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Madeira 2024 #5 | On film: Cliff

maipenquynh on 20. August 2024

It felt like this place, Calheta, consisted only of a road that went alongside the sea. In between there was a stretch of beach and, a bit decadently, a harbour for yachts. Our hotel was at one end of the road. And if you walked to the other end of this road, with the sea on your left, you ended up at a bend in the road that led inland to the right (thus, this place was more than just this road). But what I found much more interesting was the view straight ahead. The road ended there and instead of tarmac, stones of all sizes were underfoot, with corners and edges and round shapes. This made walking difficult and I had to watch my footing. I sat down on a large stone with a view of the sea, with the cliff next to me and the late afternoon sun in front of me. The formation of the stones and the cliff had taken my fancy and I moved back and forth for a nice crop. I waited quite a long time before I pressed the shutter release. The time had come when the two birds were seen in the air.

(Click on the image to see it as a whole)

Camera + lens: Minolta Dynax 7000i + Minolta AF 50 mm f/1.4
Film: Kodak Gold 200
Development + scan: ON FILM LAB

Madeira 2024 #4 | On film: The blue of Porto Moniz

maipenquynh on 17. August 2024

The blue and turquoise of Porto Moniz. The white gout. The rough sea, the surf. It was so calming. Regaining our strength and having the sea in front of us after days of lying around. That was all we needed. We were drawn to the sea every day. It was too cold to swim and the waves and currents were too strong.

I couldn't break away from the colours of the water. Since day 1 in Porto Moniz, I wanted to capture these colours on film. And in the end, I succeeded.

(Click on the image to see it as a whole)

Camera + lens: Minolta Dynax 7000i + Minolta AF 50 mm f/1.4
Film: Kodak Gold 200
Development + scan: ON FILM LAB

Madeira 2024 #2 | On film: São Lourenço

maipenquynh on 13. August 2024

(Click on the image to see it as a whole)

São Lourenço was the first adventure we embarked on. São Lourenço is one of THE hikes in Madeira that has been recommended over and over again. In contrast to Japan, I personally did very rudimentary preparations only for my holiday in Madeira. I went along without any argument, after all I had no counter-suggestion.

I remember that there was a fee at the "entrance" which benefited the nature conservation. As we are in the 21st century, obviously you could ONLY pay this fee online. The best thing about it: my internet was on E all the time, no 3G or LTE at all. That's how internet works. At some point we managed it - the solution was a classic one: walk a few metres further on and the internet connection was better again.

The hike was a path over rough and rough and not as straight forward as you might think when you see the pictures of the terrain. You walk along winding paths that you can't guess from the pictures. The landscape was quite barren, yet very green. A strange contradiction, isn't it? We searched in vain for shade here. Sometimes we walked away from the path and up to one of the peaks. The cliffs were amazing! I lay down on my stomach to look down. I didn't take any photos even though the view was amazing. The fear of accidentally dropping the camera was too great.

The pictures were taken on the way back (same as the way there). I captured the view back to the end of the island and the summit that we had reached and climbed shortly before as I rested on a large stone. The hike had made me very tired. What I found particularly amusing about this view was this "hole" through which you can see through to the other side of the sea.

Camera + lens: Minolta Dynax 7000i + Minolta AF 50 mm f/1.4
Film: Kodak Gold 200
Development + scan: ON FILM LAB