André Distel Photography's photostream  

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As the sun set behind the ocean, the tide was moving in slowly and creating a perfect thin layer over the beach. Combined with a long exposure, it creates some nice reflections.

The technique:
Really not that difficult. My tripod was really close the ground. So close indeed, that I had to lift it up several times so that the camera did not get wet in the process. To balance out the sky, I used Hitech GND 3-stop soft filters on a Cokin Z-Pro Filter holder. Nikon D7000 with 12-24mm lens set at 14mm and f/8. Remote control to take any vibrations out of it and took the shot.

I updated my blog today on www.andredistel.com/blog-page/ with a recent post about Machu Picchu and how to get there on a budget. If you are interested in getting there, check it out.

This shot was taken in a small remote town called Puerto Villamil on Isabela Island, which part of the Galapagos.

Hope you enjoy it.
André

© André Distel - WEBSITE - PROFILE - TWITTER

I am in the process of titling my photos more and more. It's still a long way to go but I feel it gives them a bit more "personality". Never done this before and coming up with titles is not that easy, so I mostly try to remember, why I took the photo and what fascinated me most about it together with the feeling it's supposed to convey to the viewer.

For a couple of months now, I have had my own little gallery in a church basement in Bonn. The community room was refurbished and I was asked if it was OK to hang some of prints framed on the wall. I was more than happy to agree and donate my work and are now showing off 7 professionally framed prints in 70x50cm frames with 45x30cm prints behind a professional mat. One or two will be auctioned off in a couple of weeks during a silent auction fundraiser for Africa. It's great to see that actually something good comes out of the work I put into it.

© André Distel - WEBSITE - PROFILE - TWITTER

I am still going through some shots from back in 2009 and process or re-process some of them. Sometimes I am quite surprised, why they haven't made the first cut, when I initially sorted them out. But I guess going through 5,000+ photos returning from a trip, I am excused to overlook one or the other ;).

Antelope Slots is one of those places, I'd like to go back to some time. It's been a fantastic experience besides the mass of people going in and out all the time. Most important thing is to have a good guide who gets the people out of the way for you to take the shot you want. Bonnie was fantastic at this and I got home with some great results.

I am still going through more shots from the past and working hard on my website. Lots more photos shall be online within the next few weeks. Still missing galleries for people and cities and some of the shots, I am still digging out from the past or have to not come to work on yet.

cheers,
André
www.andredistel.com

© André Distel - WEBSITE - PROFILE - TWITTER

My thoughts:
I would like to refer to the recent post of Jim Patterson [http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimpatterson], where he mentions, that we always focus so much on "the next big shot", that we tend to forget what photography is all about and why we initially got so excited about it. I myself, have to learn to get away from that thinking and just get out and shoot, let the creativity and things around me inspire me. It's been going so far, that the slightest change in weather or kept me from shooting, because the conditions were not ideal. Conditions are seldom ideal and we have to learn to deal with it. Difficult situations help us to improve our creativity skills. Enjoy being out there and being able to hike mountains, walking through the rivers and spending a night in the meadow just to capture the stars in solitude is what really inspires me and have to learn to get back to.

The Shot:
Machu Picchu is one of the most amazing sites I have ever seen. While most people take tours we did the track to Machu Picchu on our own. The only people who got not picked up at Cusco airport, we took a taxi to a backyard place to hop into a collective on a 1 1/2 hr car ride for $4 per person to Ollanta. We were the only white people around, which made this an amazing but also scary experience with all the gear I was hauling around. After our arrival in Ollanta we took the train to Aguas Calientes. Arriving there at 11pm we had only a few hours of sleep and got up again at 4:30am to catch the first shuttle bus up to Machu Picchu. One of the first people who entered the gate, we headed up to the well-researched photography spot and took a series of photos.

Cheers,
André
www.andredistel.com

© André Distel - WEBSITE - PROFILE - TWITTER

Polloquere Hot Springs is a remote as you can be in the Atacama Desert. The closest village is Putre, which is about 2-3 hrs drive. It is located in the Salar de Surire. As we drove out there for hours we were the only tourist on the way seeing nothing but the occasional truck from the borax plant. Vicunas were standing almost next to us and were part of the experience up there.

We took a nice bath and tried to not think about the sulfur. The Polloquere Hot Springs have a temperature of around 41C and are about knee to hip deep. The ground is black mud, stirring up easily. The rocks, colors and terrain give great photo opportunities – if you can make it there. A truly remarkable location totally off the beaten path.

Read the full story here: www.andredistel.com/project/polloquere-hot-springs-salar-...

André