David Howell Travel Photography and Map Blog

Pre-dawn Café, Paris

Do you walk down the block to a café in Paris every morning to watch as the city wakes up?

Most people have a morning routine. Sometimes it is dictated by family responsibilities, such as making breakfast and getting ready for school or work. Other people choose to start their day in a public place. Their routine includes reading the newspaper or talking with friends who share the same routine. It is a place to discuss events and make plans, or just tell jokes with your buddies.

Starting the day in a café must be more common in an urban setting. And it is probably more common for people who don’t have children in the home.

One of my favorite times to photograph is just before dawn and in the short time right after dawn. I am not interested in the dawn sky itself. But the dim natural light gives each feature a chance to stand on its own. The photograph is exposed for one small scene and the surrounding area is dark, which helps emphasise the main object.

Strolling the pre-dawn streets of Paris with a camera is an interesting way to start the day. The sounds, smells, and sights are different than during the busy daylight hours. You get to see café workers set up the outside terrace seating, the cleaners power-washing the sidewalks, people walking and bicycling through dark streets on their way to work or school, small store owners setting out their produce tables, and watch ancient cathedrals emerge from the black of night, all without crowds of tourists. And you can sit alone in a café sipping espresso and know that you have even beaten the morning regulars to the prime terrace table.

Photo:  1/125 s at f/2.8   You can see more Paris photos in the Photo Gallery at my website:  www.earthmapphoto.com

Northern California, USA

If your image of California is of freeways, smog, congestion, and crowded beaches that’s fine with us.

Even though most of California is rural, that is not its media image. We often, only half-jokingly, say that the north coast of California is rainy, foggy, gray, cold, and miserable-you would hate it. That is our selfish way to keep the crowds down. In truth, it does have that kind of weather, but some people love it. The small towns and uncrowded forests and beaches are a bonus.

It takes a particular kind of person who lives with purpose, and is willing to strive for enjoyment, to thrive on the far northern coast of California. The Hollywood weather and easy access to every imaginable store and service of southern California, or even the San Francisco Bay Area, are thankfully distant. It is OK with us if we are lumped in with the crowded parts of California in the minds of people in surrounding states. We continue to savor the beauty of the redwood forests, the mountains, the rivers, and the beaches.

Economically, it is a difficult area. Tourism is important. So there are those people who are forced to admit that we have sunny days. Right along the coast the summer temperatures are moderated by the cool marine breezes and morning fog. (OK, sometimes the fog stays for days, but….) People from the hot, crowded parts of California seek shelter in campgrounds and coastal motels. But they are well-advised to bring a coat.

It is still possible to have a memorable family beach cookout and not see any other people on the beach. It is one of our favorite summer activities. Several times each summer we have potlucks with family and friends. We stay to watch the sunset before fording the coastal stream and climbing the long, steep, crumbling steps back to the car. That is the ’striving for enjoyment’ part.

The reward is a beautiful deserted beach like the one in this photograph.  Photo: 1/350 s at f/2.2.

Electric Mountain Train, Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland

Today is International Women’s Day.

It is a day to recognize and honor the importance of the work of women; their work at home and away from home. It is also a day to recognize the limitations on women’s involvement, safety, education, advancement and equal pay.

One of my heroes is Wangari Maathai of Kenya. She won the Nobel Peace prize for leading the Green Belt Movement in Africa. This primarily village women’s movement has planted tens of millions of trees across Africa to slow soil erosion and provide shade and organic matter for agricultural soils. She argued that there would be fewer wars if the men would stay home and help manage resources and grow food rather than fight over resources that are degraded. Of course this is complicated by multi-national corporations and foreign governments.

Here are a couple useful links about international women’s programs, where you can learn about some of the issues and programs, or make a contribution:

 http://www.globalfundforwomen.org     

http://www.internationalwomensday.com/

What does that have to do with this photograph in Switzerland? Well, this woman’s simple act of kindness salvaged a long day of photography that had produced very little, up to that point. And it may be a stretch, but I think that it also shows a woman’s natural inclination to do something nice, to make things better, to help, or to contribute, rather than ignore situations. She didn’t know anything about me or my day, but she could have ignored me or turned away.

This is one of my favorite photographs. It was in a train station in Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland. I had spent the day riding cable cars and mountain trains and walking trying to photograph the amazing peaks of the high Swiss Alps. The weather had not cooperated. I was on my way back to Wengen where our hotel was. I decided not to put my camera back in my pack, even though it didn’t seem like there would be any photo opportunities. As trains came into this little station, I started following them in and photographing them as they slowly came to a stop. This woman spotted me and decided to participate in the photograph.

The afternoon sun shown a short ways into the train car. It was just enough light to highlight her smile and her graceful peace sign. The other passengers remain in shadows.

