Photographs

Alaska, the Great Land, the Last Frontier! Those are the sayings and they are a huge understatement. Vast. That is one word used to describe the feeling of being in Alaska. Nothing captures the openness, the expanse, or the layers of mountains on the horizon. Visiting in the late Summer early Fall makes it feel almost manageable, if not easy and relaxing. Salmon spawning, wild blueberries and cranberries, flowers, and wildlife are in abundance.

However, it is a truly deceiving feeling. Underneath the calm is a flurry of activity as everything, and it really is everything, is in the state of harvesting before Autumn decays into Winter. Even being there visiting for one month, the feeling and understanding that things like the weather change drastically and suddenly can be seen everywhere (if you slow down and look close enough). With its beauty, one can stand in awe for hours; or pray for deliverance when the Weather’s temper flares. This is a land of tremendous extremes, harshness and beauty, but therein lies a balance that may not exist anywhere else in the world. I am a lucky one. I got to experience just a little piece of its grandness and taste the deliciousness of Alaskan King Salmon.

There is so much beauty in Alaska to go back to and explore. I truly hope your travels take you there before it’s too late.

I find it thrilling to be able to say that I’ve been to a small part of Brazil. For 22 days, during the month of February to the beginning of March, I was amazed, relaxed, excited, and loving life. Capoeira, açaí, churrascaria, caipirinha, and Carnival. Holy cow, what a trip!

If you have never been there before, get there while the getting is hot. Bahia, the original Brazilian capital, is a mixture of African and South-American cultures, with a growing dash of Asian just for fun. The people are friendly (and yes, some are beautiful), the food is good and who doesn’t like the beach or hammocks? Stories abound with this mix of cultures and the flavors are delicious.

I was only able to explore the area around Salvador, but even it is very diverse. I still need to go back to explore the Amazon and Paraná. There is too much left to see of this grand country.

With historic and awe-inspiring Rome as my base camp, I spent seven days acting all touristy in Southern Italy. I brought my new Canon 20D SLR camera to make up for all my past travel indiscretions; you know… never, ever taking pictures to help remember where you’ve been.

The trip just sort of happened. There was some talk one day about fun places to go, a quick stop to a few discount travel sites, and off I went on a really cheap flight and apartment deal. Even though I had to fly through Paris both ways (they still allowed smoking in the airport at the time), the flight went really well. I toured Rome Sunday evening to Tuesday night and then again Friday and Saturday. Wednesday found me in Naples and Thursday I visited Florence.

Here are a few (100 of the 700+) pictures I took. Yes, 700 in seven days. I even had to delete a few in order to keep some of the good ones at the end of the trip.

Looking back at my first trip I find it amusing that 700 pictures was a big deal to me. But I also find it a bit unfortunate that I was unable to capture them RAW.

A handful of frames from Prague: the castle, the bridges over the Vltava, and Petřín Hill.

A drive west across the country: Mount Rushmore, the hot springs and geysers of Yellowstone, Monument Valley, and a California sunset at the end of the road.