441 - Isla Aguada
There’s a certain kind of stare that people give when you’re not welcome. It’s not to be confused with the stare of uncertainty, or the stare of cluelessness. It’s a stare that makes your nerves tingle like a fuse on 4th of July.
Such was the case when we pulled up to an urban grocery store somewhere in Veracruz, Mexico. This one dude in the corner stared us down like a goddamn hawk. I was starting to wonder if his neck had a kink or something.
As we got out of our van to go into the store, I could feel his eyes burning in the back of my head. It made me uncomfortable- we were clearly tourists. But at the same time, I figured we’d probably be fine. It was 8AM. Don’t bad guys sleep in?
Nonetheless, we got our almond milk and got the fuck out.
I didn’t realize it until later in the day, but we weren’t exactly in the best part of town. Our iOverlander app had a few warnings about armed robberies in the area, and it wasn’t the prettiest place in the world.
We should probably check the app a bit more closely.
Either way we were on our way to Isla Aguada, which was supposed to be a good vibes fish town on a lagoon just outside of the Yucatan peninsula. Pretty much the opposite of where we were right now. After spending so much time in mainland Mexico, I was excited to be back on the beach.
After a 7 hour drive, we rolled up a couple hours before sunset and decided to do our shoot at the local marina. We didn’t have a destination in mind going in, but within 20 seconds of driving by it, I knew it was going to be gold. There were old ass boats, grumpy pelicans, salty shacks, and rickety piers.
Once we found parking, I felt the good vibes coming in. All the local fishermen were waving and smiling. I swear fishing all day has to have a positive impact on the psyche. These people live to fish and fish to live- in one of the most beautiful places in the world. It’s impossible to be unhappy.
The first scene I noticed was this boat docked on the shore full of birdies:
“Bird Boat”
Taken on Sony a7rIII + Zeiss 24-70mm f/4
[ISO 50 ~ 40mm ~ f/7.1 ~ 1/40s + 3.2s]
(Want a Print? Get one here.)
Although it looks simple, that shot was actually extremely complicated. It’s an exposure blend of two shots- one of the water exposed long and one of the birds on a fast shutter. Then I manually blended the two. The part that took forever was right next to the birds where I had to mask/clone stamp out the blurry birds from the long exposure. It took about two hours of intricate (heh) editing. Worth it.
Nowadays my editing process is way more in-depth. Sometimes I miss the days where I’d take an image and have it finished in a couple minutes. I always say learning Photoshop is like opening Pandora’s Box. There’s always more that can be done.
We moved along, and the birds just kept stacking up. It felt like Christmas day. I managed to find a pier that was completely covered in birds, and immediately knew what I had to do.
Here was the plan… Setup my camera perfectly, then suddenly take a step on the pier, knowing all the birds would fly away. Then I’d take a million shots at a high shutter speed. Here was the result:
God I love that shot. Finding a way to add movement to a landscape can make it literally 20 times better. Imagine how boring that shot would be if it was just the shack. Eck.
After that shot, I knew I was set up for this shoot. That’s my favorite feeling in the world- the moment after you take a photo you know it is completely savage, and the world is your oyster.
Nonetheless (my new favorite word,) we continued on. I had one more composition in mind that I saw on the way in. I’d describe it, but I’m not in the mood. I’m going to show you:
“Last Light of the Pelican”
Taken on Sony a7rIII + Zeiss 24-70mm f/4
[ISO 50 ~ 48mm ~ f/5 ~ 1/80s + 5s]
(Want a Print? Get one here.)
Again! Exposure blend with two shots. Except this one was WAY less complex than the other one. If you’re looking for a way to add interest to a shot, try the exposure blend next time you’re on a dock. I always shoot birds on a fast shutter because they can’t sit still for the life of them.
And with that, the sun set into oblivion and we were left to our devices. We hadn’t exactly researched where to sleep for the night, so we sleepily pulled up at this random beach that seemed legit. It was tucked away in the corner, families were out in the street playing, and there was a busy restaurant nearby.
My eyes were about to fall asleep when we got a knock on our door. Fuck.
I opened it up to find a police officer standing there waiting. He started talking to me, but all I heard was gibberish. He was speaking ridiculously very fast. Then out of the side of my eyes, I saw three police officers step out from the darkness, one holding a shotgun.
This might escalate. I felt my heart rate increase, and focused intently on what they were saying. One word at a time- it was like everything went into slow motion. I couldn’t pick up everything, but I managed to pick out that we were in a dangerous area and should move. Greeaaaaaaaat.
The police officers parted ways, so we got out of there and drove aimlessly around the town. This is the part of van life that sucks. When you’ve already driven 7 hours that day, had a solid adventure, and all you want to do is go to sleep. Then someone tells you to move somewhere else and you have no idea where to go. Back to the drawing board.
After about an hour of scoping, we ended up at this lighthouse that had a security guard outside. We asked if it was safe and if we could sleep there overnight, which has proven to be a good strategy in unknown towns.
Phew. What a day. Danger on every corner except for one happy-go-lucky marina.
I’m on a mission to explore as much as humanely possible.
Want to see my progress? Check out the Adventure Map.
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