This track was under a glass roof  inside the station. The highlights are subdued. The Swiss railway worker adds color and precision as he walks the shadow line. Lines converge toward the woman; the railway worker’s shadow, the roof structure shadows, and even the upper arm that connects the electric train to the power line, lead the eye to her. There are interesting textures, such as the expandable rubber train passageway at the left edge, the solar panels on the parking structure behind the train, the train wheels, and the red cable at the bottom of the train.

May the women in your life lead a peaceful day today, and tomorrow. You can view other photographs of Switzerland in the Photo Gallery at my website: www.earthmapphoto.com

Pedestrians Behind Ornate Clock, Musée d'Orsay, Paris

Time is different in an art museum.

For some, it drags on forever, while they wait for the art lover they are accompanying. For others, they lose track of time as they imagine the setting and ideas of the artists, tens or hundreds or thousands of years ago.

This ornate clock in the Musée d’Orsay in Paris calls attention to time. But the artwork in the other parts of this converted, cavernous train station are timeless. The clock and the building themselves are works of art. The clock is certainly more than is required for industrial efficiency.

How much time has been spent absorbed in the imagery of Monet, Renoir, and others? The time has been too short for me. I am just learning the impact of these artists. The collection of impressionist painters in the Musée d’Orsay is worth every moment spent there.

The people walking behind this clock were going from one wing of the museum to another. When you walk through these passageways, you are not always aware that you are behind the clock.

Ahhh, Paris. We need more time there. Photo: 1/6 second at f/16.

There are more Paris photos in the Photo Gallery at my website: www.earthmapphoto.com

Trinity River, Northern California, USA

Can you hear this photograph?

I admit that is an eccentric question. But I stood in this spot for hours and the roar of this rapid was amplified by the narrow river canyon. I think that I can still hear it.

I arrived before dawn and waited for a little light before I climbed over the rocks down to this ledge next to the Trinity River in northern California. The clouds hung in the canyon all morning and kept the focus of this scene on the river and the rocks. The longer exposure helped to protray the speed of the river and may help you imagine the sound.

It was my first photo excursion with a new camera. And because I wanted the river to fill the foreground of the photograph, the tripod legs were sitting on the edge of the rocks to keep the camera close to the water. I kept a hand on the tripod most of the time. I kept imagining the camera tipping it over, plop, into the river!

I kept the aperture very small so that the rocks next to me would be in sharp focus as well as the rocks in the rapids and the trees across the river. The lichen on the rocks in the foreground added color to this subdued scene.

The Trinity River comes from snowmelt and rainfall in the ‘Trinity Alps’. It was very busy during the California gold rush and still has active mining claims on it. California State Highway 299 travels next to the river for many miles and makes the drive from Redding to Arcata very scenic. The Trinity River is an important salmon and steelhead stream and is popular for kayaking and rafting. Photo: 3.2 seconds at f/22

Breton Farmhouse, Malestroit, France

This rural road in southern Brittany had very little traffic. It followed gently rolling hills through corn fields and pastureland. There were small patches of woodland and scattered farmhouses.

Even though only a few people drove past this farmhouse it was generously decorated with flower baskets. It had been stormy, but an opening in the clouds let the afternoon sun spotlight this well-maintained stone building.

We were staying in a beachside gite near Pénestin, France. It was September, so the holiday crowds had left. We were about the only people on the short lane to the beach. We could walk less than a hundred meters and down a sandy trail to the beach. The only other people we saw on that beach were early morning fishermen rowing out to their boats and a few mussel gatherers.

Pénestin beaches were part of the occupying German fortifications during World War II. There are still ominous concrete blockhouses perched in the rocks above the beach. They are on the sides of points so that they were not easily visible from offshore.  The opening for the guns faced across the beach, not out to sea. So they could not be attacked by the landing Allied soldiers until they were on the beach, entirely exposed to the machine guns in the blockhouses. Even though they are just concrete boxes, they still look vicious.

Each day we had travelled out into the Breton countryside. Some days we just wandered with only a general photography plan like, “Let’s see what kind of villages are along this south-facing slope above the river. The afternoon sun will be shining on them and we might find a chateau next to the river….” Thank goodness for the detail of Michelin maps and my wife, our navigator!

This farmhouse was in Malestroit. We found it after a very pleasant country drive. The openings in the clouds were like an ‘on’ switch for the sunlight. The light-colored stone and the mortar reflected the low-angle sun. I stood against a tree next to a roadside ditch and photographed during several brief openings in the clouds. I waited for the sunlight to brighten the stone and the flowers. But it is hard not to cast a shadow into the photograph when a setting sun is behind you. I thought I had tucked into the tree shadow, but you can see my hat brim and my shoulder in the opening between the two tree trunks. It surprised me that you can see the shadow of the entire canopy of this tree. I guess that is thanks to the wide angle lens.  Photo: 1/80 s at f/14  with 16-35 mm lens at 16 mm.

