The Pilgrimage to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mexico City (Photo Essay for the Second Issue of Dezine Magazine)

Millions of Mexicans make the pilgrimage each year on or before December 12th. The Basilica of our Lady of Guadalupe is a Roman Catholic church in the North of Mexico City.  Pilgrimages have been made to this shrine almost uninterrupted for hundreds of years, and today it is the most visited catholic shrine in the World.  Many pilgrims crawl on their knees as they make their final approach, and devotees believe that the Virgin of Guadalupe can cure almost any sickness.  

Familia, Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, published in Professional Photo Magazine.

Familia, Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, published in Professional Photo Magazine.

The 12th of December has a carnival atmosphere with thousands of people filling the square in front of the church. Indigenous people dance and play music from sunrise until sunset.  Many pilgrims carry large framed pictures of the Lady of Guadalupe on their backs or hoist depictions of her above their heads.  Others wear cloaks or robes with the Lady painted or printed onto the back.  (Click through the images below)

The pilgrimage is very much a family affair, the Mexicans often referring to the Lady of Guadalupe as Mamá or Mother. Entire families make the pilgrimage with many sleeping around the site in make shift tents.  I visited the site on several different days leading up to and including the 12th to document the pilgrimage.  

More of my travel photography from Mexico City can be found on my website, my Facebook, my Twitter and my Flickr account.  If you are interested in purchasing any prints, using an image online or would like further information please send me an email at: geraintrowlandphotography@gmail.com.  

Belen Market, Iquitos Peru (Photo Essay for the First Issue of Dezine Magazine)

These photos were taken earlier this year in the village of Belen in Iquitos, Peru.  The entire village is flooded for several months each year by the nearby Amazon river.  The only way to get around is by boat so even the children learn to navigate and paddle in small canoes from an early age.  

Two young girls paddle a canoe in the flooded village of Belen in Iquitos, Peru.

Two young girls paddle a canoe in the flooded village of Belen in Iquitos, Peru.

Our local guide manoeuvred us around in a motorboat for a couple of hours exploring the streets which at that time of the year become waterways.  The area is fascinating, and our journey through it gave us a brief insight into life there.

Around every corner were amazing photo opportunities, with the local people using the river to work, travel and play.  Children would sit selling food and produce to passing boats, Men would offer taxi boat services or fish, and the Women would wash the family clothes in the river.  Some 65,000 people live in the Village of Belen on either moored floating houses or houses on stilts.  It is a very poor neighbourhood with many of the people living in impoverished conditions. Yet those we encountered seemed genuinely happy: laughing, smiling, and greeting us as we passed by.  (Click through the images below)

I took all the photos candidly and found that converting them to black and white gave them more emotion.  For more information on Dezine go to: https://issuu.com/dezinemagazine. 

More of my travel photography from Peru can be found on my website, my Facebook, my Twitter and my Flickr account.  If you are interested in purchasing any prints, using an image online or would like further information please send me an email at: geraintrowlandphotography@gmail.com.  

Saal Digital UK Photo Book Product Review

I was recently offered a high quality photo book from Saal Digital UK in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Saal Digital UK Photo Book Product Review by Geraint Rowland. 

Saal Digital UK Photo Book Product Review by Geraint Rowland.

 

I have had several photo books in the past but this one is by far the highest quality.  The set up process was easy to use with a selection of templates, layouts and colours to choose from before simply dropping in your photos.  You can also add text which would be useful for Wedding etc. 

Delivery of the product was extremely quick with the photo book being dispatched within hours of submission and arriving just one day later in very secure packaging.

The photo book itself is of very high quality, the pages are very thick, and it feels great as you flick through it.  The colours are bright and vivid, the full page spreads are beautiful, and the printing quality exceptional.  Click the image below for some example images:

I will be recommending Saal Digital UK to my friends, family and fellow photographers.  I will definitely use them again in the future.

If you are interested in getting one made up, here is a £20 voucher code that can be used on a photobook of your choice:

GWPSDUK17

More of my travel photography from Peru can be found on my website, my Facebook, my Twitter and my Flickr account.  If you are interested in purchasing any prints, using an image online or would like further information please send me an email at: geraintrowlandphotography@gmail.com.  

