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May times I was up and about early enough to capture photos like this that were relatively devoid of people. Called Main Street, this was the scene of an actual parade, photos of which will be posted in the coming days.
Looking at this, it's hard to imagine, even while aboard, that the whole structure is floating on water, cruising along at 20 knots or so to distant and exotic destinations. Much as when you are sitting comfortably in the plush seat of a jet airliner, watching a movie or perhaps dozing, while at the same time shooting through the sky at close to the speed of sound to destinations even more far off and exotic. Through a lifetime of travel the sense of awe at what is actually happening in either type of vessel has never diminished.
Caught this industrial 3-shot panorama from the deck as we departed Bayport terminal.
The next dozen or so posts will be all interior shots, captured from within the giant ship on which we sailed for the next seven days.
The last of the night shots at the Houston Zoo that will be posted. We'd recommend this to anyone, and never mind the photography...it's just neat to walk around the zoo grounds focusing on something other than the animals (however they did have some elephants out for view).
The old proverbial blur shot of a merry-go-round in motion - still shot below (both handheld):
Worth going to see this during the holiday season. Went with the Girl Scouts back in 2013.
Another handheld shot of my brother's Christmas tree back in 2014.
A handheld shot of my brother's Christmas tree back in 2014.
Now for the product itself! Debated about posting this, as we're not drinkers and don't want to promote the "spirits" in any form or fashion. But couldn't resist the clean edges and designs on the bottles, which are great for experimenting with depth of field. And of course, any time there's a clean edge there's an opportunity for Glowing Edges, per below:
A few Christmas-themed pics to post in the coming days, then to some on-board shots from this cruise.
Shot this from inside the room where they were giving tequila lessons...
A couple of perspectives of the blue agave tequila plant which, to my surprise, is not a cactus but a succulent. I remember, back in 1980 while living in Mexico, driving down highway 57 and seeing thousands upon thousands of these on either side of the road in orchards grown for the purpose of supplying the tequila industry.
On the same stretch of the highway, approximately in the middle of nowhere, I saw a man riding a bicycle on the shoulder way up ahead. I could see from a distance that he had a box of some sort strapped to the back, and he was just peddling away in the hot sun. I was touched, thinking that this guy worked so hard for his family, as there wasn't even a small village within 20 miles. As we (someone, an Italian named Mauricio, caught a ride with me from Guanahuato back to San Antonio...in itself an interesting story for another day) got closer, guess what was on the back of that bike. A case of Coca-Cola! Certainly worked hard for the national drink of Mexico...
While wondering around I saw this wall. The original color is on the left, with some tinkering done in Photoshop to create the other two...
The next thing on the agenda was a stop at a tequila "factory". Again, set up as nothing more than a tourist trap. Since we're not drinkers had no interest in the product, but it interesting observing our fellow tourists at this place, the way they dove into the demonstrations and flocked to the free samples.
The American alcohol culture was something we worked hard at avoiding while raising the kids, so seeing the uninhibited behavior of some in our group was a bit of a shock. Thus, I wandered off to snap some pics.
Not quite the same, but much like the cactus posted back on October 8...this scene was capture on the way out of the place. By this time I was all by myself, as hanging back to capture people-less photos caused me to be late in reboarding the bus.
...and here is the final result, all nice and neat in a gift shop.
Ever see how chocolate grows on a tree? I taught about it for many years as a Spanish teacher, but hadn't seen it in real life until this day. Below are some of the accoutrements associated with the process...
...and here are the obligatory macaws, set up as a photo op for the tourists. Not a bad background and setting overall, and I was more than happy to take advantage of it.
Chocolate has a fascinating history, and it started right here in this part of Central America (called Mesoamerica when talking about those days). We took a bus to this chocolate company, which was nothing more than a tourist trap but interesting nonetheless.
Cozumel was actually our first stop...saw this signage in the plaza area just onshore.
...and approaching the ship itself. Though much smaller, the pirate vessel reminded me of this guy, captured in Japan.
This is it for Grand Cayman. Next stop - Cozumel.
This was supposedly a sailing vessel that participated in the World Cup championship. The technology and cost that goes into these things is incredible, at many millions of dollars. Don't know what it was doing here, but was interesting to look at.
Profile of same below...these and the picture for tomorrow's post were captured while on the tender going back to the ship.
Now this is what I'm talking about! Very expensive, but worthy of a trip up just to take some pictures. Don't think they would have allowed me to open the door in flight, though, which, if you're going to spend that kind of money for photographs is the only way to go.
As a sophomore at Stark High School in Orange I went up in a Cessna 150 and flew low over points of interest such as the ship yard, the school, downtown, etc., for publication in the 1975 (or maybe 1976) annual. I was in the left seat, with the side window swung open from the bottom. We slowed down to about 77 knots so the wind whipping around the cockpit wouldn't be too bad while I was snapping away. Think the only picture published from that adventure was an aerial of the shipyards.
