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Travel snapshots from Toonsarah

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        • The Friendly Friday Challenge: how to join in
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  • About me
    • Contact me
    • ‘Always Write’ interview
    • My love of travel
    • My photography
      • Photographic techniques
      • My photography journey
      • Video
    • Disclaimer & GDPR
  • Archive
  • Home
  • Destinations
    • England
      • London
      • Newcastle-upon-Tyne
    • Europe
      • Albania
      • Austria
      • Bulgaria
      • Estonia
      • France
        • Paris
      • Germany
      • Iceland
      • Italy
      • Jersey
      • Latvia
      • Norway
      • Portugal
      • Spain
        • Seville
      • Switzerland
      • Ukraine
    • Beyond
      • Africa
        • Botswana
        • Cape Verde
        • Gambia
        • Kenya
        • Morocco
        • Namibia
        • Senegal
        • Tanzania
        • Zimbabwe
      • Americas
        • Belize
        • Canada
        • Chile
          • Rapa Nui
        • Colombia
        • Costa Rica
        • Ecuador
          • Galapagos Islands
        • Guatemala
        • Jamaica
        • USA
          • New Mexico
          • New York City
          • Washington State
      • Asia
        • DPRK
        • India
          • Kerala
          • Rajasthan
        • Indochina
          • Cambodia
          • Laos
          • Vietnam
        • Japan
        • Nepal
        • Oman
        • Syria
        • United Arab Emirates
        • Uzbekistan
  • Themes
    • Architecture
    • Art
      • Crafts
      • Street art
    • Colour
    • Dark tourism
    • Eco-tourism
    • Food & drink
    • Gardens
    • History
      • Ruins
      • War
    • Landscape
      • Coast & seascapes
      • Deserts
      • Mountains
      • Rivers
    • Nature and wildlife
      • Animals
      • Birds
      • Plants
        • Flowers
        • Trees, forests and woodland
    • People
      • Culture & tradition
      • Street photography
    • Travel in general
  • Photo galleries
    • Themed galleries
    • Travel galleries
  • Postcards from the road
  • Challenges
    • Photography challenges
      • Just One Person
      • Lens-Artists
      • Mid-week Monochrome
      • Monochrome Madness
      • Nature Photo Challenge
      • One Word Sunday
      • Photographing Public Art
      • Pick a Word
      • Squares
      • Sunday Stills
      • The Changing Seasons
      • Words of Wisdom
      • Cee’s challenges
        • CBWC
        • CFFC
        • CMMC
    • General challenges
      • Monday walks
      • Writers’ Quotes Wednesday
    • Challenges archive
      • Bird Weekly
      • Friendly Friday
        • The Friendly Friday Challenge: how to join in
      • Friday’s Foods of the World
      • Life in Colour
      • One-to-Three
      • Ten photos
      • Thursday Trios
      • Thursday Doors
  • About me
    • Contact me
    • ‘Always Write’ interview
    • My love of travel
    • My photography
      • Photographic techniques
      • My photography journey
      • Video
    • Disclaimer & GDPR
  • Archive

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Topics I’ve touched on

africa animals architecture art birds black_&_white buildings bulgaria cffc chile cities colombia colour costa_rica dprk ealing england flowers france friendlyfriday Friendly_Friday history india just_one_person_from_around_the_world landscape lens-artists Lens_Artists_Challenge london Monday_Walks nepal new_mexico north_korea paris people photography photo_effects PPAC ruins Street_Art Street_Photography Sunday_Stills usa views village wildlife
  • Architecture,  Lens-Artists,  London,  Travel galleries

    Gallery: London from the top of the Shard

    May 28, 2023 / 51 Comments
    View of a city with winding river and skyscrapers

    When the Shard opened in London in 2012 it did so to quite a fanfare, and to a rather damp squib (in my view) of a laser show. But despite the laser show disappointing, the tower never has. Although not to everyone’s taste (the fractured ‘shards’ at the top that give it its name divide opinion), I have always found it striking.

    Carry on reading

    Or what about ...?

    Ornate door and building

    Gallery: the doors of Tallinn

    October 24, 2020
    View of cathedral on far side of river, with large crane

    Rising from the ashes: Notre Dame in 2021

    September 30, 2021
    Blue and green wooden doors

    Gallery: the doors of Nepal

    January 23, 2023
  • Botswana,  Landscape,  Lens-Artists,  Themed galleries,  Zimbabwe

    Gallery: under African skies

    May 21, 2023 / 51 Comments
    Dramatic cloudscape reflected in water

    No two skies are the same, and no single sky stays the same for long. Maybe that’s why, as photographers, we are so drawn to capture them? An ever-evolving, ever captivating subject that is available to us all. We only have to look up!

