Elina Fuhrman is the Orbitz Travel Blog’s travel artist of the month. Each week we will feature a series of photographs from her collection. Before we share her photographs, we asked Elina to share a little about herself. (more…)
The falls on the way down from Half Dome.
It happened a lot like this. I get a call from my best mate Jackie at 3 p.m. on a Thursday. “I have a plan,” she says. “I have three days left over on this week-long pass that I bought to enter Yosemite Valley. I think we should do Half Dome — I think we should do it at night. I read a bunch of articles about it; this could be seriously legit.”
This is standard Jackie.
“I’m in,” I reply. “What do I need to know?”
JD was at my door that night armed with carabiners, freeze-dried lasagna, Mylar blankets, extra headlamp batteries and enough hype to overkill the mellow wine buzz I was trying to offer her as compensation for her efforts. She unpacked her bag, spreading out a plethora of magazine tears and topo maps, nearly covering the surface of my kitchen counter, and over the next 45 minutes we scheduled our plan.
Traveling “far away” in my own neighborhood is one of my favorite things to do. This week I went sailing — practically in my own backyard — without even having to book a San Francisco hotel.
Melissa Fuller is the Orbitz Travel Blog’s travel artist of the month. Each week we will feature a series of photographs from her collection. Before we share her photographs, we asked Melissa to share a little about herself.
I took the sage advice of my corporately employed single mother: “Melissa, I want you to do something you LOVE. It’s not worth it any other way.” And so it became ingrained in my head that work is synonymous with adventuring. And if you can do it making art along the way, then heck, you’re doing all right.
That seed, planted at an early age, was nourished with the developer and fix bath of a shoddy high school dark room and really took root in college, where I studied photography, film and video in tandem with global development. My inclination toward documenting and exploring became the driving force behind what has now become my work, my passion, and my way of meditation. Taking photographs and seeing into different cultures and ways of life not only inspires me to open my eyes wide, but it also helps me to grasp the simplicity of this place and time we are so lucky to be a part of.
Melissa Fuller earned her bachelor of science from the University of California, Berkeley, where she studied word and image theory with an emphasis in photography. Her work has been featured in National Geographic’s “There and Back” readers series and for TOMS shoes for tomorrow blog. Melissa has traveled around the United States and abroad as production staff for several networks, including, A&E, VH1, MTV and ABC. See more of her work on her blog.
I went on an amazing international vacation — an African safari to see some of the world’s most prized national wonders: Arusha National Park, Ngorogoro Crater, the Serengeti National Park and Tarangire National Park.
Zebra graze on the hillside at Ngorogoro Crater.
We spent our days cruising in the sun under the popped top of a converted 4×4 Eurovan hunting for sightings of hippo, elephant, gazelle, rhino, giraffe, and lion. We didn’t have to hunt terribly hard.
By Emma Simmons
Indian Lighthouse
Even though I was born in Texas, I grew up in Maine-Midcoast Maine, to be exact-with a camera constantly in my hand, chasing the sun day in and day out. I was lucky to often see the sun sitting high above the water of The Penobscot Bay; there is something truly beautiful about that high northern sun hitting that bay, whether it is light diffused through thick summer fog or late afternoon rays hitting the lobster boats and leaving magnificent reflections in the water. It was these experiences with the Maine light-not to mention some of the most magnificent landscapes in the U.S.-that moved my love of photography from a hobby into a career.
In my images of Maine, I try to capture all of the five senses, whether through the crisp salty air, the sight of an electric blue hue in the sky 30 minutes after sunset, the smell of a beautiful steaming lobster or the feel of wet moss after a summer rainstorm. The feelings that can come from some of these images are as close to serenity as I can shoot.
I have traveled to many distant places and photographed the landscape and people, however Maine always holds a favorite place in my heart. The challenge I continue to run into, however, is that it is all too familiar; I have to find something different out of a view that, fortunately, has become ordinary to me. These images you are viewing here were taken not far from where I grew up, reminding me that you do not have to go far to capture something beautiful. It can be in your own backyard.
Maine lobster straight from The Penobscot Bay
By Emma Simmons
Fes, Marrakech, the Atlas Mountains, Essaouira: It all sounded so exotic that I traveled to Morocco in an attempt to capture everything I had read and heard about over the years. This country that hugs the northwestern coast of Africa offered even more to the naked eye—and to experience it on the ground gave way to more than any magazine story could convey.
I traveled by train and private car (a surprisingly cheap and recommended method of transportation) throughout the country, stopping often to explore and photograph the small towns between the big cities. In the 10 days between leaving my apartment in New York and touching back down on U.S. soil, I roamed many souks (markets) tucked inside each city’s medina (ancient quarter). The souks offered incredible shopping opportunities and even better photographs; the display and color of leather goods and shoes, pyramids of spices in tin cans and beautiful yarn hanging to dry mesmerized me. On a typical day, I would set off with just my camera and get lost in a maze of small shops with Moroccan souvenirs, beautiful fabrics and clothing all for a great bargain.
In addition to being a photographer I am a self-proclaimed foodie and tea connoisseur. In terms of food and drink Morocco did not disappoint and is high on my list in comparison to the culinary experiences on previous travels. Moroccans drink sweetened mint tea poured high from a silver teapot like we drink our grande macchiatos and lattes; there is always an endless supply. The smells that waft through the air in the courtyards of the medinas are intoxicating: a combination of various spices like cinnamon, saffron, ginger and paprika, and meats, including lamb and beef, being seared on the grill. Medinas, such as the Jemaa el Fna in Marrakech, offer hundreds of booths that serve local fare, like couscous, tagine and harira.
Although I cannot share with you the smells and tastes of my adventure, I can show you what I saw and experienced. Below you will find the evidence of my journey—a mélange of people, places, colors and textures that offer a window into the lives of the Moroccan people.
Man taking a break inside a medina in Fes
The fishing village of Essaouira
by Emma Simmons
In the fall of October 2008, I traveled to Kashmir, India with my photography mentor, John Isaac, to assist a photography workshop through the Maine Media Workshops. Kashmir was a place I wasn’t sure I would be so lucky to experience at my age due to the current turmoil which has happened in the past years. In the past few years John had traveled back and forth roughly fifteen times for his book “The Vale of Kashmir.” It was John’s stories and descriptions of the landscape, both beautiful and serene that inspired me to join him on his next journey.
For photographers like myself, it is hard to describe an experience, a special place, or a culture with only words. Instead, I allow my photographs to speak for themselves. Spending eight nights on a beautiful houseboat on Dal Lake in Srinigar, Kashmir, we spent our days waking up at sunrise to the call of prayer and enjoying a nice cup of Kashmiri tea before venturing around the beautiful country. Whether it was the floating market that was its own little oasis on the Dal Lake at 5am, or driving up into the high mountains and stopping in small rural towns, I was completely taken aback by the sincerity and kindness of the people whom I photographed in their natural surroundings.
Man pulling rootstocks for the floating garden on Dal Lake, Srinigar, Kashmir
Kangan, Kashmir
A family walking through the village of Rezan, Kashmir
School girls in Kashmir
Photo by Richard Curtis
Emma Simmons is the Orbitz Travel Blog’s travel artist of the month. Each week we will feature a series of photographs from her collection. Before we share her amazing photographs, we asked Emma to share a little about herself.
By Emma Simmons
Ever since I can remember, I have had a camera in my hand. What started as a hobby of photographing landscapes, sunsets and the contrast and shadows they cast, has now turned into a career in photography.
The catalyst for pursuing a career in photography was a trip to Tanzania after I graduated from Colorado College in 2006. For three months I volunteered at a day care and orphanage. Throughout this time I realized the extraordinary opportunity I had to see and capture a side of these people’s lives intangible to most tourist and travelers. This is where my camera came in handy. (more…)
By Vicky Alkhovsky
When looking for a good spring ski vacation destination, the Canadian Rockies quickly came to mind. I’d always wanted see Banff, so staying at Lake Louise and skiing nearby was the natural choice.
Though the traditional blues and greens of Lake Louise are spectacular, there is a grace and serenity to the quiet, snowy landscape visible from the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise at the base of the lake.
Sights along 1A in Banff National Park speak for themselves in the language of breathtaking beauty. Several inches of fresh snow enhanced every view. Check out my photos:
Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.
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When Vicky Alkhovsky isn’t working as a software engineer at Orbitz, she’s off to find her next outdoor adventure.
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