Santa Monica and the End of Route 66

Last Summer, a friend and I drove across the US from East to West from Chicago to Santa Monica in California.  For much of the road trip we followed the famous Route 66, although we made a detour to Las Vegas for a week.  It was my second visit to Santa Monica in California, it's a lovely place, somewhere I could definitely live although the cost of living seems very high.  The beach area is great for photography especially around the famous Santa Monica Pier.  Click through the slideshow below to view some of the images I took there:

Santa Monica Dream

Angus & Julia Stone

Goodbye to my Santa Monica dream
Fifteen kids in the backyard drinking wine
You tell me stories of the sea
And the ones you left behind
Goodbye to the roses on your street
Goodbye to the paintings on your wall
Goodbye to the children we'll never meet
And the ones we left behind
And the ones we left behind

I'm somewhere, you're somewhere
I'm nowhere, you're nowhere
You're somewhere, you're somewhere
I could go there but I don't

Rob's in the kitchen making pizza
Somewhere down in Battery Park
I'm singing songs about the future
Wondering where you are
I could call you on the telephone
But do I really want to know?
You're making love now to the lady down the road
No I…

More travel photos from my trip across the USA on Route 66 can be found on my website, my Instagram, and my Flickr Route 66 Album.  If you are interested in purchasing any prints, using an image online or would like further information please send me an email at: geraintrowlandphotography@gmail.com.

Street Photography: Amazing Black and White Examples

An article on Street Photography by Photographytuts.com, including an image of mine taken in Santiago, Chile, South America. NB: Colour version shown here.

Street Art & Street Photography in Santiago, South America.

Street Art & Street Photography in Santiago, South America.

 

Although we walk the streets every day, we do not always notice the beauty in them. Street photography is one of the photography topics that help us to see the streets around us in a different and creative way.

Street photography mainly focuses on everything we can see in the streets including people, pets, objects, and cars. It allows you to see the streets through a camera frame, and this little change in your point of view can help you notice the feelings and emotions behind these ordinary scenes. For example, you can take street photos of people to show the feelings of being in a rush, waiting, sadness, or being homeless.

Time plays a significant role in street photos, because it adds an extra value to the old streets and objects and brings up memories from the past.

Black and white can also give a dramatic look to the shots because you actually take the colors out of the image and let the viewer focus on the objects, light, and shadows.

You can use black and white photos, also known as monochrome photos, to shoot street photography. This will help you to focus on people’s feelings, faces, and emotions. Also, it can help you to show the effect of time in the image.

In the following showcase, you can see black and white street photography examples of people and objects in streets from around the world. You can compare the impact of black and white in the compositions with the ordinary colorful street scenes you can see every day, and share your thoughts with us.

Full article here.

25 Beautiful Photos Of Children Playing That Will Make Your Heart Soar

A nice selection of photographs of children including one of my black and white photos taken in Bamako, Mali:

Children play in Bamako, Mali, Geraint Rowland Photography

See the other great photos of children here: 

More of the photos from that West African road trip can be found on my website, my Instagram, and my Flickr account.  If you are interested in purchasing any prints, using an image online or would like further information please send me an email at: geraintrowlandphotography@gmail.com.

Window on Africa, Road Trip Photograph Published by Sunday Times

One of my African road trip photos that was published in the Sunday Times in 2011.  The actual photo was taken as we were leaving Nouakchott, the Capital of Mauritania.  I took it with my Canon 50mm lens through the car window of this beautiful tall women in her amazing clothing.

Published by the Sunday Times in 2011. From a road trip I carried out with some friends driving from the North of Morocco to Bamako, the Capital of Mali.  The trip took us seven days of constant driving, only stopping in the evenings for sleep.

Window on Africa by Geraint Rowland, published by the Sunday Times

Window on Africa by Geraint Rowland, published by the Sunday Times

Window on Africa by Geraint Rowland 

On a road trip from Morocco to Mali, Geraint was always going to come across plenty of local colour. Here’s his highlight, from Nouakchott, Mauritania. Looks a bit breezy, but the desert city’s name does mean “the place of winds” in Berber.

Full article and photo on the Sunday Times website here.

