This sunset photo was taken in the evening when the sun just started to sink.  Traveling at the end of November has its challenges with few daylight hours, but at least you’re still out and about when the sun begins to set.  This is a handheld shot, and the bus was ready to go, but I think it’s a pretty good one.

This is my Chilean grandaughter enjoying an artichoke!  Boy, does she make it look good!  Can I have one now?

A fantastic place to take a day trip to, if you happen to be in Northern Ireland, don’t miss this spectacular site.  The Giant’s Causeway has it all…a legend, fantastic geometric shapes, gorgeous scenery, and lots of hiking paths if you have the time.  We took the bus to the beginning of the interesting area and back, and therefore had tons of time to just snap away.  I took loads of portraits of my family, and if I lived closer (by a couple of thousand miles or so), I would make it an annual trip to take portraits.  It was fantastic.  If you’re not taking photos, just climbing on the rocks is a blast as well.  Take a picnic…stay all day!

One of the things I love about this shot is the symmetry between the two herons.  The gray one is slightly further back than the white one, so it’s not in as sharp of focus.  Trying to hand-hold a long lens while on a safari boat on the Chobe River is pretty difficult, but I think this is a pretty good one.  What difficult shots have you tried to get?

Traipsing around Portugal, we came upon a number of bright red trees.  On closer inspection, it looked like something had stripped the trees of all of their bark and left some sort of red residue.  Even though it made for some stunning shots, I think it’s some sort of really destructive parasite and that just makes me sad.

There’s something we all love about watching children play.  These three kept it up for a really long time,  playing with the water, drinking, but mostly playing.  They were just so fun to watch.

Come rain, snow, or shine – if you are traveling the back roads of Turkey, you will come across many shepherds and goatherds.  You gotta love ‘em.

Everywhere you go, there are plenty of statues.  I’m not really a person who likes to take statue photos, but I was happy with this one.  I think it gives you a pretty good idea what to expect when traveling to Thessalonika.  I think it’s my favorite statue photo of all time.  How about you?  Do you have a statue photo that really makes you proud?

Jim and I spent a wonderful week with some great friends in France eating.  Well, we drove a little, took a few photos, but really all we did was eat and drink.  We spent a lot of time going and looking for food and wine, at everything from barns, houses, supermarkets, outdoor markets, and vineyards.  It was a lot of fun, and, of course, much of the time we were on the quest for the best cheese.  Every evening we sat by the fire and ate cheese, cheese, cheese.  Loved it!

Our very first day in the country, and we drive south of Sofia to see the famous Rila Monastery.  It did not dissappoint.  It was gorgeous through and through.  Even though there were more tourists here than any other in the entire country, it still evoked a sense of serenity and awe.  One of my favorite moments was watching an old lady, dressed in black from head to toe, meticulously cleaning up and arranging the tapers. 

You can read a little more about our trip to Rila monastery and Bulgaria here.