Boulder Scrambling

On July 3, 2018 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Colorado, Hiking, Photo Challenge3 Comments

If you go hiking on some of the more difficult trails, you are likely to reach points in the trail where you end having to scramble over the boulders. Scrambling is when the trail requires you to use both your hands and feet to climb over boulder fields and steep inclines. For the most part, it is actually easier going up then coming down when vertigo can make finding your footholds more difficult. Although we don’t scramble as much as we used to, it is still often worth the effort as you are usually rewarded with amazing views. Needless to say, trails that require you to scramble across boulders are usually less frequented, so you will likely have the trail to yourself. This week’s Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge is Piles or Stacks, so we have included some photos of boulders piled up to try and deter us from moving forward.

Exhausted Smile, Pile of Boulders in the Background

Creating Unexpected Results

On June 19, 2018 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Photo Challenge4 Comments

Many of us point and click our cameras and cell phones as we are traveling and when we get a chance to look back at our photos, sometimes the photos capture something different than what our eyes actually saw. Often these are happy accidents where the images turn out to be quite special and other times we are disappointed because it seemed so special at the time. We usually use auto-focus when traveling since we don’t always have time to stop and manually focus, which means that the camera might choose to focus on something different than intended. Also, the lighting might change how the image appears once we get a chance to look back at the photo. For this week’s Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge, which is Horizontal Lines, we have decided to share some of our unintended results. Have you ever been pleasantly surprised by a photograph after you go back and look at the pictures that you have taken that day?

Standing in the 9/11 Museum Entrance in New York

Sun Setting on a Ship in Puerto Vallarta

Christmas Tree on a Restaurant Wall in Strasbourg

The Grandeur of Ancient Columns

On June 12, 2018 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Photo Challenge4 Comments

Thousands of years ago, stone columns were created to replace wooden ones that were susceptible to fire and rotting. Despite their original purpose, simply to bear the load of the roof overhead, they have since become works of art. They are also a symbol of wealth and prestige and are a standard feature of many capitals, palaces, and homes of the wealthy.

Columns in Karnak Temple in Luxor, Egypt

If you mention columns to most people, images of ancient Rome and Greece probably come to mind, but Egypt is also one of the first places to use columns as well. In fact, during our time in Egypt, we found the columns there to be some of the most interesting features of the temples that we visited. Obviously, there is nothing like walking in the Acropolis in Athens and seeing the columns on those ancient temples as well. Walking through the Roman Forum in Rome is literally a path that takes you through a series of ancient columns, some standing and some fallen.

Large Columns at the Acropolis in Athens, Greece

Regardless of where you find them, columns are an interesting piece to any architecture. Whether you consider them to be structural or artistic in nature, they are often the only thing to survive the ravages of time.