mark prior photography

This section includes a number of collections. If you click through the image you will be taken to another page with a gallery for that collection. Clicking on an image in that gallery will take you to a slide show.

The keep and surrounding buildings of the 16th-century, black-and-white "Crow Castle", one of Japan's National Treasures, sits perched on its moat. The sky above is filled with cloud trying to match the colour of the castle. Surrounding the keep are some of the trees in the castle grounds displaying their autumnal foliage.

Japan

Just over six weeks worth of travel from Hokkaido to Kyushu with a photograph representing each day of the trip.

The Oirase River slowly passes through a forest of trees.

Autumn Leaves

The main reason for six weeks in Japan was autumn leaves. I was interested in any colour and not just the red maple and yellow gingko leaves but of course I found plenty of them too.

Standing in a quiet, peaceful, shaded grove of tress stands some enigmatic, bronze age stone jars. This is the UNESCO World Heritage Plain of Jars.

Laos

A whirlwind trip to Laos in order to visit the UNESCO World Heritage sites of Luang Prabang and the Plain of Jars, and then the capital, Vientiane.

A lot of people gathered on one side of the southern lake to watch the sunrise behind Angkor Wat

Angkor Wat

A quick trip to Cambodia to visit the UNESCO World Heritage temple complex of Angkor Wat.

The setting sun catches ice crystals in the air creating an amazing 20 minute sunset.

Antarctica

Ice, lots of ice, and some penguins. Oh and a spectacular sunset.

Some fluffy brown juvenile King penguins make a new friend. A camera (not mine) sitting on a tripod is something worthy of investigation. The penguins line up to have a look, perhaps seeing their reflection in the large front lens element.

South Georgia

I was told that you go to South Georgia for the animals and to Antarctica for the ice. It is pretty hard to argue that the animals on South Georgia aren't a compelling reason to go there but the reality is that both places are amazing for their animals and for their scenery.

Punakha Tshechu

A day at the festival, people watching and enjoying the dancing.

The Dzong (fortress) has a commanding view over the Paro River. The lower walls are whitewashed and it has two upper levels of windows with the uppermost connected by a wide oraange band. The river looks more like a stream with a rocky bottom but stone walls suggest a greater flow during other parts of the year.

Bhutan

An all too brief trip to the western part of Bhutan.

Myanmar (Burma)

In that brief window when it looked like military rule had come to an end in Myanmar I joined a National Geographic Expedition to photograph some of the beautiful and historic locations in the country.

A view from the rocky path leading down to the icesheet provides some perspective on the icesheet. It's not flat, it's not white (or blue) but it does extend out to the horizon.

Western Greenland

More UNESCO World Heritage sites, this time a natural site the Ilulissat Icefjord from multiple angles. Also a drive out to the Greenland Ice Sheet from Kangerlussuaq and finally the capital, Nuuk.

Another of the attractions on the Golden Circle is the waterfall known as Gullfoss. The spray from the waterfall cooperated in creating a rainbow over it and diving into the gorge below the accessible part of the falls.

Iceland

An amalgam of a couple of visits to Iceland. Taking in the Golden Circle, the Westman Islands and Grímsey.

After awhile looking up at us the bear decided that we just weren't interesting enough so it turned around and wandered off across the ice.

Svalbard

A cruise around the Svalbard archipelago. Lots of ice and animals.

Sun setting on Alhambra. A view from Mirador de San Nicolás in the old Arab neighbourhood of Albaicín. The Sierra Nevada mountains are in the background

Inside Spain and Portugal

A National Geographic Expeditions trip through southern Portugal and Andalusia (Spain). A number of UNESCO World Heritage sites were visited and fabulous food and wine consumed.

The mighty Cataratas do Iguaçu. Standing on an observation platform in the spray of the falls looking into the powerful Devil's Throat, a curved wall of water crashing onto the rocks below. The falls stretch to the left (in Brazil) and to the right (in Argentina). While in the foregound water falls into the river and separates us from a small island full of greenery.

Landscapes

Just some random landscapes.