On the Jharkot-Kagbeni trail, my 300th Photo

Photographer’s Note

I reached my 300th post... Almost two years ago I wouldn't dream about putting 300 photos (not counting the others posted as WS's) in a site like Trek Earth. I don't pretend that I have managed to find 300 really good photos, but thanks to TE, I was able to see my own photos with other eyes and take pleasure in perceiving what other interested and interesting persons, some of them rather very talented and skilled, think about them.

I feel that I evolve much in this addictive hobby of ours. It's not that important if I really managed to turn myself into a better photographer, although I would like that it happened. What is really interesting and rewarding is that I find a community of very nice people with whom I share many interests, not only for Photography, and in the way I gained two valuable things: new friends around the world and an strong incentive to embrace again Photography as a hobby after many years being just a casual holiday and social gatherings snapshooter, at the most.

Not being a perfect place, I think the only major disturbing thing in Trek Earth is the amount of time it make us spending around it. I often find that I should spend more time taking care of my own photos than appreciating and critiquing the photos of others, but that is such a pleasing, addictive, but also much self-educative activity... I see no solution for this dilemma, as it is too natural that if I am less participative I can't expect that I get much feedback to my own photos, so part of the incentive to produce and show more and better photos is lost.

Thank you very much to all of you for the friendship and the contribution to the pleasure I have with Photography. Thanks also to Adam and Internet Brands for offering us this space where our unique community is based.

Much like it happened with the post of my 1st anniversary I didn't exactly plan to post another photo from Nepal for this occasion, but I think I am doing it much for the same reasons I chose another photo which was shot just a few hundred meters behind this one for my first post in TE: this trip Nepal marked a return to the pleasure of Photography after some years with nearly no activity and it was by far one of the most fascinating trips I have ever done. As important as that, it was on this trip that I really discover the pleasure of travel Photography beyond the occasional tourist snapshot. The bug showed itself timidly the year before, when I went to Cuba, then a bit more resolutely in a trip to Morocco I did earlier that year, where I used a broken camera that ruined 99% of my shots. I was so sad when I discovered that I had no photos of Morocco that I decided that nothing alike could happen in Nepal. As you can guess by browsing my gallery, you'll find that the inspiration and enthusiasm went much down in the following years, and it only reappeared after I bought my first digital camera.

You can find what I wrote about this region and my impressions of it in my other posts of the area.

WS's:
• #1- Another view of Muktinath, the village that I showed in my earlier post.
• #2- Portrait of a local woman that we met on the trail.

Location (latitude, longitude): 28.8236,83.8164 (I am not sure about the accuracy, but my guess is that the error isn't higher than 1 Km / 0.6 miles)

Note on the location in TE: according to Wikipedia, all this region, from Jomsom to Lo Manthang and Muktinath is part of Dhawalagiri district [te]. I put my posts in the Gandaki district following the others, as almost no one posts their photos of the region in the supposedly right place.

kiwi_explorer, Nelu_Goia, JBotelho, bakes888, feather, delkoo, ruisc_pt, xuaxo, zeynepe, shevchenko, sarahnatalie, danos, Charo, gracious, riclopes, jhm, JCG, danyy, Emile, cobbydale, ribeiroantonio, paura, AiresSantos, robob, Jonas_Schmitt, bostankorkulugu, Bluejeans, Docarmo, Didi, vinicio, grigand, Benedict, denisn72, carper, siolaw, axiotea, edytungkal, keribar, banyanman, Atousa, maloutim, Silversnow has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

albertz (2310) 2008-07-16 17:14

Excellent shot Jose, very well composed vertical shot where the graduating colors of the hills is well noticed. The whip of the clouds from the top is a bonus.. Congratulations! hope to see more of your shots.

kiwi_explorer (12195) 2008-07-16 17:56

Hi Jose,
The clarity of details is very good brought about by the sharpness of the image and true natural colors. Well captured and composed ... I like the sense of depth of the whole image ... it also brought grandeur to this magnificent mountains. Well done! tfs
Cheers,
Renier

