When Life Gives you Rain, Dance with It - Los Angeles Travel Photographer

As much as I enjoyed watching kids and kids at heart play in the downpour, I was wishing that the rain would stop before our afternoon expedition in a skiff.  when my wish was not granted, I went out anyway, camera equipments in tow.

I'm glad that I did not let the weather deter me from my meeting with the wild lives.  Or else, I wouldn't have met the ones that still showed up despite "the inconvenience", especially this striated heron.  In him, I saw my unrivaled determination (shameless pat in the back) as the only one on the skiff with a "somewhat water-proof" camera that day. :-)  

As the late Vivian Greene put it, “Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass...It's about learning to dance in the rain.”  How do you like the dance that I improvised? ;-)

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I'm Torned by Decisions - Los Angeles Travel Photographer

Sometimes, I feel like this bird, being torned by many decisions (or rather, being trapped by them), trying to decide which branch to take.  Today, I have one of those moments.  

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Just been back from an adventurous trip from South America, I have so many stories to tell and a great number of images to share.  I can't decide where to start.  Then, I remembered a fine lady that I met on this trip who said, in Serbia, there's a saying "You can't sit on two seats at once".  Inability to make decision is no excuse for no decision, isn't it?

Alright, why not start by sharing where the journey began.  The below image was made in the late afternoon when we arrived in Nauta, where we boarded the boat for the Amazon voyage.  Under the sky that was on fire, birds were flying back to their nests and people were going home in their canoes.  To them, tomorrow is another day.  For us, it's a whole new world waiting for us.  

To come along with the journey, feel free to sign up to our bi-weekly newsletter on the upper-right corner of this page.  Warning, emotional moments may be ahead. :-)

Bon voyage!  

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Is There only Penguins in Antarctica? - Los Angeles Travel Photographer

As I've mentioned in this Instagram post, "there's no time for down time" on this Antarctica trip.  Sometimes, it means having to finish dinner quickly, in spite of yummy food and interesting conversation, to meet the school of humpback whales.  

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At first, it seemed that we were the ones approaching these whales, which newly arrived from their wintering grounds off the west coast of South and Central America.  Their skin glitter under the setting sun while we witnessed them porpoise ahead of us.  Soon, we realized that they were the ones in control, especially the three that could be circling the ship in one minute and playing hide-and-seek the next.  Our eyes looked hard into the ocean as if our vision could peel through the cold and dark surface.  Just as we thought we got a hang of knowing where they show up next, a very showy one decided to raise its "hand" to say hi, only then to flap hard into the water.  And he'd do it again and again, as we exclaimed in awe.   What a flirt! :-)

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Now, the parting question I have for you is, based on this graph, are these the same whales that we have seen in the Pacific ocean off of California lately?  And why?