Cabo Pulmo, a photo from Baja California Sur, Baja

Photographer's Note

Cabo Pulmo is a National Marine Park on East Cape set-up to preserve the ‘only living hard coral reef in North America.’ East Cape lies between Cabo San Lucas and La Paz, about 200 Km to the North. The Gringo Gazette comments that a few years ago, you couldn’t give land away there and now folks are bumping down dirt roads, eager to pay $200,000 for a lot where the amenities like water and electricity are promised but remain non-existent. Brochures for the Cabo Pulmo Dive resort, describe the travel time as 1 hr & 15 minutes. It seemed much longer than that but it could have been the 19m/24 km of washboard in a spring-less Nissan pick-up. When we arrived, the wind was gusting to 40 knots and whipping the surface of the turquoise bay into white caps. Still, in spite of the wind, the color remained lovely. When we asked about the wind, the manager said, “It always blows this time of year. East Cape is much colder and windier than Cabo in the winter and much hotter in the summer;” explaining for me why ‘you couldn’t give land away.’ He instructed us to be very careful with electricity as the place ran on solar power and it had been cloudy for several days. Our $75/night room included a double and a single bed, a well-furnished kitchen, except for the matches to light the stove, an elevated lookout area complete with hammock & a thatched room that had dusted the place with fragments of thatch from the wind. After a night of howling winds, we decided to make an early exit and return to snorkel in at a better time. The manager said September was a prime time, but last September there was a big hurricane through this area; maybe October? Some of the pictures in the WS show places with hurricane damage but the thatched roofs still remain largely intact.

sabyasachi1212, fayeulle, besnard, siolaw, pablominto, delkoo, Paolo, xuaxo, Gerrit, nwoehnl, Didi, Nicou, Davidwh, Angelillo, Henryk_Bilor, ahmetgedikli, gunbud, cunejo200, pboehringer, tigra, singuanti, ruisc_pt, josepmarin, riclopes, paura has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

ribeiroantonio (22618) 2007-01-27 1:32

I like this wide view and I think the inclusion of the cactus on the very foreground gave the picture the necessary depth to make it very good. Without the cactus, the sense of distance would be lost. Well done.
Antonio

fayeulle (27823) 2007-01-27 1:40

Hi Patricia
I really like the way you framed this shot with the cactii onthe right side. Good note too.
French greetings.
JP

besnard (49031) 2007-01-27 1:56

Bonjour Patricia
Très belle vue de cette baie avec le petit sentier qui serpente au-travers de la végétation. La plante exotique forme un excellent 1er plan.
Merci pour le partage et bon week-end.
Nicole

pablominto (53744) 2007-01-27 2:42

Hello Pat,
A pleasant composition, I like how the cactus is growing out of the lower corner!
Good view of the bay and the winding road adds interest value...
A rough landscape where only the best fit will survive!
Greetings,
Pablo -

sabyasachi1212 (19739) 2007-01-27 3:57

Hi Pat,
Excellent landscape with the combination of the sea, the arid land and the cactus. Pity you didn't find the weather suitable. But then there is always another time:)
With Greetings from India
Sabyasachi

tjanze (5674) 2007-01-27 4:12

Hi Patricia!
Beautiful landscape.Good framing with cactus on right.I like how road lead eye on background hill.Nice perspective and good sharpness.
Regards!

siolaw (37626) 2007-01-27 4:38

Hi Patricia,
Good compo, with catus in FG giving a starting point, and arid but beautiful BG... Good colors and sharpness... the slight OE on the top right side clouds is no big problem
Laurent
Laurent

Paolo (41216) 2007-01-27 8:43

Hi Patricia, amazing view of the cape, with the cactus well placed on a side and from a great POV.
thanks, ciao

xuaxo (6830) 2007-01-27 11:25

Boa tarde Pat,
A nice, simple view to show how the place looks like. The WS "Altered Image #2" has also very nice colors.
F

Gerrit (43745) 2007-01-27 11:40

Hi Patricia,
excellent view. Superbe composition. The foreground cactus gives depth and the scatter village provides colour.
Regards, Gerrit

nwoehnl (122) 2007-01-27 11:50

Very nice composition to show the wideness and scenic beauty of the Mexican landscape, Pat. Good use of the cactus at the right to anchor the composition, and a pleasantly vivid tonal range found in the different features of the scenery as it extends towards the background. Nice subtle lighting, too.

Didi (49140) 2007-01-27 12:11

Bonsoir Pat
La luminosité diffuse par les nuages donne un bel aspect sur cette vue.
L'avant-plan est intéressant avec ce gros cactus.
Bon weekend.

Davidwh (3662) 2007-01-27 13:13

Hi Pat,
I like this one with the cacti just as much (if not more!) as the last one (Saguaro in Bloom).Great use of the closeup at front giving fantastic depth to the landscape at back.A lovely cut where the land and ocean meet.As always really liked the note and the additional images for different POV.Take care and TFS.
Regards, David

Angelillo (9322) 2007-01-27 17:21

Hi Pat,

I'm really impressed by these geants cactus, and mainly how you uses it in the shot, because they are really a great POV for show well the distance, the bigness, they break in this one the simplicity and almost monotony of the shot, and the result is fantastic. The sky is too really good here. Really beautiful. Thanks,

Angel.

