Tag Archives: Russia

Travel Photography

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I love traveling. I love visiting new places, learning from other cultures, meeting new people. If I could pick any job I wanted, I would hands down choose to be a professional travel photographer. Seeing though that there are no job openings at National Geographic at the moment (at least for amateurs such as myself), I guess I have to settle in pursuing this as a hobby on my own dime or perhaps on the occasional business trip.

So far in my life I’ve traveled quite extensively, but one of my dreams for the longest time has been to go on a road trip across the US. I live by a saying that we should never regret the things we’ve done in life, only the things we haven’t. Not realizing this dream is perhaps one of my biggest regrets, ever since I returned from my 11-year stay in North America. Luckily this summer though I am about to make my dream a reality.

Starting in early August, myself and a bunch of friends will pick up a car in Phoenix, Arizona and drive all the way to Vancouver, Canada. The road will take us through a number of landmarks such as the Grand Canyon, the Wave at Coyote Buttes, Antelope Canyon up through Utah and Arches National Park, Mount Rushmore and Yellowstone Park. I am pretty psyched to be honest as there will be great photo opportunities along the way. That said, I’ll be off the grid for the next month or so, hopefully coming back in September with some great pictures that I can share on my blog.

On the topic of travel photography, I am sharing a picture I took in Russia a few years ago. This picture was taken from a tiny run-down apartment in the suburbs of Moscow, overlooking this picturesque orthodox church.

Moscow window - 1920c

Shot handheld with my Canon Rebel XTi and Sigma 18-200mm F3.5-6.3 OS lens, at ISO 200, F18 at 1/80 sec.

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Venice of the North

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Last summer I had the opportunity to visit Saint Petersburg, Russia. A few months prior to my visit, I got a chance to also travel to Moscow and based on that experience my expectations were somewhat reserved. Don’t get me wrong – Moscow is a great city with lots of historical sights, museums and a great nightlife, but its shear size, traffic and pollution don’t rank the city in my top ten list of so-called “exotic” destinations.

Upon arriving in Saint Petersburg I was pleasantly surprised. A beautiful city, full of parks, canals and bridges (342 to be exact!) – it truly lives up to its name as being the “Venice of the North”. Its position, so far north of the equator, means that roughly between the end of June and early July you experience the so-called “White Nights” where the sun does not descend enough for the sky to go dark. Unfortunately, I got there in August but even then, the sun would only set at roughly around 11pm.

This is a picture of the Church of the Savior on Blood – one of the many city landmarks. The picture was taken from one of the nearby bridges at around midnight.

Shot with my Canon Rebel XTi and my 50mm F1.8 prime lens at ISO 200, F13 and bracketed at -2/0/+2.