There are more Brittany photographs in the Photo Gallery at my website at: www.earthmapphoto.com

Breton Home, Tréguier, France

In stone villages ‘your house’ is a section of stone in a long row of connected and stacked residences. But your portion of the wall of stone facing the street can still be very distinctive.

The character can be defined by the color or size of the stones, or by the types of door and window openings, or the color of the shutters, or even by how you display flowers. In the ‘old town’ parts of stone villages the houses don’t have front yards. The stone walls of the rows of houses connect directly to the stone of the cobblestone streets. These villages were built behind defensive walls and often were arranged around the cathedral and village square. Tréguier has an amazing cathedral which I spent several hours inside taking photogrpahs. I will talk about that in another post.

This beautiful Breton home in Tréguier, France was meticulously cared for. Villages in Brittany were often built with granite. The low morning sun highlights the texture of the stone and the mortar in this photograph. It is common for homes in Brittany to have handmade lace in the windows. They are very detailed and each home has a unique design.

Tréguier is in the north of Brittany in the Côte d’Armor départment. It is a short drive from a stunning, remote, rocky coastline. It is a great place to learn about traditional Breton food and drink. There are comfortable cafés and restaurants that serve traditional crêpes, galettes, mussels, oysters, and hard cider.

The cider was everywhere, but we never saw an apple orchard. Brittany in general is agricultural, but the area around Tréguier is an especially rich area for vegetables. The farm fields are separated by narrow lanes with rock walls. There are many corn fields, but it sure doesn’t look like Iowa!

The Breton people trace their culture to Celtic roots. We found the area to be very interesting, rural, and friendly. It is a great place to go for long walks on deserted rocky shores, especially at low tide.

Photo: 1/400 s at f/4  Other Brittany photos are in the Photo Gallery at my website: www.earthmapphoto.com

Fishermen, Praia Vermelha, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

On a warm, sunny day like this I don’t think that these guys cared too much about how many fish they caught. In Rio de Janeiro it seems like people have plenty of time to enjoy the ocean and the beaches.

On the busy beaches, like Copacabana and Ipanema, there are football and volleyball games strewn as far as the eye can see. They start early and continue under the lights after dark.

This is Praia Vermelha, or Red Beach. It is on a quiet bay with a commanding view of the famous Pão de Açúcar, or Sugarloaf.

This group of fishermen looked like they spent a lot of their days on this bay. I hope they had better fishing results on other days than what we saw. They couldn’t feed their families or make a living on the few fish they caught while we were there.

But they were jovial. Even though it was a ‘bad’ day of fishing results it seemed like they would rather do this than real work. This was just a quick snapshot out of a restaurant window.  Photo: 1/750 s at f/5.6.

You can view more of my photographs in the Photo Gallery at my website: www.earthmapphoto.com

Commuter, Bern, Switzerland

How’s the commute? Will it be another day of gridlock and anxiety?

My main transportation is a bicycle. It is easy to get around small towns with a bike. It is even easier when towns plan for bicycles and pedestrians.

Even though the street in this photograph is cobblestone there were quite a few bicyclists in this old town section of Bern, Switzerland. There were also lots of scooters. This guy seemed to be pretty organized.

This was an interesting part of Bern near the river. I had spent an hour or so during the early morning in this small street. Before I moved to this corner I had set up my tripod in the middle of the block, composed a scene, and waited for people to pass this corner or ride into the scene. You see and hear very different things when you stand in one place and watch rather than just walk through an area.

Perhaps this guy, and the other people who passed by, followed this routine every morning.  From this one view his commute doesn’t seem too bad. This photo does have a very European feel. Photo: 1/500 s at f/3.2

Chalet, Lauterbrunnen Switzerland

A sunny stroll through wildflower pastures. The sound of clanking cowbells and the thunder of huge waterfalls. The pride of a well-maintained chalet. It is spring in the Swiss Alps.

The walls of the glacially-carved Lauterbrunnen Valley launch many snow-melt waterfalls in the spring. In fact the word Lauterbrunnen means many fountains (according to the Swiss Tourism website) although the literal translation might be louder well.

Even though the setting for the book Heidi by Johanna Spyri was probably inspired by her visits to the area near Maienfeld in Graubünden, I have imagined it to look somewhat like this photo.

This classic chalet had Staubbach Falls in its backyard. It faces up the valley with horizon-to-horizon views of the high Swiss Alps.

It would have been interesting to talk to the owners but we didn’t want to intrude. On the outside wall above the garage door there is a six foot tall photographic print of two men. I imagined that it was the grandfather and father up in the mountains in the old days. At any rate, each time this family pulls their Land Rover into the garage they see the huge print, which is facing the mountains. The chalet also had a beautiful small balcony to sit and enjoy the uninterrupted view.

The Lauterbrunnen Valley is a great place for long walks. The warm sunshine and alpine flowers of spring create a beautiful setting. Photo: 1/80 s at f/16