Dreaming

I don’t know about you, but I want… correction…I need routinely timed/planned vacations.  When I have long breaks between vacations I go a little a little crazy…  I can feel my stress increase.  I’m in the middle of a long stretch right now.  At least what I consider a long stretch and I can feel my stress increasing right now.  My ability to tolerate things becomes harder during these long stretches…..  So I’ll just dream (some may call it mediate) about my next trip by looking at this photo and attempt to remember what it felt like to sit there with my feet in the sand, wind on my face and sun rising from the sea…   It’ll have to get me through until the next trip. 

I took this photo near Puerto Morelos Mexico on a beautiful morning.

To view a larger version, click HERE

Don’t forget to check out my photo galleries.  I update and add to them often. 

777.28 wm.JPG

Photolumer - Mexico Resort

Last post, I share some information about a new very simple and cheap photo editor called Photolemur.  As part of that post, I shared a before and after portrait photo I processed with this software.   Tonight I am sharing a landscape photo from Mexico that I also processed using the new software.  I am sharing the original photo right out of the camera, the Photolumer processed photo and a screen shot of the software user interface. 

Note about the location:  I took this photo in Puerto Morelos Mexico when we stayed at the Ocean Coral Resort.  It is a pre-sunrise photo with the resort pool in the foreground.

To view a larger version, click HERE

Don’t forget to check out my photo galleries.  I recently updated them.

Processed with Photolumer

Processed with Photolumer

Original photo out of the camera

Original photo out of the camera

Photolumer User Interface

Photolumer User Interface

Morning Sun

The beauty of waking up early for a sunrise is that normally I’m alone.  Or mostly alone.  The popular beach is abandoned.  The resort pool is vacant.  The Lido deck on a cruise ship is quiet.  You get the point.  It doesn’t seem to matter where we travel to, I can count on this phenomenon.  Which allows me the opportunity to capture great photos without tourists in the way.  And I’ve come to the realization that people around the world, all like to sleep in…. 

To view a larger version, click HERE.

Don’t forget to check out my photo galleries.  I recently updated them.

Wet Foot Steps

Tonight’s post is a rare photo from me because it includes a person.  I don’t normally include people in my landscape photos.  But I liked this setting with the kid leaving wet footprints behind as he walks towards the village.

Anyway, this is from Puerto Morelos in Mexico.  This is a great little fishing village about 20 minutes south of Cancun.

To view a larger version, click here:  https://500px.com/photo/198766059/wet-foot-steps-by-brook-ward?ctx_page=1&from=user&user_id=3695440

Puerto Morelos

Puerto Morelos

The Bridge

We recently spent a little time at the Ocean Coral Resort in Puerto Morelos Mexico.  This was the first trip we’ve taken with Blair in a very long time.  Blair and I took photos on a number of occasions and locations.  We all had a great time and it was nice to get some warm weather. 

I took this photo of “The Bridge” that connects the main building of the resort with Building 16, which was where our hotel room was located.  So we walked this path a bunch over the course of our stay. 

Ocean Coral Resort

Ocean Coral Resort

Mexican Wedding

I took this photo in Puerto Morelos Mexico just before the bride was going to walk down the aisle.  I hope the happy couple has a wonderful life together.  It seems like all the little towns in Mexico have this square in the middle for the church, general gathering spot, festivals, etc……  Puerto Morelos is no different.

To purchase a print or view the entire gallery, click the photo above.

To purchase a print or view the entire gallery, click the photo above.

The Beach

This is a 7-exposure auto-bracketed photo captured at sunrise from the Secrets Silversands Resort in Puerto Morelos Mexico.  MJ and I got up every morning before sunrise to check the weather….just so I could capture some nice photos.  As you can see, we succeeded.

To purchase a print or view the entire gallery, please click the photo above.

To purchase a print or view the entire gallery, please click the photo above.

Bar View

First, let me get this out of the way…..  I know this isn’t a great photograph technically.  The photography experts can point to all the problems with this photo.   No need, I already know they exist.

 

Now, the reason I shared this photo was because of the great memories associated with this spot.  This was the view from the beach side bar at the Secrets Silversands Resort in Puerto Morelos Mexico.  I got up before the sun on numerous days to catch the sunrise.  As you can tell, one of my favorite spots for watching the sunrise was from this bar.  For the record, the bar wasn’t open at this time of the day…..so it wasn’t the drinks that made this a great sunrise spot.

To purchase a print or view the entire gallery, click the photo above.

To purchase a print or view the entire gallery, click the photo above.

Midnight Swim

Here is a picture I took late at night with a series of long exposures while at the Secrets Silver Sands Resort in Puerto Morelos Mexico last December.  There were all kinds of funky shaped pools in front of every building at this resort.  Basically everyone has his or her own pool.  It was great.

To purchase a print or view the entire gallery, click the photo above.

To purchase a print or view the entire gallery, click the photo above.

Puerto Morelos Sun Rise

I got up (which means MJ was disrupted) every morning at around 540am to peek outside.  I was hoping for a week full of amazing sunrises.  Instead, we got rain, clouds and more clouds.  Almost every morning was a disappointment.  But one morning we got lucky and Mother Nature gave us this sunrise.  I’d say it was worth waking up early every morning on a vacation to experience and photograph.  What do you think?

To purchase a print or view the entire gallery, click the picture above.

To purchase a print or view the entire gallery, click the picture above.




Mojito On The Beach

I got this idea from another photographer about two months ago and was waiting for the best time to try this.  I’d do it differently next time, but I think it turned out okay for the first time.  They use brown sugar is all their Mojito’s at this resort, so they are an unusual brown color.  To get this photo with a normal looking drink, I asked them to make it without the sugar.  So the drink looks pretty, but tasted terrible.  But the photo is the important item, not the drink. 

I am posting this for Melanie, who doesn’t seem to drink anything else. 

To purchase a print or view the entire gallery, click the photo above.

To purchase a print or view the entire gallery, click the photo above.

Reflections

Here is a small gift for you to get your mind of cold weather.  MJ and I took this photo (well it is a 5 exposure auto-bracket set merged together in Photomatix Pro 5 and Photoshop CS6) at around 6:15am as we walked around the Secrets Silver Sands resort in Mexico.  This was the first sunrise (and frankly first sun) we saw since the time we arrived.  The resort was fairly empty, which hasn’t been our experience on other trips to Mexico, so we had the beach to ourselves except for a few employees.

To purchase a print or view the entire gallery, click the photo above.

To purchase a print or view the entire gallery, click the photo above.