certainly be very positive towards capture One, and certainly more so than Lightroom which I really didn't like.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I would imagine that once familiar and you had set up your optimised workflow with customised tool tabs it could be very powerful and an excellent replacement for Aperture.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
At present I plan to continue to use Aperture up to the point that the OS no longer supports it properly or at the time that hopefully the new Apple Photos app becomes more mature and with the additional functionality required by pro photographers.</div>
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<br />HighlanderImageshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15666953479523125075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35579988.post-68225419104037417982015-03-19T06:18:00.001-07:002015-03-19T06:20:19.741-07:00Photos<br />
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<br />
Have just downloaded the beta release of OS X 10.10.3 with the new <a href="https://www.apple.com/osx/photos-preview/" target="_blank">Photos</a> app and benchmarking this on my MacBookPro. I pulled in a very small Aperture library which was residing on my MacBookPro which seemed to go ok although the app was working overtime doing something as it processed the images (not sure what as there is not an activity window like you get in Aperture).<br />
<br />
Photos appears to be fairly rudimentary although eventually after a bit of tweaking and browsi<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;">ng I found the histogram window, levels control, white balance adjustment and definition, noise reduction and vignette controls. </span><br />
<br />
Other editing tools comprise the usual basic exposure, highlights, shadows, brightness, contrast and black point sliders and colour sliders with saturation, contrast and cast controls.<br />
There is a black and white option and definition and sharpening sliders.<br />
<br />
<br />
However sad to see no star rating system carried over from the imported Aperture library - rather just converted to a key word with the star rating. Given that this is a very early release I hope Apple can focus on getting some power functionality into Photos to appease the many disillusioned Aperture users.<br />
<br />
It appears to be very much an iPhoto type app rather than the serious pro Aperture app in its present guise.... .we shall see as this develops - let's hope Apple get a little bit more serious with this app as otherwise it is going to leave a lot of serious Aperture users eventually (if not already) to jump ship to Lightroom or Capture One.<br />
<br />
I will continue to evaluate this new Photos app in the coming weeks and alongside this I am also evaluating Capture One from Phase One. More reports to come in the coming weeks.HighlanderImageshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15666953479523125075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35579988.post-11823415123736310992015-01-28T05:30:00.000-08:002015-01-28T05:30:37.749-08:00i-Mac 27" Retina 5K vs MacPro - A Performance Analysis<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA4JGy2esMQGPppf6yWeS208n_wgnZiBQleaEj8KYrte2R82DETvqNzZV9_LCY3C2UXd0FKnXyd117uV3t2SKkzHpIyOaqbWrlS8mSAUj-JEVeaLR6jjp0K97xUsh3rOVMuBYg/s1600/IMG_1714.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA4JGy2esMQGPppf6yWeS208n_wgnZiBQleaEj8KYrte2R82DETvqNzZV9_LCY3C2UXd0FKnXyd117uV3t2SKkzHpIyOaqbWrlS8mSAUj-JEVeaLR6jjp0K97xUsh3rOVMuBYg/s1600/IMG_1714.jpg" height="720" width="900" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I recently bought a new i-Mac 27" with the Retina 5K screen to replace my 6+ year old MacPro which although still going very well I thought it was time for an upgrade. The new i-Mac 27" 5K model appealed to me as a photographer as the screen resolution would be very valuable when editing and post-processing large RAW images.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I was interested to benchmark the performance of the new i-Mac against my MacPro and was very pleasantly surprised by the results.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><u>Machine Specifications</u></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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The specifications of the two machines were as follows:</div>
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<b>MacPro (Early 2008)</b></div>
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CPU : 2 x 2.8 GHz Quad Core Intel Xeon</div>
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Memory : 18 GB 800 MHz DDR2</div>
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Graphics Card : NVIDIA GeForce GT 640 2048 MB</div>
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Storage : 1 x 4TB system disk, 2 x 3 TB RAID disk for photo archive and 1 x 4TB disk for system backup</div>
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Monitor : 30" Apple CinemaDisplay</div>
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The MacPro had been upgraded over the years with higher capacity storage disks added, memory upgraded to 24 GB and the graphics card upgraded from the original graphics card.</div>
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<b>i-Mac 27" Retina 5K (Late 2014)</b></div>
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CPU : 3.5 GHz Intel Core i5</div>
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Memory : 32 GB 1600 MHz DDR3</div>
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Graphics Card : AMD Radeon R9 M290X 2048 MB</div>
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Storage : 1 x 3TB Fusion Drive, 2 x 4 TB Thunderbolt Western Digital RAID disk for photo archive, 1 x 6TB disk for system backup</div>
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Monitor : 27" Retina 5K (5120 x 2880)</div>
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The 27" i-Mac was ordered via the Apple online store and upgraded from the base model with maximum memory of 32 GB and a higher capacity 3 TB Fusion drive instead of the standard 1 TB Fusion drive. I did not upgrade the CPU to the i7 as I felt that there would not be a significant performance improvement for the photo editing and processing that I routinely use the machine for.</div>
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<b><u>Benchmark Tests</u></b></div>
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<b><u><br />
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I tested out 4 different benchmark tests using identical procedures to measure the difference in performance between the two machines. These tests represented standard processes I carry out when editing and post-processing my photos. The tests used different post-processing apps and were as follows:</div>
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1. Aperture - Export of 100 full resolution jpg images</div>
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2. PhotoMatix Pro - HDR processing of a 7 bracketed sequence of images</div>
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3. AutoPano Pro - Processing and blending of a 15 image panoramic sequence</div>
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4. FotoMagico - Rendering of a 4.35 minute long 720p movie from a slideshow</div>
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The same software versions and the same test images were used on both machines and times measured for each process.</div>
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<b><u>Benchmark Results</u></b></div>
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The results clearly demonstrated the improved performance of the new 27" i-Mac ..... over 50% faster for most processes compared to the speed on the MacPro. Even given that the MacPro has 2 quad core CPU's it was no match for the newer CPU and probably the extra memory on the i-Mac 27".</div>
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<b><u>Screen Resolution</u></b><br />
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The new 27" Retina 5K screen on the i-Mac was simply stunning and for my photography editing and post-processing this will be a major benefit. Also for showing off images and slideshows at high resolution this will also be a major improvement. When you use a high mega pixel DSLR it is nice to be able to take advantage of this resolution rather than having the final image on the screen downgraded to the lower resolution of the screen.</div>
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<br />HighlanderImageshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15666953479523125075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35579988.post-23090536037843275972014-10-21T23:34:00.001-07:002014-10-22T05:52:44.186-07:00Butchart Gardens - Brentwood Bay, British Columbia<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The Butchart Gardens is a group of floral display gardens in Brentwood Bay, British Columbia, Canada, located near Victoria on Vancouver Island. The gardens receive close to a million visitors each year. The gardens have been designated a National Historic Site of Canada due to their international renown.<br />
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Robert Pim Butchart (1856–1943) began manufacturing Portland cement in 1888 near his birthplace of Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada. He and his wife Jennie Butchart (1866–1950) came to the west coast of Canada because of rich limestone deposits necessary for cement production.<br />
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In 1904, they established their home near his quarry on Tod Inlet at the base of the Saanich Peninsula on Vancouver Island.<br />
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As Mr. Butchart exhausted limestone deposits, his enterprising wife Jennie, made plans to create something of beauty in the gigantic exhausted pit. From farmland nearby, she had tonnes of top soil brought in by horse and cart and used it to line the floor of the abandoned quarry. Little by little, the quarry blossomed into the spectacular Sunken Garden.<br />
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They named their home "Benvenuto" ("welcome" in Italian), and began to receive visitors to their gardens. In 1926, they replaced their tennis courts with an Italian garden and in 1929 they replaced their kitchen vegetable garden with a large rose garden to the design of Butler Sturtevant of Seattle. Samuel Maclure, who was consultant to the Butchart Gardens, reflected the aesthetic of the English Arts and Crafts Movement.<br />
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In 1939, the Butcharts gave the Gardens to their grandson Ian Ross (1918–1997) on his 21st birthday. Ross was involved in the operation and promotion of the gardens until his death 58 years later.<br />
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In 1953, miles of underground wiring was laid to provide night illumination, to mark the 50th anniversary of The Gardens. In 1964, the ever-changing Ross Fountain was installed in the lower reservoir to celebrate the 60th anniversary. In 1994, the Canadian Heraldic Authority granted a coat of arms to the Butchart Gardens. In 2004, two 30-foot (9.1 m) totem poles were installed to mark the 100th anniversary, and The Gardens were designated as a national historic site.<br />
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Ownership of The Gardens remains within the Butchart family; the owner and managing director since 2001 is the Butcharts' great-granddaughter Robin-Lee Clarke.<br />
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In 1982 the Butchart Gardens was used as the inspiration for the gardens at the Canadian pavilion opened at Epcot Centre in Orlando Florida.<br />
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In December, 2009 the Children's Pavilion and the Rose Carousel were opened. The menagerie includes thirty animals ranging from bears, to horses, to ostriches, to zebras and mirrors the world from which The Gardens draws its visitors. The designs were hand picked by the owner, in consultation with an artist from North Carolina. The carvings were done by some of the few remaining carvers of carousel art. Each animal is carved from basswood and took many months to complete. There are also two chariots able to accommodate disabled persons.<br />
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<br />HighlanderImageshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15666953479523125075noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35579988.post-87165752793065003682014-10-20T14:15:00.002-07:002014-10-20T14:15:34.916-07:00Napa Wine Train - Napa Valley, California<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="675" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/cK2WEzBrfuE" width="900"></iframe><br />
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The Napa Valley Wine Train provides a relaxing three-hour, thirty-six mile round-trip journey from the historic town of Napa, California, through one of the world's most well known wine valleys to the quaint village of St. Helena, and back.</div>
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Guests aboard the Wine Train enjoy a freshly prepared lunch or dinner inside a fully restored 1915-1917 Pullman Dining Car or 1952 Vista Dome car as they pass the vineyards and wineries of Napa Valley. They also have the option of pre-purchasing a winery tour.</div>
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The Napa Valley Wine Train's tracks were originally built in the 1860s to bring guests to the hot spring resort town of Calistoga. While the track to Calistoga no longer exists, much of the rest of the route of the Napa Valley Wine Train is unchanged. The tracks run through the heart of the world famous wine region. During the three hour journey, guests can see five towns; Napa, Yountville, Oakville, Rutherford, and St. Helena; and numerous wineries through the large picture windows on board.</div>
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The Napa Valley Wine Train begins its journey at the McKinstry Street Station in Napa. The Train then travels north to St. Helena, where the locomotive disconnects from the north facing side of the Train and reconnects to the south facing side of the Train in preparation for the return journey. Currently, the Napa Valley Wine Train stops at different locations depending on the day of the week. Guests are only allowed to disembark at these locations if they have pre-purchased one of the Winery Tours.<br />
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<span style="text-align: justify;">The day we went on the Napa Wine Train trip from Napa to St. Helena and back was special for two reasons .... it was my wife's Birthday and it was also by chance the 25 year anniversary of the Napa Wine Train. So there were speeches, passengers dressed up in period costume, a 93 year old ex-engineer who came along and a gift of commemorative wine glasses for all passengers. The atmosphere was therefore very good to start with and after a few glasses of wine onboard was even better!</span><br />
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Luke, 93 years young, was an ex-engineer on the train so he showed up to celebrate the 25 year anniversary. He reminded me of TV series character Casey Jones. There was also a group of 3 ladies dressed in Victorian style dress and speaking to them I found out that they used to do fashion shows on the train. These characters really added to the nostalgic atmosphere on the train.</div>
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<br />HighlanderImageshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15666953479523125075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35579988.post-82620473987578661982014-10-19T02:25:00.001-07:002014-10-19T02:25:28.996-07:00Yosemite - Raw Wilderness<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3RjQ4JPU5lOCjfpmW2oCPmu1cIvqQHBpniQVc8r-6uEaPRqaULr67e2vfUhcne1qse4PQp8qTE5svheDOzhm2d9AKjWmcYnXvaVFQbbbw8LobOWffpWVZCDebvtMzYvug2k5w/s1600/IMG_3581_B&W.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3RjQ4JPU5lOCjfpmW2oCPmu1cIvqQHBpniQVc8r-6uEaPRqaULr67e2vfUhcne1qse4PQp8qTE5svheDOzhm2d9AKjWmcYnXvaVFQbbbw8LobOWffpWVZCDebvtMzYvug2k5w/s1600/IMG_3581_B&W.jpg" height="624" width="900" /></a></div>
