I have been married for 10 years. It was impossible to imagine back then but it actually got to this point much faster and easier than expected. What's even more intriguing is that my own wife has been married for 10 years, too! Happily, I have no doubt. So I thought these were two excellent reasons to leave kids behind and spend few days in Seychelles together. And one thing that I made sure not to leave behind had been my Linhof kit. La Digue, one of many islands belonging to Seychelles, looked like the perfect place for the trip that would combine lots of hideaway resting and a little bit of photography. In this scope and order, dear Mrs Potomova. :-)
Capture: Anse Severe at Night, Camera: Linhof Techno, Lens: Schneider APO-Digitar 5.6/24mm, Phase One IQ140, Exposure: 12s, Aperture: f/11, ISO: 100, Filters: No
Some of the most beautiful beaches in the world were supposed to be great subject to photograph. In theory. It goes without saying that the reality provided for amazing sceneries, fantastic colors of the sea in conjunction with giant granite boulders and white sands have been just a pure joy to look at. But here the goodies stop. Seychelles lie 4 degrees south of the equator, which is where the Earth moves fastest (relative to the sun) - 1,670 km/h while in Iceland, for instance, it's only approximately 680 km/h. In practice, it means that the sun was setting extremely quickly, like it was falling free down to the sea under the almost right angle. The actual colored evening lighting lasted for the maximum of 10-15 minutes depending on the volume of clouds on the west that have held them for awhile. In fact, there were barely any colors anywhere else than on the west in the evenings and east in the mornings. That limited directions of potential compositions unless I wanted to compromise in terms of quality of light and colors.
Capture: Near Anse Severe, Camera: Linhof Techno, Lens: Schneider APO-Digitar 5.6/24mm, Phase One IQ140, Exposure: 4s, Aperture: f/16, ISO: 50, Filters: Singh-Ray Reversed ND Graduated 0.9
Although I love working with my Techno, the slowness of the process to set up, compose, focus and measure the exposure with the view camera together with the extreme speed of the sun caused that every evening or morning session meant only one scene to work on. There was simply no time to jump from one place to another - Linhof Techno is surely not the best equipment when it comes to the need to be fast. So I can't say I was too productive on this trip. Actually, I think I should have taken my Hassy to get more of it. But the questionmark remains if I really needed to. Anytime I looked on the ground glass, I had a feeling that I have seen the thousands of similar images. My creative side could hardly connect with the landscape that consisted of the sand, sea and skies and nothing more. The lighting did not provide any helping hand to do so. Much desired for drama in the sky was totally absent hence I quickly resigned on creation a masterpiece and did try to click more with still new-to-me equipment as well as practice in composing.
Capture: Anse Source d'Argent After Dusk, Camera: Linhof Techno, Lens: Schneider APO-Digitar 5.6/24mm, Phase One IQ140, Exposure: 30s, Aperture: f/11, ISO: 50, Filters: Lee Big Stopper
Although with practically no tangible results, I'm grateful for the trip. We had a great rest and lots of fun. And I discovered that photographically, I belong to the North. Southern destinations are now reserved for family affairs only.