Henryk_Bilor (20799) 2007-01-27 17:44

Hi Patricia
Lovely view at the ocean. I like the lines of clouds and horizon. Great colours and composition with the cactus...:)
Regards

capthaddock (28790) 2007-01-27 17:46

Hi Pat - hmm, I wrote a long critique for your previous photo, but it seems to have vanished, oh well, I think this one is even better actually, even if the fg is not sunlit, it is an excellent example of a landscape where the desert meets the ocean.

I'm up fot the meeting, I'm off on friday the 1rst so no probs there.

The ages of the kids in the intro photo are the big girl is 15 months now, the little girl 3 months.

ahmetgedikli (25076) 2007-01-27 19:21

Hi Pat,
A very beautiful shot! Excellent colours, superb light and very good depth.
Greetings.
Ahmet

gunbud (34052) 2007-01-27 19:40

Hi Pat,
Lovely low sky over the beautiful ocean with unique shade of blue. The wild catus make an excellent frame for this beauty.
Regards, Tom

cunejo200 (7281) 2007-01-28 7:32

Hi Pat, Very beautiful composition of what appears to be an arid landscape. Superb DOF and colors, texture of the cactus is appealing, and the sky and clouds highlight the scene. Best wishes. Danilo

pboehringer (770) 2007-01-28 10:43

Hello Pat, great combination of all these elements. You composition gives a real lead through the landscape. It starts with the cactus in the fg, taking the small windy path down the slope that seem to be embracing the island in the far bg and finally reaching the beach and water. The weather conditions seems to be a little bit grey, but that is somentihing that we as photographer can't change ;-)
TFS, Peter

john_c (24662) 2007-01-28 11:22

Hi Patricia,
A well chosen POV with good foreground framing. I like the natural tones and hues here. The little road helps break up the stark rugged ground by providing a good dividing line, taking the eye with it down to the beach. The changing hues of the ocean are discernible. I like your large proportion of sky here. A fascinating note, Patricia. You should provide lessons and pointers to all those travel agents who like to tell their clients what to do and where to go but have never been there!
John

jmcl (14535) 2007-01-28 13:31

Hi Pat,

Really great use of the cacti .. both the upper right framing one and the one lower down ... they really help lead me and give me a sense of scale of this beautiful empty place. Some wonderful contrasts of light and dark as well.

take care,

John

Vincelavisse (454) 2007-01-28 23:32

Bonjour Patricia,

Well, this is a great compo. I like the cactus on the left side. It's great to see an image that seems warm: it's so cold over here. Even hard to takie picture, but I try anyway :) Color of the sea is intersting too.

TFS,

Vincent

John_F_Kennedy (41368) 2007-01-29 8:08

I like this wonderful details, also excellent sharpness and clarity.
Achim

kmarscher (2887) 2007-01-29 9:44

I like your many shots from Mexico. The eye flows nicely through the scene, starting with the large cactus , along the roadway, and toward the distant mountain. The landscape is so foreign to me but one that I will enjoy seeing when I travel out to SD in early March. Hope to see some cactus in bloom at Borrego Springs.
Regards,
kathy

tigra (2968) 2007-01-29 15:17

Hello Patricia
That's the typical mexican landscape to my mind:))
Thanks for sharing
Katia

Angshu (51380) 2007-01-31 3:33

Hi Pat
Excellent landscape once again from you with the combination of the sea, the arid land and the cactus. Love the curved path leading upto the sea. Inclusion of the cactus in the FG was a great idea. With the warm, not so bright light, the result is lovely
Regards
Angshu

Scharan (14144) 2007-01-31 17:07

Olá Pat
Muito bonita a paisagem cores naturais, suaves.
Linda foto, gosto do detalhe do cactus em primeiro plano.
Grande abraço,
Vera.

singuanti (15250) 2007-01-31 23:12

Hi Patricia. Reading your note has me appreciating everything you went through to get this picture. That was quite the adventure. It's good the way you worked that cactus on the far right so as not to intrude much into the scenery but it still adds interest. Very nicely done Patricia.

ruisc_pt (10125) 2007-02-03 10:24

Hi Pat
Very well "framed" in my humble opinion.. if may I say ..
tfs

josepmarin (55185) 2007-02-06 14:23

Hi Patricia,
el encuadre es muy bueno, me gusta el cactus a la derecha, y la carretera sinuosa que nos lleva hasta la playa solitaria.
El mar y el cielo están muy hermosos, y el Cabo los separa con elegancia.
Un buen trabajo con la luz y los colores.
Saludos,
Josep

riclopes (35567) 2007-02-09 13:33

Still travelling...It reminded me that I have a lot of photos from Baja in my archives that I already had forgotten. Like your framing with the cactus at right and the dirt road going to the beach. A very attractive scenery for my eyes.
Ricardo

carper (96) 2007-02-24 12:54

a very nice one out your archive Patricia
for myself I am not a wintersport type therefore I choose this fantastic view, the point of view is well choosen, the quality of the shot is great, very good photo job here, well done. Have a nice day.
gr. jaap

paura (47166) 2009-12-31 2:10

Pat,
Lovely compo here! Lighting and colors are really nice. A great job with the D200.

A happy 2010!

Paulo