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Wiki
Sgùrr Dearg (Gaelic: "red peak") is a mountain in the Cuillin on the Isle of Skye, Scotland. It is topped by the Inaccessible Pinnacle (colloquially referred to by mountaineers as the In Pin or In Pinn), a fin of rock measuring 150 feet (50 metres) along its longest edge. The top of the Inaccessible Pinnacle, which at 3,235 ft (986 m) is the highest point of Sgùrr Dearg and the only Munro with a peak that can only be reached by rock climbing. This makes it the biggest hurdle for many Munro baggers.
First climbed by Charles and Lawrence Pilkington in 1880, the Pinnacle was never climbed by Sir Hugh Munro himself. Because of its status as the most difficult of the Munros it has now spawned a cottage industry for the local guides, who are frequently to be seen escorting parties of novice climbers. Unlike much of the Cuillin, the pinnacle is basalt not gabbro and thus is somewhat slippery in the wet.
An evocative and eerie sight, the world’s largest salt flat (12,106 sq km) sits at 3653m (11,984ft). When the surface is dry, the salar is a pure white expanse of the greatest nothing imaginable – just blue sky, white ground and you. When there’s a little water, the surface perfectly reflects the clouds and the blue altiplano sky, and the horizon disappears. If you’re driving across the surface at such times, the effect is surreal; it’s hard to believe that you’re not flying through the clouds.
Salar de Uyuni is now a center of salt extraction and processing, particularly around the settlement of Colchani. The estimated annual output of the Colchani operation is nearly 20,000 tons, 18,000 tons of which is for human consumption while the rest is for livestock. And beneath the surface, massive lithium deposits should fuel Bolivia’s economy for the next 100 years.
The three tours:
With its seemingly endless sea of salt and perception-altering landscape, the Salar de Uyuni is truly a once-in-a-lifetime place to experience. On this Salar de Uyuni sunrise tour, we met your guide and made the drive out toward the expansive salt flat, to watch as the Milk Way at 2:30 am. and sun illuminates a setting that borders on the surreal at 6:15.
Photograph yourself in optical illusions as the sun rises higher in the sky and hotel pick-up are all included with the tour.
Covering 4,085 square miles (10,582 square kilometers), the magnificent, mind-bending Salar de Uyuni is the world's largest salt flat.
Our sunrise session began at 02:30 a.m. and lasted until 08:30 a.m. when our local guide picked us up from your Uyuni accommodations. The air can be cool there , but the brisk temperatures were worth it for the chance to watch as the sun illuminates the salt field and ignites the sky with color. After the pre-dawn drive and magical sunrise, grabbed my cameras to shoot optical illusions created by the distant horizon. Throughout the tour our guide provided commentary and informative info on the salt flats, and the tour finished back in the town of Uyuni when you were dropped at the front of your hotel.
My interview on Google Local Guide Connect
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"Us, with our driver in North Maluku (he's on the right) and our local guide.
Halmahera - North Moluccas - Indonesia
My interview on Google Local Guide Connect
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One thing I have learned from my travels. One of the most important ingredients is a good local guide.
His name was Duc. He was 28 years old and passionate about his country and, in particular, Halong Bay. He got more excited than we did (which means he got very excited indeed!)
Let me describe the day………….
After breakfast on deck aboard the junk, we spent the morning kayaking. We visited grottoes, sea caves and watched monkies watching us from the rocks.
Then we kayaked to a secluded beach for a bit of swimming and sunbathing. Lunch was a delicious seafood barbecue right there on the beach beneath white sunshades.
After an après lunch swim we kayaked back to the boat where it was all hands to the sundeck as we cruised across the bay to ………..
One of the many islands. Here we were taken by a small boat to a tiny jetty with steps leading up to a large and beautiful cave.
We spent maybe an hour in the cave then Duc led us out of another exit about 100 feet above a tiny beach …………………
………………….. just as the sun was setting.
Thanks Duc.
Listening to …….
[In Explore 29 January 2017]
My interview on Google Local Guide Connect
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Burghead Scotland
There had been reports of rafts of auks being washed inshore due to lack of food / illness ?Pleased to say I did not see much evidence of this in the Moray Firth area, in fact local guides said there were no more than normal. The guillemots sheltering in the harbour seemed healthy and were diving and feeding regularly. I did report a couple of seemingly poorly birds to SSPCA and understand they were collected and taken to hospital !
