I love the sweet smell of earth after the first rain..I love the sound of rain falling on tin roof..I love how rain beautifies every leaf,every plant every little thing it falls on. Ok I admit it, I am obsessed with rain. So obsessed that I try to incorporate the word even in my email IDs and websites. I think spending most part of my life in the rain deprived land of Arabia might have contributed in part to this obsession.I have such vivid memories of those rare occasions of bunking classes while in college just to enjoy rain.
There is is something magical and romantic about the rain! It calms my mind and soothes my soul.I get excited when rain clouds roll up in the sky hiding the sun behind it.
So it was no surprise that I was longing to enjoy a day out in the rain when the weatherman called for 100% precipitation on our scheduled day for the African Lion Safari. I was one of the parent chaperons when my daughter's school visited the Safari at Hamilton,Ontario. The rain fell on relentlessly the entire duration of the trip, soaking us in water even with our umbrellas and raincoats on.
Even though there were a few complaints about the cold and wind the children were all such good sports and enjoyed the day to the fullest. We rode the safari bus at the start of the trip when the rain was heaviest and missed out photographing the animals as the falling rain made focussing through the glass windows nearly impossible. Here is one of the images I captured from the bus.I kind of like the painterly effect.
 |
| Mr & Mrs |
That disappointment didn't last long as we came across flamingoes going about their routines oblivious to the poring rain. I could have photographed them forever, but had to catchup with the rest of the group who had gone to take a look at the elephants in their enclosure.
After lunch we proceeded to enjoy various bird and animal shows.
 |
| Elephant show |
And here is the hero of the "Birds of Paradise" show, Eddie the talking parrot who is an enthusiastic little bird with lots of talent and a great sense of humour. He entertained us with Canada's national anthem and also sang a happy birthday song. How cool is that ?
 |
| Eddie, the talking parrot |
 |
| The diva |
 |
| Up-close and personal with another talking parakeet |
 |
| Birds of prey show |
The best part of the trip was at the end of our day when we all boarded the train for a tour through the facility. From the time we boarded we were transported into a world that seemed so far away from the hustle and bustle of city life, so full of greenery and wildlife. We saw many birds including a blue heron,deers,little goslings, ducks and all sorts of wildlife roaming freely.
 |
| View from the train |
 |
| Fallow deer |
 |
| Great Blue Heron |
I came home exhausted but with heart that was so full with happiness and gratitude for getting to enjoy another beautiful day on this beautiful blue marble we call home.
A rain-soaked day at the African lion Safari
This was my submission for theme "Autumn colours* for Chrysta Rae's Scavenger hunt on G+ that I have been a part of for a very long time now. Image was clicked at a local park.
For achieving this effect, I first I edited the image in Lightroom for colour and contrast, took it to PS, played around with a couple or more options from the Blur gallery.Then I brought it back to LR again and tweaked the colours till I was happy. I used Motion blur, and shape blur if I remember right. You can also check out how the RAW image looked when it started out.
After
Before - SOOC Raw Image
Autumnal Abstraction - Before and After
Subscribe to:
Posts
(
Atom
)