Robert Watcher
Well-known member
STRANGE FINDINGS
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Nicaragua - Another Stint
- Thread starter Robert Watcher
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Robert Watcher
Well-known member
Sometimes it is interesting to see the process...
...for the last photo I posted, I stood on the other corner of the street hoping that something would develop with people passing the sign on the front of the casino. I took one or two frames of several people over the course of 3 or 4 minutes. I would watch as individuals or groups approached and then anticipate the perfect timing to press my shutter.
Nothing was really working even with the woman I ended up succeeding with as she walked staring straight ahead - - - then a split second after she passed the face on the poster, she turned to look across the street. I knew I had it. Looking at my camera LCD screen, there was something about the interaction of the 2 faces that just seemed to work for me.
...for the last photo I posted, I stood on the other corner of the street hoping that something would develop with people passing the sign on the front of the casino. I took one or two frames of several people over the course of 3 or 4 minutes. I would watch as individuals or groups approached and then anticipate the perfect timing to press my shutter.
Nothing was really working even with the woman I ended up succeeding with as she walked staring straight ahead - - - then a split second after she passed the face on the poster, she turned to look across the street. I knew I had it. Looking at my camera LCD screen, there was something about the interaction of the 2 faces that just seemed to work for me.
Robert Watcher
Well-known member
STRANGE FINDINGS
The article that wrote based on this photo that I took over the weekend, has found favour with the Nicaragua Dispatch. Nice to have a little extra exposure:
http://community.nicaraguadispatch.com/2015/01/29/recyclemania-in-nicaragua/
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The writeup was motivated by photographer John Perriment who commented to me
I agreed with his interesting observation. The 'colours' and 'visual clues about the neighbourhood, are definitely elements I noticed --- but there was a comical side that fascinated me. That is what I documented in my article.
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Maggie Terlecki
Moderator
I LOVE KIDS - AND KIDS LOVE ME
Photo from today in a remote small town. These children were playing in the doorway of a store where Anne and I stopped to get a drink. The mother of one of the children (the store owner) looked at the shot on my camera screen, and asked for a copy. I will get back with a print.
OMG! the little girl to the left.. what an endearing expression. Adorable!
Maggie
Robert Watcher
Well-known member
Picture Perfect
Shooting across the top of houses in the dark recesses of mountainous areas in Nicaragua - Olympus E-PL5 w/40-150 kit lens @ 3200 ISO
Shooting across the top of houses in the dark recesses of mountainous areas in Nicaragua - Olympus E-PL5 w/40-150 kit lens @ 3200 ISO
Bill McCarthy
Member
Every day my wife and I pass by this couple as we are heading downtown or coming back home. They always notice us and give us a blessed greeting in Spanish.
I have seldom seen then so perfectly positioned on their bench as I noticed tonight as we passed by. What was strange is that they were preoccupied with something. I stopped some 20 to 30 feet on the other side of the street and rattled off 2 frames without them even noticing me.
I have never taken a photo of them or even make my camera visible around them, so it wouldn't be expected. Plus I use the tilt out screen of my black Olympus Pen and look down into it. Whatever the reason, I ended up with an absolutely perfect shot of how I see their life - day in and day out.
They seem perfectly relaxed and the color is gorgeous. Such a comfortable capture.
Best, Bill
Robert Watcher
Well-known member
Asher Kelman
OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
EL CERDITO Y EL GALLO
Another fun pic from today - taken in a small fishing village on the west coast of Nicaragua.
Fabulous for color, composition, spontaneity and reflection of the entire culture of the place, even though there are no people in the shot. This is a major success and I adore it!
Asher
Robert Watcher
Well-known member
EARLY MORNING CONTEMPLATION
Robert Watcher
Well-known member
SEA SALT BY THE SEA SHORE
I knew about Sea Salt, but never even considered how it was collected until traveling along the Pacific coastal fishing towns of Nicaragua. As I looked out the bus window, off in the distance were large fields covered with plastic and what appeared to be mounds of Snow piled up on the edges (being Canadian of course).
Asking around, my wife and I found out that the process taking place in those fields was "salt reclamation". The plastic lined partitions, are filled with Pacific Ocean sea water - and left in the hot sun to evaporate the liguid, leaving granular salt behind. Workers scrape the salt to the edges with their crude handmade wood scrapers, then the salt is collected and taken to nearby towns for cleaning and processing.