My interview on Google Local Guide Connect
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Abandoned Montana homestead.
It's been almost exactly ten years since I found myself roaming the backroads of Montana, with fellow photographer and host, Juan De Santa Ana. I've lost track of him, but I owe him a huge debt for taking me to places that I never would have found without a local guide. In just a few days, I got a number of images that are still among my best. Also froze my ass off, but that's another story.
My interview on Google Local Guide Connect
All Photos Are Copyright To Paul Saad , Unauthorised Use Is Not Allowed Without Prior Permission. © Some rights reserved ©
My interview on Google Local Guide Connect
All Photos Are Copyright To Paul Saad , Unauthorised Use Is Not Allowed Without Prior Permission. © Some rights reserved ©
My interview on Google Local Guide Connect
All Photos Are Copyright To Paul Saad , Unauthorised Use Is Not Allowed Without Prior Permission. © Some rights reserved ©
[In Explore 05 May 2016]
My interview on Google Local Guide Connect
All Photos Are Copyright To Paul Saad , Unauthorised Use Is Not Allowed Without Prior Permission. © Some rights reserved ©
My interview on Google Local Guide Connect
All Photos Are Copyright To Paul Saad , Unauthorised Use Is Not Allowed Without Prior Permission. © Some rights reserved ©
My interview on Google Local Guide Connect
All Photos Are Copyright To Paul Saad , Unauthorised Use Is Not Allowed Without Prior Permission. © Some rights reserved ©
[In Explore 14 August 2022]
My interview on Google Local Guide Connect
All Photos Are Copyright To Paul Saad , Unauthorised Use Is Not Allowed Without Prior Permission. © Some rights reserved ©
My interview on Google Local Guide Connect
All Photos Are Copyright To Paul Saad , Unauthorised Use Is Not Allowed Without Prior Permission. © Some rights reserved ©
My interview on Google Local Guide Connect
All Photos Are Copyright To Paul Saad , Unauthorised Use Is Not Allowed Without Prior Permission. © Some rights reserved ©
My interview on Google Local Guide Connect
All Photos Are Copyright To Paul Saad , Unauthorised Use Is Not Allowed Without Prior Permission. © Some rights reserved ©
My interview on Google Local Guide Connect
All Photos Are Copyright To Paul Saad , Unauthorised Use Is Not Allowed Without Prior Permission. © Some rights reserved ©
Yucatan, MX May 2021
I recently returned from a brief trip to Mexico. I took a one day birding tour with a local guide and managed to get 46 new species on my life list, which now totals 1,202. I carried my camera but photography was difficult and most shots were from a great distance and kept for documentation. I will post a few each day. Just great to be traveling again!!
My interview on Google Local Guide Connect
All Photos Are Copyright To Paul Saad , Unauthorised Use Is Not Allowed Without Prior Permission. © Some rights reserved ©
My interview on Google Local Guide Connect
All Photos Are Copyright To Paul Saad , Unauthorised Use Is Not Allowed Without Prior Permission. © Some rights reserved ©
My interview on Google Local Guide Connect
All Photos Are Copyright To Paul Saad , Unauthorised Use Is Not Allowed Without Prior Permission. © Some rights reserved ©
Neolithic Stone circle under the Milky Way, July 2022. I had this location entirely to myself once golden hour was over. Prior to that there was a friendly Sony Alpha 7 user with her local guide.
Some light painting from me waving my mobile phone torch around while the shutter was open.
The eagle-eyed will note some branches on the cork oaks looking a bit blurry from the wind on this exposed site. It's a small price to pay for not being bitten by mosquitoes though (too windy for them).
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almendres_Cromlech
Technical
Taken with (new to me) Nikon Z6, FTZ adaptor and a Nikkor 20mm prime lens. A 25 second exposure meets the "rule of 500" for astrophotography.
This is a single shot, which has had the ground and sky processed separately before recombining to make the final image. Special mention goes to the Astrophotography filter in Affinity Photo that helped to reduce the impact of sodium light pollution on atmospheric haze. There was quite a lot of red dust in the atmosphere.
Work put into this
Research into the location, weather forecast, Moon status and astronomical alignments: about 4 hours.
Travel round-trip from accommodation: just over 3 hours.
Waiting for sky to darken after setting up: 2 hours.
