making good things happen
today is a good day to write about photography.
since i have a reserva for tonight at belorado (named after me?), i’m not in a hurry and start a bit later as usual at a quarter to seven. past the cathedral, through the main artery out of the town into the fields of la rioja.
the camera battery is fully charged and i’m determined to make good photos today.
tengo una reputación que mantener, ya que antoine ahora se refiere a mí como el fotoperiodista del camino.
the next village is grañón, a mere six kilometers away, in perfect distance for a quick morning coffee. quick, because it is cold today. on i walk through the calle mayor de grañón with a nice look-out at the end, before descending into the fields again.
it’s all a bit grey and foggy today, so a good time for black and white, maybe.
i carry three lenses with me, a 17mm fixed focus lens, a 40-150mm zoom and a 30mm macro lens. from time to time during the day i will change the lens and refocus my perspective as a photographer to different objects, landscapes and horizons.
as i walk through the hills past grañón and just as i press the shutter for one of the on-average about one hundred photos per day, i hear a comment from the side: ‘not such a good weather for photography today!’ in german, not sure how you knew that i speak german too?
carola is from hamburg and we speak about many things. the lack of colours in the outside world does not exist in our conversation.
we speak about how perspectives on success change over a lifetime, how business people wear suits as corporate armour (an expression taken from a birds of tokyo song), we speak about countries and how they differ, new zealand, australia, denmark, germany, ghana, tyrol, austria, national pride and its issues, school systems, sustainability, flygscam, long travels on busses and trains, the camino and its experiences, a new book recommendation for me - marian rojas estape: cómo hacer que te pasen cosas buenas: entiende tu cerebro, gestiona tus emociones, mejora tu vida - thank you for the tip, it will go on my to-read list!
we speak about personal projects, that do not have a commercial focus and how they end up providing stimuli to embark on acquiring new skills, how they keep one’s mind active and possibly even help to develop it further.
we speak about long-distance hikes, the kungsleden in lapland, the st. olavsleden in norway. both are on my list (another list).
she mentions, that there is another guy carrying camera gear along the camino and whether i have met him already? no, but i’d like to.
the 23km to belorado go by in a flash - hasta luego further down the road!
in the albergue municipal el corro de belorado, located in an old two-storey building with massive exposed wooden beams, i enter the dormitory, set down my gear, and as i turn around, see a guy sitting there with a camera in his hand.
i walk over and say: ‘you must be leland’. he is.
we talk a bit about photography, show each other our cameras, congratulate each other for carrying extra weight on the camino. what a sensible thing to do. we swap our webpage and social media details, so we are able to see each others photographs.
leland’s instagram is kessler_leland - in case you would like to see his photos (from the camino - they are in the stories), some of which are of the same motifs as some of mine, but very different at the same time, give him a like too! keeps him motivated. i look forward to seeing your book come together mate!
now, some afternoon planning, off to find something to eat soon and probably another siesta today, followed by more sleep early evening and during the night.
on second thought, i should stay in for a while, there is now thunder, rain and hail outside. i’ll go hungry and dry for a bit longer, thank you.
and not so fast. not finished with my report for today. almost forgot to tell you all about my dinner yesterday.
i spent the evening at first in a bar (drinking a lemonade, if you must know) and then in the adjacent comedor for a quick pilgrims’ dinner with connie and dani from jutland. we had a thoroughly interesting conversation about different upbringings in an israeli kibbuz, in the catholic, mountainous and conservative tyrol of the 1970ies - still mountainous today, but maybe no longer so conservative and catholic. about the differences across societies in germany, denmark, about jazz guitar - i score an invitation to a life venue in fredericia, if i ever manage to get there and bring up the courage to go up on stage (i didn’t say i’m any good!), about the economic ratrace and where, when and how to find the jump-off points.
how to live a good life. wouldn’t we all want to know?
however, let me leave you today with another, simpler question: which photograph would you vote the photo of the day?
please don’t just drop the number of the photograph in the comments, but rather describe the photo in your own words and why you think it should be the photo of the day. if you want to be really helpful, do the same thing for the other days of the camino also (going back and also over the next 25-30 days or so, as i make my way towards the atlantic ocean).
eventually, i plan to put together a limited series book for this camino frances (remember, it is a different one every time you walk it), combining written vignettes of the experiences had, the stories heard, with the best photos.
your help in finding the best photos is highly appreciated and also it is nice to know who hides behind the anonymous click figures on the webpage’s dashboard.
muchas gracias, queridas amigas y queridos amigos, compañeras peregrinas y compañeros peregrinos, hasta mañana.