Nelu_Goia (2742) 2008-07-16 18:02

Hi Jose,
Your magnificent photo is as clear as the mountain air where you took it.
The colors are incredible and the detail remarkable;above all,it is the composition.
Great job,believe me...
Happy anniversary!
Nelu

Greg1949 (8519) 2008-07-16 18:12

Jose, important milestone 300 is, a hard climb like the mountainous terrain in the picture. The shot is crisp and clear and colorful in a brown sort of way and is truly beautiful in its starkness. Congratulations.

Greg

jimkilgallon (0) 2008-07-16 19:02

Ola Jose
Congrats on your 300th post, and what a image to share. Them deep cyanish/bue mountains look amazing against the warmer foreground. I like the textures all round, with the sharpness on par. Thanks for the informative note, and heres to another 300!!
Regards
Jim

JBotelho (147) 2008-07-16 19:13

Olá José
Parabéns por esta excelente fotografia com notável definição de uma paisagem retumbante (ainda não perdi a esperança de lá ir...).
Parabéns também pela marca das 300 inserções partilhadas com toda a comunidade TE. Pelo meu lado fico a aguardar as próximas 300..
Abraço.
João Botelho

jmcl (14145) 2008-07-16 21:50

Hi Jose,

Congratulations on 300 .. thank you for sharing so much.
Tremendous dimension .. beautiful layers and textures .. powerful and meditative starkness. Very nice. take care, John

bakes888 (18327) 2008-07-17 0:32

Hi Jose. Congrats on your 300th post. Nice photo to celebrate. Good depth and colours. Thanks for sharing.
Cheers, Paul.

feather (50144) 2008-07-17 2:17

I see we both have milestones today! What a coincidence! Congratulations! Interesting reading your note about your photograhic progression.
Very good shot to celebrate. First of all you found an excellent POV. It is wonderful to see the successive layers of mountains becoming progressively higher as our eyes travel through the frame. The foreground rock formation is very unusual and that is what leads the eye to the tiny ribbon of river winding its way through the valley. You show you have always had a good eye for composition. Well done.
Kath

delkoo (34754) 2008-07-17 2:22

hi josé
félicitations pour ces 300 photos, cette photo me raproche de mon futur voyage, car je pars pour le Nepal le 25 juillet.
ici le format vertical fonctionne bien et permet de decouvrir toute l'arideité de la vallée .

amitiès
didier

ruisc_pt (6207) 2008-07-17 2:51

Meu caro José Pires
Em primeiro lugar muitos, muitos parabéns pelo tua tricentéssima imagem no TE
Como sempre a genuidade das tuas palavras são um inventivo para qq um de nós.
Bem hajas
Ab
R.
p.s.
Quanto à foto.. claro.. as fotos do NEPAL.. são sempre, as tuas, um must
OBrg

UnTrained (0) 2008-07-17 4:44

Olá José,
an impressing view, well chosen for a 300th, thanks for all those moments (and I think I have seen all). Those different lines of mountain space also in changing colours let me feel small.
And just yes for the time, if you want to be a bit serious it is time consuming. And worth meeting people like you.
Lieben Gruss, Ulf

xuaxo (5835) 2008-07-17 8:08

Olá José,
Parabéns pelo trabalho apresentado em geral (com os WS talvez mais de 1000 fotos, não?).
Quanto a esta foto. Primeiro fez-me lembrar os desertos do sudoeste dos EUA; mas depois, talvez pelo formato vertical, deu-me a sensação que as montanhas são altas demais para aqueles desertos.
Segundo, gosto muito da gradação entre os tons castanhos e amarelados do primeiro plano, por aí fora até aos azulados do topo e céu.
Um abraço,
F

mark_mk (246) 2008-07-17 9:53

Hi Jose,
wow, 300 posts! Congratulations for that and keep many more coming!
This looks very cool, a very unreal landscape, nice choice of the vertical format. This composition proofes you were already a great photographer back then. Very nice!