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Yosemite National Park in California holds an incredible attraction for landscape photographers so this was very much one of the key highlights of our trip around California. For a photographer, however, it is most frustrating as there is so much beauty in this stunning wilderness you really do not know where to start. You could easily spend many weeks here and still be scratching the surface as regards great shooting locations. Ansel Adams spent a lifetime here documenting the momentous landscapes and I'm sure he felt the same way. In this respect you have to be very selective and focused in your approach and with only about 2 and a half days in the park there was a limit to what I could capture. </div>
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Reviewing all my images during post-processing I began to see a need to present the final images in black and white rather than full colour. The color images were so full of information including colours, saturation, texture, structure, composition, shape, etc I felt that by displaying the images in black and white would restrict the viewers eye to the raw beauty of the wilderness without the added distraction of colours and saturation. Likewise I have used only limited text annotations below each image to focus attention on the image rather than large sections of text.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5M9q_ATnKor2W2XM5VNq5-CEgaPAry_sbqeqqSKcQ4kyZ8-5kSMjzzFiUr_zt5ntU9vkgqztqOhnzJxeMn3rfc4M4kAjPQYLiE8aqKhxP0N_IdgW9_TGRksyxGhOOUFJSr8B9/s1600/IMG_3528_B&W.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5M9q_ATnKor2W2XM5VNq5-CEgaPAry_sbqeqqSKcQ4kyZ8-5kSMjzzFiUr_zt5ntU9vkgqztqOhnzJxeMn3rfc4M4kAjPQYLiE8aqKhxP0N_IdgW9_TGRksyxGhOOUFJSr8B9/s1600/IMG_3528_B&W.jpg" height="624" width="900" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Small river on the Tioga Pass Road</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lembert Dome</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lembert Dome with climbers on the summit</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tenaya Lake</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from Olmsted Point with Half Dome in the distance</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stunted and weathered tree at Olmsted Point</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">El Capitan is a giant granite monolith in Yosemite Valley</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cathedral Rocks East, Yosemite Valley<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">El Capitan, Yosemite Valley from the north side</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eagle Peak, Yosemite Valley<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking south down Yosemite Valley with the north side of El Capitan to the right and Cathedral Rocks East to the left</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yosemite Valley looking south toads Cathedral Rocks East</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yosemite Creek with Half Dome in the distance </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sequoia Redwood Forest, Yosemite Valley</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mirror Lake - completely dry due to recent drought</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sequoia Redwood tree, Yosemite Valley<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Half Dome, Yosemite Valley</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Merced River, Yosemite Valley leading up to Vernal Fall</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vernal Fall, Yosemite Valley</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The steep path of Mist Trail leading up to Vernal Fall, Yosemite Valley</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">El Capitan, Yosemite Vallley</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rocky escarpment close to El Capitan, Yosemite Valley<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lone pine trees stand out on the rocky escarpment close to El Capitan, Yosemite Valley</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking north up Yosemite Valley with an eagle flying high above the valley</td></tr>
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<br />HighlanderImageshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15666953479523125075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35579988.post-19364659763843887202014-10-13T07:31:00.001-07:002014-10-13T07:31:28.315-07:00Twin Lakes at Mammoth Lakes, California<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Twin Lakes is a set of connected lakes at the base of the southeastern slope of Mammoth Mountain, in Mono County of eastern California. They are in the eastern Sierra Nevada, and within the Inyo National Forest.<br />
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Twin Lakes are the lowest lakes in the Mammoth Lakes Basin. On one side of the lake are lava cliffs that were formed by eruptions of Mammoth Mountain. The other side of the lake has the Inyo National Forest's Twin Lakes Campground, and Tamarack Lodge of the Mammoth Mountain Ski Area.<br />
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Driving north from Lone Pine towards Yosemite National Park we took a welcome coffee break at Tom's Place. The air at this elevation was cool and fresh making it very pleasant to sit out on the deck at the small cafes taking our coffee.<br />
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Toms Place (formerly, Hans Lof's) is an unincorporated community in Mono County, California. It is located on Rock Creek 10 miles (16 km) east of Mount Morrison, at an elevation of 7090 feet (2161 m).<br />
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Hans Lof started a resort at the place called Hans Lof's in 1919. Tom Yernby bought the place in 1922 and renamed it. The Toms Place post office opened in 1963.<br />
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We decided to stop at Mammoth Lakes for lunch and picked out the Tamarack Lodge & Lakefront Restaurant on Twin Lakes Road right down by the banks of the Twin Lakes. This was an idyllic spot and we spent about an hour before lunch taking a walk around the lakes taking in the views.<br />
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Mammoth Lakes is one of the premier ski resorts in USA and has numerous ski runs on the Mammoth Mountain Ski Area.<br />
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Lunch at the Tamarack Lodge was excellent and was helped with the wonderful local beer from the Mammoth Brewing Company.<br />
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After lunch we drove further up the Twin Lakes Road to Lake Mamie which runs into Twin Lakes via the Twin Falls. The falls were only really a trickle due to recent water shortage in California. From above the Twin Falls you had a great panoramic view back down the valley over then Twin Lakes.<br />
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<br />HighlanderImageshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15666953479523125075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35579988.post-72922388036981431492014-10-13T06:33:00.000-07:002014-10-13T06:33:15.130-07:00Lone Pine, California - At the foot of Mount Whitney<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Lone Pine is located 16 miles (26 km) south-southeast of Independence, at an elevation of 3727 feet (1136 m) in Inyo County, California, United States. The population was 2,035 at the 2010 census, up from 1,655 at the 2000 census. The town is located in the Owens Valley, near the Alabama Hills. From possible choices of urban, rural, and frontier, the Census Bureau identifies this area as "frontier". On March 26, 1872, the very large Lone Pine earthquake destroyed most of the town and killed 27 of its 250 to 300 residents.<br />
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After an incredible drive through stunning scenery in Death Valley I was not expecting much from our brief one night stay in Lone Pine. How wrong I was. This small town located just east of the Sierra Nevada range and below the magnificent Mount Whitney is a gem of a place. With its incredibly scenic location and the history of film making around this town makes this place a must-visit. Just a few miles west of the town are the Alabama Hills which has some very unique and bizarre rock formations which have attracted many film companies here over the years.<br />
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During the 1870s, Lone Pine was an important supply town for several nearby mining communities, including Kearsarge, Cerro Gordo, Keeler, Swansea, and Darwin. The Cerro Gordo mine situated high in the Inyo Mountains was one of the most productive silver mines in California. The silver was carried in ore buckets on a strong cable to Keeler, and then transported four miles northwest to smelter oven at Swanseas. To supply the necessary building materials and fuel for these operations, a sawmill was constructed near Horseshoe Meadows by Colonel Sherman Stevens that produced wood for the smelters and the mines. The wood was moved by flume to the valley, where it was burned in adobe kilns to make charcoal, which was then transported by steamships across Owens Lake to the smelters at Swansea, located about 12 miles south of Lone Pine.<br />
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In 1920, the history of Lone Pine was dramatically altered when a movie producion company came to the Alabama Hills to make the silent film The Roundup. Other companies soon discovered the scenic location, and in the coming decades, over 400 films, 100 television episodes, and countless commercials have used Lone Pine and the Alabama Hills as a film location. Some of the notable films shot here in the 1920s and 1930s include Riders of the Purple Sage (1925) with Tom Mix, The Enchanted Hill (1926) with Jack Holt, Somewhere in Sonora (1927) with Ken Maynard, Blue Steel (1934) with John Wayne, Hop-Along Cassidy (1935) with William Boyd, The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936) with Errol Flynn, Oh, Susanna! (1936) with Gene Autry, Rhythm on the Range (1936) with Bing Crosby, The Cowboy and the Lady (1938) with Gary Cooper, Under Western Stars (1938) with Roy Rogers, and Gunga Din (1939) with Cary Grant.<br />
In the coming decades, Lone Pine and the Alabama Hills continued to be used as the setting for Western films, including West of the Pecos (1945) with Robert Mitchum, Thunder Mountain (1947) with Tim Holt, The Gunfighter (1950) with Gregory Peck, The Nevadan (1950) with Randolph Scott, Bad Day at Black Rock (1955) with Spencer Tracy, Hell Bent for Leather (1960) with Audie Murphy, How the West Was Won (1962) with James Stewart, Nevada Smith (1966) with Steve McQueen, Joe Kidd (1972) with Clint Eastwood, Maverick (1994) with Mel Gibson, and The Lone Ranger (2013) with Johnny Depp. Through the years, non-Western films also used the unique landscape of the area, including Alfred Hitchcock's Saboteur (1942) with Robert Cummings, Samson and Delilah (1949) with Hedy Lamarr, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989) with William Shatner, Tremors (1990) with Kevin Bacon, The Postman (1997) with Kevin Costner, and Gladiator (2000) with Russell Crowe.<br />
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Just before the sun went down we had the opportunity to take a brief drive through the Alabama Hill area. With the Sierra Nevada range to the west and the sun going down this made for some stunning vistas.<br />
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Early the next morning I revisited the Alabama Hills to capture Mount Whitney and the other peaks in the Sierra Nevada range in the beautiful pink light of dawn.<br />
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Mount Whitney is the highest summit in the contiguous United States and the Sierra Nevada, with an elevation of 14,505 feet (4,421 m). It is on the boundary between California's Inyo and Tulare counties, 84.6 miles (136.2 km) west-northwest of the lowest point in North America at Badwater in Death Valley National Park at 282 ft (86 m) below sea level. The west slope of the mountain is in Sequoia National Park and the summit is the southern terminus of the John Muir Trail which runs 211.9 mi (341.0 km) from Happy Isles in Yosemite Valley. The east slope is in the Inyo National Forest in Inyo County.<br />
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Our visit to Lone Pine was all but too short and we soon had to be back on the road towards our next location, Yosemite National Park. As we headed north on California 395 we had a magnificent view of the Sierra Nevada mountains to the west.<br />
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<br />HighlanderImageshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15666953479523125075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35579988.post-46660669595776535132014-10-13T03:25:00.000-07:002014-10-13T03:25:35.070-07:00Death Valley - Mohave Desert, California<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Death Valley is a desert valley located in Eastern California's Mojave Desert, the lowest, driest, and hottest area in North America.<br />
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Death Valley's Badwater Basin is the point of the lowest elevation in North America at 282 feet (86 m) below sea level. This point is 84.6 miles (136.2 km) east-southeast of Mount Whitney, the highest point in the contiguous United States with an elevation of 14,505 feet (4,421 m). Death Valley's Furnace Creek holds the record for the highest reliably reported air temperature in the world, 134 °F (56.7 °C) on July 10, 1913.<br />
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Located near the border of California and Nevada, in the Great Basin, east of the Sierra Nevada mountains, Death Valley constitutes much of Death Valley National Park and is the principal feature of the Mojave and Colorado Deserts Biosphere Reserve. It is located mostly in Inyo County, California. It runs from north to south between the Amargosa Range on the east and the Panamint Range on the west; the Sylvania Mountains and the Owlshead Mountains form its northern and southern boundaries, respectively. It has an area of about 3,000 sq mi (7,800 km2). The highest point in Death Valley itself is Telescope Peak in the Panamint Range, which has an elevation of 11,043 feet (3,366 m).<br />
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Our route through Death Valley from Las Vegas to Lone Pine took us on Route 160 through the town of Pahrump after which we turned west on Bell Vista Road and eventually over the state line between Arizona and California. Crossing the intersection with Route 127 we then headed on California 190 into Death Valley.<br />
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Entering Death Valley National Park we had to buy a park entrance ticket at an automated machine which took only credit cards causing some problems for a few visitors whose cards were not accepted. Luckily my transaction was painless and we were soon on our way into the valley.<br />
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Zabriskie Point is a part of Amargosa Range located east of Death Valley in Death Valley National Park in California, United States noted for its erosional landscape. It is composed of sediments from Furnace Creek Lake, which dried up 5 million years ago—long before Death Valley came into existence.<br />
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The location was named after Christian Brevoort Zabriskie, vice-president and general manager of the Pacific Coast Borax Company in the early 20th century. The company's twenty-mule teams were used to transport borax from its mining operations in Death Valley.<br />
