Water is essential to life, of course, and to our planet. About 71 percent of the earth's surface is water-covered, and the oceans hold about 97 percent of all earth's water. We can’t drink the salty sea water, as the Ancient Mariner well knew, but we couldn’t exist without it. It regulates our climate and is home to thousands of marine species.
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A holiday in Costa Rica is all about connecting with nature. The animals, the birds, the landscapes. The Pura Vida indeed.
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There’s little I enjoy more when travelling than a visit to a local market. Large or small there is always plenty to see, and therefore to photograph. And you can gain great insights into the way of life in the country. What do local people eat? How do they dress? How indeed do they shop?
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I started this year with the intention of doing the 365 challenge, taking and sharing at least one photo a day. Having seen a reference to Blipfoto as a platform for this, I signed up; only to find that what I thought was free membership actually carried a fee after the first month. Sneaky! So I abandoned Blipfoto and with it my short-lived challenge. Instead I thought I would share some of my favourite January images here.
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Fire lives in the death of earth, air lives in the death of fire, water lives in the death of air, and earth in the death of water (Heraclitus). Some of these four elements are easier to photograph than others, as a quick trawl of my archives shows. Of water and earth I have many images. But air is much harder to capture, and fire too.
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One form of public art that really enhances many of our cities are the many fountains to be found in our squares and parks. However I often find myself drawn to photograph these. I like to try to capture the flowing water, or perhaps to pick out interesting details in their sculptural groups.
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It's said that two is company, three a crowd. But when taking wildlife photos I’m always happy to have a third animal join the shot! Designers have long recognised that an odd number of items is more effective at capturing your gaze. Odd numbers force your eyes to move around the group and that forced movement is the heart of visual interest.
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Chowara is a small fishing community in Kerala. While tourism has come to the area, bringing visitors from elsewhere in India and further afield, it remains unspoiled and still focused on that traditional mainstay of its economy, the fish. Our hotel lay right next to the village, so it was easy one morning to forsake the lure of the pool and take a stroll with our cameras.
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Peer at a white flower and you’ll observe nuances of different shades. The same in a white sky, even a field of snow. Light and shade play tricks with the eyes and white turns to grey, to blue, to cream. Perhaps that’s why, when I started to search my archives for ‘white’ images to share for this week’s Sunday Stills challenge, I found the purest whites in manmade objects.
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Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, they say. Of course we all love to photograph a stunning landscape, an attractive old building, a beautiful flower or tree. But look carefully and you will find beauty in the most unexpected places. Or if not beauty, at the very least interest.