Take care
Mark

ElAprendiz (7370) 2008-07-17 12:54

Hola Jose:

Es una muy buena toma para celebrar tu foto 300 en TE, felicitaciones.

Particularmente este tipo de escenas me gusta tomarlas en formato horizontal, pero veo que tu opción de elegir la verticalidad, ofrece una sensación de altura y de vértigo, bastante llamativa.

La luz juega un papel importante, permitiéndonos apreciar cada uno de los matices que se detallan en la montaña, con mucha naturalidad y propiedad.

John

trekks (14334) 2008-07-17 18:21

hello Jose

Impressive pov to show the depth of this perspective view. It really has good sharpness , contrast and texture. Amazing details from your 1994 capture with OM4. Very good work to post this after 14 years.

Good to see that you have reached 300th! Congratulations for sharing so many photos and letting us have a chance to see your portfolio and learning something good from it.

tfs, bill

shevchenko (10072) 2008-07-17 20:58

Hi Jose,
Amazing pov to show the giant landscapes in variety feature and in three different colors, good sharpness and good contrast, thanks for sharing WS photos too, and congratulation to achieve 300th posting in TE.
Ally

Stepan (27175) 2008-07-17 22:12

J'imagine que l'endroit a peu changé. C'est l'Himalaya, aucun doute... C'est pur, c'est beau, c'est vertigineux. Bon choix de cadrage vertical.
Je te souhaite un excellent 300ème post.
Stéphane

sarahnatalie (693) 2008-07-17 22:20

Hi Jose,
I really think you should win an award of some sort for being the most dedicated and thorough poster on TE! I really admire all the effort you put into your posts, critiques, and workshops. This is a lovely image, like so many of yours. I am very impressed by your scanning abilities. Your older photos are great to look at. Excellent sharpness. Happy 300th!
Sarah

danos (33240) 2008-07-18 2:03

Ola Jose,
congratulation on your 300th photo,i wish you more and better as this one.Excellent shot of this mountain scape with these extraordinary tints of the earthy colors.I like the pale light that is spread in the whole scene.Really a superb photo to celebrate your 300 uploads.

Have a nice day,danos

Charo (31779) 2008-07-18 2:11

Hola Jose,
En primer lugar mis felicitaciones por tu foto 300.
Una panorámica impresionante en la que se combinan colores y texturas. Una imagen de vértigo con mucha profundidad.
Abraços,
Charo

gracious (20017) 2008-07-18 3:24

Ola Jose,
My heartiest congratulation on your 300th post and a great milestone for you! much appreciated for your wonderful works from the past for the sharing and will see many more coming!
This is a great landscape of the trail with the best pov ever to have the best landscape pattern well captured with total sharpness, wonderful colouration and details in the shot
well done
thank you once again for your sharing and friendship
greeting from NZ
Tony

riclopes (33131) 2008-07-18 3:41

Linda, José. Claro que escolheres uma do meu tema preferido para o teu 300º post é uma excelente opção :) As cores e a profundidade desta vista, enquanto vou saltando de pico em pico até atingir as nuvens, são fabulosas. Este zona mais esculpida também fez um excelente 1º plano. O que é giro é ver que estas fotos têm todas uma carrada de anos, numa época em que não se sonhava com o digital e muito menos com um TE - percebo o prazer que deve ser desenterrar isto tudo...as minhas antigas não têm de todo o mesmo nível :( Gosto muito dos 2 WSs também e adoro as faixas de sombra no WS1. Parabéns pelo terceira centena.
Um abraço,
ricardo

jhm (83298) 2008-07-18 5:23

Hello José,

Congratulations for your 300th picture on TE, this is a lovely milestone.
Your magnificent photo is as clear as the mountain air where you took it.
The clarity of details is very good brought about by the sharpness of the image and true natural colours.
Very well done, TFS.

