I guess you have noticed my trip to Curaçao of the past weeks. I have been struggling with my photography here. The light is so bright and harsh, it is difficult to deal with. And the landscape is not very colourful or diverse, so I had to look harder for photo-opportunities. I guess it is always harder in a place that is not your home. Of course you can get inspiration from a new place, but it is also more difficult to find the right spot and the right time.

To avoid the harsh light during the day I have been focussing on sunrise and sunset. They are always good for special light, and that is also the case in the caribbean. My favourite time is the morning, I like the light best just after sunrise. At at this point Curaçao didn’t let me down.

I don’t have a car here, so I was restricted to a small area around our bungalow. At first I thought the environment wasn’t going to give me any good photo-opportunities, as there is not much else here than the beach and bungalows, but a bit of sunlight can make a dull street look special! The photo above is taken in such a dull street. But with the rising sun through the palm trees, and the spectacular colors, I like it a lot.

The photo below, the one from the header, is taken from the same spot. But at a different day, and 20 minutes later. Again, a bit of sun does wonders. You can see the difference in the height of the sun in the illumination in the weed in front. In photo above you can see the little purple flowers, but the feathers in front are almost invisible. Below, there doesn’t seem to be any flower. But I really like how the grass at the sidewalk is enlightened.

Moving on to the sunset, I said I like the morning light better, but the sunsets are pretty spectacular too here in the Caribbean. The photo below was taken from our bungalowpark, and the sun was partly clouded so I could take this photo directly into the sun. I love how the light is reflected from the veranda. And I guess you can really call this golden hour…

There are not always clouds to block the sun, so sometimes I ask someone (ok, not just someone 😉 ) to block the sun with his head. However, due to some sudden movement at the moment I released the shutter, the head moved away. Interestingly enough the photo turned out to be one of my favourites. I am certainly not experienced enough to plan a photo like the one below, but I sure do like it 🙂 . Apart form the sun rays, I like how the cocktail looks in this light as well!

A few seconds later (yes, the sun moves fast around here!) the sun starts to hit the ocean. This is the moment were you can take the characteristic (and stereotype?) sunset photos which I am sure you have seen before. But I couldn’t resist either, so here you go:

After that it is just time to relax and enjoy dinner 🙂 …