Photo a Day 2018 Edition
Tradition: our Santa Lucías Gathering happens every January 1st. It is an important way for us to show and share our certainty that the new year will be a great one!
It is Friday... So I have just decided that we will have "Freaky Fridays" during 2018! Let's get the show on the road with some infrared work... "Coming Home"
Done and gone... everything and everyone has a purpose and once fulfilled, there might be nothing else. The trick is to enjoy whatever time it is we have while doing what we came around to do.
I cannot really help but to think about 3 little suns when I see this shot... it is probably just my brain making a connection to some random memory.
"Windows to the soul" that is how eyes are usually referred to... maybe there is something true about that, but whatever they are windows for, I just find them fascinating. Cat´s eyes in particular!
I told you guys: there are going to be sunsets in the series, so get over it! This one is special though, it was a nice way to close a great afternoon with @katmarce @unodien and @asicomolooye
When such a dramatic sunrise hits, there is nothing else you can do but take the shot. Cold morning, a superbly textured sky and a countryside drive. Not a bad way to start!
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. This “macro portrait” for me is more than conclusive proof that we can find beauty anywhere, even when beauty standards are all over the place. I am sure some will just see a bug and move on, but what I see here is purpose made into a creature: an amazing accomplishment of nature.
#FreakyFriday comes back with a light crossing in San José as seen today... to think this was a dirt street about 100 years back sure helps put things into perspective! Why use a pseudo-sepia filter on it? Two reasons: because I can and because I wanted this to be a little homage to the old time pictures you can occasionally find, taken around this very same location.
Apis mellifera, the honey bee: what kind of world would we have to live in if not for these tiny super hard workers? If they disappear today, 70% of the most commonly consumed plants will probably go extinct. Food chain goes out of the window and we would face very, very dark times. So, if you can, avoid harming them and keep in mind that, more often than not, essential things are quite invisible.
“Yep... I can see you too, there with that big camera” 😂. This cheeky invader of balconies woke me up today. We are truly starting that time of the year when all the birds start their day super early and want you to do the same, even on weekends! As of today, the score goes Birds 1 - 0 Me.
Wow! Super late today and I could not find a better way to demonstrate I am still on time for the challenge 😁 Time: our worst/best conceptual creation. It all depends on your attitude towards it. You can make the most of it or you can allow it to bring out the worst of you. Your choice, so be wise about it, you cannot roll it back.
A dreamy sunset for a hectic day...
Watering plants can be a revealing experience... if you take the time to look close enough. I love the geometry on this succulent, the spiral its leaves have formed is subtle and you may not see it at all if you do not look for it. A true hidden jewel!
People like to collect different things... stamps, baseball cards, comics, you name it. I like to collect memories, and I have a good collection of the memories I have created while drinking a good bottle of wine. I keep the corks most of the time, as physical proof of said memories I guess.
We all have unfinished business of some sort. I probably have more than one item on the list, and this is certainly one of them: learn to play that sweet, sweet harp. One of these days!
A lone blackbird waits for his friends on this field, as the rain is just starting to fall. I cannot help but notice how fiercely social these guys are and how loyal. Maybe we can learn something from them.
To continue to further deviate from the norm, I decided that videos are ok for this project (so long as they are short and hopefully interesting!) so here is the first one! Boiling clouds on a sunny afternoon!
It is inevitable: at some point you realize you have not taken your daily shot, Time is running out and just need to quickly snapshot something. I got lucky and managed a pretty decent flyby shot at this wonderful corner of San José: the Melico Salazar Popular Theater. A colorful jewel in the heart of the city!
Life usually finds a way... it does not really matter if you agree, believe or deny: some things will happen regardless. And well, life happens, it is unstoppable. Makes me think of how things will be if we are gone for good...
The day comes to an end. In my windowsill, Moriko watches the sun go down once again and prepares for the cool night. Moriko is my 30 year old Japanese black pine bonsai and she is beautiful! I am sure you can tell by her silhouette!
Summer. Some will actually fight you about that, because #CostaRica is a tropical country with no “summer” but a dry season. Whatever. I say this is a typical Summer image out there and it evokes childhood memories galore. Enjoy Summer (and shut up!) And also: I know the dry trees are out of focus, that was a matter of choice, because I love the texture of the dry tall grass... so shut up!
A good Sunday walk with @katmarce eventually led us to this vantage point where you can see three different waterfalls: Magia Blanca (upper left), Encantada (center low) and Escondida (only one on the right). The roar of Encantada is just epic from here!
Nature is just amazing. Little details may often go unnoticed, but all of them are there just the same. The bougainvillea “flowers” you often see are nothing but modified leaves, while the true flowers are just a few millimeters across. So today I decided to get close once more and picture them, so they can be clearly seen. They are quite beautiful in their own right. Next time, remember: beyond the obvious beauty, there is probably more.
