FC2Video

A montage of our trip to the Galapagos Islands.

Thornbury Castle Montage

Katharine's slideshow of still photos

Kathy's slideshow of still photos

Some beautiful forest, and a view of the falls from the overlook. Video of the signs explaining the geologic history of the area. You can hit "pause" if you want to read the signs.

The camera shy family, and probably the worst footage of the highest waterfall east of the Rocky Mountains (55` higher than Niagara Falls). I should have taken the camera off the "Poor Man's Steadicam" for this segment, and I need to get some protective yet translucent cover for the camera for heavy mist and light rain circumstances.

Different video environments for "Poor Man's Steadicam". A former abutment for something, now just sitting massively in the river. More "conventional" foot trail. Footprints in the water. The underside of a tree: what roots look like without dirt. Steep, glacier-carved cliffs. More "adventure" trail along the side of the river.

You can't get the sheer steep cliff effect on video. The massive tree roots growing horizontally are just not awe-inspiring no matter how HDTV you set is. The camera continues to fly over the gentle steps of water, until I can go no further.

Literally walking up the stream, I didn't care for the water splashing up at the camera in it's low position on the "Poor Man's Steadicam". As I walked up the shallow river, I could imagine creative audio editing laying a helicopter soundtrack over this footage; except for the other park visitors walking in the stream bed, this illusion might work.

This segment contains one really long tracking shot, from puppy's eye level, running backward. Video camera still at the bottom of the "Poor Man's Steadicam". As noted in another segment, it was advantageous to have the camera's microphone away from my voice to prevent audio spikes on playback. The flip side to this issue is that the camera's microphone is close to my boots as I walk on the rocks, for a prominent "crunch, crunch, crunch" on playback. Lesson to be learned when camera is in the bottom position of the "Poor Man's Steadicam": walk on the grass! At the end of this segment, I had much better results in reaching down to smoothly zoom in.

A long, smooth tracking shot, from the puppy's eye level. Watching the kids skip rocks, from the water's point of view! Really unique and visually interesting angles allowed with the "Poor Man's Steadicam". This is one of my favorite segments.

Daisy the English Bulldog sliding down the slide by herself! Silly puppy. Having the camera at the bottom position of the "Poor Man's Steadicam" allowed a lot of unique and smooth camera angles. As an added benefit, my voice was not so close to the camera's microphone, so there were not the usual spikes in audio during playback.

Camera still at the bottom of the "Poor Man's Steadicam". It took me a while to get into the "swing" of things, co-ordinating the camera movement with the kid's swinging. I wanted to catch their faces from below as they tried to fly like Superman. I got better towards the end.

Smooth tracking shots with camera still on the bottom of the "Poor Man's Steadicam", from the puppy's eye level. But, during the last segment of this clip, I tried to zoom out with the camera still connected. The video result, like the lake itself, is a bit choppy.

Katharine's slideshow of still photos

John's slideshow of still photos

It's much better in person. We're all a bit pooped from the climb, and there's more walking ahead.

Lots of stairs, this time going up! Camera still at the bottom of the "Poor Man's Steadicam". Another learning curve experience for me to walk up stairs, backwards, and keep the camera at the proper angle to see the subjects. This is why practice is necessary!

Another descent down stairs, thru a variety of beautiful geology and forestry. Then begins our ascent up the other side of the gorge.

A long tracking shot down the stairs, actually running to catch up with my family. Fairly smooth results for such a harsh camera angle! I'm afraid it's better video of our puppy than of the beautiful Ithaca gorge.

An awesome and powerful part of the trail, where the water picks up speed. The power of erosion is evident everywhere! I found it somewhat challenging to get a good "looking down" angle with the camera on the bottom of the "Poor Man's Steadicam"; of course I could have taken the camera off the device, but in real time filming, we just keep walking!

This is the upper section of Treman State Park, which is overall certainly the more dramatic section of the park. The lower section is also beautiful, and we'll do that another day. This walk is to the point where the gorge becomes more dramatic. The camera is still on the bottom of the "Poor Man's Steadicam". I found myself drifting a bit with the camera in this unusual position; just part of the learning curve.

Arrival. Tree caterpillars!. "Poor Man's Steadicam" with camera in the bottom position. Part of the learning curve with the "Poor Man's Steadicam": can't see the viewfinder as well when the camera is so far away! But I love those low angles. I decided to learn and experiment with this new and unique (and otherwise difficult to achieve!) view of the world.