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Twenty-mule teams were teams of eighteen mules and two horses attached to large wagons that ferried borax out of Death Valley from 1883 to 1889. They traveled from mines across the Mojave Desert to the nearest railroad spur, 165 miles (275 km) away in Mojave. The routes were from the Harmony and Amargosa Borax Works to Daggett, California, and later Mojave, California. After Harmony and Amargosa shut down in 1888, the mule team's route was moved to the mines at Borate, 3 miles east of Calico, back to Daggett. There they worked from 1891 until 1898 when they were replaced by the Borate and Daggett Railroad.<br />
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The wagons were among the largest ever pulled by draft animals, designed to carry 10 short tons (9 metric tons) of borax ore at a time.<br />
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Heading west on California 190 through the lowest part of the valley where the temperature was reaching 44 deg C we soon reached the small settlement called Furnace Creek. The population of Furnace Creek was 24 at the 2010 census, down from 31 at the 2000 census. The elevation of the village is 190 feet (58 m) below sea level. We stopped here and had lunch in the Badwater Saloon. There is little here other than a General Store, a cafe, a gas station, a few houses and the local rusting fire truck.<br />
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We stopped at Padre Crowley Point, a scenic point providing panoramic views of the northern end of the Panamint valley in Death Valley National Park. This point is named after Father John Crowley, Padre of the desert 1891 - 1940. The plaque at the point reads ….<br />
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<b>PADRE CROWLEY POINT</b></div>
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<b>In memory of the Padre of the Desert</b></div>
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<b>FATHER JOHN J. CROWLEY</b></div>
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<b>1891-1940</b></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">From the snowy heights of the Sierras beyond the deep shadows of Death Valley beloved and trusted by people of all faiths he led them toward life's wider horizons.</span></i></div>
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HighlanderImageshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15666953479523125075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35579988.post-65242009209937078942014-10-10T21:03:00.000-07:002014-10-10T21:03:26.203-07:00Grand Canyon - Dream Catcher Sunset Tour by Maverick Helicopters<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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There are a number of ways you can visit and experience the wonder of the Grand Canyon such as car and bus trips or fly overs with a fixed wing plane but none can match a helicopter flight over this vast geological wonder. </div>
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Maverick Helicopters of Las Vegas offer a variety of tours but the Dream Catcher Sunset Tour offered the ultimate experience; take off in downtown Las Vegas, fly out over the Bowl of Fire, Valley of Fire and Lake Mead, fly into the Grand Canyon, land in the canyon floor close to the Colorado River for champagne and canapés, fly out over the Hoover Dam then return into Las Vegas at sunset as the lights on the Strip came on.</div>
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Maverick Helicopters are based at McCarron Airport, which is a short distance from central downtown Las Vegas. After registering and being allocated to a helicopter we took off directly over the downtown area of Las Vegas giving us a stunning view of the city and our hotel, the MGM Grand. Heading east we headed out over the flat desert land on the outskirts of the city where we could see some exclusive housing areas around some lakes and then north east into the area known as the Bowl of Fire and Valley of Fire. </div>
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Valley of Fire State Park is the oldest state park in Nevada, USA and was designated as a National Natural Landmark in 1968. It covers an area of almost 42,000 acres (17,000 ha) and was dedicated in 1935. It derives its name from red sandstone formations, formed from great shifting sand dunes during the age of dinosaurs. These features, which are the centerpiece of the park's attractions, often appear to be on fire when reflecting the sun's rays.</div>
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Valley of Fire is located 50 miles (80 km) northeast of Las Vegas, at an elevation between 2,000–2,600 feet (610–790 m). It abuts the Lake Mead National Recreation Area at the Virgin River confluence. It lies in a 4 by 6 mi (6.4 by 9.7 km) basin.</div>
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Complex uplifting and faulting of the region, followed by extensive erosion, have created the present landscape. The rough floor and jagged walls of the park contain brilliant formations of eroded sandstone and sand dunes more than 150 million years old. Other important rock formations include limestones, shales, and conglomerates.</div>
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Lake Mead is the largest reservoir in the United States in maximum water capacity. It is located on the Colorado River about 24 mi (39 km) from the Strip southeast of Las Vegas, Nevada, in the states of Nevada and Arizona. Formed by the Hoover Dam, Lake Mead is 112 miles (180 km) long when the lake is full, has 759 miles (1,221 km) of shoreline, is 532 feet (152 meters) at greatest depth, with a surface elevation of 1,221.4 feet (327.3 metres) above sea level, and has 247 square miles (640 km2) of surface, and when filled to capacity, 28 million acre-feet (35 km3) of water. However, the lake has not fully reached this capacity since 1983 due to a combination of drought and increased water demand.</div>
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As we came over the next rise of hills we could at last see the vast expanse of the Grand Canyon as far as the eye could see. From the air is really the only way to really appreciate the size, extent and complexity of this geological feature. </div>
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The Grand Canyon (Hopi: Ongtupqa; Yavapai: Wi:kaʼi:la, Spanish: Gran Cañón), is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in the United States in the state of Arizona. It is contained within and managed by Grand Canyon National Park, the Hualapai Tribal Nation, and the Havasupai Tribe. President Theodore Roosevelt was a major proponent of preservation of the Grand Canyon area, and visited it on numerous occasions to hunt and enjoy the scenery.</div>
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The Grand Canyon is 277 miles (446 km) long, up to 18 miles (29 km) wide and attains a depth of over a mile (6,000 feet or 1,800 meters). Nearly two billion years of Earth's geological history have been exposed as the Colorado River and its tributaries cut their channels through layer after layer of rock while the Colorado Plateau was uplifted. While the specific geologic processes and timing that formed the Grand Canyon are the subject of debate by geologists, recent evidence suggests that the Colorado River established its course through the canyon at least 17 million years ago. Since that time, the Colorado River continued to erode and form the canyon to its present-day configuration.</div>
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For thousands of years, the area has been continuously inhabited by Native Americans who built settlements within the canyon and its many caves. The Pueblo people considered the Grand Canyon ("Ongtupqa" in Hopi language) a holy site and made pilgrimages to it. The first European known to have viewed the Grand Canyon was García López de Cárdenas from Spain, who arrived in 1540.</div>
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Down below we could see the Colorado River snaking its way through the canyon floor. On the valley side on the right hand side we saw in the distance the Grand Canyon Skywalk, the glass viewing platform which many tourists travel out to experience the Grand Canyon. Seeing how small this platform was in relation to the canyon made you realise that from this platform you really only saw one very small part of the canyon.</div>
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We descended into the canyon itself and flew above the Colorado River with the steep-sided canyon walls on either side. The pilot guided the helicopter to a small elevated landing area just above the Colorado River. At this small private landing area there were small benches with umbrellas all set up for us to get out and enjoy our champagne and canapés as we took in the wonder of the breath-taking beauty that surrounded us.</div>
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We had about 45 minutes on the canyon floor giving us a good opportunity for photographs and get a close look at the barren and stony canyon floor environment. There were a variety of cacti and small dried bushes growing on the hard, stony ground.<br />
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Leaving the Grand Canyon we then headed back west, making a short re-fueling stop, then past the Hoover Dam where the pilot made a few turns giving us all a great view of this incredible feat of engineering. Then it was back to Las Vegas as the sun was dipping down to the horizon. The lights on the Strip were coming on and we had a great view of all the hotels and casinos on the Strip as we descended back to McCarron Airport.<br />
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This trip was truly spectacular .... expensive, yes .... but a highly recommended way to truly appreciate the grandeur of the Grand Canyon.<br />
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<b><u>Video of Grand Canyon - Dream Catcher Sunset Tour by Maverick Helicopters</u></b><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="506" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/G19UcTA93l4" width="900"></iframe><br /></div>
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HighlanderImageshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15666953479523125075noreply@blogger.com0Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA36.2317194 -113.0309111999999934.5898179 -115.6126982 37.873620900000006 -110.44912419999999tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35579988.post-10854632485589983532014-10-08T07:30:00.000-07:002014-10-08T07:30:24.584-07:00Las Vegas - Desert Mirage<br />
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></i>
<i><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">"If you aim to leave Las Vegas with a small fortune, </span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">go there with a large one"</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Anonymous</span></i></div>
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Arriving into Las Vegas after hours of driving through the stark and beautiful wilderness of the Mohave Desert is like seeing a mirage. The dense concentration of brash neon-coloured, Disney-like buildings is a full-frontal assault on your senses after the calm and solitude of the desert on I-15. This fake, plastic city is raw, cheap, sleazy, larger than life and seems to attract exactly the same characteristics in its human visitors.<br />
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On a road trip around California it was hard to try and avoid Las Vegas in the neighboring state of Nevada, especially with a visit to the Grand Canyon in our sights. I guess you have to at least see and experience the place before making a judgement. My pre-judgement was to be 100% correct.<br />
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However an exciting helicopter excursion to the Grand Canyon would provide the sweetener for me to endure the 2 days at the MGM Grand Hotel. The hotel was immense ... It was at least a 2 block hike from the main reception (through the vast expanse of the gambling hall) till we reached our accommodation wing then another long walk along endless corridors till we found our room. There was an upcoming boxing match being held at the hotel in a few days time so the was a large boxing ring setup in the foyer.<br />
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Las Vegas Boulevard or "The Strip" was right next to the hotel so we did the cursory walk around and grabbed a few shots of the area. During this walk I found the gallery of landscape photographer, Rodney Lough Jr. which was of interest. There were some very nice large prints of landscapes taken with a large format camera but the asking price of the photographs were outrageous.<br />
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At night Vegas came into its own and the streets looked a little more photogenic, although still fake and Disney-like. Along the walkways and bridges interconnecting the luxury hotels and gambling casinos were a large number of down-and-outs begging which contrasted vividly with apparent "rich" look of the surroundings.<br />
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Along the strip from our hotel was the Luxor Las Vegas. With its large black pyramid complete with vertical light shining into the sky and large Sphinx at the entrance it was somewhat reminiscent of a Pink Floyd album cover. The 30-story hotel, owned and operated by MGM Resorts International, has a 120,000-square-foot (11,000 m2) casino with over 2,000 slot machines and 87 table games.<br />
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The hotel is named after the city of Luxor (ancient Thebes) in Egypt. Luxor is the second largest hotel in Las Vegas (the largest being the MGM Grand) and the eighth largest in the world. As of 2010, the Luxor has a 4 Key rating from the Green Key Eco-Rating Program, which evaluates "sustainable" hotel operations.<br />
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We attended a spectacular show, Kà, at our hotel by Cirque du Soleil which was impressive. Kà describes the story as "the coming of age of a young man and a young woman through their encounters with love, conflict and the duality of Kà, the fire that can unite or separate, destroy or illuminate." Kà features 80 artists from around the world, and is a gravity-defying production featuring a powerfully emotive soundtrack that enhances the innovative blend of acrobatic feats, Capoeira dance, puppetry, projections and martial arts.<br />
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Doing things in reverse we visited the "Welcome to Las Vegas" sign as we left this city, took the required photos then quickly left on the road into the natural and more realistic confines of the desert en-route to Death Valley. I was looking forward to Death Valley and its raw beauty after the raw falseness of Vegas.<br />
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<br />HighlanderImageshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15666953479523125075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35579988.post-41281843197094404102014-10-08T06:46:00.000-07:002014-10-08T06:46:55.068-07:00Highway 1 - California State Route 1<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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State Route 1 (SR 1) is a major north-south state highway that runs along most of the Pacific coastline of the U.S. state of California. Highway 1 has several portions designated as either Pacific Coast Highway (PCH), Cabrillo Highway, Shoreline Highway, or Coast Highway. Its southern terminus is at Interstate 5 (I-5) near Dana Point in Orange County and its northern terminus is at U.S. Highway 101 (US 101) near Leggett in Mendocino County. Highway 1 also at times runs concurrently with US 101, most notably through a 54-mile (87 km) stretch in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, and across the Golden Gate Bridge.<br />
