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2015 in Review

Michael RappaLeave a comment

WordPress recently sent me an annual report for my blog. Here are some of the highlights:

These were my five most viewed posts of the year. Interestingly, almost all of them are over two years old, so I either have writing with staying power–or my most recent writing leaves something to be desired. 🙂

  1. Gettin’ My Shining On at Congress Hall, 
  2. Dear Heidi, 
  3. My Trip to Peru, August 2012, 
  4. Dubrovnik: A Tour of King’s Landing (and other locations), 
  5. The Inca Trail Day 4: Arrival at Machu Picchu (My Trip to Peru, Part 7), 

I posted 61 new articles in 2015, the majority of which were posted between June and July. Hardly any articles were posted between January and May–lingering winter blues, perhaps? It may also be because I was busy during that time period trying to finalize my novel for publication. In any event, I’ll try to be more consistent this year.

Well, that’s it for 2015. Thank you to all of my loyal readers and I hope you have a happy New Year!

Photo of the Day: Fiery Sunset

Michael RappaLeave a comment

I finally have a smartphone capable of taking halfway decent photos and I happened to be in the right place at the right time to capture this stunning sunset over one of the buildings on my work campus the other night.

Date: 12/8/2015
Camera: Samsung Galaxy S4 Phone
Click for larger view

You can view more featured photos at my Photo of the Day Collection.

Photo of the Day: Panoramic Halloween Sunset in Cape May

Michael RappaLeave a comment

We decided to spend Halloween in Cape May this year since we had never seen it in the middle of fall. While walking the promenade I stepped out onto the beach to take this shot. It’s the first panorama I’ve ever taken with my 35mm prime lens and I really liked the way it turned out–nowhere near as much distortion as I get when shooting a panorama with one of my wide-angle lenses. I might have to start using this lens more often.

It was such a clear day that you can actually see Delaware in the distance across the ocean.

Date: 10/31/2015
Camera: Nikon D5100
Click for larger view

You can view more featured photos at my Photo of the Day Collection.

Watkins Glen in HDR

Michael Rappa2 Comments

A sunny day at Watkins Glen State Park in New York is the perfect opportunity to practice HDR photography because the high contrast of the dark areas of the gorge versus the areas that catch rays of sun can make it difficult to properly expose a scene with a single shot. Here are a few of the HDR photos I took during my hike in September, 2015. They were all done handheld, three exposures each. You can click on any image for a larger view.

I think I like this one the best.
Similar to the “Rivendell” shot I shared in an earlier post.
I like the feature of the log across the gorge in this one.
Looking down from a ridge into the gorge, with also a glimpse of the outside world near the top center.
This is such a beautiful place to visit.

You can view more featured photos at my Photo of the Day Collection.

cover3bAlso, don’t forget that the eBook version of my novel, The Eyes of Mictlan, is available for free during the entire month of November, and, if you download it through Story Cartel and write a review, you will be entered into their monthly drawing to win prizes such as Kindle eReaders, Amazon and Barnes & Noble gift cards, and bestselling print books.

There are three ways in which you can obtain a free copy:

  1. Story Cartel – There are two days left to download a FREE copy of my ‪novel from Story Cartel (registration is free) and, if you leave an honest review on your favorite book site or your blog, you will be entered into a monthly drawing to win a prize.
  2. Smashwords – You can download a free copy of my novel from Smashwords using the following coupon code: GH76V. The coupon is good until the end of the month.
  3. If you do not have a Smashwords account (or do not wish to create one), you can message me on Twitter at @njrappa and I will send you a link to download a free copy in either mobi, epub, or PDF format.

There are no strings attached and the book is yours to keep, but I would be most grateful if you could take a few minutes to leave a review on your favorite book site (such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Goodreads). And as always, I thank you for your support!

Photo of the Day: Letchworth Gorge Panorama

Michael RappaLeave a comment

Here’s a shot that wasn’t included in my previous post of Letchworth panoramas because it wasn’t originally intended as a panorama. I like to refer to photos like this as “accidental panoramas” because they are products of separate shots that I decided would look better stitched together.

This was taken on the way to the stone footbridge, which is the only crossing of the Genesee River in the entire park.

Date: 9/9/2015
Camera: Nikon D5100
Click for larger view

You can view more featured photos at my Photo of the Day Collection.

cover3bAlso, don’t forget that the eBook version of my novel, The Eyes of Mictlan, is available for free during the entire month of November, and, if you download it through Story Cartel and write a review, you will be entered into their monthly drawing to win prizes such as Kindle eReaders, Amazon and Barnes & Noble gift cards, and bestselling print books.

