We go off in another direction today, south of Ronda to a small town at the end of a tortuously steep and twisty road full of switch backs.
Compared to one road we’ve been on, this is a state route! Piece of cake!
The scenery is breathtaking. Craggy mountains drift into deep forests. There are distant views of other white hill towns.
We hope we don’t meet too many cars. After all, the road is not very wide. And if we meet someone, there it will be a tight squeeze to pass. We do meet several cars, but we’re fine.
Our first stop is another cemeterio. The gate and entrance on this one is quite dramatic.
People go back and forth to find the angle they like. I immediately crouch down, as I know it will give me the drama I want of the long steps leading up to ???
Down the road, at the head of the town, is a river coming out of a cave. The water is unbelievably clear. It is a preserve, and no fishing is allowed.
The day is somewhat sunny, so I wait for the sun to hide behind a cloud or two so that I can avoid the harsh highlights. As I wait, I refine my composition, so that the rocks lead my eye into the image better.
There’s a little blue speck of something, but I know I can quickly clone that out later. The clouds pass overhead, and I click the shutter.
Arnie walks ahead on the other side of the river, while the participants finish up their shots by the water’s edge. He is looking for another view of the town we might have missed in scouting. I tell him that we’ll follow soon.
We follow, but there is no Arnie at the end of the road. We ziggle and zaggle through windy lanes and ask a gentleman where the town square is.
“¿Dónde está la plaza principal, por favor?”
But first, we must see the church niche. We do, and appropriately ooh and aah. It is lovely, but it doesn’t make a photograph for any of us.
We arrive in the square and find Arnie. Then we wander.
After all, finding photographs is sometimes about wandering. Apparently aimlessly, but always looking, turning around, trying little lanes and steps that may lead to nothing.
We come up one narrow street, and I am drawn to this wall with the two doors, jagged room, and patterned pavement. I love the simplity of it with another white building behind.
Our group is tired and not necessarily finding a lot of images, even though there are plenty to be found. Arnie points out some green-shuttered windows and doors and challenges them to make a photograph. I make one, too, true to my long penhant for photographing doors and windows. This is something I’ve done since I picked up my first camera at age eight, long before doors and windows became so popular in photography.
I climb up some steep, broad steps to get a different view. The steps are really a lane, suitable only for walking or Minis bumping down in The Italian Job. A chimney pot beckons. I saw it before, but it wasn’t the right angle. Now I can isolate it, white on white, against another building, only admitting some tiles and plants as an element of color.
It has been a good day for photography. I am always happy when I end up with a good handful of images that pleases me.
Today was all about looking and seeing. Observing and isolating. Finding patterns and using them to best advantage.
Tomorrow, we head back into Ronda for some early-morning light. Most of this hillside city will still be sleeping.
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