One reason for our planning to spend several days in Santa Fe on our New Mexico road trip was to visit nearby Bandelier National Monument. I had read a lot about it and knew it was just the sort of place we would enjoy visiting. Then a few months before our visit a wildfire swept through the area, devastating over 146,000 acres, including about 60% of Bandelier’s area. Almost all of the monument was closed to visitors.
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Earth’s story is told most clearly in its rocks. There the layers of the past are revealed to us, viewing in the present. And each of those rocks is shaped by the elements, evolving over time into natural sculptures, often of great beauty.
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Would you name a place after a notorious pirate who had ransacked your coastline and hid out here, evading capture? To our surprise we discovered that is exactly what happened here in the south west of Costa Rica; Bahia Drake is named for Sir Francis Drake.
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For the keen traveller, what makes a place special? Sometimes it’s the place itself, a beautiful landscape that captures the heart. Sometimes it’s the people, making you feel comfortable and welcome. Or maybe it’s all about the activities, whether you’re into bird-watching or gallery hopping, an adrenaline-junkie or culture buff. One thing that ties together many of the places that have most lifted my heart is a sense of openness.
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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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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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'Try to travel, otherwise you may become racist, and you may end up believing that your skin is the only one to be right' The above is the opening verse, in translation, of the song Viaggiate by Gio Evan, poet and songwriter. A friend posted it on Facebook and for me it sums up everything that is wonderful and important about travelling.
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One of the many things I find difficult about photography is self-appraisal. Choosing my BEST images is often a challenge; but ask me to choose my favourites and the task becomes a little easier … but only a little!
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We had learned to dance in the rain on Iceland’s Golden Circle; now today we were dancing in sunshine! Well, OK, not exactly dancing but certainly smiling. The sun was shining for the first time in several days. We, all friends from the Virtual Tourist community, were enjoying each other’s company at a wonderful weekend gathering. And we were off to explore the Snæfellsnes Peninsula, so packed with scenic spots that it has been dubbed ‘Iceland in Miniature’.
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Looking for the ‘ah-ha’ seems to me to be an excellent mantra for any photographer. Although in truth I sometimes search for that not by stepping back but by zooming in. For me the important thing is not to settle for the obvious, for the first angle that occurs to me.
