As soon as I fall into my hiking stride, I enter a state of rhythmic and peaceful calm. I am only half aware of the nature that surrounds me, the texture of the trail changing underfoot, and the tempo of my inhalations. All I can sense is tranquility.
Rarely do I think about taking photos while hiking. No photo has ever been able to fully capture the joy I experience in nature. Photographs, however beautiful they might be of the landscape, fail to arouse the overwhelmingly positive sensory assault I have while hiking.
When I look back at photos taken during backcountry trips, my memories of the events are colored. Instead of recalling a variety of feelings and views, sounds and smells, my vibrant memories get intertwined with these static snapshots.
How I manage to backpack with Danny is somewhat of a mystery. His feeling about photography couldn’t be more opposite than mine. He is constantly breaking his stride to take photos, often asking me to stop with him and sometimes even pose. He can spend days organizing and editing photos once we return to civilization. Danny loves the wilderness just as much as I do, but also finds great joy in sharing our adventures with our friends and families.
Fifteen countries and more than a year later, I am grateful that Danny has encouraged me to be more open about photography. We have simply seen too much and experienced too much to store it all away in our fallible human memories. Every day of traveling is different, and the lack of monotony in daily life means we have little downtime to think, process, and store.
The photo collection below is a but a tiny sample of the many small wonders we saw during our nine months backpacking around Latin and South America. I am happy that Danny encouraged me to stop and examine the petite beauty contained on a continent that I might not ever visit again. I even admit, I might have taken one or two of the photos myself.
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Companion forum thread to:
Small Wonders of Latin America – Global Test Photo Essay
Lovely macros!
I'm curious as to the photo gear used for these.
"Other Button" click on the photos.
Scroll down to Properties.
Oh, and just for fun, click on Map Link.
Edit: I have been reminded that I have a FireFox Add-On that allows viewing the EXIF data. So, this probably won't work for you unless you have a similar "option".
Wow! These are beautiful! I especially love the hermit crab and whatever insect that is sitting on rock. National Geographic should be calling you.
I love how in the description of a Latin American photo essay the word "petite" is used haha.
Sorry to be a bother but… the right-click->properties thing only shows the image size, no other info, on both IE and Firefox (the Firefox equivilant is "View Image Info") on PC.
Unless I'm doing something wrong?
Beautiful, thank you for sharing
Bradley,
My apologies.
I forgot I've got the FxIF Add-On.
(FYI – Panasonic TS1, usually at 28mm.)
Really enjoyed that. Thanks for sharing. I'm gonna try to start taking a few photos on the trail this year. This was inspiring.
So the pics are superb, thanks a million for sharing! That caterpillar is weird!!!
And I just sent the FxIF add-on info to a photog friend with whom I will be doing the JMT with this summer – he will be psyched as heck about this!!
Wow. I'm really impressed by that tiny folded lens. I'm guessing it's stronger in macros than other use, but still, I thought this was SLR stuff for sure.
Composition and lighting are great.
The critter in the photo taken at Foz do Iguaçu is an assassin bug (Hemiptera/Heteroptera: Reduviidae) in the genus Arilus. Learn more here.
Really excelent shots! WOW! And Thanks!
Thanks for posting that link about the assassin bug Kristin. As I looked at the page, I thought Wow that looks really familiar and when I read Hillary's request I couldn't stop chuckling. How nice to have a world-wide support system that gives you quick answers!!!
Thank you both for the fantastic photos of really cool small stuff!
John
The assassin bug is also commonly called a Kissing bug. One thing I didn't see mentioned on the link is that they can be a vector for Chagas disease, one of the most widespread and devastating infectious diseases in Central and South America.
Kristin and Danny, absolutely beautiful photos and most interesting subjects. Which make/model camera/lens were you shooting with, and did you use a tripod?
You might laugh, or cry. But the camera I used is the Panasonic TS1. It's Panasonic's first waterproof/crushproof/dustproof camera that I bought in June 2009. My tripod is the Joby Gorillapod. And the only additional equipment I have is a second battery.
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