Light and landscapes

I spent so long trying to do photo-journalism that I never really learned how to take a pretty photograph.  My focus has always been on people and trying to tell a story.  And now that I'm in the Himalayas, it's only natural to focus on the landscape and how the light strikes it.  In Gandruk, it's pretty standard to see the mountains early in the morning until the heat of the day causes the clouds to build and thicken until, despite their closeness, the mountains become completely hidden.  But on the occasion that the sky remains clear into the afternoon, the sunset is absolutely spectacular.  

So, as I'm trying to learn to take photos that can be called art, here are some examples of how different light changes the same subject.  It's easy to take a nice photo here; it's a bit more difficult to put the viewer into the scene.   

Fishtail at sunrise

Fishtail at sunset

5 am shot of the mountains from our front yard, F-16 1min.

Gandruk at sunset

And some silhouettes at around 10:30-11 am when the light was harsh

Bird watching at the Cherry Tree

Bird watching from the landslide

Adelante adelante adelante!

It's funny how things work out sometimes.  A year ago, I had a set plan: 6 weeks studying Incan ruins in the mountain jungles of Peru, 3 months practicing Spanish on a print journalism internship in Argentina, and finally, 9 months on a broadcast journalism internship in Costa Rica.  Having previously spent a Christmas break during college on an incredible internship in the newsroom of a television station in Ghana, I figured that a year of traveling and interning around Latin America would be the next step in making my resume even sexier.

But plans and reality are two separate animals.  In reality, Argentina sucked me in.  3 months turned into 6 months, which then turned into 9 months.  Costa Rica eventually faded, and the plan was to stay in Argentina for the whole year.
In reality, the longer I stayed at the Luci, the better my work became.  They knew me, they trusted me, and I was finally taking portraits that I could be proud of and figuring out the process and purpose of my own personal project (photo transfers).
And just as things were beginning to come together, a family emergency called me home 2 1/2 months early.
Plans change.  It's hard, but it's not always a bad thing.  I'm glad that I went home.

Traveling always gives me great plans.  When I don't know what to do with myself, I travel, and it always shakes lose good ideas.   

And now the plan is to finish up the 2 1/2 months that I left off.  So, following my love of the mountains and the great experience that I had in Peru, I decided to join a mountain conservation research project in Nepal for the remaining time.  The project is in Gandruck, a village outside of Pokhara at the base of the Annapurna range in the Annapurna Conservation Area.  Our work consists of carrying out bird surveys, tracking mammals in the jungle, working with the community (picking up trash, going into the schools, educating about proper conservation techniques), surveying invasive plant species, and farming.

So far, it's been great.  I arrived on March 2 to Kathmandu and to Gandruck on the 5.  Some bad drinking water slowed me down during the first week, but now, I'm three weeks into it and problem-free.  And I think I've found a new hobby with bird-watching.

When all of this is done, I have a one-way ticket to Paris from Kathmandu and plans to visit friends around Western Europe and to hike the Camino Santiago across northern Spain.  And then, in a few short months, if all goes according to plan, I'll be back in Argentina to teach English and work on my master's.  Gah, I can't wait to get back.
   

And of course, here are some photos.  

 

At the community event to celebrate International Women's Day

 

It's worth the hike, I swear.

The mean streets of Gandruck...

...Are just a lot of stairs.