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Highway 1 is famous for running along some of the most beautiful coastlines in the USA, leading to its designation as an All-American Road. In addition to providing a scenic route to numerous attractions along the coast, the route also serves as a major thoroughfare in the Greater Los Angeles Area, the San Francisco Bay Area, and several other coastal urban areas.<br />
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SR 1 was built piecemeal in various stages, with the first section opening in the Big Sur region in the 1930s. However, portions of the route had several names and numbers over the years as more segments opened. It was not until the 1964 state highway renumbering that the entire route was officially designated as Highway 1. Although SR 1 is a popular route for its scenic beauty, frequent landslides and erosion along the coast have caused several segments to be either closed for lengthy periods for repairs, or re-routed further inland.<br />
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Leaving downtown San Francisco on a Sunday morning was quiet and we quickly headed west to join up with Highway 1 just south of the Golden Gate bridge. As we left the city and the road came closer to the ocean on our right the views improved. Our plan was to be in Santa Cruz for lunch to catch up with an old friend who had lived in Kuala Lumpur and was now living just off the beach at Santa Cruz.<br />
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Santa Cruz is a lovely seaside town and after meeting our friend we took a walk along the seafront admiring the beautiful bay and the surfers working the waves. We had lunch at the Crow's Nest Restaurant right next to the small harbour watching the sealions play in the inlet as we ate.<br />
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Leaving Santa Cruz it was a short drive south to Carmel stopping briefly at Monterey to admire the seafront.<br />
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Carmel is a delightful and relaxed small town with a quaint collection of very English looking houses along the Main Street. The beachfront is wonderful and the sunset with the waves crashing on the beach was very relaxing.<br />
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Just adjacent to Carmel is the iconic Pebble Beach Golf Club and as a keen golfer I could not resist a visit. It was strange to walk into the clubhouse Past the practice putting green and clock that looked so familiar from TV coverage. The view over the 18th hole from the clubhouse verandah with the sea in the background was stunning.<br />
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From Pebble Beach we drove around 17-Mile Drive which offered up some incredible views over the Pacific. 17-Mile Drive is a scenic road through Pebble Beach and Pacific Grove on the Monterey Peninsula in California, much of which hugs the Pacific coastline and passes famous golf courses, mansions and scenic attractions, including the Lone Cypress, Bird Rock and the 5,300-acre Del Monte Forest of Monterey Cypress trees.<br />
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The drive serves as the main road through the gated community of Pebble Beach. Inside this community, nonresidents have to pay a toll to use the road. Like the community, the majority of 17-Mile Drive is owned and operated by the Pebble Beach Corporation. The 17-Mile Drive is a 17-mile (27 km)-long scenic loop having four primary entrances - the main highway entrance at California State Route 1, and entrances in Carmel and Pacific Grove.<br />
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Heading south again from Carmel on Highway 1 we reached the area known as Big Sur where the scenery just got better and better with steep cliffs falling away to the ocean. Stopping occasionally to take photographs we saw many whales breaching in the sea and there were also many large pelicans flying close to the sea.<br />
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Big Sur is a sparsely populated region of the Central Coast of California where the Santa Lucia Mountains rise abruptly from the Pacific Ocean. Although it has no specific boundaries, many definitions of the area include the 90 miles (140 km) of coastline from the Carmel River in Monterey County south to the San Carpoforo Creek in San Luis Obispo County, and extend about 20 miles (32 km) inland to the eastern foothills of the Santa Lucias. Other sources limit the eastern border to the coastal flanks of these mountains, only three to 12 miles (19 km) inland. Another practical definition of the region is the segment of California State Route 1 from Carmel south to San Simeon. The northern end of Big Sur is about 120 miles (190 km) south of San Francisco, and the southern end is approximately 245 miles (394 km) northwest of Los Angeles.<br />
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The name "Big Sur" is derived from the original Spanish-language "el sur grande", meaning "the big south", or from "el país grande del sur", "the big country of the south". This name refers to its location south of the city of Monterey. The terrain offers stunning views, making Big Sur a popular tourist destination. Big Sur's Cone Peak is the highest coastal mountain in the contiguous 48 states, ascending nearly a mile (5,155 feet/1571 m) above sea level, only three miles (4.8 km) from the ocean.<br />
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The name Big Sur can also specifically refer to any of the small settlements in the region, including Posts, Lucia and Gorda; mail sent to most areas within the region must be addressed "Big Sur”.<br />
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Further south we reached San Simeon where we had planned to visit Hearst Castle. Unfortunately we had missed the last tour so had to make do with taking a photograph of the castle on the hill from afar.<br />
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However right next to this location we saw a long pier heading out to the sea and some commotion happening in the water. When we got down to the pier we saw the incredible sight of thousands of pelicans and other birds in a feeding frenzy as there were obviously large shoals of fish in the water. As the birds dived for fish we could also see numerous dolphins surfacing in the waves ..... what an incredible sight it was.<br />
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We stayed in Morro Bay that next evening and witnessed a most beautiful sunset over the distinctive Morro Rock which sits just offshore from the town. The seafood here was fresh as expected and was washed down well with local Californian wine.<br />
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Heading south from Morro Bay the scenery was not so dramatic and had many wine growing areas as well as large extents of pastures for cattle. With the recent drought in California much of the land was yellow and very dry.<br />
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We stopped at Santa Barbara taking lunch out on Stearns Wharf giving us a panoramic view of the town.<br />
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This was the end of Highway 1 for us as we then headed north east at Ventura towards Valencia, Santa Clarita to bypass Los Angeles before then heading on the following day for Las Vegas.<br />
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Highway 1 is one of those must-do drives of the world and I hope I get the opportunity to do this again, perhaps doing it south to north next time.<br />
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HighlanderImageshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15666953479523125075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35579988.post-62677333851891106572014-10-07T05:59:00.002-07:002014-10-07T05:59:30.324-07:00San Francisco - City by the Bay<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the cultural center and a leading financial hub of the San Francisco Bay Area and Northern California.<br />
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The only consolidated city-county in California, San Francisco encompasses a land area of about 46.9 square miles (121 km2) on the northern end of the San Francisco Peninsula, giving it a density of about 17,867 people per square mile (6,898 people per km2). It is the most densely settled large city (population greater than 200,000) in the state of California and the second-most densely populated major city in the United States after New York City. San Francisco is the fourth-most populous city in California, after Los Angeles, San Diego and San Jose, and the 14th-most populous city in the United States—with a Census-estimated 2013 population of 837,442. The city is also the financial and cultural hub of the larger San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland combined statistical area, with a population of 8.5 million.<br />
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With only 3 days in San Francisco it was a huge task to try and cover this wonderful city. Our hotel was right downtown very close to Chinatown so a good location to be based. A short walk from the hotel and we were in Union Square and got our first glimpse of the iconic cable cars running up Powell Street.<br />
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The Dragon's Gate to Chinatown on Grant Avenue was right next to our hotel so it was an easy walk up the hill and into this vibrant and colourful district and made us feel right at home coming from Asia. There were a vast array of Chinese shops and restaurants with colourful wall murals. In amongst the Chinese shops and restaurants was the wonderful Old St. Mary's Church.<br />
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Walking through Chinatown and on up Grant Avenue brought us to the Italian district with many authentic Italian restaurants. One building at the corner of Columbus Avenue and Broadway Street stood out with a beautiful jazz-themed mural on the walls.<br />
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Going down Columbus Avenue I came across my name on a junction betweenTaylor Street and Francisco ..... rather appropriate I thought.<br />
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The business district was clean and organized and with cable cars, trams, buses and a metro was extremely well set up for commuters. This area had some wonderful architecture including the unique Transamerica Pyramid building.<br />
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I took the opportunity during this brief visit to San Francisco to visit the Storehouse offices in 2nd Street. Being a big user of Storehouse for my photo stories it was an opportunity to meet the dynamic team - many thanks to Jenna Pirog for the kind invitation. It was great to chat to the team in person and see what they were working on. The office is a modern, open concept plan and has a relaxed and collaborative feel to it.<br />
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Touring the rest of the city we covered the famous Haight Ashbury district. Haight-Ashbury is a district of San Francisco, California, named for the intersection of Haight and Ashbury streets. It is also called The Haight and The Upper Haight. The neighborhood is known for its history of hippie subculture.<br />
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The mainstream media's coverage of hippie life in the Haight-Ashbury drew the attention of youth from all over America. Hunter S. Thompson labeled the district "Hashbury" in The New York Times Magazine, and the activities in the area were reported almost daily. The Haight-Ashbury district was sought out by hippies to constitute a community based upon counterculture ideals, drugs, and music. This neighborhood offered a concentrated gathering spot for hippies to create a social experiment that would soon spread throughout the nation. The opening of the Psychedelic Shop on January 3, 1966 offered hippies a spot to purchase marijuana and LSD, which was essential to hippie life in Haight-Ashbury. With the Psychedelic Shop located in the heart of Haight-Ashbury, the entire hippie community had easy access to drugs which was perceived as a community unifier. Thus, groovy and beautiful relationships could be formed by the binding experience of drugs. The neighborhood's fame reached its peak as it became the haven for a number of the top psychedelic rock performers and groups of the time. Acts like Jefferson Airplane, the Grateful Dead and Janis Joplin all lived a short distance from the intersection. They not only immortalized the scene in song, but also knew many within the community as friends and family. Another well-known neighborhood presence was The Diggers, a local "community anarchist" group known for its street theatre who also provided free food to residents every day.<br />
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Waking the streets of San Francisco certainly keeps you fit and climbing up behind Chinatown to Nob Hill was no exception. From here however you got a good view of the Transamerica Pyramid building and the San Francisco - Oakland Bay Bridge in the distance.<br />
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At the top of Nob Hill I visited the beautiful Grace Cathedral which had a tremendous visual display of ribbons suspended from the ceiling on which church members had written prayers, hopes and wishes. Also at the top of the hill there were some high class hotels such as the Fairmont Hotel and the Intercontinental Mark Hopkins Hotel.<br />
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Along the waterfront there was much to see from the classic Ferry Building, Coit Tower on Telegraph Hill and of course Fisherman's Wharf. We took the opportunity on Saturday morning to visit the Ferry Building where there was a farmer's market and was surprised to see a statue of Ghandi here right behind the Ferry Building.<br />
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Looking out from the waterfront we could see the infamous Alcatraz Island. Alcatraz Island is located in the San Francisco Bay, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) offshore from San Francisco. Often referred to as "The Rock", the small island was developed with facilities for a lighthouse, a military fortification, a military prison (1868), and a federal prison from 1933 until 1963. Beginning in November 1969, the island was occupied for more than 19 months by a group of Aboriginal peoples from San Francisco who were part of a wave of Native activism across the nation with public protests through the 1970s. In 1972, Alcatraz became a national recreation area and received designation as a National Historic Landmark in 1986.<br />
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Further along the waterfront past Fisherman's Wharf in the Marina District we visited the Palace of Fine Arts Theatre. The Palace of Fine Arts in the Marina District of San Francisco, California, is a monumental structure originally constructed for the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition in order to exhibit works of art presented there. One of only a few surviving structures from the Exposition, it is the only one still situated on its original site. It was rebuilt in 1965, and renovation of the lagoon, walkways, and a seismic retrofit were completed in early 2009.<br />
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In addition to hosting art exhibitions, it remains a popular attraction for tourists and locals, and is a favorite location for weddings and wedding party photographs for couples throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, and such an icon that a miniature replica of it was built in Disney's California Adventure in Anaheim.<br />
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No visit to San Francisco would be complete without seeing the two famous bridges; the Golden Gate Bridge and the Oakland Bay Bridge.<br />
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The San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge (known locally as the Bay Bridge) is a complex of bridges spanning San Francisco Bay in California. As part of Interstate 80 and the direct road between San Francisco and Oakland, it carries about 240,000 vehicles a day on its two decks. It has one of the longest spans in the United States.<br />
