The Glass Pillars of Jade Mountain

All around the Jade Mountain resort are pillars with colorful glass structures rising to the sky.  It is so hard to describe the beauty of them so what's better than a photo.  I took this shot from the Celestial Terrace (my fav spot of the resort).  St. Lucia was hit by Hurricane Tomas on October 31 and had some considerable damage all of the island.  I did notice that some of the pillars were bare, maybe destroyed from the hurricane.  I was very impressed with how the resort looked considering the hurricane.  Kudos to the staff on the repairs and cleanup. 

Sunset at the Celestial Terrace - Jade Mountain

I am still trying to get through my honeymoon photo set from St. Lucia.  With Christmas over I have been able to sort through the keepers and the ones that will be deleted forever.  This photo is from the Celestial Terrace at Jade Mountain Resort.  I was so blown away from this place. I will still be planning a review as I would love to convince anyone to visit this incredible get away in the Caribbean Sea.  On top of the resort and the restaurant at "Jade" is the Celestial Terrace.  Here you can relax on comfy couches and watch the sunrise, the sunset or the billions of stars you can see at night.  

Sunset in Northern Pennsylvania

I was driving home from a long day on one of our natural gas well sites and I saw some amazing colour erupting in the sky.  I always have my camera with me on my trips to the field for reasons just like this.  Pennsylvania is a beautiful place.  I was worried about leaving my home in Calgary in June and leaving all the great photo scenes on my list to do.  Now here in PA, I'm starting over.  There is no grid system for roads in place, no shoulders on the roads to pull over, and so much of the land is private property.  But these challenges bring much gratification when you work hard to get a result you are looking for.

Roberto Clemente Wall

I would have not known it had I not gone to the Pittsburgh Pirates game with some fans of the team.  The "21" on the right field wall are tribute toRoberto Clemente, who is quite simply the most celebrated Pirates player in history.

 

Tragically, Roberto Clemente's life ended on December 31, 1972 in a plane crash while en route to Nicaragua with relief supplies for earthquake victims. Always the humanitarian, Clemente was on the plane to make sure the clothing, food and medical supplies weren't stolen, as had happened with previous flights. The rickety plane went down off the coast of San Juan shortly after takeoff, and Roberto's body was never found.

 

In honor of him, the PNC Park right field wall is 21 feet tall, which was his jersey number.

Sunset at PNC Park

First time at the Pittsburgh Pirates Game.  The Pirates had no luck with the Atlanta Braves, but the sunset hitting the clouds was quite nice.  Much better than the actual baseball game for sure!  This ball park is gorgeous and has amazing viewpoints where ever you sit!

Summer Sunset in Troy, PA

The Pennsylvanian landscape is awesome.  Tons of hills and greenery all around.  Here is a shot I took after a long day of fraccing.  Don't call me a nut, I always carry my camera around with me during my trips to the field. I was lucky to get this shot before it started storming. If you look close on the left hill or mountain the locals call it, there are wind turbines.  Several of them are up there and will be popping up on here soon.

Autumn Sunset

The days are getting shorter and that means sunrise and sunset are more easy to get to for picture taking.  Not that I hate getting up early, but 5 am to get a great sunrise can be a stretch! Here are the eastern slopes of the Rockies north of Cochrane,AB. I took as a 1 minute exposure with a 5 stop ND filter.

©Matt Graham 2009 - Autumn Sunset

Canon Digital Rebel XSi
Canon EF 17-40 mm F/4L USM at 38 mm
60 sec at F/6.3 (0 EV)
Singh-Ray 5-stop Solid Neutral Density filter

Buffalo Lake Sunset

I recently went to Buffalo Lake over the Heritage Day long weekend in August.  I wanted to catch a great sunset and I was treated. 

©Matt Graham 2009 - Buffalo Lake Sunset August 2009Canon Digital Rebel XSi
Canon EF 24-105 mm F/4L USM at 65 mm
1/4 sec at F/11 (-1 1/3 EV)
Singh-Ray 3 stop ND Soft Grad