Have a nice weekend,
John.

JCG (25745) 2008-07-18 10:01

Hello José,

Here is a splendid photograph which symbolizes your beautiful rise in the TE world, congratulation for your 300th photograph. I like much quality of this image and in particular the remarkable luminosity and good clearness scan. The choice of the format is judicious and amplifies the vertiginous aspect of the landscape. Beautiful work and thank you for the complementary photographs… Go for the 300 following ones !!!

With all my friendships and a very good WE José,

Jean-Charles.

danyy (69417) 2008-07-18 15:34

Bonjour Jose,
une impressionnante face montagneuse bien redressée à laquelle ta photo donne toute son ampleur, sans malheureusement avoir un motif qui donne une idée des échelles.
Photo nette qui révèle bien les textures.
Amicalement.
daniel.

Emile (20117) 2008-07-18 15:36

Hola Jose.
Felicitaciones por tu foto 300 en TE, la verdad es que uno de los momentos mas agradables desde que entre a este magnifico grupo fue el conocerte a ti y tu linda familia en Santo Domingo, tu nota es muy emotiva y realista y espero que llegaras a exponer muchas mas para deleite de todos y poder aprender mucho mas de ti y tus excelentes fotos y criticas.
Tu foto es muy buena como era de esperar para una ocasión como esta. Todo lo que pueda decir de ella es positivo. Tus otras fotos en WS están magnificas. Si vemos tu primera y la comparamos con esta, la verdad es que has progresado mucho.
Un fuerte abrazo amigo.

cobbydale (1924) 2008-07-18 16:40

Good choice for your 300th birthday Jose ;-) A fantastic vista with vivid sharp edges and colours.
cheers
Leon

ribeiroantonio (21967) 2008-07-18 20:40

A montanha é simplesmente imponente mas falta-lhe o verde das árvores e da vegetação ao sol. É por esta razão que eu gosto muito mais dos Pirinéus do que dos Alpes.
Agora diz-me, a que distância é esta zona está da capital Katmandu? Estou a pensar ir ao Nepal e ao Butão mas francamente não sei bem o que fazer. De momento a minha ideia é meter-me num tour organizado.
Gosot muito deat vista ampla da montanha. Tnes também um bom trabalho de recuperação de uma foto antiga.
António

zeynepe (9360) 2008-07-19 0:12

It is my pleasure to know you via TE.
Your critiques and suggestions are very important to my improvement.I would like you to thank you again:)
A Breathtaking mountain landscape with lovely clouds from amazing Nepal.
Congratulations on your 300th.
Hugs,
Zeynep

mikeo (12117) 2008-07-19 5:16

Hello Jose,

CONGRATULATIONS!!!
300 photos is a really good achievement...
Especially that your gallery includes really good shots...

I remember your first critiques...your nice words from the beginning on TE...I wish we could meet before your photo no. 400;)))

And the photo...Superb place shown in an interesting way. Looks like from a different planet;)

Well done!
Best greetings,
Mikeo

paura (39202) 2008-07-19 12:31

José,
Noto aqui um forte trabalho de PP para dar vida a essa foto, não? O lugar é lindo, as formas e cores diferentes ao longo do campo de visão muito interessante e o resultado final bom.

Abraço, amigo, e parabéns pelas suas 300a. fotos.

Paulo

toto (18755) 2008-07-20 2:49

bonsoir,
belle photo pour votre 300eme vous avez fait fort avec ces magestueuses montagnes, la plus basse avec ces trous noir font grande impression, les deuxièmes donne un bel aspect, et ces plus hauts sommets vert donne l' impression d' un paysage qui vient de se former et qui est encore bien vert pour son jeune age.

