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Iman Mosque at night
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Iman Mosque at night

Iman Mosque (Shah Mosque, 1611-1629). This magnificent UNESCO World Heritage site is lit up after dark and the effect is magical as the lights on the tiles turned everything blue and gold. The key to reproducing the colours as I saw them was to use tungsten light colour balance, otherwise everything had a nasty yellow cast.

Other photos from the Isfahan area can be see here: http://goo.gl/xwvmsJ

30/06/15 http://www.allenfotowild.com

IsfahanIranIman MosqueShah Mosquenight lightsNaghshe Jahan SquareUNESCO World Heritage Siteblue and goldminaretsdome

  • Iman Mosque at night
  • Competing with flair (best larger)<br />
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Eagle Festival, Olgii, Western Mongolia<br />
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At the Eagle Festival, during the compeition for best eagle, costume and horse, the favorites of the crowds and judges were the competitors that rode fast and held their eagles high with their wings spread (actually riding fast and holding the eagles up causes them to lift their wings to help them balance).  This guy was one of the best at this, and his white horse was magnificent.<br />
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Other images of several of the competitors can be seen here: <a href="http://goo.gl/SmHPGM">http://goo.gl/SmHPGM</a><br />
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29/06/15  <a href="http://www.allenfotowild.com">http://www.allenfotowild.com</a>
  • Wedding gift parade<br />
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During the wedding festivities in Huanggand Dong Village they were setting off a lot of firecrackers and the street was littered with firecracker debris.  Suddently I saw a parade of people coming down the street carrying wedding gifts. It was amazing to see the volume and variety of gifts from small linen items, carried by children to large pieces of  furniture, carried by the young men.   There was lots of red colour, which is the Chinese wedding colour.<br />
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Several photos of the parade can be seen here: <a href="http://goo.gl/OWFBd7">http://goo.gl/OWFBd7</a><br />
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28/06/15  <a href="http://www.allenfotowild.com">http://www.allenfotowild.com</a>
  • Jaguar (Panthera onca) grooming itself<br />
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Rio Cuiaba, Pantanal, Brazil<br />
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Shooting an elusive species such as jaguar involves long hours of searching, since they are very well camouflaged in the dappled light of the bushes and almost impossible to spot.  And then, when you are lucky enough to spot one, even longer hours of waiting for the animal to come out into the open, or wake up and do something 'interesting'.  This is one such example. For long periods of time this magnificent animal was lying mostly obscured in the shade on the top of the river bank.  You have to stay alert with your camera ready since you never know when some action will occur.  In this case, the jaguar briefy woke up and groomed itself (when I got this shot), and then fell asleep again.  <br />
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Mostly you get shots like the ones seen here, which will never win any prizes, but give a good feeling for the animal in its natural environment: <a href="http://goo.gl/yE1zu7">http://goo.gl/yE1zu7</a><br />
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27/06/15  <a href="http://www.allenfotowild.com">http://www.allenfotowild.com</a>
  • Pulcritudinous (beautiful, comely) girl: Ashol Pan, Mongolia's only female eagle hunter  (best larger)<br />
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The second contest of the day at the Eagle Festival was for the best Kazakh eagle, costume and horse harness.  Ashol Pan is riding over to the judges, with the rest of the field waiting their turn in the rear.<br />
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Other photos from the Eagle Festival can be seen here: <a href="http://goo.gl/82dsNB">http://goo.gl/82dsNB</a><br />
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26/06/15  <a href="http://www.allenfotowild.com">http://www.allenfotowild.com</a>
  • 13 shot photomerge of Roberts Bank Superport<br />
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The original merge is a humongous 670 mB file that results in a 14 ft long print at 300 dpt, so this is a downsized version.  The detail is amazing and is worth opening the original (downsized) version and scrolling all the way across.<br />
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Two bulk carriers can be seen loading at the coal terminal, and two container ships are loading at the container terminal.<br />
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When I took the ferry to Vancouver Island last week, the ferry did a large circle by the superport to reset its compass.  I was on the upper deck with my D810 when the circle took us near the  Superport, so I took 13 photos (hand held) of the entire length of the Westpost Coal Terminal and the adjacent Deltaport container terminal and photomerged them in Photoshop.  Quite the largest file I've ever produced.<br />
