Alimoche

La Palma, December 8th, 2011. The best way to take your mind off this terrible winter (I hate snow, rain and cold) is to look back at images taken on better days, e g during our last stay at La Palma. That morning I drove to the viewpoint” La Cumbrecita”, from where you have a fantastic view over the” Caldera de Taburiente”. I climbed about 100-150 meters on the Roque de los Cuervos (= Raven Rock) to a perfect lookout spot….

December 13, 2011.La Palma. I’ve been photographing the area around Mt Quemada for several mornings now. One has to be there at around 9.30 when the sun rises above the mountain range on the east, Cumbre Nueva.
The area north and east of Mt Quemada is very rough. The bottom is covered with sharp volcanic rocks and lava bombs. You have to be extremely careful where you put your feet, because the volcanic rock is very sharp and falling will result most certainly in skin-injuries. The soil in the area south and west of the mountain is completely different and is more fine grained.

A spectacular feature happens when the north-east trade winds (coming from the Atlantic Ocean) bring clouds to the island. These clouds are forced to rise up the slopes, reach the peaks and gradually descend on the other side, forming cascading clouds. I have witnessed (and photographed) the effect several times,when clouds drifted over the mountain range “Cumbre Nueva” and descended onto the area northeast of Mt Quemada. Depending on the quantity of clouds, one is presented with magnificent light effects or a strong unpleasent wind with rain.

December 10, 2011. After a fantastic stay, earlier this year, it was our destiny to come back to the magnificent island of La Palma (one of the Canary Islands, part of Spain) So when Patricia obtained observing time at the Belgian Mercator telescope, at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory, I immediately volunteered to accompany her … That is, stay behind here in a nice hotel, waiting for her return after the observing run… keeping busy with landscape photography (not much wildlife over here). On wednesday I drove to La Cumbrecita, where I started the walk to Pico Bejenado (impressive walk, we did it in february this year) I climbed only the first 150 meters and reached an excellent lookout spot, from where I could see the sun rise on the slopes of the Caldera de Taburiente. I also had the best view on the Punta de los Roques and focused on the effects of the sunrise on the pinetrees and the slopes.

June 20th, Riglos, Aragon, Spain. Another geological wonder in the pre-Pyrenees: los Mallos, here those of Riglos. Along the banks of the wild river Gallego, special rock formations can be seen… Formed from eroded material rolling from the high peaks into the valleys, they stand erect as guardians of the entrance to the sierras, such as the sierra of San Juan de la Peña or the sierra of Loarre.

June, 2011, Vall de Boi, Catalunya,  It’s been a while since our last blogpost, but things have been very hectic lately as we moved house! Nevertheless, our minds are still full of the mountain scenes from this exceptional valley in the Spanish Pyrenees. The landscapes are in HDR, taken high above the valley (in one image one can distinguish the charming village of Taull) and close to the high-altitude ski resort. The colours in spring are truly impressive …. .

May, 31st. Vall d’Aran, Cataluña, Spanish Pyrenees. Coming smoothly out under roots of trees and rocks, but quickly growing into a huge, roaring waterfall, the place known as “Uelhs deth Joeu” was proven to be one of the many sources of the Garonne, one of France’s majestic rivers. This spring is a resurgence of a small river which travelled 4 km beneath the mountains starting from the southern side of the Pyrenees, in Valle de Benasque.

On day 3 of our stay at La Palma, our telezoom broke down: impossible to focus, even manually ! So we were restricted to a wide-angle zoom for the rest of the week. Bad luck, but this strenghtened our motivation to return to this beautiful island! (Meantime the lens has been repaired by Nikon Belgium)

During the 2nd half of january (2011) Patricia went to La Palma (Canary Islands, Spain) for a fortnight of observations with the Belgian 1.2 m Mercator telescope. The campaign wasn’t a big success, due to extremely bad weather at the 2400 m high observatory Roque de los Muchachos. But the fact that she was already on the island, was a good opportunity for me to fly over. So as soon as her observing run finished, I joined her at Santa Cruz de La Palma, where we spent a one-week holiday. As I’d never visited the island, I considered this trip to be a reconnaissance-trip. I wanted to find out what La Palma had to offer for a photographer interested in nature and wildlife photography. An internet-search had already learned me that the fauna of La Palma would not be overwhelming, to say the least… So I had decided not to take much photographic gear with me. But landscapes looked promising.
And, yes… the island’s scenery did not disappoint. We observed various magnificent sunrises from our balcony every morning. We saw impressive volcanoes in black moon-like environments. Fantastic light
would suddenly show up through low clouds or mist, lending a strange extra-ordinary look to the surroundings.
The time spent there was very fruitful, not because we took lots of pictures, but because we discovered quite a few fascinating spots where we will definitely return, waiting for sunrise or sunset, clearing storms, etc. La Palma, we will come back!