Se Fue La Luz
A bit of a blog Hiatus in May and June, but for very good reason.
I had been off around Albania and Slovenia for work, leaving me little time to sit down and write any sort of a blog. Upon return the dreaded Covid finally caught up with me and the days seemed to get away from me so here we are in July with kind of a catch up really, with some of my favourite images from the trips.
Starting in Albania I was really surprised with how photogenic the country was as a whole, from the bustling capital Tirana, to the farmlands and hills that make up the centre of the country, and the Mediterranean coast that makes up the west. The country had so much diversity my cameras were never not around my neck.
Being on a very strict schedule meant a lot of the images I took were very ‘run and gun’, with me keeping up with the group while quickly snapping away when I got the opportunity. This meant I was composing shots very quickly and having to think on me feet about what image to capture before the moment was gone and we had moved on.
The shot below is a perfect example of this, where we were walking through a marketplace to the next stop and I spotted the seller in his shop. I knew the composition I wanted so quickly turned around and took the shot without stopping. I just hoped that the image would come out as well as it looked in my head.
When, on the rare occasion we were stopped for a short period, I was able to consider the framing I wanted. On one of these moments of rest I was able to capture my favourite image from the trip. The image below is of a woman who was stood waiting for her partner inside a castle in the town of Gjirokaster. I took several minutes positioning myself into the best position I could to compose the shot, waiting for her to wander into the right light in the darkness of the castle. Luckily she did move where I wanted, and I was able to get this image of her with the huge WW2 cannons around her in the gloom.
A similar thing happened with the image below, where I had a moment on my own waiting for the group outside the house of leaves in Tirana. I noticed the young woman lost in her phone up in the top window of the house, so I again took my time to figure out the best composition and wait for the exact moment before taking the shot. Again I think this image works really well, and gives the photo a little something extra than just a image of the building itself.
What I have noticed from reviewing the images after the trip was that the images I found the most pleasing/satisfying to me had some sort of human element to them with a person being the focus within the already interesting scene.
Overall a fascinating country that was a photographers wet dream which I would quite happily travel to again and spend more time enjoying its culture, food and of course photo opportunities.
Next stop was a trip around Slovenia. A country I again knew little about going into it and boy did it surprise me. The country is jam packed with jaw dropping scenery that seems to change by the minute. The capital has its beautiful cobblestoned centre, filled with colourful buildings, bars and castle, while areas like lake bled and Bohinj are an alpine paradise the alps would envy. Not Only that, the wine regions to the west give Tuscany a run for its money with their rolling hills and ancient hilltop villages that pepper the landscape.
As with Albania, Slovenia was a photographer’s paradise but this time I had the added opportunity of fulfilling a long held dream I had when I first got my drone…. I got to fly the drone over the picturesque and world famous Lake Bled. Thankfully the images did not disappoint and I managed to get some really interesting shots of the lake and the island that makes it so famous.
I was also able to get the drone up over the mountains, making a panoramic image to try and show the scale of the mountains that surrounded us as we drove through them.
Back firmly on the ground, I was able to capture some images of Slovenia as we travelled around using a combination of the XT-4 and the ever trusty X100V.
After visiting some of the winerys and see how they make their charcuterie, it would have been rude of me not to taste what they had to offer as well.
I also had the opportunity to visit the famous Postojna Cave, which blew my mind at how vast and impressive the cave system was compared to anything I had seem before it.
Back above land, I finished off my stay with some time in the capital Ljubljana. A small, but very pretty cobblestoned city that at its centre had some lovely architecture, colourful building facades and some great places to eat and drink. I spent some time wandering the streets doing a little bit of street photography before it got too hot and I had to get a beer instead…
Overall a fantastic couple of trips doing what I love best. With covid19 resigned to the history books, lets hope I am able to do more of these trips in the near future.
FIN