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The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate strait, the mile-wide, three-mile-long channel between San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. The structure links the U.S. city of San Francisco, on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula, to Marin County, bridging both U.S. Route 101 and California State Route 1 across the strait. The bridge is one of the most internationally recognized symbols of San Francisco, California, and the United States. It has been declared one of the Wonders of the Modern World by the American Society of Civil Engineers.<br />
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The Frommers travel guide considers the Golden Gate Bridge "possibly the most beautiful, certainly the most photographed, bridge in the world". It opened in 1937 and had, until 1964, the longest suspension bridge main span in the world, at 4,200 feet (1,300 m).<br />
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<br />HighlanderImageshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15666953479523125075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35579988.post-61479382996557981652014-10-05T23:21:00.000-07:002014-10-05T23:21:12.555-07:00Vancouver - Top 10 Liveable City<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</span> <span style="font-family: inherit;">Vancouver, officially the City of Vancouver, is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. The 2011 census recorded 603,502 people in the city, making it the eighth largest Canadian municipality. The Greater Vancouver area of around 2.4 million inhabitants is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country and the most populous in Western Canada. Vancouver is one of the most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities in Canada; 52% of its residents have a first language other than English.<br />
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The City of Vancouver encompasses a land area of about 114 square kilometres, giving it a population density of about 5,249 people per square kilometre (13,590 per square mile). Vancouver is the most densely populated Canadian municipality, and the fourth most densely populated city over 250,000 residents in North America, behind New York City, San Francisco, and Mexico City.</span><br />
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Vancouver was our starting point of a month long trip to Canada and USA and was our embarkation point for our 12 day Alaskan cruise up the Inside Passage. Arriving here after a 27 hour haul from Malaysia we had 3 days to enjoy this beautiful city before our cruise departed. </span><br />
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Coal Harbour was a short walk from our hotel and this gave us our first impressions of this city with a beautiful harbour surrounded by modern apartments, walkways along the waterfront with people out walking, jogging and cycling and the float planes taking off from the water taking tourists to the scenic areas around Vancouver. </span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: inherit;">The city was clean organized and had a wonderful racial mix with a high percentage of Asians. The street our hotel was on was full of Asian restaurants and it hardly felt like we had travelled half way round the world. </span><br />
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Stanley Park is a 1,001-acre public park that borders the downtown of Vancouver, Canada and is almost entirely surrounded by waters of the Pacific Ocean. It is one of the largest urban parks in North America.<br />
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The park has a long history and was one of the first areas to be explored in the city. The land was originally used by indigenous peoples for thousands of years before British Columbia was colonized by the British during the 1858 Fraser Canyon Gold Rush. For many years after colonization, the future park with its abundant resources would also be home to nonaboriginal settlers. The land was later turned into Vancouver's first park when the city incorporated in 1886. It was named after Lord Stanley, a British politician who had recently been appointed governor general.</span><br />
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The Lions Gate Bridge, opened in 1938, officially known as the First Narrows Bridge, is a suspension bridge that crosses the first narrows of Burrard Inlet and connects the City of Vancouver, British Columbia, to the North Shore municipalities of the District of North Vancouver, the City of North Vancouver, and West Vancouver. The term "Lions Gate" refers to The Lions, a pair of mountain peaks north of Vancouver. Northbound traffic on the bridge heads in their general direction. A pair of cast concrete lions, designed by sculptor Charles Marega, were placed on either side of the south approach to the bridge in January, 1939.</span><br />
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Granville Island is a peninsula and shopping district in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is located across False Creek from Downtown Vancouver, under the south end of the Granville Street Bridge. The peninsula was once an industrial manufacturing area, but today it is now a hotspot for Vancouver tourism and entertainment. The area has received much acclaim in recent years for its buildings and shopping experience.</span><br />
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OSGEMEOS, famous Brazilian graffiti artists and twin brothers Gustavo and Otavio Pandolfo created a giant mural art project on Granville Island that transformed six concrete silos at Ocean Concrete to a colourful piece of public art.</span><br />
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Gastown is a national historic site in Vancouver, British Columbia, at the northeast end of Downtown adjacent to the Downtown Eastside. Its historical boundaries were the waterfront (now Water Street and the CPR tracks), Columbia Street, Hastings Street, and Cambie Street, which were the borders of the 1870 townsite survey, the proper name and postal address of which was Granville, B.I. ("Burrard Inlet"). The official boundary does not include most of Hastings Street except for the Woodward's and Dominion Buildings, and stretches east past Columbia St., to the laneway running parallel to the west side of Main Street.<br />
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Gastown's most famous (though nowhere near oldest) landmark is the steam-powered clock on the corner of Cambie and Water Street. Built to cover a steam grate, part of Vancouver's distributed steam-heating system, the clock was built as a way to harness the steam and to prevent street people from sleeping on the spot in cold weather. Its original design was faulty and it had to be powered by electricity after a breakdown. The steam mechanism was completely restored with the financial support of local businesses as it had become a major tourist attraction, and is promoted as a heritage feature although it is of modern invention. The steam used is low pressure downtown-wide steam heating network (from a plant adjacent to the Georgia Viaduct) that powers a miniature steam engine in its base, in turn driving a chain lift. The chain lift moves steel balls upward, where they are unloaded and roll to a descending chain. The weight of the balls on the descending chain drives a conventional pendulum clock escapement, geared to the hands on the four faces. The steam also powers the clock's sound production as whistles are used instead of bells to produce the Westminster "chime" and to signal the time.</span><br />
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Vancouver is consistently named as one of the top five worldwide cities for livability and quality of life, and the Economist Intelligence Unit acknowledged it as the first city to rank among the top-ten of the world's most liveable cities for five consecutive years. Vancouver has hosted many international conferences and events, including the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games, UN Habitat I, Expo 86, and the World Police and Fire Games in 1989 and 2009. In 2014, following thirty years in California, Vancouver became the indefinite home of the annual TED conference. Canada will host the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, and several matches will be played in Vancouver, including the final at BC Place Stadium. The 2010 Winter Olympics and 2010 Winter Paralympics were held in Vancouver and nearby Whistler, a resort community 125 km (78 mi) north of the city.</span><br />
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It was soon time to leave this very impressive and liveable city and head off on our Alaskan cruise from the cruise terminal close to our hotel. Sailing out of Vancouver we got a wonderful view of the city and as we passed under the Lion's Gate Bridge at the south end of Stanley Park we had a final view of this great city.<br />
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</span>HighlanderImageshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15666953479523125075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35579988.post-67605932104876397232014-10-05T01:32:00.000-07:002014-10-05T01:32:39.884-07:00Tracy Arm Fjord, Alaska<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Tracy Arm is a fjord in Alaska near Juneau (outlet at 57° 46' 40" N 133° 37' 0" W). It is named after the Secretary of the Navy Benjamin Franklin Tracy. It is located about 45 miles (72 km) south of Juneau and 70 miles (110 km) north of Petersburg, Alaska, off of Holkham Bay and adjacent to Stephens Passage within the Tongass National Forest. Tracy Arm is the heart of the Tracy Arm-Fords Terror Wilderness, designated by the United States Congress in 1980.<br />
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Tracy Arm-Fords Terror Wilderness contains 653,179 acres (2,643.32 km2) and consists of two deep and narrow fjords: Tracy Arm and Endicott Arm. Both fjords are over 30 miles (48 km) long and one-fifth of their area is covered in ice. During the summer, the fjords have considerable floating ice ranging from hand-sized to pieces as large as a three-story building. During the most recent glaciated period, both fjords were filled with active glaciers.<br />
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Many cruises include a stop at Tracy Arm and its twin North and South Sawyer Glacier, either as a compliment to viewing at College Fjord or as a replacement for Glacier Bay as the sole glacier viewing stop on a round-trip Inside Passage cruise out of Seattle (or sometimes out of Vancouver).<br />
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The Fjord itself is utterly spectacular and worth the trip in its own right. At some 30 miles in length (about 6 of which are covered in glacier), the Fjord has magnificent, steep cliffs running along much of its length, often covered with lush trees and shrubs.<br />
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Waterfalls intermittently plunge off the cliffs and into the waters of the Fjord below, making for a seemingly endless number of photo opportunities as you head along its length.<br />
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As with the other glacier viewing locations in coastal Alaska, you need to be prepared when you visit Tracy Arm Fjord in order to really be comfortable and enjoy the experience. This means dressing in layers and also having some sort of waterproof coat with you to wear on deck. The weather in the Fjord, as it is elsewhere in this region, is incredibly fickle, often damp, and can switch quite rapidly from clouds and overcast to sunshine and then back to drizzle.<br />
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Of course it is the twin Sawyer Glaciers that are the true draw for the cruise ships, and they are quite spectacular too.<br />
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They are both actively calving glaciers, meaning that they continually break off in chunks of ice which the plunge into the water below in an amazing cloud of shredded ice. It’s the calving that everyone waits for, and it always draws the “oohs” and “ahhs” from everyone on board.<br />
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As the Celebrity Century cruise ship approached the upper reach of the Tracy Arm Fjord with the beautiful glacier in full view we were allowed access to the bow deck giving us a close and unsurpassed view of the Sawyer Glacier and stunning steep walls of the fjord.<br />
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The deep blue colour of the glacier ice was incredible contrasting wit the dark grey walls of the fjord walls. Blue ice occurs when snow falls on a glacier, is compressed, and becomes part of a glacier that winds its way toward a body of water. During its travels, air bubbles that are trapped in the ice are squeezed out, and the size of the ice crystals increases, making it clear. There were many chunks of ice of various size, shapes and colors floating down the fjord from the glacier making it difficult to navigate and maneuver the ship.<br />
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As we prepared for our sail out of Tracy Arm Fjord we had many of the senior crew members of the Celebrity Century, including the Captain, come out on the bow deck and did the ALS ice bucket challenge - a very appropriate location to do this I thought!<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="506" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/NI4iDH2YXuk" width="900"></iframe>HighlanderImageshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15666953479523125075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35579988.post-54642643188200243322014-10-03T21:30:00.002-07:002014-10-03T21:30:47.097-07:00Icy Straight Point - Hoonah, Alaska<br />
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Icy Strait Point is a privately owned tourist destination just outside the small village of Hoonah, Alaska. It is located on Chichagof Island and is named after the nearby Icy Strait. Owned by Huna Totem Corporation, it is the only privately owned cruise destination in Alaska, as most stops are owned by the cities in which they are located. Huna Totem Corporation is owned by approximately 1,350 Alaskan Natives with aboriginal ties to Hoonah and the Glacier Bay area. Many of them are of the Tlingit people.<br />
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The Tlingit (/ˈklɪŋkɨt/ or /ˈtlɪŋɡɨt/; also spelled Tlinkit) are an indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. Their name for themselves is Lingít, meaning "People of the Tides" (pronounced [ɬɪŋkɪ́t]). The Russian name Koloshi (Колоши) (from an Sugpiaq-Alutiiq term kulut'ruaq for the labret worn by women) or the related German name Koulischen may be encountered referring to the people in older historical literature, such as Shelikhov's 1796 map of Russian America.<br />
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The Tlingit are a matrilineal society that developed in the temperate rainforest of the southeast Alaska coast and the Alexander Archipelago. The Tlingit maintained a complex hunter-gatherer culture based on semi-sedentary management of fisheries. An inland group, known as the Inland Tlingit, inhabits the far northwestern part of the province of British Columbia and the southern Yukon Territory in Canada.<br />
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Huna Totem Corporation was established as a part of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act signed into law in 1971. The Act was intended to resolve the long-standing issues surrounding aboriginal land claims in Alaska, as well as to stimulate economic development throughout Alaska.<br />
