Caribbean Sunrise

Monday, December 17th, 2012 :: 9:32 pm

It was an early morning on my recent vacation to Cancun. I woke up with one eye opened, looking towards the window that was partially covered by a translucent white curtain. I saw beautiful colours forming, and I knew it must be the morning magic hour.

I rubbed my eyes and quickly jumped out of bed and stepped onto the balcony to find amazing colours forming over the ocean, and I knew I had to head to the beach to fully experience it.

There were barely anyone on the beach at 6am – not so surprising at a vacation resort. I walked closer and closer to the ocean with each photo I took and listened in peace as the waves crashed gently onto the beach one after the other.

What a spectacular sunrise.

Caribbean Beach Sunrise

Shutter speed: 1/640s / Aperture: f/5.6 / Focal: 22mm / ISO: 400


Caribbean Beach Sunrise

Shutter speed: 1/500s / Aperture: f/5.6 / Focal: 10mm / ISO: 400

Caribbean Beach Sunrise

Shutter speed: 1/200s / Aperture: f/8.0 / Focal: 10mm / ISO: 400

Caribbean Beach Sunrise

Shutter speed: 1/1000s / Aperture: f/5.6 / Focal: 10mm / ISO: 400

Caribbean Beach Sunrise

Shutter speed: 1/400s / Aperture: f/8.0 / Focal: 50mm / ISO: 400

Caribbean Beach Sunrise

Shutter speed: 1/320s / Aperture: f/8.0 / Focal: 105mm / ISO: 400

Caribbean Beach Sunrise

Shutter speed: 1/100s / Aperture: f/8.0 / Focal: 105mm / ISO: 400

Caribbean Beach Sunrise

Shutter speed: 1/320s / Aperture: f/5.6 / Focal: 85mm / ISO: 400

Caribbean Beach Sunrise

Shutter speed: 1/800s / Aperture: f/8.0 / Focal: 16mm / ISO: 400

Caribbean Beach Sunrise

Shutter speed: 1/60s / Aperture: f/8.0 / Focal: 24mm / ISO: 500

Amaru Weaving

Tuesday, December 4th, 2012 :: 11:31 pm

Amaru is a Peruvian village that might not be so well known as Pisac village, which is 45 minutes away. We visited here on the day prior to hiking on the Inca trail. Our guide had originally booked a lunch for us here (which was the traditional Cuy, or guinea pig). Unfortunately even basic telephone technology, which we’ve taken much for granted, doesn’t work as well, and our guide told us that they hadn’t prepared the meal for us. Fortunately though, they were still able to show us their weaving techniques and textiles they’ve made!

We were shown how they made alpaca wool from raw fur with spinners. To get the colours, they would rely on natural dyes found in plants, insects, dirt, etc. I was surprised that they were able to have most of the colours we see in clothing today – slightly less bright.

The patterns that they would incorporate all have special meaning to them, and they were taught by their moms when they were as young as 7 or 8 years old. It’s pretty incredible that all the patterns that they build into the textiles are memorized. A regular scarf would usually take around a month to complete, with 6-8 hour days. Can imagine that? On top of that, they would sell these for about $150 USD. Talk about some intense work! They also make other great items like coin bags and bracelets – we would use our broken Quechua to communicate with them.

I love visiting small villages like these and finding out more about their culture and traditions.

Scarves for sale

Amaru Scarves

Shutter speed: 1/100s / Aperture: f/4.0 / Focal: 60mm / ISO: 200

Colourful Alpaca wool, all handmade and naturally dyed

Amaru Alpaca Wool

Shutter speed: 1/500s / Aperture: f/4.0 / Focal: 105mm / ISO: 200

Amaru Weaving

Shutter speed: 1/400s / Aperture: f/4.0 / Focal: 88mm / ISO: 200
Working on the designs

Amaru Weaving

Shutter speed: 1/80s / Aperture: f/4.0 / Focal: 105mm / ISO: 400

Amaru Weaving

Shutter speed: 1/125s / Aperture: f/4.0 / Focal: 45mm / ISO: 400

Amaru Weaving

Shutter speed: 1/125s / Aperture: f/4.0 / Focal: 73mm / ISO: 400