Our most recent trip was three separate safari stops / lodges in Rwanda. Obviously, the most famous activity in Rwanda is to go trekking with gorillas. For us, that was our second stop in Rwanda. We stayed just outside Volcano National Park in the northwest portion of the country.
Sony A7R IV | 50mm f/1.4 | f/2.0 | 1/320th | ISO320
On our way to Machu Picchu, we spent the first couple of days in the Sacred Valley, trying to recover from both the jetlag as well as the altitude. We stayed at a lovely hotel, which was a converted 18th-century monastery. It was a great spot to rest and get our footing before heading to Machu Picchu. In the front of the hotel was reception, the bar and the restaurant, then you had a patch of gardens, before you got to the buildings with the rooms. In the middle of the garden, there was a large ‘man-sized’ sign that spelled out ‘LOVE’.
We did a couple of day trips driving around the area, we visited a salt mine, and took in the views of the foothills of the Andes. Beautiful views as we approached the mountains.
Sony A6500 | Sony FE 24-70mm F4 | 36mm | f/6.3 | 1/400th | ISO100
I’ve had the luck to attend matches at 7 FIFA World Cups. The first was a single match at USA 1994. It was Germany v Spain in Chicago that ended in a 1-1 draw. My girlfriend’s dad got me the ticket from his company. The second was three matches at France 1998, with at least the first being Netherlands v Belguim in Kaiserslautern, and I honestly cannot remember the rest. I skipped the Japan / Korea World Cup as I was just out of University and was relatively poor. The third was 3 matches at Germany 2006, the first was Spain v Saudi Arabia, where we got 4th row seats; the second was the infamous ‘Battle of Nuremberg’ between Portugal v Netherlands which broke the record for number of Yellow and Red cards; and the third was Germany v Argentina in Berlin, with Germany advancing in PKs. The fourth we extended our ‘normal travel radius’ and attended the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. The first match was Paraguay v Japan, with Japan losing in PKs; the second was Argentina v Germany, with Germany winning 4-0; and the third was a raucus Uruguay v Netherlands, which ended with Netherlands going ahead 3-2. The fifth was in Brazil in 2014, where we saw Columbia v Urugay in Rio, with Columbia advancing; Brazil v Columbia in a sea of yellow fan jerseys; and finally Argentina v Netherlands in Sao Paulo with Argentina winning the Semi-Final in PKs. The sixth was in Russia in 2018, where we we saw Argentina v Nigeria with Argentina advancing after a wonderful goal by Messi; Spain v Russia in Moscow, with Russia winning in PKs; France v Belguim in the Semi-Final with France progressing; and for my first time, the Final in Moscow with France v Croatia, with France taking the trophy. The seventh was in Qatar in 2022, seeingFrance v Poland in the round of 16 with France progressing; France v England in the QuarterFinals with France winning again (and Harry Kane missing a penalty kick), Argentina v Croatia (where we somehow got front row tickets), with Argentina winning; and the Final with France v Argentina – where somehow Argentina lost a two-goal lead, the match went into extra time, and subsequently PKs, where Argentina won their first World Cup in some 30+ years.
I’ve only seen two Finals, but this photo is at the start of the World Cup Final in 2022, where they displayed the famous trophy before the match, and the second is from when Lionel Messi accepted the trophy the Argentina National Team.
Sony A7R IV | FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM | 200 mm | f/2.8 | 1/250 | ISO320
Sony A7R IV | FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM | 70 mm | f/2.8 | 1/50 | ISO1000
We went to Jordan in 2022 for a relatively short stay. There are many attractions in Jordan, but Petra has to be one of the most obvious ones. The entire Petra grounds are 102 miles square, and we didn’t even come close to denting the whole area, but there are some common trails and pathways to take you to some of the major sites. While the Treasury is probably the most well known of the carved out facades (hello Indiana Jones), if you follow the path and keep going past more monuments, you will find a path that winds up a hill and at the top of that hill is this beautiful ‘building’, that is called the Monastery. One reason this one really stuck out to me was that it was really on its own, up on the top of the hill (other than a small restaurant and snack shop).
Sony A7R IV | Sony 24-70 f/2.8 GM II | 24mm | f/9 | 1/200th | ISO125
It barely needs a description. One of the most idyllic places I’ve ever been. Had to do a helicopter ride to get to the island where we had cheese, champagne and a love old time.
