
My travel photography brought me to two spots this year
before the pandemic stopped all travel. I flew to Panama in early February, and in the first week of March, I visited Arizona. Both places are completely different, but I found that I was drawn to the same subjects. I photographed landscapes, flowers, birds, and architecture in both locations. It was so wonderful to have experienced the travel before social distancing became the new norm.
The beauty of the country of Panama in Central America
was captured ferociously with my Canon EOS R and Canon EOS 80d. I chose to bring two cameras, so I would not have more latitude in focal length choices and not have to change lenses frequently. My favorite telephoto lens is the Tamron 18-300mm lens, which I choose to use with my cropped sensor Canon 80d camera, which gave me an effective focal length of 28-480mm. The maximum focal length is perfect for bird photography. My Canon EOS R is a full-frame camera, which I chose for sunrises, sunsets, and other low light situations where I had to use a high ISO. My lens of choice with that camera was the 24-105mm. The 24mm provided a true 24mm and was the perfect wide-angle focal length for landscape photography. In my one week in Panama, I created over three-thousand images of
- beautiful birds
- architecture
- flowers
- sunrises, and sunsets
- the rainforest
- and the Harpy Eagle
I would like to share my travel photography in Panama
for the readers of this blog. For easier reading or skimming, I have categorized the remainder of the blog into the sections which I listed above. Because every picture tells a story, the description of images is kept short and sweet. For more information on a trip to Panama contact Condor Tours and Travel. Read Lori’s blog about Panama.
Beautiful Birds

The hummingbirds are abundant in Gamboa, in the Panamanian rainforest. I used a fast shutter speed of 1/500 sec. to capture this image.
Architecture

The Catedral Basílica Santa María La Antigua is in Old Town Panama. This church was built between 1688 and 1794, its main facade presents a series of architectural elements typical of the prized churches such as the Caravaca Cross, the Papal Emblem and the city keys.

The old barracks once occupied by the US military are now empty shells. Their photogenic nature draws many photographers.
Flowers

Although I do not know the name of this flower, it was flourishing in the rain forest of Gamboa. The flowers are pink or red. The softness of the petals led me to this flower.
Sunrises and Sunsets

A colorful and mesmerizing sunrise was taken at the Gamboa Rainforest Resort. A high dynamic image provided a blend of several exposures by using my camera’s built-in HDR setting.

Sunset on the Pacific Ocean does did not disappoint me with its array of golden tones. I also got lucky with the birds. My ISO was set to 400 for this image and I exposed for the sky for a silhouetted effect.
The Rain Forest

One of the highlights of my trip was to visit the indigenous tribe on the Chagres River. The village of Tusipono welcomed us with music and ceremonial dance.

A local guide led us for a jungle tour on the Chagres River. Disneyworld will never be the same. Our canoe driver was a member of the Tusipono Village.
The Harpy Eagle

Mytrip to Panama would not have been complete without a photo of their national bird, the harpy eagle. I was not fortunate to find one in the wild, so this guy was photographed at the Summit zoo. My 400 mm telephoto came in handy for this shot.
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