So Peaceful

An early morning view of a palm tree, lifeguard stand, and the sun rising over the waves is so relaxing and peaceful. I look at this one when I need to get out of the rat races of everyday living.

Temple Entrance

This shot of the temple entrance at Tulum, Mexico has a very inviting composition with the steps leading up to the temple. This is one of my favorite views of the temple.

Pelican Watching

I really enjoyed watching the pelicans as they were fishing for lunch. They look like they are sitting in an easy chair while they are flying with their heads back and necks bent, but then they do this half barrel roll and dive into the water coming up with a bulge in their beaks. After swallowing they take back into the air to continue fishing. Once in a while one will get up-ended by a wave and look a bit awkward getting back upright.

Excellent Snorkeling

The snorkeling was excellent in the protected national park that we visited. These were lifted from a video clip made with a GoPro camera.

Ocean Views

I loved walking along the beach at Playa del Carmen. The sunrises were spectacular, then later in the day the waves would break on the coral and splash so pretty. I shot about 850 photos while there for the week.

Turtle Soup

I had a lot of fun processing this shot. I used a GoPro to film while we were snorkeling off the Playa del Carmen coast in Mexico. This turtle almost brushed my chest as it approached me from behind. It gave me quite a start. The GoPro shoots quite blue underwater so in the correction process I had to tone down the blue on its carapace but that also made the water look gray, so I used a filter mask and then got a bit creative in bringing the blue back. What the heck, I might as well have some fun, this is what happened. No soup here, just the fun of making it look like it was swimming in some.

Behind the Temple at Tulum

This is the back side of the temple at Tulum, Mexico. I shot this with a Nikon D750 bracketing the 5 shots and then processing it in Photomatix Pro. The temple is truly a wonderful experience to see. It has a very special feeling. There were hundreds of people on the site so it is quite difficult to get a clear shot, but people were very gracious to give me the time I needed.