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If this is too large a file for your computer, you can see separate 7 image photomerges of the coal terminal and the container terminal here, plus two 'normal' shots: <a href="http://goo.gl/bBSQnE">http://goo.gl/bBSQnE</a><br />
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25/06/15  <a href="http://www.allenfotowild.com">http://www.allenfotowild.com</a>
  • "Come a little closer, my dear!"<br />
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Caiman on a sand bank, Rio Cuiaba, Pantanal, Brazil<br />
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Response to comments:  Unlike, for example, the salt water crocodiles or the big African crocodiles, Caiman (caiman yacare) attacks on humans, are very rare.  They eat mainly fish and capybaras.  They often sit on the river's edge out of the water with their mouths open, which looks fierce, but is likely a cooling mechanism like a dog panting (speculation on my part).  While on the Rio Cuiaba, all the photography I did was from a small boat which added an additional safety factor (although photography from a floating platform is a little more difficult).  At no point did I ever feel any sense of danger from the caimans, jaguars or other animals that I was privileged to see up close.  I also put my trust in people with local knowledge who know, and can predict when a situation is dangerous, or might become dangerous, and listen to their advice. <br />
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Other photos from the Rio Cuiaba region of the Pantanal can be seen here: <a href="http://goo.gl/egacUo">http://goo.gl/egacUo</a><br />
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24/06/15  <a href="http://www.allenfotowild.com">http://www.allenfotowild.com</a>
  • Imam Mosque
  • Shooting the arrow<br />
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Archery competition, Eagle Festival, Olgii, Western Mongolia<br />
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The first competition at the Olgii Eagle Festival was archery  where the competitors shoot blunt tipped arrows at target marks on a long piece of cloth.   In this shot you can see the arrow in the air midway up the bow.<br />
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Other photos of the archery competition can be seen here: <a href="http://goo.gl/NT8kc7">http://goo.gl/NT8kc7</a><br />
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22/06/15  <a href="http://www.allenfotowild.com">http://www.allenfotowild.com</a>
  • Cross walk with herring gull (best larger)<br />
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Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal, British Columbia.  This terminal take passengers to Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands and functions as part of British Columbia's marine highway system.  A ride on the ferries is a good way to celebrate Father's Day and the start of summer!<br />
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Other photos taken from the ferry that I took recently over to Vancouver Island can be seen here: <a href="http://goo.gl/qw14G8">http://goo.gl/qw14G8</a><br />
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21/06/16  <a href="http://www.allenfotowild.com">http://www.allenfotowild.com</a>
  • Belfry to Vank Amernian cathedral<br />
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The cathedral buildling was finished in 1664, but the belfry, with its two large bells, was only completed in 1702.<br />
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A couple of portraits can be seen here: <a href="http://goo.gl/A7JRmY">http://goo.gl/A7JRmY</a><br />
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20/06/15  <a href="http://www.allenfotowild.com">http://www.allenfotowild.com</a>
  • Meares Island Big Tree trail: biodiversity (the variety of life in a particular habitat or ecosystem)<br />
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Meares Island on the West Coast of Vancouver Island, has some of the largest and oldest trees on the planet.  The western red cedars (Thuja plicata) are from 1000-1500 years old, and up to 60 feet in diameter and over 200 ft (60 m) tall.  It was the site of an anti-logging protest in 1984 by the Nuu-chah-nulth aborignal people who claim it as ancestral land, supported by many environmentalists, some of who went to jail for the cause.  In the end the court ruled against logging and the old growth temperate rain forest remains intact.  <br />
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A wooden board walk was constructed to give access to the largest trees and this young man who was hiking the Big Trees trail kindly agreed to be photographed if I would give him a copy of the photo (promise kept).<br />
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It's a wonderful place to photograph but very challenging to capture due to low light, the enormous height and girth of the trees, and the dense vegetation.  I used a tripod, a wide angle lens (12 mm to 24 mm), and low ISO to try to capture the details.  This is a formula that only works when there is little or no wind, and an overcast day to avoid blowing highlights.  I was lucky to have both.<br />
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Other photos from the Ucleulet/Tofino area can be seen here: <a href="http://goo.gl/0lzthQ">http://goo.gl/0lzthQ</a><br />
