Sandias

Sandias ((Watermelons) / iPhone 6 Plus / Snapseed

This is not a good photograph. I know that. But I like looking at it. Besides, I’m trying to make a point, here.

No one needs to see all those images you’ve taken just because “film” is essentially free, now, in this digital age.

But you don’t need to dump them all either. You may go through a bunch today and find a gem, something that you can really make something of.

Months later you might go through the same batch and find something totally different but as good or maybe even better.

Anyway, they all have the potential to stir your own memories, your emotions, and thereby add to the soup that is your creativity.

That’s the case with this one. I shot it with my iPhone through a dirty bus window on my way from Merida to Valladolid on Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula. The bus was moving, I had only a split second to grab a shot. No time to mess with settings. No time to think. I just shot it. I’m glad I did.

I’m also happy that I didn’t delete it. Instead, I cleaned it up the best I could, cropped it and tweaked it a bit in Snapseed and allowed my eye and my mind to wander around in it. I remembered the refreshing taste of a cool crisp watermelon on a hot day. I wondered about the people in the image and about their day, their lives. I spotted the bicycle lying on the ground and was reminded of my beloved boyhood bike from so many years ago. I wondered about the person casting a shadow in the left foreground

It takes me back. Back to a time and a place and feelings that might otherwise have slipped away.

No, it’s not a “good” photograph, but I’m glad I have it. I hope you can see past its faults and derive some little pleasure from it, too.

 

 

ZACATECAS PONTIAC

I went back into my archive; back to 2008, and pulled up this photo from a trip to Zacatecas and reworked it in Snapseed, on my iPad Air 2.

 

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HELADO (ICE CREAM)

Calle Luis Pasteur, Santiago de Querétaro, Querétaro, Mexico.

 

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LOVE FOREVER

Street photography from my recent travels in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, México.

 

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PISAC STILL

Here's one from the archives, a still life I found while wandering the back streets of Pisac, Peru.

Hasta mañana…

 

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GET IT. READ IT. PACK LIGHT. GO.

I am honored to be included in the interviews for this book on traveling with carry-on only. Erin has done a bang-up job of putting together advice, information and tested-in-the-field examples of ways to travel without unnecessary baggage. Whether a solo travel senior like myself, or a family with kids, this book will help you rethink the way you travel.

In fact, while I had long thought of myself as a light packer, being interviewed here and reading this book has resulted in my paring down to just what I need for a week's travel. Wash and repeat, and go indefinitely.

Thanks, Erin, for including me, and for helping me see all the ways I could improve my traveling experience.

THE CARRY-ON TRAVELER is available here:

http://www.amazon.com/Carry–Traveller-Ultimate-Guide-Packing-ebook/dp/B01DIKLD22/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1460589534&sr=8-1&keywords=Mcneaney

Also, you should check out Erin's blog, the neverendingvoyage.com for lots more insight into the life of a couple of digital nomads who've been packing lighter and lighter for six years.

It's only available on Kindle, but you may download the free Kindle app, and read it on any device you might have.

Oh, about yesterday's image. That's the local alterations man making the bag mentioned in my interview ready for a longer adjustable cross body strap. More on that later, including lessons learned on my most recent travels in Mexico.

Pack light and I hope to see you on the road!

John

 

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ADIOS TO A TWO WHEEL TOWN

There are, admittedly, a lot of cars, trucks, vans and pickups in San Blas. Some almost unidentifiable, most shiny and new and quite nice. But the streets are owned mostly by those on two wheels.

These are but a few of the many shots I took of these two wheelers. I could do a book! Hmmm.

I got off to a fairly late start this morning, caught a bus with many wheels, crossed the river, where I got a quick snap of a lone garza, or egret, through the bus window, and made my way to Tepic.

There, I had lunch, then caught another bus to Guadalajara, where four wheels again seem to be the norm, as on this golden chariot. And my Cinderella no where in sight. ¡Que lástima!

Next, a walk around Guadalajara to see what we can see.

Hasta mañana.

 

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MORE FROM YESTERDAY’S WALK

I first visited San Blas in the early seventies. It was a sleepy little fishing village then. Now, it's a a run down, crowded, crumbling, dusty little fishing village. It's also a quiet backwater, where no one seems to be in a hurry, where whole families pile onto a scooter and drive slowly around the zocalito, waving at friends, stopping for an ice cream.

There's not much here for the tourist, no blocks and blocks of souvenir shops, no over priced restaurants and bars, but for a photographer, it's a real shutter melter.

Dogs and scooters are ever present in San Blas,

Bicycles.

Motor bikes and mobile phones, too.

I saw color,

And tenderness,

Contrasts,

And ingenuity, as in this grill made from an automobile wheel and what looks like it might have been a storm drain grate in another light.

Tomorrow's a travel day. Who knows what that might bring?

Hasta mañana.

 

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A DAY OFF

Well, I meant to take today off to hang around the room and rest up for the next four days. But I had to walk over to the convenience store and by the time I was finished, I had gone all the way through the local market, caught a cab down to the Malecón, and walked for eight hours! I caught a bus back to Ixtapa, had a small seafood pizza, and finally made it to the convenience store, and back to my room. I doubt that anyone who knows me will find this believable, but there it is. I was photographing all that time, as well. Here are a few results, all are taken with my iPhone 6s Plus, and adjusted in Snapseed.

Gerard and Dini, my hosts and I were all complaining this morning over breakfast, the way today's kids all have there noses buried in their electronic devices, missing the world around them…

When ancient and modern meet…

I know this one looks posed, but it's as candid as can be…

Gerard and Dini are from Holland as is my fellow guest whose name I can't pronounce. They tell me goodnight is vaskrister, and by listening to them talk to the dog Nana, I've learned to say naey for no. This evening, they were playing cards and I learned to say Oholyshit! I think it means You're beating me again.

Now, I'm off to bed early for a little of that rest I had promised myself.

I need that rest, obviously.

Hasta mañana.

 

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SIMPLY BEAUTIFUL

SIMPLY BEAUTIFUL / iPhone 6+ / PhotoForge 2

We had to make a quick trip to Santa Fe today. The drive down was the best show we've seen in terms of golden cottonwoods. Simply beautiful. All the way from Taos to Santa Fe. Did you notice the moon?

A great lunch with Cousin Ann Lawrence at La Fonda was followed by necessary shopping and errands and we're back home, tired but smiling after a nice, uninterrupted day together.

 

 

 

 

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