On a beautiful morning

 I was up very early this morning. I did not beat the kookaburras but I was not far behind. I also did no beat what seemed like half the population of Terrigal who were also up and walking.

A very hot day was forecast and so it has turned out, 

I took my Q3 43 with me to keep my eye in and hoping to get some silhoutte shots in monochrome. I set the jpeg setting to monochrome using one of the  Leica Photos presets however after reviewing the photos I realised that days like today in Australia are just not suited to being rendered in monochrome. So here's today's Terrigal Diary in glorious Leica colour.

 

Sizzling summer is here

Here, downunder, we are well into summer. The switch from what is rather unconvincingly called spring into summer was rather abrupt. A few weeks ago we still had our sweaters at the ready and then last Saturday it went over 40ºC here at Terrigal in mid afternoon. Since then it has been absolutely beautiful-warm/hot but not too hot although another heatwave is forecast for the weekend.

I took the photo below with my phone on Tuesday afternoon and it shows the beach at Terrigal Haven at 4.00pm. It was taken from the outdoor bar/deck area of the Terrigal Pavillion, a very recent addition to the local hospitality scene. 

Many years ago the building was the Terrigal Yacht Club, then it became the Haven, a fine dining restaurant and cafe, until a new proprietor took it over and gave it an A$10m total rebuild and it is now a superb venue. A great place to sit and take in the vista with a cold beer or two as we did.

 

IRYS

I've made a photobook of the photos I took on the Leica Akademie photo tour of Morocco using Snapfish. I'm really pleased with the large size album.

I've used Blurb, Momento but predominantly Snapfish to make my photobooks over the years. I cannot fault Snapfish's quality nowadays and their software is easy to use. 

I feel that it is important to have prints of my favoured photos. Prints/books are keepsakes for myself and also to show others. I know no one will ever view my digital photo libraries after I pop my clogs but hopefully my children and grandchildren will look at the photobooks from time to time.

As well as making the book I have been enthusiastically posting photos on the new IRYS photo posting app .

IRYS is what Instagram was when it was first launched before Meta purchased it. It is site for photographers to share their work and so far it really works for me. 

British photographer and Leica Ambassador, Alan Schaller, is the driving force and financier behind the app and whilst Leica, and other brands, are supporters it is open to users of all brands of camera.

Some really good, innovative photography is being posted on the app and there is a sense of community-something which is most definitely lacking from Instagram and Flickr. And best of all there are no ads, no reels, no threads and no influencers.

It all looks good so far except I hope they deliver a desktop version soon. Fingers crossed it stays 'pure'. The portents are, sadly, not good.

Here's one of the photos I have just posted on IRYS. It was taken in Salamanca, Spain back in June. 

 

 

 

 

Leica Akademie in Morocco-the pick of the crop.

 I took 260 photos on the Moroccan tour. Not as many as most of the other participants I'm sure but a larger number then I'd normally take in that period of time. 

Of the 260 I count 69 as worthwhile. A pretty good strike rate by my usual standards and there are reasons for this.

 I found having the time to seek and wait for photo opportunities a big help. Also shooting with other competent photographers and seeing, each day, their photos on the IRYS app made me try harder. Advice from Jesse Marlow and Steve Dupont from Leica Australia also contributed. I would not have waited for the eScooter rider and dog without Jesse's advice. Steve set me up for the fruit cart outside the bakery and so on.

Also using the Q3 43 made me frame tighter. I spent more time getting the exposure right and I have done very little post processing and in particular cropping on the photos. For quite a few I could easily have used the jpeg files straight from the camera.

It's also true that whilst Morocco is full of photo opportunities it's also not easy. The locals are becoming less willing to be photographed and that has to be respected.

Of the 69 worthwhile photos I have a few absolute favourites but firstly two which I accidentally omitted in the earlier stories.

The first was one of the first photos I took on the first morning in Tangier- Light and shade.

 

 

The second is a real charmer. A huddle of street kittens snuggling up asleep together.

 And finally the pick of the crop-my top 5. 

 

 

Leica Akademie in Morocco-Part 11

 From Fes it was a drive down to the coast to the capital of Morocco, Rabat, for a short stop and then to Casablanca.

Rabat looked a very attractive, neat and tidy, capital with some impressive buildings including a new football stadium. 

We spent time in the small medina where I took these two photos.

 

Rabat is only an hour's drive north of Morocco's largest city, Casablanca and what a contrast. Casablanca is every bit a big city with a population of just over 3 million.

 Despite its size and the fact that it is the major international gateway through the airport there are few tourist attractions in Casablanca and my advice is don't stay in the city any longer than necessary.

The one major attraction is the Hassan 2 Mosque, one of only two mosques in Morocco which non Muslims may enter. 