Sometimes you just take a snapshot without checking some settings out... well, that happened to me and I ended up with a less than ideal quality, but well, it is what it is! This is a lush coffee plantation in the Santa Barbara district, almost ready for the first harvest of the year!
Who said Sunday brunch is an exclusively human thing? Some butterflies enjoy their own version of "Tangerine Mimosas" more often than we think! This one in particular seems quite comfortable with her drink, probably thinking "It is 5 o'clock somewhere anyway!"
“What big nose you have!” “To better smell doggie treats with, my dear”
Garden spiders... you must have seen many in your lifetime. I never tire of looking at these pretty critters, but you need to get close to get a good glimpse at the details. Not for the arachnophobic types for sure!
It is Freaky Friday again... this year is going out fast! You will probably see some twilight shots in this One A Day series, but I will try to make them different (as much as I possibly can anyway!). So why not start with one today? This kind of reminded me of some mystery book cover...
Yes. Dramatic blue sky background is surely a classic. But why the ugly utility pole and not a cool tree in full bloom? Well, I think this is a bit more “real” is it not? For every tree in full bloom there are probably thousands of these, monuments to our primary needs. They deserve some love too.
A casual dog walk this afternoon got me to this... actually the tiny flower of a palm tree I have never noticed before. Naturally, I pulled out the good old macro lens and experimented for a little while 😁
Memories. They come in many forms, from many inputs and they only exist in our heads. Mementos, on the other hand, are physical manifestations of memories, things we chose to keep so we do not eventually forget. I like wine, and this wall is a collection of my mementos. If it makes the wall, it is good.
Almost touching there... can you see it? Can you feel it?
Another vision of #Summer in #CostaRica : a fully bloomed “Roble Sabana” (Tabebuia rosea). This one is right in front of a local church, growing leisurely in an urban environment. Totally worth it waiting a year to see it in all its glory!
Destinations... something we often think about. How often we get where we want to go? How often we do not even manage to start the journey?
While this could not look like much, if you prize yourself as a #CoffeeLover you should be interested: this is a typical entrance to a small coffee plantation. Coffee plants need a very specific balance of shade and sunlight and you will find different owners approach this fact differently. This one grows tall coffee plants, which thrive in a mostly shadeless environment, so there is no need of shade-trees.
You might be surprised at what you can find by just driving 5 minutes out of your usual path...
I just love how colorful and elaborate some bills are in some countries. I always try to bring back a few for my tiny collection. This is from one of my favorite places in the world: Hong Kong!
It is Freaky Friday again so we have license to do stuff! Today with a little bit of a photographer's "inside joke" (mind the pun!). This is where the magic happens! Some of you will recognize it instantly, some may not... Note: No DSLRs were damaged while taking this picture.
I love macro, yeah, I am sucker for macro. But are not we all? How can you deny the beauty you find when you get up this close? How can you contest the delicate elements that make the larger things that we see every day? Well, I cannot. I love to look in close and see all the nuances and deal with the tricky light and DoF. Give it a try and see how you like it!
What are these you ask? These are some Golden Dewdrop (Duranta erecta) berries! So orange I literally had to stop the car and take the shot. Although I have some in the garden, they do not produce as many berries as these bushes I passed along.
Surrealism is always just a quick tweak away from day to day reality: Mother Nature is always willing to provide the raw materials...
Since I skipped #FreakyFriday last Friday, I am kind of catching up today... I don’t know about you, but I find these warehousing units a bit creepy, particularly when no one is around and half the place is just dark and still... a little post processing and the feeling comes through.
Dawn today had some added value: a full moon chased by sunrise! It was a good scene, so no sense in letting it go without a quick snapshot.
Wow! 10%... here is where you ask: where do we come from and where are we going? Train tracks remind me of how a fixed destination is possible, but do we really want to get there?
Sometimes wisdom is not found in a book or any other kind of “traditional media”... Graffiti can work too. This one is in Spanish (and I must say calligraphy is so much better than mine 😂) and reads “Keep walking because soon...” and that’s that. I like that open end because we all are looking for something and chances are we all are looking for something *different*. Just fill in what you are looking for and there it is, instant inspiration to keep fighting another day!
It seems that there is way too much light for a Milky Way shot, so we have to make do with the source of all of that light that blocks the stars. The town seems quiet from here... even with all those lights...
You are probably wondering what the heck are you looking at... well, this is a pretty common sight in tropical countries, locally known as “Platanilla” (this one is a Heliconia caribaea jacquinii, if I am not mistaken). I just got a bit closer to show the amazing structural planning that goes on here. The flower is very sturdy and extremely colorful. It is also quite big and can easily reach a 30 inches in length. If you can see them, that means hummingbirds can too, so you are bound to find them around during early morning and mid afternoon.
