A Moment in Time - Bali

A peaceful moment in time...or so it seems. 

We only spent one day on the beach in Bali, and were there along with about a hundred of our closest friends. The day was hot and humid, the midday sun was bright and moving across a cloudless sky, bleaching out most colors. Not good conditions for landscape photography, but I knew I had to come away with at least one beach photo. I noticed this pergola with hanging lanterns and draped in matching fabric. I thought this might add some color and interest to an otherwise boring and 'high key' like scene. It was a miracle there were no people directly in front of me, (they were everywhere else on the beach). Just as I was quickly composing my shot, using the pergola as a 'frame', this lady strolled into my picture and stopped long enough for me to use her as my subject of interest! She almost looks like a model purposefully posing for the camera, but she had no idea I was taking her picture! (I did do a bit of editing to lighten and even out the color to enhance a high key look.)

Water Lily - Bali

Water Lily - Bali

Dinner Entertainment - Bali

The Welcoming Committee and Dinner Entertainment

The Greeter!!

The 'Greeter'

Welcome, I'm so glad you're here!!!! This was our greeting as we entered the Monkey Sanctuary in Bali! The country is filled with ferocious looking statues, (among more friendly ones), which is so contradictory to the nature of the Balinese people we met. Mostly, these people were soft spoken, respectful, modest, friendly, helpful, etc.

Spring on Temple Square - Predawn

Salt Lake Temple

Predawn when the light was dim and warm and cast a soft dreamy glow on the Salt Lake temple. Each year as the trees grow larger in front of the temple it gets increasing hard to compose an image that includes both the temple and the flower beds from this vantage point. I used a tripod and slow shutter speed to capture the light and still had to edit to increase the exposure. (This was the first shot I took on the same morning as my two previous posts.)

Salt Lake Temple - Spring 2018

Temple Square - Spring 2018

Whenever I point my camera at the sun, I am usually surprised at the result.  Often the result is a blown out mess, but sometimes I end up with interesting sun flares or colorful bokeh, (soft light circles), that make for unique images.  This one may not be everyone's 'cup of tea' but it certainly meets my criteria of trying to find different and original compositions and lighting effects that I haven't seen before in any of the photos I've taken of the Salt Lake Temple over the years (see last post).  P.S.  I did a fair amount of editing to make this a presentable image by toning down the exposure on the highlights and lightening the midtones and darks.

Spring on Temple Square - 2018

Temple Square - Spring 2018

This morning I made my yearly spring pilgrimage to Temple Square to photograph flowers.  It is always a challenge for me to get different or unique compositions because I have done this for so many years, plus today the sky did not cooperate and was pretty boring.  Nevertheless, it's always a beautiful day on Temple Square!!

Bali - 4

Long Tail Macaques

Monkey Forest Sanctuary

Monkeys live in various places in Bali. We visited the Monkey Forest Sanctuary in Ubud. The monkeys there are called long tail macaques. They have lost their fear of humans and many were within a foot or two of where we were walking. Our guide told us there are two kinds of monkeys......mischievous, and naughty, depending on where they live. The mischievous ones might steal your glasses and jewelry or unzip or steal purses and backpacks looking for food. Or they might sit on your shoulder or your head and not get off until you give them something to eat. The naughty monkeys will become aggressive, attack or even bite if they perceive you have food and are not giving it to them, or if you offer food then withdraw it. Someone told us a story about a monkey opening a waist pack, (I have learned that the term fanny pack is offensive in some cultures), pulling out a wad of paper money, then scrambling up a tree and throwing it away. I have to say, I was a bit nervous being so near to them, but as we had no food or other enticing objects with us, they left us alone.

Bali-3

 Pura Ulun Danu Bratan

I see this temple printed on many of the travel brochures for Bali.   It is Pura Ulun Danu Bratan, (sometimes called the floating temple), built on a tiny island and dedicated to the goddess of the lake, Dewi Danu. I was disappointed because it was a dark and cloudy day when we visited, my camera batteries were dying as quickly as I changed them, and my lenses were fogging up because of the 100% humidity. I took tons of photos that ultimately ended up in the 'trash bin', but there were a few seconds when the clouds gave way to a couple of blue patches that lit up the temple. I snapped this photo quickly even though there was person's head in the bottom of the frame. I cropped her out!

