If you have been to Yellowstone you know you can’t walk off the boardwalk and onto the geyser area. In Iceland it’s a little different, at least where we went it was. This area had very few roped-off places. There was one vent you could actually stick your hand over, not the smartest thing to do but you could. This shot was taken from a roped-off area with many vents and some bubbling mud beneath the platform. I waiting for a long time to get the steam just so it would just frame the mountain in the distance and not obstruct it. It was one of the few clear days we had in out two week adventure.
As the sun come up over the horizon you only get about 30 seconds of starburst time before it’s all gone and it’s time for breakfast.
About 45 minutes before sunrise at Clingmans Dome Smoky Mountain National Park. I’ve been there a number of times and this was the first time that there was virtually no wind and it was unusually warm. About 50 degrees. Most of the time the wind is howling and you are freezing your butt off.
We flew on a total of 11 airplanes for this trip. This is the view from the small 5 seater that we took to the Kwara airstrip in Botswana.
Last week I spend a few days at the Oregon Coast. Started in Newport and worked my way south to the Coos Bay area. There are many great places to stop along the way. The D4 and D750 were the two cameras I brought. The 80-400, 28-300, 16-35 and 16mm fisheye were all that was needed. This was a bit of a reconnaissance trip so I know where and how long I want to spend for the next time. There is plenty more to explore than what I did but I now have a good sense of the distances and the time it takes to drive to various locations. If you go before the end of May you pretty much have the place to yourself. Hardly any traffic and all the hotels are not very busy. Get a tide chart so you know when the waves will be the most active. More later.
Took a ride out to the Volo Bog this morning. No signs of life other than the occasional cross country ski track. Some reeds, and canoes (different location nearby) waiting for warmer weather. 
As a photographer we always want the early morning and late afternoon light. In this case it was a financial advantage to get here late. The Cliffs of Moher is a must tourist destination in Ireland. As such ti’s an opportunity to buy lots of stuff. So they have a wonderful parking lot that you have to pay to get in and a bunch of shops on the way to the Cliffs to purchase all the souvenirs you would ever want. My souvenir is the photography. Get there after 8pm and the lot is no longer manned and you can park without a fee. The shops and yes the washroom is also closed. But you can walk the cliffs and take as many shots as you want until the light is gone. I went back two nights (like you do) to hopefully get some sunset color. The first night not so good. There was another photographer there who had come 10 times and hadn’t got a sunset. Fortunately the second night I got a pretty good one, not the best but definitely workable. We also had taken the boat tour of the cliffs. I was assured that the water was smooth as glass. Not the case and not the greatest time of day so those photos will be left on my hard drive and not for public consumption. The view was pretty amazing though, you really get to see how massive the cliffs are.
If you don’t have the time to drive the Ring of Kerry which is a good days trip, the next best thing is the Gap of Dunloe. You can walk it or take a carriage ride. We opted for the ride which was a good idea, given the occasional rain, hills and already tired legs from the previous days hiking. This is a beautiful ride that goes through a bit of Killarney National Park. At the end of the journey you get aboard a large motorized canoe (holds 12) and cross three lakes back to the bus that will take you into town. The donkey was just hanging out when we were walking to the boat docks. He has nothing to do with the trip other than being cute.
There is a reason they call it “The Emerald Isle”. The green never ends. In fact some of the photos I will be posting in the next few days have been desaturated a bit because people will think the color is fake. I suppose when you get rain constantly that’s what happens. 
This was taken on a hike through the area know as Howth Head. A twenty minute trip from Dublin on the DART ( local train). The area is beautiful with cliffs and field of heather. Howth Head is the location where Leopold Bloom proposes to Molly in James Joyce‘s Ulysses. Of course there is a Castle there. As a matter of fact there are Castles everywhere in Ireland.
Right near the visitors center at Mammoth there was a Great Horned Owl nest. The two sibs cuddling on a branch just outside of the nest and an adult in a tree nearby.