More of the photos from that West African road trip can be found on my website, my Instagram, and my Flickr account.  If you are interested in purchasing any prints, using an image online or would like further information please send me an email at: geraintrowlandphotography@gmail.com.

“Manhattan Through The Bridge” by Geraint Rowland (Or The Importance Of Finishing Touches)

An article written in 2011 on ShutterPhoto.net by D. Travis North on one of my New York City photos.

Sometimes, the power behind a photograph isn’t the subject or the composition – it’s the finishing touches.  I’m a fan of getting a shot right in-the-camera.  But sometimes it’s more than simply choosing the right depth of field and achieving the right exposure.  The finishing touches really do matter.  To prove that point, I’d like to share with you a photo, Manhattan Through The Bridge, by Geraint Rowland.

Manhattan Through the Bridge by Geraint Rowland

Manhattan Through the Bridge by Geraint Rowland

 

The skyline featured in Geraint’s photo is world famous.  It is the financial capitol of the world, home to some of the most well known skyscrapers and a well photographed, well documented skyline.  As if the title of the photo didn’t give you a clue, it’s Manhattan Island in New York City, New York, USA.  When dealing with such a well-known subject, the natural inclination of any good photographer is to shoot it in a unique manner.  But photographers have been shooting this particular subject in unique ways for as long as the consumer has afforded the camera (a very long time).  You could shoot it from different sides – shoot it from New Jersey, or shoot it from Brooklyn – you can even shoot it from the Brooklyn Bridge.  Geraint shot from the Manhattan Bridge (which is right next to the somewhat more famous Brooklyn Bridge).  And while I’d like to commend Geraint for his vision in choice of vantage points, I can’t help but to think that this shot has been done before.  But something here is unique.  What is it?

What sets Geraint’s photo apart from other photos of this world famous skyline is all in the finishing touches.  It’s the colors of the sky: On Flickr, he sub-labels the shot “Neon Blue”, suggesting that the eerie topaz sky was created either with a filter or in post.  It’s the placement of the bridge’s rail – just a hair above the bottom edge of the frame, just enough to let you know you’re on the bridge.  And finally, it’s the atypical aspect ratio.  There’s no real reason he needed to use this aspect ratio.  He could have introduced more sky, introduced more of the bridge or he could have placed the horizon closer to the traditional spot at one third from the bottom.  Instead, he chose to use a wide, panoramic aspect ratio on a subject that is compressed into the right side of the frame.  In fact, the only compositional advantage of the wide ratio is that it allows the sun to get into the shot.  But that is the reason, isn’t it?  Having the sun in the shot isn’t really the most important reason to use such framing.  To me, the sun introduces a nice gradient going from brightest to darkest, left to right.  With such a clear sky, the sun and the gradient that it creates adds interest to the sky against the high-contrast facets of the city.  I would hold the advantage if I were to argue in favor of Geraint’s choice of ratios and framing.  I think that his photo, Manhattan Through The Bridge, settles that debate very quickly.  It’s beautiful.

Geraint Rowland’s photostream on Flickr is a testament to his dedication to his craft.  His works are raw and inspired, often featuring simple subjects and mesmerizing post-treatments.  As I said, the beauty is in the finishing touches, and it would appear as though Mr. Rowland always has that at the back of his mind.  Interestingly, Geraint considers himself to be “very much a beginner”, yet I see many signs of experience in his works.

Full article here

Remembering our Past: The Q’eswachaka Bridge Building Festival.

An article written for the Karikuy Blog, a resource for Peruvian news, culture and travel.

I was lucky enough to attend the first day of the annual Q'eswachaka Bridge building festival.  The Q'eswachaka Bridge is located over 100 kms from Cusco and crosses the Apurimac Canyon.  It is the last remaining hand woven Inca bridge in Peru, made entirely of long blades of grass and traditional materials.  

The festival lasts for four days each June when the neighbouring communities join together to celebrate and honour their Inca ancestors.  This photo essay focuses on the local people involved on that first day, which involves preparing the ropes for the new bridge.  It was a fascinating day and the local people were extremely friendly and very colourful.  Next year I hope to return and document the entire four days of the festival.  

Full article found here.

Local women at the Q’eswachaka Bridge Building Festival, Peru by Geraint Rowland Photography