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The corporation purchased the site in 1996, and Icy Strait Point was first opened for cruise ships in 2004, with Royal Caribbean International and its sister outfit Celebrity Cruises being the two lines to initially make use of it. They would continue to be the main lines there, but subsequently Princess Cruises began making some stops there for several years, as well as Oceania Cruises, Regent Seven Seas Cruises, and Norwegian Cruise Line. Only one cruise ship is present at any given time; passengers are tendered into the Icy Strait Point dock. By 2008, cruise stop business accounted for a quarter of Hoonah's employment, and by 2011, there were some 73 cruise ship visits arriving for the summer season, and by one calculation the cruise business accounted for more than half the local economy.<br />
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The 1930s Hoonah Packing Company facility is now converted into a museum, restaurant, and shops. In the view of two travel books, the cannery at the site has been "beautifully restored". At the dock, traditionally garbed presenters offer a look at Huna Tlingit culture, and an indoor theatrical production along the same lines is also offered. All shops located there are owned by Alaskans. Alaska's Wildest Kitchen shows visitors the importance of salmon and subsistence fishing in the Tlingit culture and features a culinary instruction space where local residents demonstrate how to fillet salmon and halibut and turn them into burgers, spreads, casseroles, and grilled entrees. The local town of Hoonah is a mile's walk, and reveals contemporary Tlingit life. A 2014 USA Today article described the chance to experience Alaska Native culture in small villages such as Hoonah one of the ten reasons to visit the state.<br />
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For the most part, however, Icy Strait Point is a jumping-off point for shore excursions for the cruise passengers. The most well-known of these is the ZipRider zip-line that completes its run near the facility, which was constructed by the Huna Totem Corporation. Opening in May 2007, it measures 5,330 feet (1,620 m) and made claims to being the longest in the world, or later to at least being one of the longest and highest – at 1,330 feet (410 m) – in North America. It has been rated a statewide "must do" attraction by the Anchorage Daily News. The zip-line was also featured in September 2013 on Travel Channel's Ride-iculous show.<br />
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To get to the start of the zip-line ride at the top of the mountain we had to take a bus round the coast to Hoonah then a steep drive up the mountain till we reached the top. It was a short walk through some beautiful woods and we arrived at the top of the zip-line ride. It took 45 mins to get up there and the zip-ride down was only 90secs!<br />
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After surviving the Ziprider zip-line ride what better to celebrate than to eat Alaskan King Crabs on the dockside washed down with some local Alaskan beer or even the local Bloody Mary complete with Alaskan King Crab claw.<br />
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<br />HighlanderImageshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15666953479523125075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35579988.post-53758911481849735612014-10-02T04:01:00.000-07:002014-10-02T04:01:41.276-07:00A Walk In The Woods - Denver Glacier Trail, Skagway, Alaska<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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After 5 or 6 days onboard our Alaskan cruise ship, and a little over indulgence on the plentiful food and drink, it was good to have the opportunity to get some exercise on an organised trek up the Denver Glacier Trail close to Skagway. To get to the start of the trek we boarded the White Pass and Yukon Route (WP&YR) Railroad which dropped us at the trail head about 5-6 miles north of Skagway.<br />
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The WP&YR Railroad was built in 1898 during the Klondike Gold Rush. This narrow gauge railroad is an International Historic Civil Engineering Landmark, a designation shared with the Panama Canal, the Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty.<br />
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The WP&YR railway was considered an impossible task but it was literally blasted through coastal mountains in only 26 months.<br />
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The $10 million project was the product of British financing, American engineering and Canadian contracting. Tens of thousands of men and 450 tons of explosives overcame harsh and challenging climate and geography to create “the railway built of gold.”<br />
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The WP&YR climbs almost 3000 feet in just 20 miles and features steep grades of up to 3.9%, cliff-hanging turns of 16 degrees, two tunnels and numerous bridges and trestles. The steel cantilever bridge was the tallest of its kind in the world when it was constructed in 1901.<br />
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The 110 mile WP&YR Railroad was completed with the driving of the golden spike on July 29, 1900 in Carcross Yukon connecting the deep water port of Skagway Alaska to Whitehorse Yukon and beyond to northwest Canada and interior Alaska.<br />
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White Pass & Yukon Route became a fully integrated transportation company operating docks, trains, stage coaches, sleighs, buses, paddlewheelers, trucks, ships, airplanes, hotels and pipelines. It provided the essential infrastructure servicing the freight and passenger requirements of Yukon’s population and mining industry. WP&YR proved to be a successful transportation innovator and pioneered the inter-modal (ship-train-truck) movement of containers.<br />
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The WP&YR suspended operations in 1982 when Yukon’s mining industry collapsed due to low mineral prices. The railway was reopened in 1988 as a seasonal tourism operation and served 37,000 passengers. Today, the WP&YR is Alaska’s most popular shore excursion carrying over 390,000 passengers during the 2012 May to September tourism season operating on the first 67.5 miles (Skagway, Alaska to Carcross, Yukon) of the original 110 mile line.<br />
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The Denver Glacier Trail begins from the flag stop at miles 5.8 on the WP&YR railroad. From the caboose cabin, the trail parallels the south bank of the Skagway River through spruce and hemlock forest. After about two miles the trail turns south up the outwash of the glacier. The route continues south, but slippery footing and thick brush make access difficult. Winter is a good time to explore the valley on snowshoes or skis because frozen rivers are easier to cross and the brush is buried in deep snow. Avoid the area in March and April when avalanche danger is high.<br />
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The walk was easy along a well defined path passing through some magnificent tall conifer trees. The forest and undergrowth was lush and green and along the way we could see a wide variety of wild mushrooms, ferns and berries. There were many types of berries including blueberries, raspberries, cloudberries, lingonberries, high-bush cranberries, salmonberries and crowberries. Our guide pointed out baneberries which were bright red berries with a small black spot and were highly poisonous.<br />
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The path eventually came down close to the east fork of the Skagway River and on the other side in the distance we could see the high jagged peaks known as the Sawtooth Range.<br />
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As we walked this trail we were always aware that we were very much in bear territory but luckily we did not have an encounter. It is always amusing to read the recommendations about what to do if you have a bear encounter ..... usually number 1 recommendation is to stay calm!<br />
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On our return trek we had time to spend some time down close to the river which was very scenic although the clouds were low masking the jagged peaks of the Sawtooth Range.<br />
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We had to hurry in the last part of the return trek as we were now getting close to the time of our return train back to Skagway. As we exited the forest the train was already there with guard shouting for us to hurry and board. A gentle ride back down the 5 miles or so and we were soon back in Skagway after a very pleasant trek through some very beautiful Alaskan wilderness.<br />
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HighlanderImageshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15666953479523125075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35579988.post-6069487286497569592014-10-02T03:44:00.000-07:002014-10-02T03:44:01.573-07:00Husky Dog Sledding - Juneau Ice Field, Alaska<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="506" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/Y9eRwawo0AQ" width="900"></iframe><br />
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High up on the Juneau Ice Field In Alaska a husky dog camp had been setup to offer authentic husky dog sled rides on the snow-capped glacier, rather than through wooded trails as sometimes offered in other locations lower down the mountain.<br />
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To get to this location you had to take an exciting helicopter ride from Juneau, which in itself was a tremendous experience giving you the most incredible perspective of the mountainous geography of this region.<br />
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Leaving the heliport in Juneau the helicopter flew down the narrow fjord, where the cruise ships were docked at Juneau, then headed round the coastline to the start of the gigantic Juneau glacier field. The view from the helicopter was spectacular with an unsurpassed viewpoint of the steep fjord walls, waterfalls and numerous sea inlets.<br />
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The Juneau Icefield is an ice field located just north of Juneau, Alaska and continues north through the border with British Columbia and is the fifth-largest ice field in the Western Hemisphere, extending through an area of 3,900 square kilometres (1,500 sq mi) in the Coast Range ranging 140 km (87 mi) north to south and 75 km (47 mi) east to west. The icefield is the source of many glaciers including the Mendenhall Glacier and the Taku Glacier.<br />
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The icefield is home to over 40 large valley glaciers and 100 smaller ones. The Icefield serves as a tourist attraction with many travellers flown in by helicopter for quick walks on the 240-to-1,400-metre (790 to 4,590 ft) deep ice and the massive, awe-inspiring crevasses. The icefield, like many of its glaciers, reached its maximum glaciation point around 1700 and has been in retreat since. In fact, of the icefield's 19 notable glaciers, the Taku Glacier is the only one presently advancing. Much of the icefield is contained within the Tongass National Forest. Since 1948, the Juneau Icefield Research Program has monitored glaciers of the Juneau Icefield. On the west side of the icefield, from 1946-2009, the terminus of the Mendenhall Glacier has retreated over 700 metres (0.43 mi).<br />
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As we neared the sled dog camp up on the Juneau glacier you could only see small dots on the snow but as we landed on the snow we could then see a small camp comprising tents for the mushers (sled dog handlers) and small igloo-shaped kennels for the husky sled dogs.<br />
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We were met by the mushers who had been spending the last week or so living up on the glacier with the dogs. The dogs were all so excited and barked constantly knowing they were soon to be out there on the snow pulling our sleds. After a brief introduction to the sled and the basic techniques of mushing we were soon on the sleds and being pulled by a team of around 10 husky dogs through the snow.<br />
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Sled dogs (also sledge dogs and sleigh dogs) are a group of dog breeds and mongrels that, historically, were bred for the purpose of pulling a dog sled. These dog sleds were important for transportation in arctic areas, hauling supplies in areas that were inaccessible by other methods. They were used with varying success in the explorations of both poles, as well as during the Alaskan gold rush. Until snowmobiles became reliable, sled dog teams delivered mail to rural communities in Alaska and northern Canada.<br />
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Sled dogs today are still used by some rural communities, especially in areas of Alaska and Canada and throughout Greenland. They are also used for recreational purposes, and are raced in events known as dog sled races such as the Iditarod and the Yukon Quest. Numerous sled dog breeds are also kept as pets or raised as show dogs.<br />
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We took turns to stand at the rear of the sled and act as brake man which was a really authentic experience. The dogs were incredibly enthusiastic and obviously enjoyed their job.<br />
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At one point we stopped to change positions on the sled and noticed a peculiar red coloration in the snow. This looked like there had been something killed in the snow but in actual fact was a red coloured algae known as watermelon snow.<br />
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Watermelon snow, also called snow algae, red snow, or blood snow, is Chlamydomonas nivalis, a species of green algae containing a secondary red carotenoid pigment (astaxanthin) in addition to chlorophyll. Unlike most species of fresh-water algae, it is cryophilic (cold-loving) and thrives in freezing water. Its specific epithet, nivalis, is from Latin and refers to snow.<br />
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This type of snow is common during the summer in alpine and coastal polar regions worldwide, such as the Sierra Nevada of California. Here, at altitudes of 10,000 to 12,000 feet (3,000–3,600 m), the temperature is cold throughout the year, and so the snow has lingered from winter storms. Compressing the snow by stepping on it or making snowballs leaves it looking red. Walking on watermelon snow often results in getting bright red soles and pinkish pant cuffs.<br />
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Dog sledding and it's not only an Alaskan tradition, but also a state obsession, one that's celebrated every March with the running of the 1,150-mile Iditarod Sled Dog Race from Anchorage to Nome.<br />
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After our dog sledding trip around the upper part of the glacier under the mountains we returned to the camp at which point our musher took the opportunity to introduce us to the dogs who had pulled us. The lead dog "Doc" was a stunning looking dog with bright blue eyes and a great character. All the other dogs were friendly and all had different personalities.<br />
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As the helicopters arrived back on the glacier we knew it was time to say our farewell to the dogs and the mushers, leave this remote location and return to Juneau. As we flew back the weather started to deteriorate so we were very lucky to have had the opportunity to complete this excursion.<br />
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It was an unforgettable experience and probably one of the highlights of our visit to Alaska.<br />
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HighlanderImageshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15666953479523125075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35579988.post-55645713277763956642014-10-02T02:15:00.000-07:002014-10-02T02:15:41.025-07:00Catching Crabs - George Inlet, Ketchikan, Alaska<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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When you mention crabs and Alaska you immediately think of the giant Alaskan King Crab. However you can also find Dungeness Crab here and in the George Inlet close to Ketchikan, Alaska there is an active crab fishing operation in this sheltered inlet which is ideal for this species of crab.<br />
