464 - Salto de Malacatiupan
Alright folks, we back at it again. I got confirmation about what’s officially wrong with my foot. For you, it’s been a day or two. For me, it’s been a WHOLE WEEK and a lot of shit has gone down.
I’ll try to keep it brief both for your sanity and mine. My foot has a stress fracture in the 5th metatarsal, which is the bone right below the pinky toe. I found this out by paying a dude in Guatemala $20 for an x-ray, and sending the results to a few doctors in the US. (Technically this isn’t legal, but the doctors didn’t have to know I wasn’t in the US ;)
Since I didn’t let my broken toe recover over the past month, I put too much pressure on the outside of my foot to compensate. On the hike up Volcan Santiaguito, I sent it over the edge and triggered the fracture. I spent three adventures walking on it after that, and made it worse without realizing it.
And now I’m here. The past week I’ve been sitting in our van catching up on editing, elevating my foot, and embracing my emotions. It took me longer than I’d care to admit to process the reality of the situation.
From here on out, the entire trip was going to be different. We had about 3 months more planned in Central America, and it was looking like I’d be doing it in a boot and crutches. Estimated recovery time for a stress fracture is 6-8 weeks.
Or, ya know, we could turn back early.
But that didn’t sit well with me. If we turned around, I’d be sitting in American parking lots recovering. It’s not like I could Doordash with a broken foot. I mind as well recover out here, where it’s actually interesting.
Thus, today’s adventure- at Salto de Malacatiupan in El Salvador. It was a (locally famous) waterfall that doubled as a volcanic hot spring.
Going in, I knew it was going to be difficult, so I promised myself I wouldn’t be upset if I didn’t come back with something worthwhile. Hiking in crutches is a task in itself, but the real challenge would be in scoping the composition. Normally I’d climb rocks, hop boundaries, and do whatever it takes to get where I need to be for the shot.
In crutches, I didn’t have that freedom. Upon arrival, I realized I’d have to be much more methodological in my search for a shot. Which became very frustrating, very fast. Hopping around massive rocks with one foot while holding a $3,000 camera sobers you up fast.
After two hours, I gave up. It was fucking impossible.
I watched Haley swim around in the hot springs waterfall, cursing my luck. WHY DID THIS HAVE TO HAPPEN NOW? The timing was horrific. But when you’re spending 9 months traveling, eventually real life’s gonna catch up.
Suddenly, I had an idea. I couldn’t move around to a composition, but my drone could. Holy fuck, how did it take me this long to realize this?
The sun was conveniently setting, so I loaded up the ole’ Mini and fired off. Compositions galore, and I could move wherever I damn well pleased at 30 mph. Here was my favorite shot, a top down on the river and waterfall:
“Lateral Fall”
Taken on DJI Mavic Mini
[ISO 100 ~ 4.49mm ~ f/2.8 ~ 1/30s]
(Want a Print? Get one here.)
That shot literally destroyed my bad mood. It was like someone blew it up with a shotgun. My brain started flowing through all the spots I’d hobbled around in the past two hours, and I knew where I needed to go to top off this sunset.
I climbed down a four foot rock with one foot (don’t ask me how,) and crawled around on a ledge. I lined up a few shots, and came out with this bad boy:
“String Theory”
Taken on Sony a7rIII + Tamron 17-28mm f/2.8
[ISO 250 ~ 17mm ~ f/9 ~ .8s]
(Want a Print? Get one here.)
Back on that root game. I swear I thought those things were ropes at first, but no. Real fucking roots. So cool.
I’m at this point with my photography career where I’m like fuck it. I want to try weird shots that don’t make a lot of technical sense, experimentally. I think that’s the next step in this photography journey. I know the composition rules like back of my hand, so it’s time to break them. Sure, someone could argue that that shot’s unbalanced because of the empty area to the top right, but I’d argue back- why does a shot have to be balanced?
Overall, first shoot in crutches went well. I think the hardest part was overcoming that initial mental barrier of realizing how hard this was going to be. I’m going to have to be innovative this next month and a half. Real innovative.
But the good thing is it’s gonna feel easy as fuck to take a photo when it’s healed.
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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