Actually taking photos and realising I'd left the Arca-Swiss foot for the camera/tripod behind: about 1 hour. Note that Google says the site is open 24 hours a day, but as I was leaving I did find some small print on a sign that said it was only open sunrise to sunset (presumably to stop anyone camping there). Sorry, I didn't mean to break the rules, my research beforehand didn't say anything about that.
Post-processing (including the trial and error process of learning how get the most out of the images and then dumping the first two unsatisfactory attempts completely): about 8 hours.
64 shots taken; one success.
(Xenoglaux loweryi) B28I7151 Fundo de Alto Nieva - North Peru
Rare, local and poorly known; reported from only a few localities in humid montane forest in Amazonas and San Martin, 1900-2400 mt.
Endemic Tour in Peru : Guide Alex Durand alexdurand8bg@gmail.com
So hard to get this species : walking on a very dark night in a muddy and slipping mountain (myself falling many times) with a local guide, waiting hours under some rain falls and only 3 seconds for shooting : big challenge but finally we did it.
Glistening Jewel - Sunbirds are the Old World ecological equivalent of New World hummingbirds. They certainly are equally stunning!
Special thanks to local guides for making this image possible.
Species: Purple-rumped Sunbird (Leptocoma zeylonica)
Location: Karnataka, India
Equipment: Canon EOS R5 + EF 400mm 2.8 II
Settings: 1/1600s, ISO: 400, f/6.3 @400mm, Handheld, Electronic Shutter
My interview on Google Local Guide Connect
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This defensive cannon was made in 1874. One of well preserved cannons of the Dutch VOC colonial period in Bengkulu - Sumatra.
#cannon
My interview on Google Local Guide Connect
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This shot wreck havoc actually. I seriously have a few claims to make. This picture has a context, an argument, a fight, a big STORY attached to it. This picture, before me, would only might have been shot from a drone or something, and I doubt that even. This shot is taken from an unusual rock edge, "THE ROCK OF NALTAR" as I gave it a name. Some __ meters above the third lake (Big one in the picture).
THE STORY
-----------
YES I AM BEHAVING LIKE A DISCOVERER, CONSIDERING MY SELF A HERO, lol. But this is true. Usual viewers set their bags and tie their laces after visiting the third lake. And so were we supposed to do. Nothing beyond the lake perhaps. Or may be you circle the lake, which is definitely a very obvious choice. And yet down from their I see this edge (will upload the edge, my standing place in this pic later). I wanna go there.
"I WANT TO GO THERE", I cried.
"THAT IS NO PLACE TO VISIT", replied my guide.
"I STILL WANT TO GO THERE", insisting me.
"No sir we should circle the lake." My guide is in no mood.
"I WILL GO THERE", I have set the target.
"Sir lets go we have to cover alot of ground", my guide won't go.
"I AM GOING THERE, SEE YOU", My goal is very clear to me
"SIR I HEAR LANDSLIDING"
"WHAT ? I HEAR Nothing"......
............
..............
.............
I disobeyed him, Actually I should have, and I did. The local guide perhaps was afraid of snow leopards showing instantly and making thing worse. He tried his best to stop me, he was prettyu furious in the end. But what i achieved was something unexplainable, impossible to render with words.
Achievement, a scenery perhaps not sighted by any MAN before. I don't care the guide called me mad, and so many other words. Don't care if other people think the same. I really am the first man on that rock. and i am damn proud of it.
This Common Potoo was in the Metropolitan Park in Panama City, a large protected area within that heavily urbanized city in Central America. I was lucky to see it thanks to a knowledgeable local guide with whom I visited the park. (There is some colour from its slightly open eye due to reflection from the flash I used in its shady setting.) This species occurs widely in South America, and as far north as Nicaragua in Central America.
My interview on Google Local Guide Connect
All Photos Are Copyright To Paul Saad , Unauthorised Use Is Not Allowed Without Prior Permission. © Some rights reserved ©
My interview on Google Local Guide Connect
All Photos Are Copyright To Paul Saad , Unauthorised Use Is Not Allowed Without Prior Permission. © Some rights reserved ©
My interview on Google Local Guide Connect
All Photos Are Copyright To Paul Saad , Unauthorised Use Is Not Allowed Without Prior Permission. © Some rights reserved ©
A copperhead snake. This little beauty was just beside the path. We could have easily walked past and not noticed it, but we had an experienced local guide who was quick to point it out.
GAMBIA TOUR // This first year winter bird, found at the local sewage treatment works, giving a noisy alarm call, as it took to flight. The heads become pure white, on adults, a migrant that does not breed in the Gambia. It was a amazing sight seeing them fly, so graceful
All birds found without tour or local Guides..