Amitiés Thomas
Je reviens

robob (3640) 2008-07-20 8:41

Hello José,
Félicitations pour ton 300ème post et également pour ta très belle note accompagnant celui-ci,
Il faut un sacré courage pour gravir ces montagnes !
Très beau dégradé de couleurs ici et superbe vue !
Au plaisir de te lire,
Robert

crckt (7094) 2008-07-20 9:07

Hi Jose,
CONGRATULATIONS!! 300 photos! That is a great feat! Thanks for sharing so many wonderful shots with us. It has really been a pleasure for me to look into your gallery and appreciate these shots. I hope you continue for many many more. I like the rugged landscape texture in this shot. Considering that this is a scan, it has great quality!
Regards,
Shaeri

Jonas_Schmitt (3074) 2008-07-20 9:33

Hello Jose!
Fantastic picture of those beautiful mountains. I really like the way how you composed this photo and you chose an excellent point of view. Nice colors, good contrast and great sharpness, too! Well done!
Jonas

sacavem (8519) 2008-07-20 15:44

Olá José,

Parabéns pelas 300 fotos publicadas. Não é todos os dias que isso acontece.

Congratulations for 300 captures and a thanks for 300 shared moments.Very nicely captured and composed shot from a very good POV.

Well done.
Best wishes,
Filipe

bostankorkulugu (33976) 2008-07-20 15:49

hey congrats with the 300th post jose... and a beautiful one that is... like the vertical compo a lot...

keep going my friend, i am really happy to know you and have you around here... all the best...

korkut

AiresSantos (42844) 2008-07-20 23:33

Superb shot to celebrate your 300th post in TE, dear friend Jose !
High definition and amazing colours
Hug
Aires

fkokol (1614) 2008-07-21 6:21

Congratulations for 300th photos. Wonderful one to celebrate. Great sharpness and colours. I've havent been Anapurna region on my Nepal trip but it looks great and impressive.
greetings,

figen

Bluejeans (33049) 2008-07-21 6:43

Oi José ,
Que paisagem de sonho bem desértica , gostei muito da foto na vertical parece que as montanhas são gigantes e um belíssimo ponto de visão ,parabéns pela 300 foto no TE continuamos a espera de mais :) ,gostei muito das fotos do Ws ,bom trabalho de scan .
Um abraço Gonçalo

Docarmo (8844) 2008-07-21 18:58

Olá José,
Parabéns pelas suas 300 apresentações, sempre muito boas para a gente aprender sobre fotografia e sobre o mundo, além do toque artístico, claro.
É muito bom ter você no TE, com suas críticas construtivas, analisando nosso trabalho e dando sugestões muito proveitosas.
Esta foto chamou-me a atenção pelos níveis diferentes de profundidade, realçados não só pela nitidez fantástica, como pela coloração variada das rochas - impressionante!
Achei a escolha da imagem excelente, muito didática!
Obrigada, sempre!
MCV

COSTANTINO (23179) 2008-07-22 3:22

Hi JOSE,
another beautiful photo taken with the most
artistic way,nice capture of that moment..
the clouds are perfect and I also like
the depth of the whole scene..
Thanks for sharing
Costantino

Didi (36434) 2008-07-22 9:59

Salut José
Un point de vue intéressant sur ce sommet majestueux; féllicitations pour cette trois centième.
En Espérant pour ta 400ème tu nous réserveras un panoramique à quarante douze image :)
Amitiés.

vinicio (22428) 2008-07-22 13:08

Astonishing mountains and image, excellent indeed Jose, compliments, also to your goal of the 100th post, an important moment, best wishes for many others appointments like this.
Ciao
Vinicio

grigand (12802) 2008-07-22 13:57

Hi Jose,
Congratulations for this picture and other 299 !!!
A very excellent shot and thank you for complete note.
Ciao
andrea

