(originally posted at www.kirstylarmourblog.com)
My love of photography really blossomed through travel – and I’ve always loved to take lots of detail shots (ask my brother about my collection of photos of roman toilets!!). At heart, I’m not really a landscape photographer and never will be. I love the close up’s, the nitty gritty, the colours, the textures, the random patterns, maybe the things other people don’t take photos of so much (hmm… like ancient toilets!!). Here are a few of my Jordanian detail shots.
 I LOVE this one of the beads – and I’m wondering why I didn’t twist my husband’s arm to buy me some….??? Just looking at this salad again makes my mouth water – and the sheesha guy I saw on a wall one day and then made my sister in law drive back about 20 miles with me the next day so I could get a pic (thanks Jo!) – I wonder if he’s called Toto, or the artist? My Mum always takes pictures of flowers, wherever she goes, so these are for you Mum, to make you smile today.Updates on the beautiful children of Abu Dhabi will resume soon, I promise, so, until then, Kirsty x
(originally posted at www.kirstylarmourblog.com)
One of the things I love when I look at other photographers sites is seeing what they do when they’re “off duty” – it gives you a sense of what that person is really like. Well we had an awesome holiday to Jordan so I’m going to post just a few of my piccies. I don’t take my big fancy lenses and stuff when we go away – who can carry a 1.5kg lens and a back up camera when they have a 16 month old on their back??!!! That said, if you love taking photographs then you’re certainly not going to stop just because you’re on holiday. So I didn’t….!
Right now I’m only going to post a few from Petra – which was just wow. You walk down the siq, which is like this long rock carved corridor, and then there, at the end is the famed Treasury – amazing. These first few are from the walk down to the siq, then in the siq and the first view of the Treasury (with another photographer in the way!!! He managed to carry a tripod so obviously didn’t have kids!) And, yes, the sky really was that blue – no photoshop magic – it was just divine.Round the back we saw this man and his camels coming towards us. There were camels and horses and donkeys everywhere – which made a great “spot the animal” game for the kids!!
We then wandered up (following the donkeys) to the Royal Tombs. I loved the patterns on the ceilings of the tombs – very cool.
More donkeys…
We got chatting to the owner of one of the cafes and whilst doing so he plied T and me with coffee and gave the kids toy camels – I have to say, the people in Jordan were some of the nicest I’ve met anywhere; so friendly and helpful and hospitable…We were filthy by the time we got back!!! Saffy was a little trooper – she walked miles – check out the feet!!
I went in to Petra 3 times altogether – including a night time walk by candlelight – sooooo atmospheric. Excuse the photos, (I needed a tripod cos these were 10 second exposures – it’s kinda tough to hold a camera still for that long!!!) but flash photos just wouldn’t do the beauty of it any justice.So the final time I went back in was late one afternoon, and there was no one around – WOWEEEEE – and what does a photographer Mummy do at a world famous site with no one but you and a few camels around? She makes her 16 month old perform for a photo shoot – work it Indy!!! (oh, and while on the subject of Indy – bearing in mind some of Indiana Jones was filmed at Petra, can you imagine how many times the theme tune was hummed as we wandered around the ruins???)
Hey Girls, this is MY shoot!!!One last look at the Treasury in the late afternoon sun.So, that’s our Petra trip – I’ll try and add a few more Jordan photos in a few days,
bye for now, Kirsty x
till then….
We finished up our 2008 travels with a trip to Delhi and Amritsar……
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We travelled to Delhi in December 2008 to stay with our friends Marty and Melanie. We changed our travel plans a little after the Mumbai terrorist attacks and didn’t take trains as we had originally planned and instead flew to Amritsar in north west India, very close to the Pakistan border. We’ve been wanting to go there for ages and it was every bit as amazing as we hoped for. The Golden Temple rates up there with the Taj Mahal as one of the most amazing sights in India. I don’t have much time to write a full travelogue so here’s a selection of small pictures from our trip.
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Saffy on her Frieda cow at AD airport
The Qutb Minar in Delhi – a minaret almost 1000 years old
both of us with a child on our backs, getting mobbed by schoolgirls
The crowds on the India Pakistan border at Wagah
There were comperes with microphones getting the crowds going and the chants of “Pakistan” “Hindustan” echoed back and forth across the border gates which made for a football crowd atmosphere!
The girls both had India flags! Saffy waved hers but Indy’s was used to experiment with the 2 new teeth that grew that week!
Many pilgrims – including Tommy, Saffy, Melanie and Marty
washing feet
volunteers help out preparing food
queuing to get across the Gurus bridge
peace and craziness all at the same time
Inside the hotel
The courtyard |
At the Qutb Minar
Amritsar
A big deal is made of shutting the border between India and Pakistan for the night. There is fierce rivalry between the guards who try to outdo each other and all strut around like peacocks. It was a brilliant spectacle!
High kicks “ministry of silly walks” style are a big part of the ceremony!
There was a lot of butt cheek clenching going on!
Groupies!
We went to see the Golden Temple in Amritsar for the first time by night. It was breathtaking.
There is a ceremony each evening where the Sikh holy book (the Guru Granth Sahib) gets put to bed. Saffron thought this was a great concept and asked if the chanting that was going on was the people reading a bedtime story to the book.
When we went back again the next day she also asked if the book would be awake yet!
First view by day
Entrance to the kitchen and dining room, which serves upto 40,000 meals per day, all for free and with pilgrims volunteering
vats of daal and cupboards full of chapatti’s
One of my fave pics… a quiet moment in all the craziness
One last look……
Daddy and his girls on the swing in the courtyard of our hotel
Melanie and Marty getting Indigo cuddles
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Daddy and Indy out for dinner
Indigo on Mummy’s back
Lunch break in Delhi
The gate is opened and we can see the Pakistan border guards on the other side
Lowering the flags
There was lots of cheek pinching and photo calls for both girls, who took it very much in their strides for the most part.
plates all stacked up
Marty and Melanie making friends
some more photocalls for Kirsty and Indigo
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As ever, we loved being in vibrant, alive, bustling India and came back planning our next trip…. which you can see here…
Kirsty x
Posted in India,Life,Photography,Ramblings,the kids,TravelTags: baby travel,backpacking,budget travel,family travel,india,outdoors,photography,ramblings
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by Kirsty