Photo Challenge: Unusual Point of View

I am sometimes told I have an unusual point of view, but that's not referring to photography!  I have always liked to take some unusual shot though, and experiment a bit with point of view.  When I travelled through India with my dear friend Mya in 1998, I become slightly obsessed with the view though a door or window.  I probably have about 20 or more photos of the Taj Mahal as seen through the doorways and windows of surrounding buildings.  (pre-digital, I rarely took 20 shots of one subject... if I were there with digital camera, I'd probably have 1000!)  I can't show you those pictures though, as they are all print and I don't have a scanner.  We will, however, take a view little trips to answer this photo challenge.

First, sort of a continuation of last week's Photo Challenge, The Sea.  A few years ago in Maui I rented an underwater camera and tried to emulate the wonderful photos of Clark Little.   His stuff is gorgeous! Mine, not so much, but it was neat to try!

The houses of my dream in Makena, Maui

A wedding on Po'olenalena beach in Maui

Maui

Maui

Derek strolling on Po'olenalena beach

 This last shot was taken looking up out of the water as I finished a scuba dive in Bonaire:

For the next set of shots, we travel to Europe.  These were taken on trips to Portugal with my sister Briana, the Czech Republic and Poland with my friend Dagne, and to Italy on my honeymoon with Derek (and Rufus!)

In these four photos I used a unusual vantage point for the picture.

Looking down the dome of the Duomo at Florence

Old Prague from Charles Bridge (I didn't lay down on the bridge, but almost!)

Looking up at Palazzo Vecchio from the statue's vantage.  Florence, Italy

Looking UP at La Fontana del Flumi in Piazza Navona in Rome

Next, some examples of using something in the environment to frame my main subject:

Looking out at Rome and the Forum though the walls of the Colosseum

Looking out at Rome through the walls of the Colosseum

Looking at Pena Palace through the ramparts of the 8th century Moorish castle in Sintra, Portugal

And finally three shots where I focussed on something unexpected, with the "expected" subject in the background.

Looking down a canal in Venice, with the relief on the wall as the focal point

Looking out at Prague and Charles Bridge with a rooster in the way!

Looking down on the Prague Castle grounds through the spires of the cathedral

Photo Challenge: The Sea

Oh boy, have I been excited about this week's photo challenge!  I got the opportunity to look back through some of my photo albums from fantastic vacations to Maui, Costa Rica, Bonaire, Portugal, Italy, the San Juan Islands, Vancouver Island and on and on.

I love the sea.  When I was little, I used to dream of being a mermaid, and would try to swim with my legs undulating together while my arms lay gracefully at my side... I'm sure you can imagine how far I got with that.  When we moved to Victoria from land-locked Lethbridge, our house was only 3 blocks from the beach.  I loved to go over to Cattle Point to look through the tide-pools at all the wonderful creatures there.

Why do I love the sea?  I love looking out at the horizon and picturing the absolute magnitude of the world's oceans.  The water stretches out as far as the eye can see, but that is only the surface!  Beneath the waves, I think about the leagues and leagues of water and all the mysteries it contains.  I've heard it said that some parts of the ocean as unexplored and unknown as parts of the moon - who knows what wonderful and amazing things are down there?  It is mind-boggling....

Sunset from Bonaire, looking towards Curacao

I love that the sea is at once so calming and tranquil..... 

Funky plant in Lagos, Portugal

Lagos, Portugal

Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica

Playa Uva, Costa Rica

but can also be such a violent and dangerous force...

Brave windsurfers at Ho'okipa

Ho'okipa

Ho'okipa

Big storm on Dallas Rd, Victoria B.C.

Warning in Port McNeill, B.C.

I love listening to the waves, 

Portugal

lounging on the beach, 

Portugal

Throckmorton chillin'

playing on the water, 

Kayaking in the San Juans.  We saw Orca!!!!

in the water, 

One of my favourite places: Po'olenalena beach, Maui

Surfer (not me) in Dominical, Costa Rica

My sister Briana, surfing in Portugal

and under the water!

Diving in Maui

Snorkling in Bonaire

I love checking out all the amazing inhabitants of this crazy world, which is why I started scuba diving.   That, and I finally feel like a mermaid as I swim around underwater, weightless and graceful!

Our bud, the Honu, in Maui

On the beach in Bonaire

Yes, I love the sea!   I hope you enjoyed the pictures of some of my favourite memories!  

Dominical, Costa Rica

Dominical, Costa Rica

Portugal

My love, on Love's Beach, Maui

Photo dump: week 14

Photo Challenge: Focus

I almost didn't get this photo challenge done... When I read the challenge last Friday I was really excited, because I've always wanted to to learn how to make photos with a sharp image in the foreground and a blurry background.  And with a family of photographers and a hubby with a degree in photography, I thought I could learn that technique this week with my new-ish camera.  Then I remembered that I have a 3 month old.  So I did not learn a new photography technique this week.  But I did a technique for enhancing Finley's naps.  And while he napped,  I found a few photos of my previous experiments playing around with focus by using the macro setting.  These are some pretty flowers I saw in Costa Rica and in Bonaire.

I am super excited about the photo challenge that was just put out today.  I have so many photos that fit, that it will take me a full week to pick the best ones!