Bali - 2

Beautiful doors everywhere we traveled in Bali.

Bali - 1

 Pura Taman Saraswati

After traveling half way around the world, (30+ hours in airports/airplanes with 3 layovers), and then having a limited number of days and daylight hours, it is hard to narrow down photo opportunities when visiting such a beautiful, culturally rich and interesting place as Bali. But having to do just that, I opted to concentrate on the history, culture and people rather than the landscapes, beach scenes and sunsets. (After all, a beautiful sunset over the ocean occurs in many places!) Most Balinese are Hindu, and their religious practices and rituals permeate their every day lives. They say there are at least 200,000 temples and monuments on this small island, some dating back to the 10th century. This is Pura Taman Saraswati, built in honor of Saraswati, the deity of learning and the arts.

Tucson, Arizona LDS Temple

Tucson, Arizona LDS Temple

During our recent visit to Arizona, I was able to photograph the Tucson LDS (Mormon)Temple, (in addition to the Gilbert, AZ temple shown in a previous post). It is the 157 of 159 operating temples around the world and opened in 2017. When I first set out with my camera, I was disappointed that I just couldn't seen to find a good angle or composition, at least from ground level. I was not happy with any of my photos from that day. But it was good luck that the motel we had chosen was just a short drive from the temple so I was able to go back several times both at sunrise and sunset, and was finally rewarded with a beautiful sunrise. I ended up taking this shot from across a busy street and had to time my shots in between the cars passing right in front of me.

Sunrise, Sunset.....Saguaro Country

Sunrise

Sunset

Gilbert Arizona LDS Temple

Gilbert Arizona LDS Temple

Even though the weather report looked boring, I drug myself out of bed well before dawn. We were visiting my son's family in Mesa several weeks ago, and I was determined to photograph the LDS (Mormon) temple located a short distance away in Gilbert Arizona. Even though it has been open since 2014, (the 142nd of 159 temples worldwide), I had not seen it during our previous visits. I pulled into the parking lot and found I was the only one there. As I waited in the dark, I was already convinced the sunrise would be boring as there wasn't a cloud in the sky, and since the temple faces directly east, to my back, I wouldn't even be able to get a sunburst for added interest. But as the darkness began to lift I noticed a few hazy clouds starting to form behind the temple. This looked promising. As time went on, they continued to grow in size and become more defined. Then to my delight, I detected a slight pink glow that increased in color with every passing second until they formed a beautiful backdrop. I started taking photos like crazy. But the best was yet to come. When the sun finally peeked over the horizon, its rays lit up the temple with an ethereal like glow. The scene was so beautiful and so peaceful that I only took a few pictures, then stopped just to enjoy this fleeting moment in time, and thank God for this lovely beginning to the day. (For a night owl, sometimes getting up early is so worth it!!)

Easter Sunday 2018

Wishing my fellow Christians around the world a joyous Easter Sunday, as we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord, Savior and Redeemer! 

(The Christus statue by Thorvaldsen, found on Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah.)

Saguaro Easter Bunny

Saguaros come in the most interesting shapes....

even a friendly bunny for Easter!  I think he's waving at me!!

Saguaro Silhouette

Desert sunsets rarely disappoint! 

When visiting the saguaros, one must get the iconic silhouette photo.

Saguaro Composition

If I have to photograph in the middle of the day when there is no dramatic lighting, I look for unusual or different compositions to make a photo interesting. This is pretty easy to do among the saguaros as they come in all sizes and shapes.

First Cactus Photo - 2018

This is the only true cactus that I found in bloom during our southern Arizona travels. Must be a bit too early in the season. These flowers were very tiny. 

 (The Ocotillos in my last post are not true cacti.)

Ocotillo Plants in Saguaro National Park

The Ocotillo plants are just beginning to bloom in Saguaro National Park located in southern Arizona.  

(Tip:  For those of you not familiar with this plant and the cactus this Park is famous for, the common pronunciation of Ocotillo is 'Okoteeo' and Saguaro is 'Sawaro'.  Might save you a bit of embarrassment if you ever get to visit this beautiful part of the Amercan south west.)