Sometimes the best photos are just lurking around your house.
Well, in this case, one of them is a nearly nighttime photo of a couple houses in my neighborhood with a nice blue sky and with a cool cloud pattern.
This next photo is of a tree on my street as it shines and glistens in the nightime light.
Hiking in Israel is absolutely wonderful. There are literally hundreds of trails for all shapes and sizes. All of the trails are clearly marked with painted stones guiding you through the path.
One of the best parts of hiking in Israel is that many of the trails are a mere 5 min walk from a city or village. Here’s one beautiful view near Nahal Kisalon which is nestled in a forest between Eshtaol, Kisalon, and Beit Meir. There is so much to see in this region of the country!
Eilat sits on Israel’s southern most point where the Red Sea meets the Sinai Peninsula. Eilat is bordered by Jordan to the East and Egypt (Sinai) to the West.
Eilat has always been a tourist favorite, especially from Scandanavian countries. Eilat is admired for her beautiful beaches (which some have been rumored to be topless…), and for its thriving hotel tourism. The weather is, unlike the rest of Israel, consistently hot. It is extremely hot in the summer, sometimes reaching 40 degrees celcius and more (over 100 F). In the winter, the weather is fair, as it hardly rains, and is a truly nice place to get away for a weekend (or more…).
Israelis love to jump down to Eilat for a weekend of relaxation and purchases – since the city of Eilat is exempt of VAT taxes, which are currently 15%.
The city of Eilat sits a few kilometers inland, with a relatively blue-collar working class of primarily immigrants from North Africa. Whereas the tourist section is on the beach and boasts a non-stop fun in the sun party. The laguna, which was built in the past 1990s, is actually a man-made landfill on the South-Eastern part of the beach to accomodate new hotels and the thriving tourist trade.
Eilat also has a small international airport which facilitates the tourists traveling from Europe and northern parts of Israel.
Here are some photos of the beautiful Eilat Laguna:
Here’s the laguna at sunset.
Check back later for more photos of Eilat!
Prayer is usually a spiritually uplifting action. Seeing others praying is often even more uplifting. You can sometimes feel the energy and emotion emitted from a person who is in a spiritual moment.
Here are some photos of prayer at the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem.
Next to the gas station between Neve Ilan and Telz Stone. Actually, the statue sits above the gas station and a small eatery. You can almost see him from the main highway #1 as you are passing the turn to Neve Ilan.
Beit Guvrin (Bet Guvrin) is a national park in Israel, about 15km east of Kiryat Gat. This cave city was dug out in the 3rd-2nd centuries BCE (Hellenistic Period) and sits about 400m above sea level, with soft chalky rock. The inhabitants profited from raising pigeons. This cave shows pigeon nesting holes that were dug out in symetrical lines.
Recently Added Photos of Beit Guvrin Caves. Notice how these top openings are cylindrical. That’s impressive for 2,000+ years ago. The cave dwellers used these holes for sunlight. They covered them with leaves and straw in the winter months to protect from cold and rain.
Ok, so maybe the title is a bit misleading. These bulls and cows *happen* to be in Israel. I guess that makes them Israeli. Unless they are like 50% of the Israeli population of humans, e.g. they came from another place.
Israel is a small country, with small parcels of land. Cows require a lot of room to roam, and pastures. Both of which are limited in the Holy Land. Most Kibbutzim have dairies that produce milk for local consumption, but cows and bulls just don’t roam here that much. There are, however, a few “dude ranches”. I have seen cattle grazing in the Golan, and more so, near Park Britannia, and Beit Guvrin.
And without further ado…Here are some Holy Exposure photos of cows in Israel:
The art of bull dodging in Israel
Thank G_D this bull and I had a reasonable distance . At least it gave me a chance to make a run for it! I’m not kidding, this bull was about a split-second from starting to charge me, until he saw that I had ducked and run.
Bulls have to scratch their ears too…
The Jerusalem Biblical zoo is situated in the south of the city, just south of the Malcha Technology Park, and the Jerusalem Malcha Mall. It is easily accessibly by train (Malcha station), car, and bus.
The zoo is huge! The highlight is a wonderful children’s petting zoo – which, when we went, cost additional to the general zoo admission. The zoo strives to keep to it’s name “Biblical zoo”, hence the animals housed at the zoo are all mentioned in the Bible. Next to each cage is a plaque with an inscription from the Bible where that animal was mentioned.
