Finding the perfect landscape

I feel like a should have written a blog ages ago, but to be honest i have been so captivated by this small town called Cafayate, that it has been hard to do little else but sit back and admire.

The excitement started 10 days ago, when we travelled from Cordoba via Tucuman in an epic 20 hour journey that took us through some amazing countryside. We snaked our way up lush green mountain sides and across streams, and peered into the abyss's of valleys all at warp speed thanks to our 'ex-rally driving' bus driver who would have made even the most daunting of rides at Alton Towers look like the tea cups. The relief came when we reached the top....breaking through the grey wet clouds into crystal blue skies, and for about 20 minutes we bounced on top of them, passing llamas and donkeys, completely oblivious to what was below.

We arrived in Cafayate at 5pm. Its an amazing town, located in the central zone of the Valles Calchaquies in the province of Salta. Having been travelling between cities since being in Argentina, it has been great to slow the pace down, and what started as a four night stay, has become ten.

With its vast vineyards, and tree covered hill sides, it is beautifully picturesque, and if it werent for the mosquitoes and horse flies, eating us alive, it would be near perfect.

I have benefited from the extra time, not only to sample more of the local wines, but to do more studying. Landscape photography has always been an interest of mine and it has been great to photograph landscapes that are far more vast than any I have been used to.

What I am seeing, and what I am capturing are two very different things entirely, and I am realising how hard it can be to do justice to a perfect landscape. Mountains can look like molehills without something in the foreground to give some impression of size. Natural light has such an influence on whether or not you can reveal the depth of the landscape that, if you are not careful, on a cloudy day the scenery can look as flat as a pancake.

I have been reading that the only two times of the day to photograph landscape are dusk and dawn. Preferring to process my images into black & white, and with a tendency to go for a higher contrast image, I am not completely convinced just yet. Two of my favourite photographs were taken in the mid-day sun, but the mornings and evenings have been so grey and flat here that I have not been able to compare...and so I will have to keep experimenting further up the road.

Impressions of a city.

I have just woken up after the best nights sleep so far. The night before last we travelled from Buenos Aires north west to Cordoba. Leaving at 9pm we travelled by coach 10 hours through the night and, whilst not being able to admire the scenery, not being able to sleep gave me plenty of time to think about Buenos Aires and my time photographing there.

Buenos Aires is a very inspiring place, the people, the music, the colours, and the art, yet looking back over my photos, they seem quite uninspired. We found the city, like many cities, to be quite an imposing place. The blocks of buildings, closely packed together tower over you as you walk through the busy tourist filled streets, and for me, being a bit of a country boy, it all became a bit of a blur.

Don't let me give you the wrong impression, we had a fantastic time, and I have left with pages of  ideas. It has been a valuable learning process, I realise now that I will have to quickly adapt to the environment provided, the space I have to work in, and the people I have to work around. Not everything can go according to plan, and  I guess that's what's going to make this trip more interesting.

Sitting on a balcony in Buenos Aires

It has taken me a bit of time to get my blog going. I had great plans to write most days, documenting the time up to our departure, and writing about the planning stages of my partner Charlotte and I.

Whether due to laziness, lack of motivation or fear of the unknown, I don't know. Sitting here though, at 9pm on our balcony in Buenos Aires, drinking wine from a tetra pak carton, and listening to the traffic below mute Charlotte's singing from the bedroom, I feel inspired to start writing.

The view from the balcony

We have been in Argentina for a few days. Had I done more writing previous to now, I would have explained that we are planning to travel our way north through South America from Buenos Aires until either we loose the energy to keep going or our budget runs out.

It hasn't been the easiest of starts. Nothing could have prepared us for the intense 98 degree heat, and finding the energy to do just about anything has been a struggle. We are however only here for about 10 days depending on the buses to Cordoba, and so must make the most of it.

Following advice, I am getting to know my subject before i start taking pictures. The difficulty comes when my subject is a seventy eight and a half square mile city!

Taking just a small compact camera for reference, we took to the streets. Our hostel is on Bolivar in San Telmo. Buses sound frequent although we decided not to attempt them yet, and opted for the simpler, though more tiring method of walking across the city. At least that way we wouldn't miss anything. 

Armed with a small map torn out of our Lonely Planet guide, off we went. We walked for a couple of hours, winding are way back and forth through the urban decayed streets, watched a contemporary dance group take lessons under the shade of a college building, smelt the grilled meat from the 'Parillas' (steak houses), and listened to the horns of the impatient drivers desperate to get somewhere, until we found a 

Subte (underground). Here we got a 2.50 peso ticket to anywhere in the city. Heading for the seemingly quiet barrio of Palermo, the journey was different. To our surprise, and that of the rest of the trains, the man opposite decided that, rather than getting off when the doors opened, he would vomit all over the carriage floor.......... repeatedly! Whilst entertaining the children, the adults were not so impressed, and we all scrambled for safety, hoping that ours was the next stop. 

We rose from Palermo Subte, and to our amazement found ourselves in a busy street, the opposite of what we had expected. Following the unimpressive scribbled graffiti on the walls until it became more artistic, we reached the areas we now recognised from our guide books. The streets were vibrant, and there was a real artistic, boutique feel about the place. We found an amazing Mexican restaurant called Fabrica de Tacos (taco factory) and I wished I had something other than my compact camera to capture all of the amazing colours. The walls were covered in bright wrestling masks, day of the dead memorabilia and there was a real sense of family. The food was excellent, and we left full.

Continuing our increasingly bizarre week, we then appeared in a sprite zero advert for facebook! We haven't seen it yet, but I don't think I am going to be their next 'diet coke' guy anytime soon. 

Unfortunately it has not all been good. My camera was stolen on the underground. Stupidly I thought my velcro fastening pockets were impenetrable to all pick pockets. Sadly I have no photos of that day to show, but at least I still have my SLR. I know it sounds like I am making light of the situation, but in all honesty it shocked me, and its made me think differently about how I protect my belongings......better to learn sooner rather than later I guess.

We have not been here long and so much seems to have happened that I don't know how I will keep up. If this is just the start of our South American adventures, I think we are in for a pretty bumpy ride.......Here goes!

the journey begins now.

I have spent years wondering how, with no formal training,  I would ever become a professional photographer. I have read books and magazines from cover to cover, studying photographers, their photographs, their processes and the stories behind them....surely, with so many professional photographers out there, making a living from taking pictures, not all of them have got degrees and certificates. The issue concerned me, could I, with nothing more than a passion for photography make it as a professional photographer, and turn my hobby into a lucrative business? Could I compete with the college graduates, with their impressive qualifications, and equally impressive portfolios.......I hope so!

I started by asking every photographer I talked to, exactly what qualified them as photographers? The answer was very simple...they took photographs. In fact, only a few of the professional photographers I know, that is the ones making a good living from photography, have got a degree in photography. The others have simply got to where they are by taking photographs. This majority however, are older, most of them in their forties, and had started photographic careers long before their were photography degrees, but if it could be done then, why can't it be done now?

So, with that in mind an opportunity has arisen where I have the chance to pack up my camera kit and head off on a bit of an adventure. My partner, Charlotte, and I are taking time away from our normal routine and are going travelling. I want to experience the world but, for me, the main objective of the trip is to develop my skills as a photographer, build a portfolio and take my amateur interest to a professional level.