It's an impressive building. See Hassan 2 Mosque 

Here are my photos of it. They bring to an end the photos of my photo journey through Morocco. I just wish that I'd seen more. So many places and so little time.

 

Leica Akademie in Morocco-Part 10

 

From Fes we went for a morning to the Roman ruins at Volubilis a 90 minutes drive.

I was surprised to learn that the Romans had colonised what is now Morocco and had built their usual impressive structures, with of course the inevitable mosaic floors, some of which remain intact.

In fact, Morocco is home to several Roman ruins, with Volubilis being the most notable. The ancient city, founded in the 3rd century BC, was the capital of the Kingdom of Mauretania and an important outpost of the Roman Empire.

It was hot wandering the ruins but here are a few photos which give some impression of the impressive structures.

 

Leica Akademie in Morocco-Part 9

 What really stinks and is a major tourist attraction? Answer, a tannery in Fes, Morocco. In fact there are three ancient tanneries in Fes and the most well known is the Chouara Tannery. To find out more see Chouara Tannery 

Most travel stories on Morocco feature Fes and the tanneries with photos taken from the elevated position. I found the tannery fascinating but, and it's a very big but, I was appalled by the working conditions of the workers. 

When I read later that the tanneries still used heavily polluting and highly health hazardous chemicals, including chromium, and that attempts to close the tanneries or relocate them had been blocked because they are a major tourist attraction I was utterly disgusted. I feel bad at even posting the photos but they are taken now. Maximum demerit points on this one, Fes.

 

 

 

With the Leica Akademie in Morocco-Part 8

More photos from the extraordinary Medina in Fes. One could spend a week in the alleys and lanes taking photos and still not run out of subjects.

Your biggest worry would be finding your way out and there would be no point in turning to Google maps for help as the Medina mapping is not reliable.

 

With the Leica Akademie in Morocco-Part 7

 After Chefchaouen the next stop was Fes, the second largest city in Morocco, and the number 2 tourist destination after Marrakech.

Fes did not disappoint. There are two very distinct parts to the city. The old city and the new city.The new city is a big surprise-modern buildings, wide boulevards, modern hotels and shops. The old walled city is really special.The medina is a huge maze of tiny alleyways and lanes filled with photo opportunities. It's a vast working market with a mix of everyday and tourist stalls. It's wonderful and the only disappointment was that it was hot, despite being October. It must be unbearably hot in mid summer.

 

 

With the Leica Akademie in Morocco-Part 6

From Tangier we travelled south to Chefchaouen-the Blue City. It was a pretty tedious drive.

The surfaces on Moroccan roads are  good -at least in the northern parts we travelled. The problem is that the roads are winding. Although the Romans were in Morocco they obviously did not bring their  road building A Team with them. They're the ones who built the straight roads all over Europe.

Chefchaouen is definitely blue but not as blue as I was expecting. The two things I most remember about the charming city is that the newly built hotel where we stayed had 6 storeys but no lift. When I expressed surprise at this to the man delivering my bag to my first floor room he explained that the hotel had only been built 6 months. I am not sure what this had to do with the absence of a lift because there was no sign of a lift being built and no room for lift doors in the reception area.

Despite my room on the first floor the lack of a lift did affect me as the restaurant was located on the roof terrace. And this brings me to the second item I most remember about Chefchaouen-it is a dry city. That's right no alcohol and after climbing to the 6th storey of a hotel a beer would be very welcome.

Here's the Chefchaouen photos. Another game of street soccer and some blue.

 

With the Leica Akademie in Morocco-Part 5

 The final group of photos taken in Asilah. Firstly two studies of a snake charmer. Well, we thought he must be a snake charmer as he had a snake bag- but no sign of a snake. Maybe he only performed for a crowd. These are not idle thoughts as a snake charmer, with a snake, were performing in a nearby square that same day.

 

The second photo of the two girls was taken after they asked me to take their photo! I think they are possibly sisters. Their enthusiasm rapidly diminished when they asked me to send them the photo by WhatsApp and I told them it was not possible. Which was a bit miserable of me as I could have downloaded the photos from my camera to Leica Fotos on my phone and then found this one and sent it to them by WhatsApp. Note to self- try harder next time.

 

For the final photos firstly four boys playing the beautiful game beside the fortified town wall in Asilah. Note the brick goal posts.

Secondly a lovely, late afternoon street scene with a horse drawn cart passing down a street with children playing. I love the atmosphere of this one.

Finally, a cat photo. There are street cats everywhere in Morocco and this sweetie was on a wall in Asilah. It kindly posed for me but did not ask me send it the photo by WhatsApp.
 

Leica Q3 43 photos