Playing with Lighting

Well, I have been an extra busy lady the past couple of months--hence, no new blog posts!!!  No fear though....I was taking pictures the whole time--well, almost.
We had the liberty (and the extra holidays to use up) of travelling out of the country for a week in February.  Just gathered four extra people together and headed off to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico!!!  It was a fantastic winter get-away, and the hotel/resort, food, and company was excellent!  So were the photo opportunities. (*insert cheesy grin here) 

Our hotel, the Barcelo la Jolla de Mismaloya, was gorgeous.  Very antique-looking fixtures, and low lighting gave me some great opportunities to play with my lighting techniques.  We also tried our chances on a pirate ship, and I came away with a select few pictures that I really liked from there as well.  Here are a few photos from my travels to the land of tequila!!!  Let me know what you think of them!!!

These next few photos were taken in downtown Puerto Vallarta, along the Malecon.

Trees and Architecture

It's funny...anywhere that I go with my camera, I always seem to gravitate toward the shots of the trees or the architectural aspects of a place--I guess maybe because both tell the story of that particular place, and the character can be established quite easily by looking around...   Or maybe because a tree or a bridge does not move, and it's easier to get the shot that you want.  Either way...here are a few that are pleasing to the eye....

St Louis, SK

Fraser Island, QLD

Altos de Chavon, DR

Cracow Station, QLD

Vancouver Island, BC

Carrie

What does a person do when they are snowed in...????

Why....put up pictures of warmer climates of course!!!! (besides cleaning house, washing dishes, laundry,etc etc)
Here's a few from some of my travels in the past 6 years...

These were taken on Catalina Island in the Dominican Republic...

Finding my groove...maybe?

Ok...so I thought I'd test out some photo editing software that I got lately.  If the shot doesn't seem quite "right", let's just call this is a practice round.
This picture of my sister, Stephanie, had to be published on here, just so that everyone could see how beautiful she looked on her Nursing graduation day!!!  Don't you all wish you could have a nurse with that smile every time you go to the doctor's office or the hospital?  I know I do!  A HUGE congrats to you Steph, and we're all so proud of you!!!

These second & third shots are from my travels to the land down under!  The pictures hail from Cracow Station, QLD, which is owned by Richard and Sarah Cox.  I stayed with them for 6 months of my time in Australia in 2004-2005, and had the pleasure of going back last March to visit.  They wanted to show us the Cracow Caves, and we gladly went for the adventure!  We traversed through a dry creek bed, up a very rocky outcropping, and then came out at the sandstone Caves.  They are very real, very ANCIENT, aboriginal cave paintings.  All of the handprints are quite small, and I am assuming they were painted by children.  Having the opportunity to be there, taking this shot, touched my soul--literally.  The caves will not last long, as they are made of sandstone, and I felt very honoured to have been one of the few able to experience it before it disappears.