This is a 5-shot panorama, seen best if you click to make it larger.
What must it be like to live in a place where you wake up to see this every day? Lots of sunshine, beautiful Caribbean waters, and an outdoor lifestyle must be one of the healthiest ways to live, even if you're not a "beach person".
Captured a few panoramas at this stop...decided to practice with my polarizing filter on the Big Cahoona. The above is a 4-shot panorama; below is a 4-shot also, but captured further inland:
Another of our stops was the Grand Cayman Islands, which we hadn't visited before, where basically the options were to walk around, look at the water, and/or go into a bar. Next time we'll cruise up into the mountains, on foot of course!
Original shot, from which the above was created, is below:
...and back to the mammoth, the Liberty of the Seas...
Almost back to the ship now...
The object here was to capture the sunlit stamen on these flowers...didn't notice the lizard until working with it on the computer after getting back to Houston.
Who can go to Jamaica without going to the beach? As I am not a beach person, this is as far as it goes with me. While on our way back to the boat saw a few of these pike fish hanging around, and managed to capture this one by himself.
It is incredible when one thinks of how intelligent these birds are, and how long they live. Good advice on someone wanting one of these is to get it while you're young! They live up to 80 years and, under normal circumstance, form strong bonds with their human companions.
Those beaks, though, can be fierce weapons - I've seen pictures that should scare anyone out of ever attempting to take one of these on as a pet or project...
When I was living in Mexico back in the early 1980's a bird I saw down there comes to mind. His name was Perico, which is the word for parrot in Spanish, and he was an Amazon Green, just a bit smaller than the African Gray in these pics. The funny thing about Perico was that he didn't fly, in spite of the fact that no one clipped his wings...he just preferred to walk places, we concluded. There was a large tree close to my house, and Perico was often seen climbing up into it to observe people and generally be a part of things. He grew to know everyone pretty well, and would come down when encouraged by his friends.
One day I was walking down a road a few blocks from home and there he was, walking the other way, headed for his tree. I'd heard someone calling for him a minute or so before...
Now these birds are much, much easier to capture in a photograph. They will sit quite still, gazing around with those intelligent eyes, probably just as curious about you as you are of them. It's easy to see why there is a temptation for people to keep them at home as pets - in fact one time, while I was living in Nacogdoches, someone gave me a white cockatiel, named Birdie, and I thoroughly enjoyed having her around.
I can see the reasons for bird owners to clip wing feathers to keep them from flying about, but have always thought that a cruel practice, to take away an animal's natural ability solely for our amusement. Thus, I allowed Birdie to fly around my little country cottage at will once I got home every day after work. Whenever I settled in for some TV she would land on the arm of the couch and nudge my finger for a petting. Once I started stroking her little head she moved it around, just like a cat, so that I wouldn't miss a spot. Really incredible behavior for one with such a small brain! They say birds form strong bonds, and I believe that it even extends to affection.
Back to some birds. There were dozens - maybe even a hundred - of these peach faced love birds in an enclosure to be fed by tourists. Made for some good photo ops but you had to be quick, and the relatively slow lens I was using on the Big Cahoona was not my friend. But occasionally a good shot would find its way in...
The tug from the post a couple of days ago got much closer to the shoreline, enabling me to get a few pics. The shot above is a little better compositionally, but for some reason the color turned out better in the pic below. Also, the smoke stream makes it look as though it were traveling backwards:
This was to the right of where yesterday's pic was taken. Very nice, really, but eerily devoid of people and activity - and never saw anyone on the slide. Maybe you had to pay extra to do that, too...
This is the enclosure area where they kept the dolphins and sting rays for observation and interaction. It was sad to see, really. Those that paid extra were given special equipment and invited to wade into one of the sections where they had the sting rays. One of the workers then would reach down and bring a ray to the surface, allowing the guest to touch, pet, and otherwise "interact" with the creature. While it might have been a positive experience for the guest, I saw stress in the animal as it desperately tried to flap its way back into its natural place, which was at the bottom. Glad we didn't pay to do that.
To "interact" with the dolphins the guests would sit along the edge of the section where a dolphin or two were swimming around. Then one of them would simply swim close to the edge along its length, where everyone could reach out and touch. If one could observe depression in an animal, it might have been seen in the demeanor of those dolphins, who swam slowly and lackadaisically through the entire performance.
But the angles and lines here made for a pretty good picture, so here it is. Got some closeups of the boat in the background which will be posted within the next few days.
Caught one of his friends for the briefest of moments. Gotta be fast, and they had to be still because of the slow lens I had on the Big Cahoona.
Below is a mix of the two types...different colors, same species (I think):
Things move fast in the world of birds, so it took just a nanomoment to go from the above to what you see below:
