Group Travel - "Jamaica"

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Group Travel - "Jamaica"

Group Travel has become a very popular way to travel among friends, and other like minded people that want that dream vacation but don't want to break the bank. It is hands down the best way to travel to a new destination. There is a pre-trip meeting where you meet a bunch of people going on your journey, the bonding at the airport, and of course the friendships you take home with you.

Our group consisted of 28 people from Northern California, Southern California, Chicago, and Florida. There might have been another location involved as well that I can not name off hand. This group ranged in ages from 13 to who'. A good diversity in personalities and personal interests, but all there for an experience that may only happen once at a particular destination. I can highly recommend reaching out to your local travel agent to find out about any group trips forming in the not to distant future. Or if you have your own group simply set the dates. Great times.

Our trip to Ocho Rios Jamica was absolutely awesome. The people of Jamaica are very kind, relaxed, and have a sense of humor that doesn't quite. Every local that I had personal contact with was more then willing to tell you the history, good places to eat, and a good place to go for night life.

We stayed at the Riu which was a 4 star hotel located right on the beach. The beautiful white sand beach led out to 80+ degree water that was crystal clear. A perfect get away for the beach lover. Activities at the resort were not limited to: Volleyball, aqua aerobics, game shows, dance parties, and snorkeling to name a few.

Dare to adventure the real essence of Jamaica and visit the shopping located just minutes away. Be ready to buy tons of stuff because the people of Jamaica know how to run a bargain and let you know about it. There is also horseback riding, zip lining, river tubing, and off road vehicals that are tons of fun!

I would recommend a personal tour guide for your first time. I met Seymore Samuels who had the island down pat, and whish I would have met him at the beggining of our trip. A very knowledgable person who can show you anything you'd like to see or learn about Jamaica.

Personally a return to Jamaica would be a no brainer. With Jerk Chicken, warm weather, fulled by positive vibes, "every'ting be irie, yah-mon."

If you would like more information about contacting Seymore Samuels for a guide please feel free to drop me line at jurphotographer@gmail.com.

The photos that appear above were my favorites from the trip. The island is not camera shy whatsoever, and would take a life to truely capture it's beauty.


To hire JurPhotographer for commercial travel work please feel free to contact him through his website www.jurphotographer.com or the email address above. Thanks again for visiting the Tripod Diaries.

SRJC Photgraphy

SRJC Photgraphy, a group on Flickr.

The SRJC Photography Group is in full effect!! Come join the group if your SRJC student. Drop me an email and jurphotographer@gmail.com with your flickr id and what semester/photography class you've taken. I look forward to building this group further!

Artist Direct Prints!!

Sonoma County Sunset was taken while I was out on a photo shoot with a great couple who recently got engaged. They were looking for a very simple and natural look. So we headed out to one of my favorite places to photograph (shhhhhh.. it's a secret) couples. Towards the end of the shoot I turned around to witness this scene. The great gold glow of California Sunsets can not be beat.  You can purchase this print with a White or Sandstone matte ready to be placed into your favorite fame (frames not included, however; if you'd like please send me an email and I will work something out in the price for your).




Sugargloaf State Park is home to a beautiful waterfall in the Sonoma County area. It's located on highway 12, nesteled in the heart of Sonoma's Wine Country, and provides great hiking as well as camping. This photo was one of my very first landscape images that really made me take a look at the type of photography I wanted to get into. To this day it's one of my favorite images.

If your interested in purchasing prints please feel free to visit the Prints Gallery page at www.jurphotographer.com

Thanks for stopping by!!

Buy Now!!

It's officially official!! I stayed up all night last night up dating the website with Buy Now buttons from Paypal, and currently taking on the tasking of becoming a paid photographer specializing in fine art landscape, stock, and small event/portrait photography sessions.




I was completely inspired by the Rodney Lough Jr. gallery near peer 39, and decided to stop slacking and get this show on the road!

We are going to kick this new function of the jurphotographer website with this panoramic image of the Bodega Head in Bodega Bay California. 50% of the proceeds will go towards charity and the fight against Breast Cancer.

Hang Art for a cure!!

Visit the Buy now page for Bodega Pano to purchase a print and support the fight against Breast Cancer.

Thanks for visiting the Tripod Diaries.

The River 2011

The River this year was an amazing experience with tons of good people, food, and entertaining conversations. Of course that's to be expected now a days. This was my second year out with the Dudes, and I'll tell you it's a riot of fun. The first year I got skunked because Costco lost my rolls of film that I had developed, and wouldn't you know it this year I didn't get skunked par-say, but I got a grand total of two photos. That's right two. I took these the first night we were there and later that same night the shutter release cable was never released. Thus the battery was killed over the course of 5 or 6 hours while I slept. You can't win them all is what they say, however; packing the back up batteries to your camera is essential to success. Problem for me was my back up batteries didn't arrive on time to even charge let alone put them in the bag.

Lesson: Go out and buy some back up batteries for your camera as soon as your finished reading this article. If you take photography seriously you will not wait until 4 days before you leave (I waited until there was only 5 days) to purchase, charge, and then test those batteries to make sure they are in good working order. At that point you will be confident in said such batteries and can put them into your camera bag before journeys such as this.

Of course not all was lost on this exploration into the wilderness. I created a small video using the trusty iPhone and a movie editor apps called Splice. Once I receive a few more snap shots from fellow journey men I'll up load the video to tell the story.

Thanks again for checking out the tripod diaries.

BlogPress App for iPhone

So here we are testing the BlogPress App for iPhone on the Tripod Diaries. I'll be using this app from time to time to chronicle the adventures as they unfold. This first entry is all about test and preparation for the short backpack trip into the low Sierras. I've packed my pack for 2 1/2 days in the wild near a beautiful river with some close friends. I'll be using the CompuRover Aw from Lowepro with a twist on the traditional placement of gear and the addition of 2 bungie chords. I'll be taking a Nikon D80, the kit lens, 70-300mm Sigma, tripod, cable release, 3 camera batteries, Nikon speed light, and a multi use reflector. Also strapped up will be a tent, sleeping bag rolled with clothes, 3 days of food, flash light, and a single Coleman Lantern.





I'll keep things current with pics from Jurs Phone Phone, and upload the photography photos when I get back.

Thanks goes out to Lowepro for the hook up on such a versatile bag to work with. It really can carry everything including the kitchen sink.


via iPhone
www.jurphotographer.com

Location:California 116,Cotati,United States

Troubled with Available Light

Using only the light available to you at the time of capture can be a great way to express the mood, or state of mind of a person that you are photographing. This example is a photo of my younger brother who hasn't had the best opportunities in life. Since the age of 15 he has been in and out of juvenile hall, boys homes, and  prison systems all over California.

He has been troubled by drugs and bad influences across the board since a very early age. He does what he can to stay afloat, and it's not working a 9-5 job that most of us would be happy with. The power and self destructive power mentally and physically make him an intimidating person, however; his ability to permanently or knowingly hurt another person is furthest from his heart. He just does what he has too in the moment. 

When we took this photo it was about 1am, and he was explaining to me that this would be the last time we would see each other. While I assured him otherwise, he sat at the computer desk, the desk lamp was silhouetting his profile fairly well, and I couldn't resist grabbing my camera. Just before I snapped this photo he grabbed a lighter as if he was going to light his cigar assuring me he wasn't actually going to light it. The result has great balance of light and shadow, a good hard edged profile of his face, and the symbolism (at least on a personal level) at the time was this feeling of love and being within a serene moment knowing that at least until the sun came up we could be us. Brothers.