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Taking a boat from the George Inlet Lodge you travel up the sheltered inlet taking in the beautiful scenery and here you can usually also have the opportunity to see some wildlife along the way including the American Bald Eagle which are relatively easy spot at the top of the trees where they nest.<br />
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As you sail up the George Inlet you can also see a number of large canneries. A salmon cannery is a factory that commercially cans salmon. It is a fish processing industry that became established on the Pacific coast of North America during the nineteenth century, and subsequently expanded to other parts of the world that had easy access to salmon.<br />
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The "father of canning" is the Frenchman Nicolas Appert. In 1795, he began experimenting with ways to preserve foodstuffs, placing food in sealed glass jars and then placing the jars in boiling water. During the first years of the Napoleonic Wars, the French government offered a 12,000-franc prize to anyone who could devise a cheap and effective method of preserving large amounts of food. The larger armies of the period required increased and regular supplies of quality food. Appert submitted his invention and won the prize in January 1810. The reason for lack of spoilage was unknown at the time, since it would be another 50 years before Louis Pasteur demonstrated the role of microbes in food spoilage. However, glass containers presented challenges for transportation. Shortly after, the British inventor and merchant Peter Durand patented his own method, this time in a tin can, creating the modern-day process of canning foods.<br />
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Canning was used in the 1830s in Scotland to keep fish fresh until it could be marketed. By the 1840s, salmon was being canned in Maine and New Brunswick. The commercial salmon canneries had their main origins in California, and in the northwest of the US, particularly on the Columbia River. They were never important on the US Atlantic Coast, but by the 1940s, the principal canneries had shifted to Alaska.<br />
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The bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus, from Greek hali- = sea, aiētos = eagle, leuco- = white, cephalos = head) is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known sub-species and forms a species pair with the white-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla). Its range includes most of Canada and Alaska, all of the contiguous United States, and northern Mexico. It is found near large bodies of open water with an abundant food supply and old-growth trees for nesting.<br />
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The bald eagle is an opportunistic feeder which subsists mainly on fish, which it swoops down and snatches from the water with its talons. It builds the largest nest of any North American bird and the largest tree nests ever recorded for any animal species, up to 4 m (13 ft) deep, 2.5 m (8.2 ft) wide, and 1 metric ton (1.1 short tons) in weight. Sexual maturity is attained at the age of four to five years.<br />
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Bald eagles are not actually bald; the name derives from an older meaning of "white headed". The adult is mainly brown with a white head and tail. The sexes are identical in plumage, but females are about 25 percent larger than males. The beak is large and hooked. The plumage of the immature is brown.<br />
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The bald eagle is both the national bird and national animal of the United States of America. The bald eagle appears on its Seal. In the late 20th century it was on the brink of extirpation in the continental United States. Populations recovered and the species was removed from the U.S. federal government's list of endangered species on July 12, 1995 and transferred to the list of threatened species. It was removed from the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife in the Lower 48 States on June 28, 2007.<br />
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The Dungeness crab, Metacarcinus magister (formerly Cancer magister), is a species of crab that inhabits eelgrass beds and water bottoms on the west coast of North America. It typically grows to 20 cm (7.9 in) across the carapace and is a popular seafood prized for its sweet and tender flesh. Its common name comes from the port of Dungeness, Washington.<br />
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Dungeness crabs are often caught by commercial fishers in circular pots typically baited with herring, squid, or clams. Pots are usually about 40 inches in diameter and 14 inches high. They are constructed of 3/4-inch round, steel frames wrapped in rubber tubing then covered with stainless steel wire mesh woven in 2-inch squares. Two 4-3/8" diameter escape rings are required to be built in each pot to keep the pot from filling with undersize crabs.<br />
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The number of pots that can be set by a vessel and the fishing season varies by management area in Alaska. Throughout Alaska, only hardshell male Dungeness crabs over 6 1/2 inches in shell width may be harvested. The sex of a Dungeness crab can be determined by examining the abdomen: the abdominal flap of a female crab is about 1 1/2 times as long as it is wide and has a much broader base than a male crab which has an abdominal flap generally twice as long as it is wide.<br />
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This area of Alaska is also the unique habitat of the banana slug. Banana slug is a common name for three North American species of terrestrial slug in the genus Ariolimax. These slugs are often yellow in color and are sometimes spotted with brown, like a ripe (or overripe) banana.<br />
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Banana slugs are often bright yellow (giving rise to the banana sobriquet) although they may also be greenish, brown, tan, or white. The species Ariolimax columbianus sometimes has black spots that are so extensive that the animal looks almost entirely black. Individual slugs will change colors with alterations in food consumption, light exposure, and moisture levels. Color may also indicate whether a slug is healthy, injured, or what age they are.<br />
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After a boat trip up the George Inlet to see the crab catching operation what better way to finish the day than to sit down back at the George Inlet Lodge and have a feast of freshly boiled crab washed down with the excellent Alaskan amber beer.HighlanderImageshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15666953479523125075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35579988.post-33046205458499458072014-10-02T01:52:00.000-07:002014-10-02T01:52:16.757-07:00Peggy Sue's 50's Diner<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Peggy Sue’s is an original roadside Diner at Yermo, 10 miles north of Barstow, on California Interstate 15 between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. It was built in 1954 with 9 counter stools and 3 booths. It sits in the shadow of the Calico Mountains and was built from railroad ties and mortar from the nearby Union Pacific Rail yard. It was reopened in 1987 with an attempt to restore and preserve it in its original state. The diner was the perfect place to display the owners extensive collection of movie and TV memorabilia.</div>
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If you are driving on I-15 between Los Angeles and Las Vegas take a break at Yermo some 10 miles north of Barstow and visit Peggy Sue's 50's diner. Entering the diner is like entering a time warp - everything is 50's .... the decor, the music, the memorabelia, the waitress' uniforms. The food is basic American diner-style food; burgers, fries, chicken, pork chops, biscuits and gravy, old fashioned ice cream, malts, sundaes, floats with a selection of period-style dessert pies.</div>
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As you enter the diner you are asked to seat yourself .... "Follow the yellow brick road!" the waitress shouts out .... a yellow line painted on the checkerboard floor leading you to the multiple rooms of the diner. We were lucky to grab a booth in the first small portion of the diner giving us a great view of the original counter and stools.</div>
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There are numerous statues around the diner with the Blues Brothers, Elvis and Marilyn Monroe and the walls are adorned with an incredible selection of photographs and memorabilia.</div>
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There is a pizza restaurant through the back of the diner and they also have a dinosaur theme park and a 5 & dime store to buy numerous unique items. Even the rest rooms are decorated with wonderful wall murals.</div>
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This restaurant is extremely authentic and you can almost feel you have been transported back in the 50's era. After driving through the Mojave desert for a few hours this place is a most welcome stopping and resting point - highly recommended.</div>
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HighlanderImageshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15666953479523125075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35579988.post-44171848604061353082014-08-09T08:47:00.004-07:002014-08-09T08:47:44.586-07:00The Kelpies - B&W PRINT SET OFFER<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuXLE8xi3t8vEu1MXgUF7HeWEQxgtO6VtWze3OK8Mrfd4L28ZTfkSjd5pxIuXW0w2s-rzhbdOF_jTftnWKgaDyYGs8qCvpcqd4F3vqp9SmwMmM8_Ai8V9gVKx-fYihXmuBTSyI/s1600/IMG_1458_HDR_B&W.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuXLE8xi3t8vEu1MXgUF7HeWEQxgtO6VtWze3OK8Mrfd4L28ZTfkSjd5pxIuXW0w2s-rzhbdOF_jTftnWKgaDyYGs8qCvpcqd4F3vqp9SmwMmM8_Ai8V9gVKx-fYihXmuBTSyI/s1600/IMG_1458_HDR_B&W.jpg" height="624" width="900" /></a></div>
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Here is an opportunity to purchase a unique set of 4 high quality, black & white fine art prints of "The Kelpies" located in Falkirk, Scotland. These images are printed in MetalPrint high gloss or MetalP<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;">rint satin finish and are sized at 16" x 24" or 24" x 36". This set of 4 high quality prints have been priced as a special package (25% - 30% discount on normal price) and would make an exceptional framed series for the collector.</span></div>
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To purchase go to <a href="http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.highlanderimages.com%2FGallery%2FThe-Kelpies%2F&h=_AQHjjz-l&enc=AZMtw474uPlKFl-VUNIjofeGYyBoMRQeDo41H96Y-yaIUY-vhQJg__4t2OXfVsv9QukcHWFwjhreTSAX9Vz27RniySFKgIRosZOsW6vSaadTOLE6fWHv5UyDrrW6YzZdENQz7uqkzYSdOrgIfU5L2Dip&s=1" rel="nofollow nofollow" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://www.highlanderimages.com/Gallery/The-Kelpies/</a> then click the <b>BUY PHOTOS</b> button then choose <b>BUY PHOTO PACKAGE</b> to take advantage of this special package pricing.</div>
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To create MetalPrints we infuse dyes directly into specially coated aluminum sheets, creating truly archival works of art. These MetalPrints showcase a revolutionary new medium that is highly durable, waterproof, weatherproof, and ultra scratch-resistant. The unique printing method gives your photos a vibrant luminescence with incredible detail and resolution.</div>
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Choose from High Gloss and Satin finishes.</div>
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Each print has rounded corners for your safety and the surface can be easily cleaned with any commercial glass cleaner.</div>
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MetalPrints come ready-to-hang with two 3/4" thick lightweight foam blocks and aluminum plate with pre-drilled holes. MetalPrints sized 30x40" and up are backed with an inset frame for added stability.</div>
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When hung, these stunning prints will float off the wall.</div>
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Don't miss this opportunity to create an archival piece of art for your wall at home or in the office.</div>
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HighlanderImageshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15666953479523125075noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35579988.post-17374834935542283152014-08-09T01:21:00.003-07:002014-08-09T02:10:56.636-07:00Storehouse - A Visual Storytelling App<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmXGq7H9MxL996kHLbWVJyv-vmU0RWXky4YvWJolXVTahmNqCtvQSrrpUxGwfYFzhyphenhyphendHLGWDl1ea61sISHrV4hRUvefrJdF8SYB4C4lpMixLKgzjOBT0xJLAR1EV6JGN9RWwaG/s1600/large@2x.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmXGq7H9MxL996kHLbWVJyv-vmU0RWXky4YvWJolXVTahmNqCtvQSrrpUxGwfYFzhyphenhyphendHLGWDl1ea61sISHrV4hRUvefrJdF8SYB4C4lpMixLKgzjOBT0xJLAR1EV6JGN9RWwaG/s1600/large@2x.jpg" height="600" width="900" /></a></div>
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Over the last few months I have been publishing many of my photo stories via Storehouse, a new interactive and visual storytelling app for the iPad. It is a unique and highly intuitive application for quickly assembling a documentary photo story using images from your camera or iPhone and then adding in blocks of text and headers to annotate the story.<br />
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The speed that you can create a visually appealing and professional looking story is incredible and suits a photojournalist who need to create short, sharp, focused stories with relevant imaging.<br />
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I have created 60 stories to date using this app and a summary of these stories are detailed below and also in the summary story on <a href="https://www.storehouse.co/stories/t9ozu-my-storehouse-stories" target="_blank">Storehouse: https://www.storehouse.co/stories/t9ozu-my-storehouse-stories</a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfks_1GKMki5jUUQKkpIJ3XWCBY4hizcqzziAoR-mlmkPFZMBkXQ29uUGAAhhLewhe1YBx-BHamlCXPbDgJgfwfepuqzEIOJQCBR8iNloFxIoIPX6eRNPqepAQDo4YHjd7oHp6/s1600/large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfks_1GKMki5jUUQKkpIJ3XWCBY4hizcqzziAoR-mlmkPFZMBkXQ29uUGAAhhLewhe1YBx-BHamlCXPbDgJgfwfepuqzEIOJQCBR8iNloFxIoIPX6eRNPqepAQDo4YHjd7oHp6/s1600/large.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