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19/06/15  <a href="http://www.allenfotowild.com">http://www.allenfotowild.com</a>
  • Tikko at Long Beach<br />
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Decided to take a little break and head over to the scenic areas of the west coast of Vancouver Island with my Portuguese Water Dog, who thought it was a wonderful plan.<br />
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18/06/26  <a href="http://www.allenfotowild.com">http://www.allenfotowild.com</a>
  • Three ethnic Dong elders<br />
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Huanggang Dong Village, Guizhou Province, China<br />
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Sorry for only limited commenting, but I'm on the road and only have a few minutes to comment on my top favs for the days!  <br />
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A few other photos from the village can be seen here: <a href="http://goo.gl/AgTCwV">http://goo.gl/AgTCwV</a><br />
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17/06/25  <a href="http://www.allenfotowild.com">http://www.allenfotowild.com</a>
  • Ceiling of the apse of Vank Cathedral, Isfahan, Iran<br />
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It was impossible to photograph the whole painting since there was a large light in the way, so I photographed one half of the painting and then moved to the other side of the light to photograph the other haf and pasted the two sides together in Photoshop.<br />
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A couple more photos of the inside and a photo of the very plain outside can be seen here: <a href="http://goo.gl/mmvDlg">http://goo.gl/mmvDlg</a><br />
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16/06/15  <a href="http://www.allenfotowild.com">http://www.allenfotowild.com</a>
  • Ace of hearts<br />
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Card game between two Dong youngsters watched avidly by two even younger boys.  <br />
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I saw these boys playing cards on a side street during wedding festivities in Huanggang Dong Village, Guizhou Province, China.  They were so engrossed in the game they paid no attention to me and my camera, making for a great candid photography opportunity.<br />
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To see what happens next, click here: <a href="http://goo.gl/9ZjNwf">http://goo.gl/9ZjNwf</a><br />
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15/06/15  <a href="http://www.allenfotowild.com">http://www.allenfotowild.com</a>
  • Young eagle huntress
  • Ringed kingfisher on a riverside branch (best larger)<br />
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Rio Cuiaba, Pantanal, Brazil<br />
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Other photos from Rio Cuiaba can be seen here: <a href="http://goo.gl/dqaNFg">http://goo.gl/dqaNFg</a><br />
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13/06/15  <a href="http://www.allenfotowild.com">http://www.allenfotowild.com</a>
  • Ungulates (hoofed mammals) in fancy accoutrement (trappings): Bactrian racing camels (best larger)<br />
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The Eagle Festival in Olgii, Western Mongolia has camel races and these are some of the contestants.  This photo is stiched together from two consecutive images.<br />
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Other photos of the camels can be seen here: <a href="http://goo.gl/fY49xd">http://goo.gl/fY49xd</a><br />
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12/06/15  <a href="http://www.allenfotowild.com">http://www.allenfotowild.com</a>
  • The Last Judgement (best larger for the rich details)<br />
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Panels of painting depicting heaven and hell, Vank Cathedral, Isfahan, Iran. This was my favorite painting in the cathedral.<br />
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Other photos of Vank Catherdral, including its plain exterior, can be seen here: <a href="http://goo.gl/sMFHFk">http://goo.gl/sMFHFk</a><br />
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11/06/15  <a href="http://www.allenfotowild.com">http://www.allenfotowild.com</a>
  • Terry Allen

    on June 1, 2021

    Many thanks everyone for your nice comments!

  • Greg&Rose Photography

    on June 1, 2021

    Reminds me of the Gats of Babylon that is in a museum in Berlin very good shot

  • Wayne Wendel

    on January 23, 2019

    Cruising through your photos and found this one that caught my eye, great composition and execution of the photo.

  • fotoeffects

    on June 24, 2018

    I LOVE this unusual pov on the mosque!

  • RarOiseau Y'APAS

    on June 23, 2018

    Fantastic night shot !

  • Bruno Suignard

    on April 29, 2018

    Gorgeous compo,blue,night shot!!*******

  • Eyeshots

    on April 29, 2018

    Fabulous night shot!

  • fotoeffects

    on April 28, 2018

    Beautifully exposed shot!

  • Judith Sparhawk

    on February 4, 2016

    You captured this scene wonderfully, at that brief time when the twilight sky is deep blue, and with the light on the mosque, it is just beautiful.

  • jimholmquist

    on January 31, 2016

    Beautiful buildings and a terrific shot!

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