I gained access to one of these areas this week, allowing me to get up close for taking pictures. I picked up a small clump of the white crystals, and licked it. It resembled salt, but the refining must intensify that taste.
I knew about Sea Salt, but never even considered how it was collected until traveling along the Pacific coastal fishing towns of Nicaragua. As I looked out the bus window, off in the distance were large fields covered with plastic and what appeared to be mounds of Snow piled up on the edges (being Canadian of course).
Asking around, my wife and I found out that the process taking place in those fields was "salt reclamation". The plastic lined partitions, are filled with Pacific Ocean sea water - and left in the hot sun to evaporate the liguid, leaving granular salt behind. Workers scrape the salt to the edges with their crude handmade wood scrapers, then the salt is collected and taken to nearby towns for cleaning and processing.
I gained access to one of these areas this week, allowing me to get up close for taking pictures. I picked up a small clump of the white crystals, and licked it. It resembled salt, but the refining must intensify that taste.
Robert Watcher
Well-known member
My wife Anne has posted an article using my photos of the Salt Evaporation Ponds along with some interesting details - on out Travel Journal this morning : http://travelvirgins.net/journal/sea-salt-by-the-sea-shore.html
Asher Kelman
OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Kudos!
I wonder how they would do in B&W? With luck, the salt will not be uniformly white and there seem sufficient textures and light patterns to make an impressive monochrome print.
Asher
Robert Watcher
Well-known member
INTRUSIONS
Robert Watcher
Well-known member
ALL NEW - RANDOM 6 : Part/1 colour
Robert Watcher
Well-known member
ALL NEW - RANDOM 6 : Part/2 black and white
Antonio Correia
Well-known member
Intrusions: 4 consistent and coherent images !
Why do you vary so much Robert ?
Why do you vary so much Robert ?
Robert Watcher
Well-known member
Intrusions: 4 consistent and coherent images !
Why do you vary so much Robert ?
I love photography and I love variety. I am shooting everyday with an endless array of content.
Maggie Terlecki
Moderator
Robert, when I look at so many of the photos where we see how people paint their doors and their homes in bright red, orange, turquoise and even ,incredibly, purple, I think what a joyous bunch of people to want to make their homes look happy. I think if anyone here had a purple door, neighbors would all think they had gone crazy because neutrals are the way to go. We are so bland, aren't we. I have a white house and a wine colored door and that is considered pretty gutsy around here and about as gutsy as I would get. When I look at your wonderful color photos, it tells me they are a vibrant and colorful people and we could use a bit more of that in our lives. Thank you!
Maggie
Maggie
Robert Watcher
Well-known member
I agree totally with you Maggie - on both accounts - in Canada, we would be crazy - and that people here do love life and character and history and old world tradition.
Robert Watcher
Well-known member
Our best friends have come down to Nicaragua to visit us for 10 days - so we are showing them around the city and other parts of the country this week.
Walking around Leon Centro last night, Anne (my wife) noticed this wall and sign on the other side of the street - took my E-PL3 out of my hands - and told us to cross over and stand against the wall.
Her joke is - "I thought it said 'Boys'".
It was really unfortunate for our friends when the first day here last Tuesday, we were at the beach and while Rick and Michelle were capturing some photos, I asked them to pose for a shot on the rock formations as a momento of the beautiful day.
Moving position, Rick stepped off a rock into what looked like a small patch of very shallow water, when he fell over smashing his head, arms, knees and toe on the clusters of jagged rocks all around. Turns out it was a deep hole that he stepped into making him lose his balance. I felt so bad and fortunately it did not require a hospital, just a few days of healing.
What really was upsetting for them though, was that their brand new $500 camera that Rick was using, went into the water with him. Even after 3 days sitting in a bag of rice, it did not come back to life.
Michelle loves photography but decided not to bring her Nikon DSLR gear with her for safety reasons. I received an email 2 weeks ago asking for recommendation of a good choice for a more compact camera. They ended up purchasing a very useful Lumix camera to bring - - - and were putting it through it's paces and loving it, on the day it went down.