<b style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Temples</u></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.storehouse.co/stories/t9rij-angkor-wat" target="_blank">Angkor Wat https://www.storehouse.co/stories/t9rij-angkor-wat</a><br /><a href="https://www.storehouse.co/stories/t4rb7-kinkaku-ji" target="_blank">Kinkaku-ji https://www.storehouse.co/stories/t4rb7-kinkaku-ji</a><br /><a href="https://www.storehouse.co/stories/t7rx1-kiyomizu-dera" target="_blank">Kiyomizu-dera https://www.storehouse.co/stories/t7rx1-kiyomizu-dera</a><br /><a href="https://www.storehouse.co/stories/t4rwm-fushimi-inari-taisha" target="_blank">Fushimi Inari Taisha https://www.storehouse.co/stories/t4rwm-fushimi-inari-taisha</a><br /><a href="http://www.storehouse.co/stories/t1of1-prambanan" target="_blank">Prambanan http://www.storehouse.co/stories/t1of1-prambanan</a><br /><a href="http://www.storehouse.co/stories/t9oc1-borobudur" target="_blank">Borobudur http://www.storehouse.co/stories/t9oc1-borobudur</a><br /><a href="http://www.storehouse.co/stories/y0s9-trees-of-ta-prohm" target="_blank">Trees of Ta Prohm http://www.storehouse.co/stories/y0s9-trees-of-ta-prohm</a><br /><a href="http://www.storehouse.co/stories/y7hy-lost-city-of-angkor" target="_blank">Lost City of Angkor http://www.storehouse.co/stories/y7hy-lost-city-of-angkor</a><br /><a href="http://www.storehouse.co/stories/z2r7-prasat-preah-vihear" target="_blank">Prasat Preah Vihear http://www.storehouse.co/stories/z2r7-prasat-preah-vihear</a><br /><a href="http://www.storehouse.co/stories/z604-koh-ker" target="_blank">Koh Ker http://www.storehouse.co/stories/z604-koh-ker</a><br /><a href="http://www.storehouse.co/stories/z30r-beng-mealea" target="_blank">Beng Mealea http://www.storehouse.co/stories/z30r-beng-mealea</a><br /><a href="http://www.storehouse.co/stories/z70g-angkor-thom" target="_blank">Angkor Thom http://www.storehouse.co/stories/z70g-angkor-thom</a><br /><a href="http://www.storehouse.co/stories/y30n-preah-rup" target="_blank">Preah Rup http://www.storehouse.co/stories/y30n-preah-rup</a><br /><a href="https://www.storehouse.co/stories/t5r4h-preah-khan" target="_blank">Preah Khan https://www.storehouse.co/stories/t5r4h-preah-khan</a><br /><a href="http://www.storehouse.co/stories/28f7-kbal-spean" target="_blank">Kbal Spean http://www.storehouse.co/stories/28f7-kbal-spean</a><a href="http://www.storehouse.co/stories/i47a-emperor-jade-pagoda" target="_blank"><br /></a><a href="http://www.storehouse.co/stories/i47a-emperor-jade-pagoda" target="_blank">Emperor Jade Pagoda http://www.storehouse.co/stories/i47a-emperor-jade-pagoda</a><br /><a href="http://www.storehouse.co/stories/y859-boudhanath" target="_blank">Boudhanath http://www.storehouse.co/stories/y859-boudhanath</a><br /><br /><b><u><br /></u></b></span><br />
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<b style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Cemeteries</u></b><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><a href="https://www.storehouse.co/stories/t0ewd-northam-road-cemetery" target="_blank">Northampton Road Cemetery https://www.storehouse.co/stories/t0ewd-northam-road-cemetery</a><br /><a href="http://www.storehouse.co/stories/t9r0l-cimetiere-du-pere-lachaise" target="_blank">Cimetière du Père-Lachaise http://www.storehouse.co/stories/t9r0l-cimetiere-du-pere-lachaise</a><br /><a href="http://www.storehouse.co/stories/t8r0v-cimetiere-montparnasse" target="_blank">Cimetière du Montparnasse http://www.storehouse.co/stories/t8r0v-cimetiere-montparnasse</a><br /><a href="http://www.storehouse.co/stories/t0o8e-kwong-tong-cemetery" target="_blank">Kwong Tong Cemetery http://www.storehouse.co/stories/t0o8e-kwong-tong-cemetery</a><br /><a href="http://www.storehouse.co/stories/t7o73-r-i-p" target="_blank">R.I.P. http://www.storehouse.co/stories/t7o73-r-i-p</a><br /><br /><b><u><br /></u></b></span><br />
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<b style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Dance</u></b><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><a href="http://www.storehouse.co/stories/t0rhw-balinese-dance" target="_blank">Balinese Dance http://www.storehouse.co/stories/t0rhw-balinese-dance</a><br /><a href="http://www.storehouse.co/stories/t9o9p-flamenco" target="_blank">Flamenco http://www.storehouse.co/stories/t9o9p-flamenco</a><br /><a href="http://www.storehouse.co/stories/i67d-tango" target="_blank">Tango http://www.storehouse.co/stories/i67d-tango</a><br /><br /><b><u><br /></u></b></span><br />
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<b style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Travel</u></b><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><a href="https://www.storehouse.co/stories/t4eao-hot-air-balloon-trip" target="_blank">Hot Air Balloon Trip https://www.storehouse.co/stories/t4eao-hot-air-balloon-trip</a><br /><a href="http://www.storehouse.co/stories/t4e3s-colourful-colombo" target="_blank">Colourful Colombo http://www.storehouse.co/stories/t4e3s-colourful-colombo</a><br /><a href="https://www.storehouse.co/stories/t2eef-in-bruges" target="_blank">In Bruges https://www.storehouse.co/stories/t2eef-in-bruges</a><br /><a href="http://www.storehouse.co/stories/t7rf6-big-noise-new-york" target="_blank">Big Noise, New York http://www.storehouse.co/stories/t7rf6-big-noise-new-york</a><br /><a href="http://www.storehouse.co/stories/y25f-the-roof-of-borneo" target="_blank">The Roof of Borneo http://www.storehouse.co/stories/y25f-the-roof-of-borneo</a><br /><a href="http://www.storehouse.co/stories/z0ns-a-walk-in-the-park" target="_blank">A Walk in the Park http://www.storehouse.co/stories/z0ns-a-walk-in-the-park</a><br /><a href="http://www.storehouse.co/stories/y35l-bungamati" target="_blank">Bungamati http://www.storehouse.co/stories/y35l-bungamati</a><br /><a href="http://www.storehouse.co/stories/22qa-liu-san-jie" target="_blank">Liu San Jie http://www.storehouse.co/stories/22qa-liu-san-jie</a><br /><a href="http://www.storehouse.co/stories/27qp-giant-buddha-of-leshan" target="_blank">Giant Buddha of Leshan http://www.storehouse.co/stories/27qp-giant-buddha-of-leshan</a><br /><a href="http://www.storehouse.co/stories/y005-jiuzhaigou" target="_blank">Juzhaigou http://www.storehouse.co/stories/y005-jiuzhaigou</a><br /><a href="http://www.storehouse.co/stories/y23o-cruisin" target="_blank">Cruisin' http://www.storehouse.co/stories/y23o-cruisin</a><br /><a href="http://www.storehouse.co/stories/z0ue-li-jiang" target="_blank">Lí Jiāng http://www.storehouse.co/stories/z0ue-li-jiang</a><br /><a href="http://www.storehouse.co/stories/i38x-grande-dune-de-pilat" target="_blank">Grande Dune de Pilat http://www.storehouse.co/stories/i38x-grande-dune-de-pilat</a><br /><br /><b><u><br /></u></b></span><br />
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<b style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Architecture-Urbex</u></b><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><a href="https://www.storehouse.co/stories/t1r7g-villa-la-rotonda" target="_blank">Villa La Rotonda https://www.storehouse.co/stories/t1r7g-villa-la-rotonda</a><br /><a href="https://www.storehouse.co/stories/t5rmg-sainte-chapelle" target="_blank">Sainte Chapelle https://www.storehouse.co/stories/t5rmg-sainte-chapelle</a><a href="https://www.storehouse.co/stories/t0r9o-shih-chung-school" target="_blank"><br /></a><a href="https://www.storehouse.co/stories/t0r9o-shih-chung-school" target="_blank">Shih Chung School https://www.storehouse.co/stories/t0r9o-shih-chung-school</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.storehouse.co/stories/t0r3k-graffiti" target="_blank">Graffiti https://www.storehouse.co/stories/t0r3k-graffiti</a><br /><a href="http://www.storehouse.co/stories/t5olj-lost-legacy" target="_blank">Lost Legacy http://www.storehouse.co/stories/t5olj-lost-legacy</a><br /><a href="http://www.storehouse.co/stories/i97u-bukit-nanas" target="_blank">Bukit Nanas http://www.storehouse.co/stories/i97u-bukit-nanas</a><br /><a href="http://www.storehouse.co/stories/c1tl-blue-mansion" target="_blank">Blue Mansion http://www.storehouse.co/stories/c1tl-blue-mansion</a><br /><a href="http://www.storehouse.co/stories/l67i-white-elephant" target="_blank">White Elephant http://www.storehouse.co/stories/l67i-white-elephant</a><br /><br /><b><u><br /></u></b></span><br />
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<b style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Documentary</u></b><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><a href="https://www.storehouse.co/stories/t7e4y-jolly-coppers-on-parade" target="_blank">Jolly Coppers on Parade https://www.storehouse.co/stories/t7e4y-jolly-coppers-on-parade</a><br /><a href="https://www.storehouse.co/stories/t2rv7-sowing-the-seeds-of-love" target="_blank">Sowing The Seeds of Love https://www.storehouse.co/stories/t2rv7-sowing-the-seeds-of-love</a><br /><a href="http://www.storehouse.co/stories/t3ozc-hill-tribes-of-northern-thailand" target="_blank">Hill Tribes of Northern Thailand http://www.storehouse.co/stories/t3ozc-hill-tribes-of-northern-thailand</a><br /><a href="http://www.storehouse.co/stories/i48d-take-me-to-the-river" target="_blank">Take Me To The River http://www.storehouse.co/stories/i48d-take-me-to-the-river</a><br /><a href="http://www.storehouse.co/stories/c28f-heartache-hope" target="_blank">Heartache & Hope http://www.storehouse.co/stories/c28f-heartache-hope</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.storehouse.co/stories/w1oj-toil" target="_blank">Toil http://www.storehouse.co/stories/w1oj-toil</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.storehouse.co/stories/t5tng-fairy-lochs-memorial" target="_blank">Fairy Lochs Memorial http://www.storehouse.co/stories/t5tng-fairy-lochs-memorial</a><br /><a href="http://www.storehouse.co/stories/i78g-new-york-easter-parade" target="_blank">New York Easter Parade http://www.storehouse.co/stories/i78g-new-york-easter-parade</a><br /><a href="http://www.storehouse.co/stories/y4v7-pudu-prison" target="_blank">Pudu Prison http://www.storehouse.co/stories/y4v7-pudu-prison</a><br /><a href="http://www.storehouse.co/stories/t2oko-dhobi-ghat" target="_blank">Dhobi Ghat http://www.storehouse.co/stories/t2oko-dhobi-ghat</a><br /><a href="http://www.storehouse.co/stories/t3lx-the-last-tin-dredge" target="_blank">The Last Tin Dredge http://www.storehouse.co/stories/t3lx-the-last-tin-dredge</a></span><br />
<br />HighlanderImageshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15666953479523125075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35579988.post-34457259356422466712014-06-27T23:14:00.002-07:002014-06-27T23:21:53.721-07:00End of an Era - Aperture to be Discontinued<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: inherit;">The news today from Apple that their pro photo application Aperture is to be discontinued will be a huge disappointment for many pro photographers who rely on this robust library management and post-processing application for their workflows. ...... me included.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Apple have decided to discontinue both Aperture and iPhoto and replace this with the new application Photos which will be realised as part of the iOS 8 release in the fall 2014 and OSX Yosemite release early next year. The new <a href="http://www.apple.com/ios/ios8/photos/" target="_blank">Photos</a> application will be geared to link with iCloud and be integrate with iOS applications. Aperture has not had a major update since 2010 when Ver 3.0 was </span>realised<span style="font-family: inherit;"> and iPhoto has also not been upgraded since 2011.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The new <a href="http://www.apple.com/ios/ios8/photos/" target="_blank">Photos</a> application was first previewed at the recent WWDC 2014 and will be realise as part of the iOS8 </span>realise<span style="font-family: inherit;"> this fall and the OSX Yosemite release in early 2015. It is </span>very<span style="font-family: inherit;"> much geared up for cloud-based storage of photographs thereby giving access to images by all OSX and iOS devices for managing and editing. However the focus seems very much on camera photos ...... not much mention of serious pro photograph needs.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">An Apple spokesperson stated:</span></div>
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<i>"With the introduction of the new Photos app and iCloud Photo Library, enabling you to safely store all of your photos in iCloud and access them from anywhere, there will be no new development of Aperture. When Photos for OS X ships next year, users will be able to migrate their existing Aperture libraries to Photos for OS X."</i><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Current Aperture users don't need to worry, the program will get updates to work under OS X Yosemite. Still, active development of the app will end.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span> Apple has also stated that while they have decided to discontinue Aperture they have no intention of abandoning pros and will continue to develop both Final Cut Pro and Logic. I find this statement rather contradictory ...... "no intention of abandoning pros" and yet they are abandoning pro photographers!!<br />
Included with the reports was a new picture of the OS X <a href="http://www.apple.com/ios/ios8/photos/" target="_blank">Photos</a> application, as seen above. From the picture, it would appear that the application has a "prosumer" layout. The app is also shown with a darker user interface, which is different from the predominantly white app shown off at the Worldwide Developers Conference earlier this month, as shown below.<br />
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However what does this mean going forward to the many pro photographers who have committed workflows and numerous Aperture plug-ins?<br />
<h2>
<b>Questions To Ponder</b></h2>
<ol>
<li>For pro photographers using Aperture to manage, catalogue and post-process multi-terabyte photo libraries how can an iCloud based system be practical? </li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 22px;">Can the replacement Photos application come </span></span><span style="line-height: 22px;">anywhere</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 22px;"> </span></span><span style="line-height: 22px;">close to the power of the current Aperture application for image management and post-processing?</span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 22px;">Will the Photos application have the capability to use the current plug-ins which were an integral and </span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 22px;">important part of the Aperture workflow?</span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 22px;">The Aperture application had a powerful book publication facility - will Photos have this facility?</span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 22px;">Will Photos have the ability to retain the non-destructive virtual adjustments of the Aperture files?</span></li>
</ol>
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<span style="line-height: 22px;">Alternatives</span></h2>
<span style="line-height: 22px;">The obvious replacement application for many photographers would be <a href="http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop-lightroom.html" target="_blank">Adobe Lightroom</a> .... but there are others which may be worth a serious consideration once you have chosen to totally abandon Aperture and don't want to be drawn into the <a href="https://creative.adobe.com/plans/offer/photoshop+lightroom" target="_blank">Adobe Creative Cloud environmen</a>t:</span><br />
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</span> <span style="line-height: 22px;"><a href="http://www.phaseone.com/Imaging-Software/Capture-One-Pro-7.aspx" target="_blank">Phase One Capture One Pro 7</a></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 22px;"><a href="http://www.acdsee.com/" target="_blank">ACDC Systems</a></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 22px;"><a href="http://www.dxo.com/intl/photography/dxo-optics-pro/photo-software" target="_blank">DxO Optics Pro 8</a></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 22px;"><a href="http://www.aftershotpro.com/en/default.html" target="_blank">Corel AfterShot pro</a></span><br />
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</span> <span style="line-height: 22px;">For me I am not going to rush into any transition from Aperture. It is being supported through to OSX Yosemite and my workflow on the current Ver 3.5.1 is stable and meets all my requirements right now, so unless I get a new camera that is not supported by Aperture then it should be ok to continue to use on the Apple platform for some time.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="line-height: 22px;">However I will be starting to review alternatives and the Phase One Capture One Pro 7 is looking like a favourite at the moment ...... more on this later as I sort through these apps, test them them and weigh up advantages/disadvantages.</span><br />
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</span></span>HighlanderImageshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15666953479523125075noreply@blogger.com0