Travel

Thursday – Friday Thoughts

/ Leya / 19 kommentarer

Well, I have problems with the internet and accessing my site, lagottocattleya. When I am finally in, I soon get thrown out again. And I am home, not in our summer house where I always have trouble with it. This has continued for a week, and I am struggling. So, finally here are my thoughts:

Bathing on the north coast of Madeira is spectacular. Natural pools and lava – open sea. 15 years ago, they were totally natural, but today there are hundreds of tourists and the pools are modelled after it.

In fact these are now the most famous sea pools in Europe, and a joy to visit. Seen from the road above, Porto Moniz doesn’t look like much…but I can assure you it is well worth an hour or two for a cooling swim.

Lens-Artists Challenge #312 – Sense of Scale

/ Leya / 66 kommentarer

Sofia challenges us to show how we give people a sense of scale in our pictures. This is sometimes quite essential… Please visit Sofia’s site to get more inspiring examples!

My take on this challenge must mainly be using people for scale, but also different perspectives as from below or above, from afar or from a frog’s perspective. Finishing with a macro, of course.

This was a waterfall in Alaska that I did not hike up to – but wow when I zoomed the lens! People walking there made it quite clear it was not as small as it seemed from where I was standing.

This picture is from a tour to the Space Needle in Seattle – where looking through the glass floor sets the scale properly…

The Nice Carnival with its many show wagons is also a way to celebrate the sense of scale and give you interesting surprises.

Some years ago we went to Barcelona under the construction of the great Sagrada Familia. The picture was taken from one of the towers. People and buildings giving you a hint of the size of this gigantic Cathedral.

Back home I was once fortunate enough to visit a statue of a harbour worker – when an elderly lady turned up and walked beside him. A sense of scale in more than one dimension.

This was the first time I visited Segovia, Spain, and I walked in awe up to the aqueduct running through the city, towering over the houses. I believe this is one of the more exciting and surprising moments during all my travels. The elderly gentlemen in front of me were very sweet, and I had no problems keeping the same pace as they did…

Next is an old favourite from the kite festival in Denmark. With kites you can easily use your camera from under their bellies… People and cars become tiny and the kites just as spectacular as they are. I think I’ll have to go there once more!

This one I have used before too – but I still love those legs sticking out of a rusty head in Riga.

Lying down on the stone floor in our apartment in Spain, I found the tiniest ants I had ever seen. A tea spoon became a valuable measurement of scale.

Then came the tiniest husband I had ever seen… In Alaska he jumped from a mountain – safely of course. If I remember it right, he is number two from the left. I let the tree tops stay in the corner of the picture to remember just how difficult this scale was to fathom.

Finally…

…in Weltfogelpark Walsrode in Germany, apart from the real birds, also the tree sculptures were greatly admired. In Bhutan the forest and trees set the scale for the golden Buddha statue. I had to finish with the tiniest of snails (5mm) in this withered flower.

A big thank you for all your garden displays last week, big and small, fancy and spectacular, creative and inspiring – and above all – Loved and Needed! It truly was a treat to read every comment and see every picture. I had a great week.

Don’t forget to tag Lens-Artists and link to Sofias original post. Next week is John’s turn to host so please visit his site for inspiration. Until then, stay well and enjoy every day.

Lens-Artists Challenge #292 – People Here, There, Everywhere

/ Leya / 63 kommentarer

Tina leads this week, with the theme People Here There and Everywhere. At first, I too was a bit lost…I don’t do portraits or people. But, if I can picture people at work or on festivities, I am OK with it. Sometimes I ask them, but that is only when I meet people of foreign cultures. Very foreign. They don’t get offended and sometimes they even like it.

Since I don’t have many people portraits, I am afraid I have posted all of these before. I hope you will enjoy them anyway.


This lovely man in Thimpu, Bhutan, let me take a couple of photos of him – but when I showed him the results, he did not want to keep the close-ups… Some children where playing by the road, so I asked them what the old man was saying. They told me he thought his nose was too big!


In Ecuador, the people were so lovely and smiling. Maybe because it was festival times? These beautiful ladies were singing and dancing in the street in Quito, Ecuador.


We also met Miss Quito and her partner, who didn’t mind having their photo taken – we were many tourists with our cameras up in the air. My husband of course photographed the lovely lady…and as you can see, the young man gave me a nice smile.

Our main goals in Ecuador was Galapagos, the Napo River and the Amazon basin – and Fausto was our favourite guide. He was born and raised in the jungle, and knew everything about living here. Hunting, tracking, making fire, cooking food. On instagram I found him with a big anaconda around his neck…

From South America to Morocco and the market in Marrakesh – Djeema el Fna. It is one of the oldest markets in the world. Many people, many faces. An overwhelming and unforgettable experience.

Back in Europe and Lodz, Poland. She came walking down the street, and I immediately loved everything about her. The clothes, the colours, the ring on her left hand – you could see that she once was a beauty. I think she still was. When I looked at the photo afterwards, I saw the shadow in the street on her right side – is it her left, fallen off, piece of the sunglasses?

Knitting ladies in a market in Lhasa, and debating monks at the Sera Monastery. Tibetans doing their daily chores. The ladies were happy to show me their knitting technique and I showed them mine. The monks, I think, debated heavily just to show off for the tourists…

The best thing is when the pictures tell a story – so above I have presented a mixed gallery from some of my China travels. Chinese people seen on an ordinary walk – dancing, posing, playing, eating and getting married. And red is the festive colour. I was greatly impressed by the many outdoor activities, and so many elderly people playing and dancing! Very active and agile. I wish we could be like that in Sweden too. Dancing in the park every day – wouldn’t that be great?

This last gallery tells a multitude of stories – the big story of the pilgrimage and the end of a long, strenous walk to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. Happy and exhausted they rest, alone, but together – each one with his or her own story as a piece of the big puzzle. I loved listening to those stories, and most people willingly shared them with us. I still dream of doing that walk…for peace in mind, body and soul.

Back in Sweden again, a silhouette of one of my best friends, a late summer evening by the lake.

So this week, our challenge is to share images of people we’ve captured along the way. Remember to link your responses to Tina’s original post and to use the Lens-Artists Tag.

Sincere thanks to all of our followers for joining us, and to Patti for last week’s wonderful Cityscape challenge. We all got an amazing world tour through your responses! Next week Sofia leads us once again on her beautiful Photographias site. Until then please stay safe, be kind and enjoy the journey.