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    Or what about ...?

    Wetlands in low sun

    Gallery: mokoro rides in the Okavango Delta

    February 3, 2021
    Orange sunset with water reflections

    The sun sets and the sun rises over the Chobe River

    June 21, 2021
    Savannah landscape under blue sky

    A walk on Palm Island: hippos, hogs and crocs

    May 4, 2021
  • Albania,  Lens-Artists,  Photographing Public Art,  Street art,  Travel galleries

    Gallery: boxing clever in Tirana

    May 14, 2023 / 38 Comments
    Two boys cycling past a utility box painted with a figure from South Park

    Opinion is divided on street art / graffiti. Some consider it vandalism, others (including me) enjoy the way it brightens a city. Great street art can be beautiful; it can make you think; it can transform a district. So of course I was on the lookout for street art in Tirana, as I am everywhere I go.

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    Or what about ...?

    White statue of a saint against a blue sky

    Sweet freedoms in Tirana

    May 8, 2023
    Books on a market stall

    A postcard from Tirana: the flea market

    April 24, 2023
    House in a garden with concrete path

    A postcard from Tirana: Enver Hoxha’s former residence

    April 22, 2023
  • Lens-Artists,  Photographic techniques,  Themed galleries

    Gallery: in the mood

    May 7, 2023 / 59 Comments
    Water reflecting grey clouds and pink-tinged sky

    It’s not too difficult to take a photograph of an object, person, animal or scene. Choose your subject, point your camera and press the shutter. A modern camera (or phone) will do all the work for you in terms of making sure the subject is in focus and well exposed. But how do you photograph a mood?

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    Or what about ...?

    Black and white photo of umbrella-shaped seed heads

    Gallery: nature by design

    November 14, 2021
    Clothes hanging on a white wooden door

    Gallery: the Barbara Hepworth Sculpture Garden in St Ives

    April 4, 2021
    Jumble of flat roofed buildings with distant castle and glimpse of sea

    Gallery: looking back at buildings

    January 15, 2023
  • Lens-Artists,  Photographic techniques,  Themed galleries

    Gallery: backlighting to add drama and atmosphere

    May 4, 2023 / 31 Comments
    Looking up at sunlight filtering through trees

    Lighting is everything in photography. It can make an ordinary subject look intriguing, while the lack of it can make an interesting one look dull. Light that falls on your subject from the front will make it look flat and two dimensional. Side lighting is more interesting, creating shadows and bringing out textures. The last option is backlighting, which can be beautiful and dramatic.

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    Or what about ...?

    Balloon over a desert landscape

    Reaching for the sky again in Africa

    April 18, 2021
    Beams of wood painted in bright colours

    Gallery: perfect patterns around the world

    December 12, 2022
    Rough wooden fence

    What a difference a day makes

    February 28, 2021
  • Albania,  Culture & tradition,  Lens-Artists,  Postcards from the road

    A postcard from Tirana: the flea market

    April 24, 2023 / 39 Comments
    Books on a market stall

    Enver Hoxha's regime may be a thing of the past but traces of it remain in odd corners of Tirana, such as this book spotted in the city's flea market.

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    Or what about ...?

    A large 1960s style home

    The legacy of Enver Hoxha

    May 13, 2023
    House in a garden with concrete path

    A postcard from Tirana: Enver Hoxha’s former residence

    April 22, 2023
    White statue of a saint against a blue sky

    Sweet freedoms in Tirana

    May 8, 2023
  • Landscape,  Lens-Artists,  Nature and wildlife,  Themed galleries,  Travel in general

    Gallery: changing environments around the world

    April 16, 2023 / 68 Comments
    Collage of three landscape photos

    My own 'natural' environment is a city. I grew up in London and have lived there most of my adult life too. I enjoy the buzz of city life and the easy access to a wide range of restaurants, galleries and other culture. But when I travel I like to experience totally different environments.

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    Or what about ...?

    Straw hat with pink hibiscus flower

    One of Colombia’s most famous crops

    March 28, 2023
    Mountain landscape

    To touch the sky: the Torres del Paine

    May 30, 2021
    Water reflecting the sky with clouds and low sun

    The sun will come out tomorrow (and I will photograph it)

    November 9, 2020
  • Landscape,  Lens-Artists,  Themed galleries

    Gallery: glowing moments around the world

    April 9, 2023 / 46 Comments
    Steep mountain catching the sun

    When the sun is low in the sky we may feel its heat a little less, but we see it more clearly. The glow of early morning, or just before sunrise, adds warmth to our images. They absorb and reflect its light, taking on a glow of their own.

