Epic Travel Photo of the Week

This week's epic photo is...

Monkey on Forest Walk, Singapore

June 3, 2013 10:50 am ,
Monkey on Forest Walk, Singapore

A cheeky monkey hanging out on the boardwalk of Forest Walk, looking to harass a hapless tourist

There were a family of about five monkeys in this spot on Forest Treetop Walk in Singapore and taking a nice detailed shot was difficult as they are constantly running, diving, wrestling and rolling, especially the younger ones. This older female was more content to sit and watch. I was a little bit apprehensive as I have seen monkeys get a little aggressive before and a girl on Ko Phi Phi in Thailand told me a horror story about getting attacked by a large group of them. Nonetheless, this girl seemed pretty chilled out! I used a large aperture to blur the background and place the emphasis only on the furry one herself. A 300 mm zoom lens helped fill the viewfinder.

 

Posted in: Asia, Epic Photos, Singapore, Southeast Asia , Tagged:

Northern Lights

May 15, 2013 3:45 am ,
A typical green curtain of the aurora.

A typical green curtain of the aurora. Photo by United States Air Force Senior Airman Joshua Strang. Yeah, I wish I took this shot.

The Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights are the result of solar particles colliding with gases in Earth’s atmosphere. Early Eskimos and Indians believed different legends about the Northern Lights, such as they were the souls of animals dancing in the sky or the souls of fallen enemies trying to rise again. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Joshua Strang)

Posted in: Alaska, Epic Photos, United States (USA) , Tagged: , , ,

Football on the Beach at Leblon, Rio de Janeiro

May 6, 2013 11:40 am ,
Booting the ball around at Leblon

Booting the ball around at Leblon

Everywhere you go up and down the beach in Rio city, people are playing ball games. Usually it’s football (soccer) but they also play a sort of hybrid volleyball-soccer which is like regular volleyball but with only the feet and head being used to propel the ball over the net. These kids kicked the ball around in front of us while we sat on the beach in the afternoon. The sun is setting in the west, casting the nice glow you see in the shot. I used a small enough aperture to capture the sand and coconut in the foreground, the boys in the mid ground and the waves and islands in the background, all in focus. I used a slow ISO to capture plenty of detail and sharpness in the image. I like the way the coconut and the islands give context while the coconut almost begs to be kicked.

 

Posted in: Americas, Brazil, Epic Photos, Rio de Janeiro, South America , Tagged: ,

Kayaking in Glacier Bay, Alaska

April 30, 2013 2:14 am ,
Kayakers in front of one of the glaciers. Gives you an idea of scale. The cave is formed from the runoff meltwater of the ice

Kayakers in front of one of the glaciers. Gives you an idea of scale. The cave is formed from the runoff meltwater of the ice. I imagine this was a decent kayaking trip for these two

I took this photo from the deck of the carnival cruise ship Island Princess. I love using my 300 mm zoom lens as it allows me to get up close and personal on wildlife or details in the landscape as if I were standing right in front. With landscape photos, I always try to capture a human element. I find this leads to a better sense of scale, majesty and grandeur of the scenery. In Alaska however this is not always easy as most of the locations are so remote. For that reason I was so excited to see these kayakers in Glacier bay- it was a rare opportunity and I snapped off several shots of them passing in front of the immense face of this glacier.

 

Posted in: Alaska, Americas, Epic Photos, North America, United States (USA) , Tagged: , , , ,