Sony A7R IV | Sony 24-70 f/2.8 | 32mm | f/7.1 | 1/800 | ISO250
I’ve said it before, but there is a saying in Sydney, for a holiday, you either go ‘up the coast, or down the coast’. That’s the vibe. One year, my partner found ‘glamping’ spot down the cost, near Jervis Bay called PaperBark Camp. It just happens that our Anniversary is in Aug, so we get a nice spring trip every year.
On this particular year, we stayed at Paperbark Camp, and got a hot tip to go to Cave Beach, but before the stairs to Cave Beach, take the small dirt path at the end of the car park, follow that around to another beach called Five Mile Beach. We end up going, and for nearly 3 hours, we were literally the only humans in site. File miles of sand, and we were the only people around. We laid on the beach, explored the rock outcropping and swam.
Sony A7R 2 | Sony 24-70 f/2.8 | 25mm | f/11 | 1/400th | ISO200
Over the years, we have stayed at some very interesting lodges across Australia. Especially during Covid, when we couldn’t leave the country, we made a point to travel *extensively* across Australia. We had a two week driving trip through New South Wales. We drove from Perth to Ningaloo Reef. We spent three weeks in South Australia over Christmas one year. We visited Sunshine Coast in Queensland at least three times. We spent a week in the Queensland outback. As Covid was close to ending, we spent a week on Hamilton Island in Queensland, and for my birthday, we spent a week at each of Mossman’s Gorge and Orpheus Island.
One of the more unique spots was about 6 kilometers south of the coast of Northern Territory. The location was on a flood plain, and the lodge is only open for half of the year due to the flooding. This shot was taken on an airboat at sunset looking over the flood plains.
Sony A7R IV | Sony 70-200 f/2.8 II | f/22 | 1/640th | ISO 200
We spent a couple of days at the Zoo in Dubbo, NSW. Overall, really nice zoo, well laid out and planned, and a nice ‘country’ partner to the zoo in Sydney.
I have to say, these two made the entire day. Apparently, every day, around the same time, they do this ‘territorial call’ that (I suppose) is meant to let all the other animals in ear-shot, that they own the land. It lasted about 15 minutes, and they would make these high-pitched cries and generally move around the island that they live on. Anyone that has been to the Dubbo Zoo would know it.
Sony A7R IV | Sony 70-200 GM | 200 mm | f/4.5 | 1/1000th | ISO250
There are many, many great things about living in Australia. I frequently tell my friends back in the US :
Great quality of life; (mostly) good people; great work/life balance; beautiful country – all parts.
However, one of the things I really like about living in Australia is proximity to the South Pacific. I know people rave about Hawaii, and I’ve been and enjoyed it – but the amount of beautiful islands scattered around the South Pacific is incredible.
This photo is from the grounds of the Taveuni Island Resort on, you guessed it, Taveuni Island Fiji. I made the mistake of forgetting my tripod head, so I had to improvise and I rested my camera on the arm of a pool lounge chair to get this slightly long exposure. It was just at sunset and the boats out in the harbour were moving around just a bit. Magical place.
Sony A7R II | Sony 24-70 f/2.8 GM | f/9.0 | 79 mm | 1/40th | ISO 200
Brisbane was my final Australian Capital City to visit. Over our 10 years in Australia, somehow I had missed out on Brisbane. We had visited Queensland a couple of times, but we skipped over Brisbane in favor of heading up to far north Queensland – a couple of times. Finally, over the last Christmas holiday, we did get to spend a few days in Brisbane. Quite a nice, small city, pretty relaxed, easy to get around.
Never one to leave the camera in the bag, we dragged our friends out to Kangaroo Point Cliffs (or maybe more accurately, they showed us the way). My goal was to get a ‘classic Brisbane skyline’ type shot. I wanted to smooth the water, to give it a bit of glass-look, so I took this shot in a long exposure, with a ND3 neutral density filter. As a result, there was a couple sitting on the rocks in the corner of my picture, and they moved a bit during the shot, which blurred them out – which I kind of like.
Sony A7R IV | Sony 24-70 f/2.8 GM | f/4.5 | 25s | ISO100
Paul Rin Travel Photojournalism 