Benedict (7062) 2008-07-22 21:20

one of the places i have always longed for to go visit is nepal. seeing this makes me more 'itchy' to fulfill that longing! btw, i got to save for that..:-)

i can sense that you have walked up the hill to shoot this wonderful foto rewarding you (and the viewers) with a fine view of this natural beauty in particular the foothills of this range. what a way to commemorate your 300th! congratulations and keep them coming.
regards,
Benedict

denisn72 (7059) 2008-07-23 6:53

Hello Jose
Congratulations for the 300th! Impressive landscape! Details are stunning as are the colours. Good idea to chose the vertical format. I like the diversity of the textures. well done and thanks for sharing.
Best regards
Denis!

carper (65622) 2008-07-23 10:42

congratiolation here Jose with your 300 th TE photo,
one of 1994 a scanned one, well you did do a fantastic job here, I like the quality and the good pov, very nice place, thanks for sharing, and let the good shots come, have a nice evening.
gr. jaap

siolaw (25830) 2008-07-23 12:29

Salut Jose,
J ai oublié de te féliciter pour tes 300! Bravo, donc!!!
Et , même si nous progressons, certains paysages sont si magnifiques, que toute image est belle... ici tu as capte des couleurs intenses sur un paysage grandiose, et utilisé judicieusement le cadrage vertical...
Un bon scan.
Amicalement
Laurent

axiotea (16281) 2008-07-24 6:36

Olà José
A bit late but, congratulations for your 300th post ;)
an excellent vertical format for this gorgeous landscape which got beautiful color tonalities!
I will just add it to my 'more fav.pic.2'theme!
Abraço
Marilyn

edytungkal (4519) 2008-07-28 21:27

Congratulation my friend for your 300th shot... a fantastic landscape with beautiful colours
tfs

daniel

sothy81 (8540) 2008-07-29 20:36

Hi Jose, this is a very cool photo. I really like the different layers of the photo. The colors are very nice too. Well done. SOthy

keribar (42760) 2008-08-03 0:22

Ola Jose,
Excellent mountain view, sharpness, light and composition are all A1
By the way I am also inviting you to the opening of my photo exhibition in Lisbon.on September 22, at the Monastery of Jeronimos in Belem at 6.00 pm.
Hope to see you there - Friendly ragrds - Izzet

banyanman (7737) 2008-08-07 8:51

Congratulations on your 300th post, Jose. I agree with a lot of the sentiments expressed in your note. This is a very well composed photograph from a part of Nepal that I don't expect to see with my own eyes (I'm getting to old to trek that high!) so I appreciate the opportunity to see it through your eyes. It's certainly rugged country up there! Cheers . . . David

Gerrit (36259) 2008-08-10 11:07

Congratulation Jose,
and keep up the good work, like this fantastic mountainview.
Regards, Gerrit

Atousa (3466) 2008-08-17 20:45

Salam Jose,
I'm really late but I would like to congratulate you for your 300th post n hope to see 3000th one too..

The layers of the mountains n the created texture are very beautiful ..thank you
All the best, Atousa

maloutim (4045) 2008-09-15 19:55

Des montagnes dramatiques qui nous laissent pantois devant des créations de la narure si impressionantes!
J'aime beaucoup le dégradé de couleurs qui part du bleu azur du ciel, pour en arriver progressivement à l'or des rochers dans le bas!
Merci du partage! Et félicitations (bien qu'en retard) pour ta 300è photo! Je vois que nous avons rejoint le site à peu près en même temps, mais que tu as été beaucoup plus prolifique que moi.
Je m'oblige à ne pas passer trop de temps sur TE, car il y a la vie et le travail à côté, et pourtant je trouve que j'y passe beaucoup d'heures! cependant elles m'apportent toutes énormément de plaisir!
Amitiés.

Marie Louise.

kiks (6147) 2009-06-26 6:46

WOW... how imense is this mountain!! You must feel very little here. Love the way you compose it using the river canyon to let the eyes travel into the back.
Best regards
KIKs