Newfield Covered Bridge Slideshow

The sign says "Built in 1853 and dedicated to Elijah Moore, son of an early settler, this bridge is the oldest covered bridge in daily use in New York State. Constructed at a cost of $800, the distinctive diamond pattern of the "Town Lattice Truss" is pinned together with trunnels, or "tree nails". The roof and siding serve to protect the structure from the ravages of nature. Popular in the 1800's because of plentiful and inexpensive timber, covered bridges or "timber tunnels" became places for social gatherings. This is the only remaining covered bridge in Tompkins County." As far as the "Poor Man's Steadicam", this was my first use, and is presented unedited. Pretty smooth up the stairs, although I think through years of practice, I walk on flat ground more steady without the "Poor Man's Steadicam". This footage is with the camera in the top position of the "Poor Man's Steadicam".

A montage of our trip to the Galapagos Islands.

Here's a photographic recap of our trip on the Voyager of the Seas, from start to finish.

This is what the Voyager of the Seas looked like to an eight year old with a digital camera. She took pictures of items nobody else saw, at angles to which nobody else would have access! Great job!

A different mood to the Royal Promanade of the Voyager of the Seas. This is the last day of cruising; tomorrow we disembark. Most people are busy packing, so it's not as crowded. Last minute sales abound! If you're going to buy a tee shirt or a sweat shirt, wait until the last evening of cruising. Again, night time lighting is not kind on the little digital camera, but you get the mood.

Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines has put on one impressive show after another this week, and the closing credits were no exception. Our Captain reads from a letter he received from a ten year old boy, explaining why he would like to be Captain of a ship when he grows up. Then, our Captain regaled us with a song on the guitar. After the rest of the entertainment, our Cruise Director Graham handled the closing credits.

At the time, it seemed like we were taking too many pictures of the unique architecture of the Voyager of the Seas. Now it seems we should have taken more. Our stateroom, our home away from home, seems like a pleasant dream, just a distant memory. Dinner with our waiters became a very friendly nightly event. Each evening, our napkins were folded into different and imaginative items. Not only did our head waiter and his assistant provide consistently excellent service, they also kindly showed our children how to fold their napkins into transient art works. Then someone asked if the tablecloth could be folded into a chicken. The video answers that question!

Eating, eating eating. So much eating aboard the Voyager of the Seas.

If you're not a smoker, you'll have to hold your breath as you walk thru the casino. Not the best video footage, but you get the mood.

Royal Caribbean was the first cruise line to incorporate an ice skating rink onto a cruise ship, and the Voyager of the Seas was the first ship to have it. We could be skating at our local rink for all the viewer knows, but those bright blue skates give it away: we were on board! It is delightfully disconcerting to enjoy winter sports one minute and then look at the warm Caribbean sky the next. Wonderful! We'll sleep soundly for our adventures tomorrow in Labadee, Haiti, aboard the Wave Runners!

Again, it's inconvenient to drag our formal clothes on vacation, but we do look good! Of course, Royal Caribbean does not requires that you dress formally unless you're eating in the main dining room that night. There are lots of other options available, including room service at no extra charge. Then off to the La Scala Theater again for this evening's stage show. This evening was another Broadway review, professional and entertaining. But the night is not done. Next: Our turn on the ice!

From the pastel colors of Old San Juan, we make our way back to the Voyager of the Seas. Back on board, there's lots more to do. We explore, we swim, we eat, we in-line skate, and we climb the rock wall again. Royal Caribbean has literally packed in too much for us to do in one week!

El Morro and San Cristobal are both part of the San Juan National Historic Site, a part of the U.S. National Parks Service. The rest of the site includes bastions, powder houses, and most of the wall that surrounds the city of Old San Juan. The other fort at the western end of the entrance to San Juan Bay is called San Juan de la Cruz, on the Isla de Cabras. This intense defense system kept Spain's power intact in the New World, for centuries. The significance of Puerto Rico's pivotal role regarding the wealth of the Caribbean sometimes gets lost in the "Pirates of the Caribbean" fantasy.

On our way to visit San Cristobal, we took a driving tour of "New" San Juan, Puerto Rico. Royal Caribbean was very good about arranging our day trips for us. Additionally, the ship does not leave if one of the ship-sponsored shore tours has not returned on time. The same is not true if you use any other touring method! Here we were teased with gorgeous beaches passing us by. At least we know where to stay next time we return.

Royal Caribbean's flagship sails past Puerto Rico's Old World Fort El Morro. If you let your imagination go, you can imagine canons and muskets firing at you from all five levels of the fort. Fortunately, the guns are now silent, and a small water escort was all the Voyager needed to get into it's slip. As the ship was docking, we had breakfast, and at the end of this sequence, you can see examples of the magnificent watermelon art we enjoyed every day.