Well Rick got dusted off and put aside his pain and wanted me to continue shooting. I moved them to another safer area and took some Love Story images - some of them made up this Instagram Collage:
It was just devastating for both myself and them, that they would be in this unique cultural and visual environment maybe for once in a lifetime, and not be able to take photos home with them. Fortunately I have an extra camera and lens with me - and have offered up my Olympus E-PL5 for Rick and Michelle to use for the rest of their stay.
Walking around Leon Centro last night, Anne (my wife) noticed this wall and sign on the other side of the street - took my E-PL3 out of my hands - and told us to cross over and stand against the wall.
Her joke is - "I thought it said 'Boys'".
It was really unfortunate for our friends when the first day here last Tuesday, we were at the beach and while Rick and Michelle were capturing some photos, I asked them to pose for a shot on the rock formations as a momento of the beautiful day.
Moving position, Rick stepped off a rock into what looked like a small patch of very shallow water, when he fell over smashing his head, arms, knees and toe on the clusters of jagged rocks all around. Turns out it was a deep hole that he stepped into making him lose his balance. I felt so bad and fortunately it did not require a hospital, just a few days of healing.
What really was upsetting for them though, was that their brand new $500 camera that Rick was using, went into the water with him. Even after 3 days sitting in a bag of rice, it did not come back to life.
Michelle loves photography but decided not to bring her Nikon DSLR gear with her for safety reasons. I received an email 2 weeks ago asking for recommendation of a good choice for a more compact camera. They ended up purchasing a very useful Lumix camera to bring - - - and were putting it through it's paces and loving it, on the day it went down.
Well Rick got dusted off and put aside his pain and wanted me to continue shooting. I moved them to another safer area and took some Love Story images - some of them made up this Instagram Collage:
It was just devastating for both myself and them, that they would be in this unique cultural and visual environment maybe for once in a lifetime, and not be able to take photos home with them. Fortunately I have an extra camera and lens with me - and have offered up my Olympus E-PL5 for Rick and Michelle to use for the rest of their stay.
Robert Watcher
Well-known member
THE MASON'S HELPER
Antonio Correia
Well-known member
I am sorry for their accident.
Hope he is better and ready to "work" soon as it seems
Great black and white Robert !
Hope he is better and ready to "work" soon as it seems
Great black and white Robert !
Robert Watcher
Well-known member
EVACUATION ROUTE
I found this scene I came across, amusing.
I found this scene I came across, amusing.
Robert Watcher
Well-known member
ANOTHER VISIT TO VOLCAN MASAYA
Robert Watcher
Well-known member
VIEWS FROM THE BELL TOWER
James Lemon
Well-known member
Hello Rob
I love your images! Thank you for sharing and your dedication.
Best, regards
James
I love your images! Thank you for sharing and your dedication.
Best, regards
James
Robert Watcher
Well-known member
Thank you, for your kind thoughts.
Robert Watcher
Well-known member
FISHERMEN MENDING NETS
Antonio Correia
Well-known member
Goood !!...
Robert Watcher
Well-known member
PLAYAS DEL COCO, COSTA RICA
We have to leave the country for our visa extension, and so are taking a break in the north west of Costa Rica for a week.
We have actually been spoiled by the beaches in Nicaragua as well as prices that we can afford. Meals and food in Costa Rica are more along the lines of what we would pay in Canada and the United States.
I was shooting the beach area very early this morning, and came across this composition that I found most interesting. The fold out screen on my Olympus E-PL5 allowed me to lower my camera to ground level for better composition.
Another thing familiar to our living in Nicaragua - earthquakes. I was laying in bed with my computer (no chairs or check at the hostel) around 12:30 this afternoon, when the bed started shaking. It wasn't very severe though. I checked on my usual website and indeed there was a 5.4 just off the coast of us.
We have to leave the country for our visa extension, and so are taking a break in the north west of Costa Rica for a week.
We have actually been spoiled by the beaches in Nicaragua as well as prices that we can afford. Meals and food in Costa Rica are more along the lines of what we would pay in Canada and the United States.
I was shooting the beach area very early this morning, and came across this composition that I found most interesting. The fold out screen on my Olympus E-PL5 allowed me to lower my camera to ground level for better composition.
Another thing familiar to our living in Nicaragua - earthquakes. I was laying in bed with my computer (no chairs or check at the hostel) around 12:30 this afternoon, when the bed started shaking. It wasn't very severe though. I checked on my usual website and indeed there was a 5.4 just off the coast of us.