Petra by candlelight

Continuing our focus on Jordan this week, I wanted to share with you this image of The Treasury at night. We’d timed our trip to ensure that we could attend the moonlit walk through the Siq to the Treasury, and what an experience it was. The entire path was lit with thousands of candles which cast dancing shadows across the landscape and illuminated intense patches of pink rock. Everyone was silent – talking was discouraged.

Awed by the spectacle, Alistair and I soon fell to the back of the group and the guides walked right past us. Allowing the group to progress without us, we became alone. Walking hand in hand in the candlelight it was one of the most romantic experiences on earth.

The entire walk took us about an hour – we stopped frequently to take pictures, marvel at the rock houses and stare at the beautiful moon. When we turned the last corner of the Siq we stopped to catch our breath – in front of us was the Treasury, illuminated by hundreds of candles. We took a seat on the warm floor and listened to local folklore and songs. After half an hour it was time to return – but Ali and I decided to stay behind, we wanted the Treasury to ourselves. Amazingly everyone left very quickly and we were soon alone again, daunted by the incredibly Treasury once more. We walked slowly among the candles, enjoying the silence and the spectacle. This image (above) is engraved into my memory from that evening.

If you like this picture, please feel free to share using the social media links provided.

For more images of Jordan, visit the Taraji Blue Jordan photo gallery.

You can also show your support for Taraji Blue by liking us on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/tarajiblue following us on twitter https://twitter.com/TarajiBlue and connecting with Alistair and myself on Google+

Our very own Indiana Jones experience

This week, at Taraji Blue, we focus on the incredible country of Jordan. We will share our favourite photos and experiences here on the Taraji Blue blog. I wanted to kick start with this iconic image of Petra as glimpsed through the Siq.

This was our first glimpse of the marvellous Treasury which was immortalised in the Indiana Jones movie. I had practically raced through the Siq, desperate to see it in the light of dawn. It’s immense and incredibly beautiful. As the sun rises it gradually bathes the Treasury in a soft amber light which accentuates the pink of the stone and casts shadows which dance across the walls. If you get there at the crack of dawn you can enjoy the whole thing practically to yourself. Just make sure you return at sunset for the repeat performance.

If you like this picture, please feel free to share using the social media links provided.

For more images of Jordan, visit the Taraji Blue Jordan photo gallery.

You can also show your support for Taraji Blue by liking us on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/tarajiblue following us on twitter https://twitter.com/TarajiBlue and connecting with Alistair and myself on Google+

You can also show your support for Taraji Blue by liking us on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/tarajiblue following us on twitter https://twitter.com/TarajiBlue and connecting with Alistair and myself on Google+ gplus.to/aknock

Taraji Blue photo galleries – relaunched!

After investing in new photo processing software we’ve been busy re-doing many of our photo galleries and have been gradually re-releasing them over the course of the last few months. Every launch is shared in the Taraji Blue photo gallery and showcased on our Taraji Blue facebook page, so be sure to like us to receive the latest updates.

Recent re-releases include;

• The Taraji Blue Jordan photo gallery
• The Taraji Blue Costa Rica collection
• The Taraji Blue USA photo galleries, including Boston, Chicago, Florida and USA West.

As ever, we welcome your feedback and comments on our photography.

Satisfying the bucket list

We’ve had a great start to 2013 – we’ve managed to see and photograph many a species in the UK including Grey Herons, Great Crested Grebes, cute Goslings, Buzzards, Ospreys, Oystercatchers and Gannets.

We’ve also been lucky enough to locate and photograph a subject I’d never seen before in the wild – the UK Red Squirrel. I had longed to see these magnificent creatures for so long, and we struck lucky on a weekend in the UK Lake District. We were supposed to be photographing and observing the mighty Ospreys, but the cheeky Red Squirrels darting around our feet were far too distracting and our attention turned to photographing them. I must admit – the environment was less than perfect – they had been baited by some nuts, and the afternoon sun (a rare sight in the UK) was very bright indeed, making it very difficult to capture the perfect shot. But we persevered and, whilst these are not my best shots, they are all I have to prove I saw and spent time with these fantastic creatures – and for that reason, I am sharing them on this blog today. We’d still be there now if it wasn’t for our car parking ticket running out!

If you like this picture, please feel free to share using the social media links provided. You can also see more of our Red Squirrel shots on our newly launched “Springtime in the UK” photo collection.

You can also show your support for Taraji Blue by liking us on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/tarajiblue following us on twitter https://twitter.com/TarajiBlue and connecting with Alistair and myself on Google+