The Grand Promenade of the Voyager of the Seas is a stretch of the ship that is cosmopolitan, eclectic, international, and never for a moment boring. In this snippet, there is actually English spoken at one point! Every time we walked this corridor, the mood was different, the people were different, the lighting was different. Here's the late-nite set. (That's especially obvious when the drunk guy plows into the shoulder of the other guy.) The lighting was tough on the little digital video camera, but you get the mood.

As the Voyager of the Seas sits in Charlotte Amalie, we get a driving tour of St. Thomas. For only $45M, the undeveloped island of Hans Lollick (and it's little neighbor) can be yours! That's just a short rowboat ride from Magan's Bay Beach, consistently voted one of the most beautiful beaches on the planet. President Bill Clinton stayed at one of those not-so-little villas in the pictures (but who remembers which one?). From Mountain Top, the highest point on St. Thomas, all neighboring islands are visible. The day is finished with dinner and a show. Clearly, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines packs too many opportunities for fun into one day!

Lovely, lovely pictures of the outer islands of St. Thomas as the Voyager of the Seas approaches Charlotte Amalie, plus some pictures of early morning sunlight on the insides of the ship. Then, some Snuba, that combination of SNorkel and scUBA, is presented in still pictures, but is really best experienced in person. By the way, this location was at least a 20 minute drive from the ship. It was comforting to know that the Voyager of the Seas would not leave until we returned, exclusively because this was a Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines sponsored trip. If we had hired our own taxi, for instance, and it broke down on the hills of St. Thomas, the ship could leave without us.

Royal Caribbean was the first Cruise Line to have an onboard ice skating rink. Not exactly big enough to play a regulation NHL Hockey game, but they do a lot with what they have. Here's a couple minutes of highlights from the show on the Voyager of the Seas. Later on in the trip, we get to take to the ice ourselves. (We're not as graceful.)

Snuba in St Thomas! OK, the video is just of us snorkeling, but the adventure was to snuba. Someday I'll invest in a submersible video camera. Snuba is a combination of SNorkle and scUBA. You wear a weight belt, and learn how to breathe using a scuba-style regulator before you submerge 20 feet below the surface. Your air tank is in a small raft on the surface, and you are connected by a truly unobtrusive hose. Very exhilarating, if you've never done more than snorkel before. My favorite part was swimming above and thru someone else's bubbles.

Sunrise over the Caribbean Sea. Then it's off to challenge the rock climbing wall, after which more pictures of the Voyager of the Seas are presented.

Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines "Voyager of the Seas" initial exploration. So many interesting places to explore! The "abandon ship" drill with lots of orange life vests on deck. Sunset over Miami's skyline was much more vibrant than the camera could capture. Our first introduction to the Voyager's live music, outside the casino and in the main lobby. The Voyager's architecture had a completely different look after sunset. Our first dinner in the three-story main restaurant.

Royal Caribbean has not taken any shortcuts with it's stage show entertainment on the Voyager of the Seas! Very professionally done, and at the same time, very entertaining for the children. This was the second evening's offering; we were too tired for the first evening's presentation. You can see the sunken orchestra pit in the video, and at the end of the show, our Cruise Director Graham gave announcements about upcoming events. We end up in our lovely suite.

Watch as we transform from ordinary tourists to uncomfortably suited tourists. Does anyone really enjoy bringing an extra suitcase of materials for this salute to the formality of days gone by? Maybe it's worth it, because we do look good! Royal Caribbean does put on a good formal night presentation. However, it's too dark in the dining room to photograph without the flash, and it's too bright with the flash. This is clearly one of the less impressive segments of our trip, but there is such great subject matter!

A beautiful morning at sea, followed by our first shore excursion photos. Very colorful buildings and crafts! We spent far too much time looking for those stupid steps. I'm sure there are extraordinary resorts and private villas available on this island, but they were not visible from this street of tourist trap shops. Royal Caribbean should consider either spending more time in this port, so we can get away from "Desperate Street", past the Atlantis Resort, and find the natural beauty of this Caribbean Island.

Royal Caribbean was very good about separating kid's pools and hot tubs from adult's pools and hot tubs. For the most part, we could go in the kid's section when we wanted to, because it was never that busy. Also presented in this slideshow is more details of the master bath of the Royal Suite on one of Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines best ships, the Voyager of the Seas. Then, more exploration of the captivating architecture of the ship.