++++++++++++++++++
THANK YOU, for visit and any comment, am visit wading through hundreds of images, please bare with me. ....Stay safe and God Bless...... ....Tomx
We just returned from an incredibly exciting scouting trip to The Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica with the Out Of Costa Rica Staff. Their Wildlife Photography Conference is going to take place July 27th to August 3rd, 2019. They will have seven instructors that will be available for excellent help and guidance as well as many choices of workshops to choose from .
The beautiful Osa Peninsula is breathtaking and the the wonderful lodge where you will be working from is not only outstanding, but also has a great staff that is there to meet your every need. There is so much wildlife right on the property that you could spend days without ever leaving the grounds but there will be workshops leaving to various areas of the peninsula giving the photographer every possible opportunity .
The owners of the Crocodile Bay Resort have done an outstanding job catering to the needs of photographers and understand what their clients want to experience. Their local guides are very knowledgeable on all aspects of wildlife and nature and are always there to assist.
If you would like more info about this adventure go to costarica.outofchicago.com.
Sitting Pretty - I think this little Bengal Fox easily wins the cutest animal of the trip award. The Bengal Fox is endemic to the Indian subcontinent and is found in a wide variety of habitats throughout the region. It is more slender than the Red Fox, with a bushier tail. This species actually reminded me of the totally unrelated new world Gray Fox in appearance.
We were fortunate to stumble upon a couple of these foxes right before sunrise. The pre-dawn light was beautiful and I quietly got out, lay down behind vehicle wheel, and was able to capture this low angle image of the fox sitting and watching us for a few moments.
Special thanks to Kartik Patel and a local guide for making this image possible. Their mental map and knowledge orienting within the vast salt flats/deserts of the Little Rann of Kutch region in western Gujarat is truly remarkable.
IG: @sswildlife
Species: Bengal Fox (Vulpes bengalensis)
Location: Little Rann of Kutch, Gujarat, IN
Equipment: Canon EOS R5 + EF 600mm IS II
Settings: 1/500s, ISO: 4000, f/4.5 @600mm, Handheld, Electronic Shutter
My interview on Google Local Guide Connect
All Photos Are Copyright To Paul Saad , Unauthorised Use Is Not Allowed Without Prior Permission. © Some rights reserved ©
"Taquile is a hilly island located 45 km (28 mi) east of Puno. It is narrow and long and was used as a prison during the Spanish Colony and into the 20th century. In 1970, it became property of the Taquile people, who have inhabited the island since then. The highest point of the island is 4,050 m (13,290 ft) above sea level, and the main village is at 3,950 m (12,960 ft). Pre-Inca ruins are found on the highest part of the island, and agricultural terraces on hillsides. From the hillsides of Taquile, one has a view over the white snow tops of the Bolivian mountains. The inhabitants, known as Taquileños, are southern Quechua speakers.
Culture is very much alive on Taquile, which can be seen in the traditional clothes everyone wears. Taquile is especially known for its handicraft tradition, which is regarded as among the highest quality handicrafts not only in Peru, but also in the world. Knitting is exclusively performed by males, starting at age eight. The women exclusively make yarn and weave.
Taquileans are also known for having created an innovative, community-controlled tourism model, offering home stays, transportation, and restaurants to tourists. Ever since tourism started coming to Taquile in the 1970s, the Taquileños have slowly lost control over the mass day-tourism operated by non-Taquileans. They have thus developed alternative tourism models, including lodging for groups, cultural activities, and local guides, who have recently completed a 2-year training program. Furthermore, the local Travel Agency Munay Taquile has been established to regain control over tourism.
The people in Taquile run their society based on community collectivism and on the Inca moral code ama sua, ama llulla, ama qhilla, (do not steal, do not lie, do not be lazy). The island is divided into six sectors or suyus for crop rotation purposes. The economy is based on fishing, terraced farming horticulture based on potato cultivation, and tourist-generated income from the roughly 40,000 tourists who visit each year."
My interview on Google Local Guide Connect
All Photos Are Copyright To Paul Saad , Unauthorised Use Is Not Allowed Without Prior Permission. © Some rights reserved ©
My interview on Google Local Guide Connect
All Photos Are Copyright To Paul Saad , Unauthorised Use Is Not Allowed Without Prior Permission. © Some rights reserved ©