The cover of The Washingtonian Magazine August 2010 issue is this photo by Rick Collier of a balloon lifting off at dawn. The original image is named “Dawn Lift” and I originally blogged about it in August 2009.
Jul 23, 2010 | Categories: Land & Air, thePhotoTourist | Tags: balloon, balloon and wine festival, balloon festival, balloon launch, balloons, cover, cover photo, cover shot, dawn, dawn lift, hot air, hot air balloon, lift, liftoff, Millwood, photo, publication, Rick Collier, The Washingtonian, Virginia, Washingtonian, Washingtonian Magazine, Winchester, wine festival | 1 Comment »
Every Fourth of July Nancy and I invite a group of friends and neighbors to cruise on a deckboat on Lake Thoreau at sunset, to watch the evening’s impromptu celebrations of Independence Day. Enormous, professional-grade starburst shells go off overhead as bottle rockets inscribe arcs over or between the boats. The whole thing is spontaneous and unplanned. Our music was a mashup of Sousa marches and patriotic country. This is America’s birthday, lake-style.
Jul 10, 2010 | Categories: Land & Air, thePhotoTourist | Tags: 2010, 4 July, 4 July 2010, 4th, 4th of July, 7-4-2010, 7/4/2010, barge, boat, Boating, boats, Celebration, Celebration Fun, countryside, deck boat, Deckboat, fireworks, Fourth of July, geotagged, HDR, Independence Day, July, July 4, July4th2010, lake, Lake Thoreau, Lakewinds, landscape, lights, national day, party, party barge, Patriotic, People, Reston, South Lakes, summer, Thoreau, United States, US, USA, VA, view, views, Virginia | Leave A Comment »
This is a small Caribbean reef (spiny) lobster I found while diving with Dreamtime Dive Center in Mahahual, Mexico — the small town near the cruise ship port called Costa Maya. The dive center stands right on the beautiful white sand beach that runs the length of the town. Highly recommended; check them out if you ever get there.
Apr 12, 2010 | Categories: Underwater | Tags: Caribbean, coral, Costa Maya, cruise, cruise critic, cruisecritic, dive, diving, Dreamtime, Dreamtime Dive Center, Dreamtime Dive Centre, Dreamtime Dive Resort, fire coral, flames, Holland America, Holland America Line, lobster, Mahahual, Mexico, port, reef, Ryndam, scuba, scuba board, ScubaBoard, spiny lobster, the flames, trip advisor, tripadvisor, Underwater | Leave A Comment »
High Definition Images (HDR) images taken during a tour group visit to Quirigua Archaeological Park in central Guatemala. Quirigua is home of one of the largest and most well-preserved collections of Mayan stelae and zoomorphs of the Mayan classic period, displayed under thatched roofs in beautifully manicured gardens.
Mar 30, 2010 | Categories: Land & Air, thePhotoTourist | Tags: archaeology, Caribbean, classic, cruise, forest, garden, grass, Guatemala, HDR, high dynamic range, Holland America, Holland America Line, jungle, lawn, Maya, Mayan, not_uw, pole, post, Quirigua, Quirigua Archaeological Park, Quirigua Park, Ryndam, stairs, stelae, stele, steps, temple, thatch, tour, tourist, tourists, tree, trees, western Caribbean, zoomorph | Leave A Comment »
Half-way through a very nice dive at Turneffe Atoll off Belize, the divemaster found this whitespotted toadfish. The whitespotted toadfish is reported only in waters off Belize, which makes this fish unique and interesting — though also quite ugly.
Mar 24, 2010 | Categories: thePhotoTourist, Underwater | Tags: Belize, bottom, Caribbean, cave, coral, cruise, fish, hole, Holland America, Hugh Parkey, Hugh Parkey's Belize Dive Connection, reef, Ryndam, sand, spotted, toad fish, toadfish, Underwater, white spot, whitespot toadfish, whitespotted, whitespotted toadfish | Leave A Comment »