Here’s a orangutan (I think) looking at one of the visitors. It wasn’t clear to me who was the visitor and who was the caged animal here 
What makes an outstanding flower image?
Here are some of the important factors:
1. Exposure/Lighting – Time of day is the biggest factor here. Just at dawn or before sunset are the best times to photograph outdoors. Just before sunset the color temperature is great for flowers. The color saturation is best without the powerful sun overhead. However, you have to be careful not to get shadows into the image.
2. Tripod – Never try to take a serious photograph of nature with the camera in your hand! The slightest of camera shake renders the fuzzies.
3. Bokeh – Look at the image below for a good example of bokeh (the out of focus background). For this effect, you’ll need a quality lens, and you’ll want to open the aperture as much as you can. This will also mean a lower shutter speed, which is another reason why you’ll need a tripod. A nice bokeh will also give the image a 3D illuminating quality.
4. Luck and perseverance.
5. Time. You’ll need to shoot a lot of images to achieve good results in just a few. See rule #4.
See our earlier posting with some examples of Flora in Israel
Here’s a couple more:
Even a weed can look dramatic…
There’s always something so serene about seeing a flock of sheep or goats by the side of a road grazing. They seem so relaxed and without burden. Actually, the job of the herdsman is anything but relaxing. He is generally responsible for the well-being of a hundred or so animals, and the finances of his family.
The Torah (Bible) tells many examples of true leaders of the Jewish people from their beginnings as herdsmen, such as Moses (Moshe Rabeinu), King David, Joseph, and many of the prophets as well.
Here’s some photos of herds in natural settings around Israel:
You know the old expression “right under your nose”? Ramat Bet Shemesh was plopped down about 9 years ago atop some of the most beautiful nature trails in the center of Israel. Here are some photos from the hill surrounding Ramat Bet Shemesh. An easy 5 minute walk off the main roads into the fields will open your eyes to some really beautiful nature spots in Israel.
These images were taken in Spring just a few meters past Nahal Hayarden, where I’m told there will be new build it yourself plots (B’nei Beytcha) offered shortly. Go and enjoy yourself before the land is appropriated for new construction. (Be careful, however, not to go at night. There are many animals prowling about, such as jackals and dogs, possums, and even porcupines, that may not be as hospitable as we’d like).
This Arab village, Husan, has been mostly quiet in the history of Israel since it was captured in the 1967 Six Day War. It is situated just a few kilometers south of Gilo, the southernmost neighborhood of Jerusalem. It also sits strategically on the main road between the Gush Etzion area (which includes the 20,000+ city of Efrat), the burgeoning settlement of Beitar Illit, and Jerusalem.
In 2001, during the second intifada, the calm was disturbed. Residents of Husan would stand on the plateau above the main road and throw rocks at passerby vehicles. On a few occasions, terrorists came to Husan and fatally shot travelers on the main ‘tunnel’ road, and near Beitar Illit.
The army responded with curfews and built a huge fence to cage in the residents, and effectively halt the rock-throwing. To help prevent further terrorist incursions, Husan residents were restricted from traveling by car to and from the village.
The result was a strange spectacle of hundreds of workers from Husan every day being driven by van services to the edge of the village, then to walk across the main highway, only to be picked up by further van services to shuttle them to nearby Bethlehem and further.
Ethiopian Jews came to the Israel in the 80′s and then again in the 90′s thanks to the Israeli government and Israel Agency. Their community has experienced tremendous gains and opportunity in Israel, however, their gains in society have been slow coming. It is hoped that in the coming years, these gains will increase and that they will be fully integrated into Israeli society.
The Shuk (HaCarmel Market) in Tel Aviv is situated in the southern part of the city bordering on Alenby Road. Thousands of locals and tourists flood the shuk every day.
Walking through the shuk you can hear just about any language spoken: Street vendors are hawking their wares in Hebrew. Tourists and foreign workers can be heard speaking in English, French, German, Asian languages, etc…
Here are some un-edited photos of the shuk. I am presenting them here in the way you would experience the shuk if you were to walk through it yourselves. There is a constant rush of people, sites, and sounds.
Click on thumbs to see larger image.