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    Or what about ...?

    Close up of a green leaf

    Gallery: Seeking patterns in nature

    January 20, 2021
    Straw hat with pink hibiscus flower

    One of Colombia’s most famous crops

    March 28, 2023
    Aerial view of green swampland with river channels

    Video: flying to the Okavango Delta

    February 27, 2021
  • Lens-Artists,  Photographic techniques,  Themed galleries

    Gallery: it’s tricky!

    April 3, 2023 / 44 Comments
    African landscape with mysterious ball

    If tricks are the practice of fools, where does that leave trick photography? The genre is nearly as old as photography itself. Did those early experimenters pave the way for today’s explosion of in-camera and post-editing trickery?

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    Or what about ...?

    Three women in red checked fabric wraps

    The Maasai people of the Ngorongoro Crater

    January 25, 2021
    Street with low houses and woman carrying a basket

    Weird and wonderful: forbidden culture in Cuenca

    October 24, 2021
    Collage of three photos

    Lens Artists Challenge: picking favourites

    July 30, 2022
  • Dark tourism,  DPRK,  Lens-Artists,  War

    Dreaming of reunification in North Korea

    March 26, 2023 / 31 Comments
    Row of huts in front of a larger modern building

    Travel is all about experiences. They may seem quite small at the time, like a chance but memorable encounter with a local person that changes your perspective on the world. Or they may seem huge, visiting an iconic world sight that you’ve dreamed about seeing for years. But whether large or small, long-planned for or serendipitous, the experiences of travel are, in my opinion, among the best to be found.

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    Or what about ...?

    Large statues of North Korean Leaders with visiting locals

    Gallery: statues of the Great Leaders

    February 20, 2021
    Huge statues of young women holding a stone map above an empty road

    The Monument to the Three Charters for National Reunification

    September 18, 2021
    Long empty tunnel with subdued lighting

    Jersey under occupation: the War Tunnels

    July 28, 2021
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Read my featured blogger interview

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By Marsha of 'Always Write'

And my answers to Bren’s ‘five at five’ questions

Lady in a hat and red top sitting on rocks

Some favourite photos

Man in a turban with fishing nets
Fisherman in Fort Kochi, Kerala
Two elephants in long grass
Okavango elephants
Blue glacier edge
Glacier Grey, Torres del Paine, Chile
Elderly woman in black hat and sunglasses
In Santiago, Chile
Very large statues of North Korean Leaders
Statues of the Great Leaders on Mansudae Hill, Pyongyang
Water reflecting the sky with clouds and low sun
Approaching sunset in the Okavango Delta
Feet of huge metal sculpture, with man standing beside
The feet of the Angel
Large moai with row of more behind
The ‘travelling moai’ and Ahu Tongariki
Man in knitted hat by water, black and white photo
Waiting for the ferry, Banjul
Mountain reflected in a lake
On the road to Dyrholaey
Sunset at Wahiba Sands, Oman
Squirrel with a conker in his mouth
In Walpole Park, Ealing
Silhouette of a man in a gateway
Looking out from Bundi Palace
Blue and pink bird on a dead tree
Lilac-breasted Roller, Chobe NP, Botswana
Buddhist monk in orange robes with mobile phone
Monk at Wat Nong Sikhounmuang, Luang Prabang
Man sleeping in a tuk tuk by a carved stone wall
Tuk tuk driver by the Terrace of the Leper King
Close up of flamingo with head tucked under
Flamingo (Jersey Zoo)
Lady with baskets of fruit sitting by a canal
In Hoi An, Vietnam
Small fishing boat with a man in it, on a large lake
Lake Atitlan
Wet street and two people with bright pink umbrella
Street in Lucca, rainy day – edited

Some topics I’ve touched on

africa animals architecture art birds black_&_white buildings bulgaria cffc chile cities colombia colour costa_rica dprk ealing england flowers france friendlyfriday Friendly_Friday history india just_one_person_from_around_the_world landscape lens-artists Lens_Artists_Challenge london Monday_Walks nepal new_mexico north_korea paris people photography photo_effects PPAC ruins Street_Art Street_Photography Sunday_Stills usa views village wildlife

Archive

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You may have missed

  • A postcard from Norway: crossing the Arctic Circle
  • Gallery: a May selection (2023)
  • Gallery: London from the top of the Shard
  • Gallery: finding peace while travelling
  • Gallery: finding peace in the park

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All images and texts copyright Sarah Wilkie - 2023 ©
 

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