Another day's over

I know, another cheesy sunset, just like in the previous post. But there is something in this photo that makes me want to publish it as soon as possible.

It is no sunset, really. Just the blue hour after, with the silhouette of a sculpture that looks like a cactus and another - of a backpacker strolling down the beach. I wish I could see this kind of view from my window more often than once a year...

Nikon D7100, 105mm, 1/80s @ f/4.5, iso 400

Eye in the sky

This picture was taken at the rock pool near Los Gigantes on Tenerife. The pattern of clouds makes it as if there was a big eye in the sky. Lovely view and also great place to visit during travels!

Oh, and the land you see on the horizon is La Gomera, the other of the seven Canary Islands.

iPhone 5s, auto

Bretagne

For sure one of the top 5 pictures taken this year. Maybe even the best of them. Practically off-camera, (almost) without any global corrections and only local dust removal. White balance, contrast, unchanged. Very proud of this one.

We took a car for the weekend to visit few nice places around Nantes. The weather was better than the last time, even though it rained quite a bit during Sunday. Anyway, the sun was there when it mattered - towards the sunset. This shot was taken 1.5 hour before. But we also had a pleasure to watch the actual sunset on the beach of La Baule - no pictures there, eyes were enough. Really, an enchanting evening...

Nikon D7100, 270mm, 1/1000s @ f/5.6, iso 100

It's time

Nikon 7100, 450mm, 1/40s @ f/16, iso 100

I added sunset on a river in Vang Vieng recently, but it seems like people like sunsets. So here's another one - a sea sunset at Ao Nang Beach in Thailand.

I must admit, I had (and still have) mixed feelings about Krabi. It is a nice place, with multitude of good sights and landscape spots. It is not as crazy as Phuket (Patong especially). But it is still a tourist trap. Not many ways to meet and befriend locals. Also - and I am writing this from -20℃ Montreal - a bit too hot for my taste. Granted, I did not go to Koh Lanta, which everybody recommends. Well, there is always the next year.

But back to the picture. Unlike many others, I took this one using a telephoto lens (70-300mm, effectively 105-450mm on my DX Nikon). This gave a bigger than usual sun circle with a nice cloud pattern. You can also see some of the sunspots. I must try it again soon...

Just lie down and watch... "Friends"

Nikon 7100, 75mm, 1/80s @ f/16, iso 640

iPhone 5s, auto, VSCOCam

Vang Vieng was the place where we stopped to "refuel" after the cold of Luang Prabang. Not so long ago this spot was a serious drug scene, now cleaned up (within reason), is for partying in the night and doing cool stuff during the day. The activities include: hiking, mountain biking, swimming in ponds, kayaking, tubing, rock climbing.

The activity, which seems quite popular there is watching Friends (as in TV series). You go to a restaurant, order food and drinks, lie down on a mat and enjoy the show.

For obvious reasons I was more interested in the view "outside". So I chose to go to restaurants on the river, hunting the sunset. And - oh my gosh - it was a beautiful sight!

We spent total four days in Vang Vieng and - when every restaurant felt the same and the next day wasn't particularly different from the previous one - we left for Vientiane.