My first visit to Rackwick

Late September 2003. I was nearly a month into a two month solo trip to Scotland. I found myself sitting in a hostel in Stromness on a cold rainy night listening to tales about the island of Hoy. It was a mere accident that I had arrived at Stromness and only because of tales of this night, would I spend the better part of a week at a place called Rackwick Bay. The thick Scottish accent erased most of my comprehension of the conversation, but I understood one thing; Hoy, and Rackwick are where I must go. The next day I filled my backpack with food and caught the ferry to Hoy just as it was leaving. I stayed in that little stone shelter all by myself until I ran out of food 5 days later and had to return to Stomness. My only warmth from the gales was from the little driftwood I would gather form the beach each day. Maybe an hour or two worth of fire and a little light to read by as the evening carried on. I wish I could have stayed forever, but that journey had different plans for me, as I would find out on Skye.
Burnmouth bothy, Rackwick bay, Hoy, Orkney, Scotland

Weissensee

The light was gone.  Took one last photo from the side of the highway.

Germany stock photo: Weissensee lake with Autumn color trees, Allgäu, Bavaria, Germany

Hohenschwangau Castle

Hohenschwangau castle in autumn.  The childhood home of King Ludwig II of Schloss Neuschwanstein fame.

Germany stock panoramic photography: Hohenschwangau castle in autumn, Bavaria, Germany. Cody Duncan Photography

Forest Mushrooms

Macro panoramics. Was in the forest looking for cool leaves and to do a little experimentation. Thought these came out interesting. Each pano is 3 separate photos from Nikon 85mm PC tilt/shift lens. It’s hard to choose a focal point for the macros. Sort of have to choose one mushroom you want in focus, and let the rest fall as they may. I think a fill light could have helped a bit as well, maybe I’ll try using a small reflector some time in the future.

Nikon 85mm Tilt-Shift lens macro panoramic photo: Forest Mushrooms. Cody Duncan Photography

Nikon 85mm Tilt-Shift lens macro panoramic photo: Forest Mushrooms. Cody Duncan Photography

Nikon 85mm Tilt-Shift lens macro panoramic photo: Forest Mushrooms. Cody Duncan Photography

Saint Coloman Festival

On our way out of Schwangau on Sunday we ran into a detour.  We didn’t think much of it until we were in sight of St. Coloman church and had a fireman basically put us into a farm field turned parking lot.  Well, it turns out that we ran into the festival day of St. Coloman church, with a Catholic Bishop and all.  There was a cool parade of Lederhosen and Dirndl wearing Bavarian’s on horseback set among the scenic background of the Allgäu mountains.  I left the spectators and spent some time walking and photographing among the horses.  Pretty cool sight to ‘accidentally’ come across.

Germany Travel photography: October 12, 2008 Saint Coloman Festival, Schwangau, Bavaria, Germany

Germany Travel photography: October 12, 2008 Saint Coloman Festival, Schwangau, Bavaria, Germany

Germany Travel photography: October 12, 2008 Saint Coloman Festival, Schwangau, Bavaria, Germany

Germany Travel photography: October 12, 2008 Saint Coloman Festival, Schwangau, Bavaria, Germany

Germany Travel photography: October 12, 2008 Saint Coloman Festival, Schwangau, Bavaria, Germany

Germany Travel photography: October 12, 2008 Saint Coloman Festival, Schwangau, Bavaria, Germany

Germany Travel photography: October 12, 2008 Catholic Bishop speaks at Saint Coloman Festival, Schwangau, Bavaria, Germany

Germany Travel photography: October 12, 2008 Saint Coloman Festival, Schwangau, Bavaria, Germany

Germany Travel photography: October 12, 2008 Saint Coloman Festival, Schwangau, Bavaria, Germany

The Moment that Wouldn’t Be

Everything was perfect: Cool fog, sunny blue sky, some cool clouds, nice autumn colors on the trees. One problem: Scaffolding!

Maybe next year…

October 2008 Neuschwanstein castle with Scaffolding for repair work, Germany

New Panoramic Photo Gallery

Panoramic stock photo: Evening light on Loch Duich with mountains of Isle of Skye in far distance, Scotland. Cody Duncan Photography

I have created a new gallery for my panoramic photos: CLICK HERE.

Over the last year or so I’ve been transitioning to shooting more and more panoramics, so I thought it appropriate that I should dedicate a gallery to this format. As of today, it it just shy of 200 images, with more added every week or two.

The gallery is is sorted with the newest appearing first (newest that I upload, not necessarily chronologically, as I process a bit out of order sometimes), so if you feel like browsing every once in a while, you can easily see the new stuff. A few of the images may have appeared on the blog here, but most should be new, unless you spy on my at one of my stock photo agencies. In the coming weeks I may add an RSS feed as well (also for some other galleries that I update frequently, like my German gallery which is approaching 400 photos), but I still have to give it some thought.

Panoramic Stock photo: Shipwreck at Punto San Jacinto, Baja California, Mexico. Cody Duncan photography

All the panoramic images are available to license as RM (rights-managed) stock photos.

3 Years…

…Of this blog passed on Saturday the 11th. It’s had a couple homes in this times and I’ve posted from numerous different countries. In those 1,095 days I’ve only managed 200 posts, so something like once every 5.5 days; something to improve on in the coming year. But I must admit, the farther I am from an internet connection, the happier I seem to be.

I’m not such a good writer, but perhaps I’ll try and write more travel stories/anecdotes in the future. I’ve also logged enough days on the road that perhaps I might try and write a few travel and photography tips as well: Such as keeping your camera gear safe on a night bus from Lithuania to Prague, best places to sleep when you find yourself stranded, where to get a $2 haircut it Czech Republic, Norway on the cheap, etc.

What say you? Keep to pictures only, or throw some more words in?

Saturday morning was a nice one:

Panoramic stock images: Autumn mist at dawn in the Allgaeu region of Bavaria, Germany. Cody Duncan travel photography

More tomorrow. It was a good weekend down south!