Arenal Adventure

July 27, 2010

Today started off bright and early at 5:45 am ( I thought I could sleep in on my vacation?) as we were picked up at 6:30 a.m. by our tour guide who was going to take us on an adventure that would include visiting a volcano, hiking through the rain forest and relaxing at a hot springs. 

It was difficult to choose a picture for today as there were so many great ones taken. I chose this one since it's a unique one..... Unique in the sense that it is very rare to see the top of the volcano. Usually, it's covered in clouds but thanks to the heavy downpour we experienced while hiking in the rainforest, the clouds were pushed away for a few moments and we were able to capture some great shots. 

Located in Costa Rica's northwestern area, in the province of Alajuela, the Arenal volcano is considered to be a young volcano and is the most active one in the country. It's also unique in the sense that it has two craters....the one on the left side is the older crater of the two and isn't as active as the one on the right, thus lush vegetation is able to be grown on one side. On the right hand side, we can see that it remains very rocky . A few minutes after this photo was taken, the clouds rolled in and covered the volcano top again.

Mags.

Cheltenham Badlands

Tonight I decided to try my hand at sunsets. I know....this doesn't look like one. This was a "detour" on our way to scope out a good sunset view.

 

“Badlands” is a geologic term for an area of soft rock devoid of vegetation and soil cover that has become molded into a rolling landscape of rounded hills and gullies. Such areas are rare in Ontario and this is one of the best examples.

 

They exhibit the reddish hue of the Queenston Shale that forms them; the iron oxide in the shale produces this colour. The narrow greenish bands that can be seen throughout the shale are due to the change of red iron oxide to green iron oxide brought on by the circulating groundwater. The relatively soft shale is essentially clay and is easily eroded by water.

 

Vibrantly red, and totally at odds with a county typified by pastoral meadows and gentle streams lined with majestic black willows, The Cheltenham Badlands probably started to form with the erosion of soft, iron-rich Queenston shale when cattle grazing stripped a protective layer of vegetation from the site in the nineteenth century.

 

The Cheltenham Badlands are located on Olde Base Road in Caledon and are one of the most striking examples of badlands topography in Southern Ontario.

Mags.

Hidden In Suburbia

After not having a lot of photo opportunities yesterday, I was dying to get out today and shoot pics with some new toys I recently picked up. I wasn't motivated by anything around me so I took a trip to Loafers Lake for a walk around. It's sad that I've never experienced this little gem of a park hidden in the suburban city I live in. Although the weather was hot, hazy and humid, we spent a good hour and a half walking the trails and I managed to capture some great shots. It was hard to decide which one to use. This conservation area was quite green in colour and I've vowed to return in the fall when the leaves are changing colour. This shot was captured in a marshy section of the lake. I was getting eaten by mosquitos (which I'm sure I'll pay for dearly later); however, thought it was a good shot with the reflection of the trees from the other side of the lake.

Mags.

Transformations....

MAY 9, 2010

We went for a hike along the Caledon Trailway path in Inglewood where we witnessed many of Nature's transformations. I took a picture of a caterpillar's cocoon with my Nikon D50 using a 300mm lens. This photo spoke to me as I can relate to this "transformation". I feel like a mere catapillar with my basic photography skills and knowledge and hope, with time and practice, I can transform into a beautiful butterfly improving my photography skills and taking interesting and unique photos.

Mags.