There are three ways in which you can obtain a free copy:

  1. Story Cartel – For the next three weeks, you can download a FREE copy of my ‪novel from Story Cartel (registration is free) and, if you leave an honest review on your favorite book site or your blog, you will be entered into a monthly drawing to win a prize.
  2. Smashwords – You can download a free copy of my novel from Smashwords using the following coupon code: GH76V.
  3. If you do not have a Smashwords account (or do not wish to create one), you can message me on Twitter at @njrappa and I will send you a link to download a free copy in either mobi, epub, or PDF format.

There are no strings attached and the book is yours to keep, but I would be most grateful if you could take a few minutes to leave a review on your favorite book site (such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Goodreads). And as always, I thank you for your support!

Photo of the Day: Another World

Michael RappaLeave a comment

A hike through Watkins Glen State Park is like a visit to another world, where scenes like this await around every corner. It’s hard to believe that this oasis of pristine beauty is tucked inside a small town in Upstate New York.

Date: 9/11/2015
Camera: Nikon D5100
Click for larger view

You can view more featured photos at my Photo of the Day Collection.

cover3bAlso, don’t forget that the eBook version of my novel, The Eyes of Mictlan, is available for free during the entire month of November, and, if you download it through Story Cartel and write a review, you will be entered into their monthly drawing to win prizes such as Kindle eReaders, Amazon and Barnes & Noble gift cards, and bestselling print books.

There are three ways in which you can obtain a free copy:

  1. Story Cartel – For the next three weeks, you can download a FREE copy of my ‪novel from Story Cartel (registration is free) and, if you leave an honest review on your favorite book site or your blog, you will be entered into a monthly drawing to win a prize.
  2. Smashwords – You can download a free copy of my novel from Smashwords using the following coupon code: GH76V.
  3. If you do not have a Smashwords account (or do not wish to create one), you can message me on Twitter at @njrappa and I will send you a link to download a free copy in either mobi, epub, or PDF format.

There are no strings attached and the book is yours to keep, but I would be most grateful if you could take a few minutes to leave a review on your favorite book site (such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Goodreads). And as always, I thank you for your support!

Photo of the Day: A Glimpse of Rivendell

Michael RappaLeave a comment

This shot is from our hike along the gorge trail in Watkins Glen State Park last month. A walk through this park has been compared to a stroll through Tolkien’s Rivendell, and it’s easy to see why.

Date: 9/11/2015
Camera: Nikon D5100
Click for larger view

The park is located in the middle of the town of Watkins Glen, which sits on Seneca Lake in New York. Watkins Glen is more famous for its car racing, and the Finger Lakes area is more known for its wineries, but this beautiful park is clearly the jewel of the town and you’d think they do a better job of advertising it (you could easily drive right past it and I didn’t see any references to it around the town or in the “attractions” flyers in the hotel).

For this photo I attempted one of those long exposure shots commonly used when photographing waterfalls. However, I do not have the filter that photographers normally use for these shots to prevent overexposure, so I stopped my aperture all the way down to f/22, put my camera on a mini tripod, and took a two-second exposure. The small aperture resulted in a lack of sharpness but I still think the pic turned out pretty well considering.

You can view more featured photos at my Photo of the Day Collection.

Niagara Falls Panoramas

Michael RappaLeave a comment

When we visited Letchworth State Park last month we realized that we were only about 90 minutes from Niagara Falls, so we said what the heck and took a ride. Here are a few panoramas from that day trip. Click on any photo for a larger view.

This shot features a nice view of the American Falls from the overlook on the American side.

American Falls

I took this one while standing near the Bridal Veil Falls, capturing a rainbow in the process.

Standing Near the Bridal Veil Falls

This was as close as we could get to the Horseshoe Falls because they were doing construction. I had to stand on a fence to get this shot over the construction fence.

Horseshoe Falls

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You can view more featured photos at my Photo of the Day Collection.

Letchworth: The Panoramas

Michael RappaLeave a comment

Here are a few panoramas taken during my visit to Letchworth State Park in New York last month. Click on any photo for a larger view.

This shot of the Big Bend in the Genesee River gives you a sense of why Letchworth is often referred to as the “Grand Canyon of the East.”

The Big Bend

This one features the Middle Falls dropping down into the gorge.

Middle Falls

This final one was taken at ground level down in the gorge, at the site of the lost town of St. Helena.

St. Helena

You can view more featured photos at my Photo of the Day Collection.

Photo of the Day: Letchworth Footbridge Trail

Michael Rappa2 Comments

This photo, taken along the Footbridge Trail in New York’s Letchworth State Park, offers a view of the Lower Falls in the distance while looking back toward the steps we had just descended on our way to the stone footbridge. The footbridge is the only place you can cross the Genesee River in the entirety of the 17-mile long park.

Date: 9/9/2015
Camera: Nikon D5100
Click for larger view

You can view more featured photos at my Photo of the Day Collection.