Winter time. I have this love-hate affair with it. I hate the cold. Also my favorite photo subjects are gone. There are these rare moments in the morning when there has been frost during the past night and sunrise is colored with a beautiful orange purple haze. Then I get this fidgety feeling. I should be out there right now with my macro lens. I should finally be making this long desired atmospheric winter picture. But it hasn’t happened till now.

Luckily there is also the positive side of winter. It is the perfect time to edit my pictures. With so many subjects and trips/holidays behind me lots of pictures still were unedited. This is of course a shame. What’s the use of shooting when there is no editing afterwards. So… I have started catching up with it, and it has payed off. I have edited four holidays: Madeira, Fuerteventura, Costa Rica, and La Palma. I feel at ease now and also I have relived my holidays which was great fun.

La Palma was the destination the longest ago, it dates back from May 2012. Maybe therefore I now was most surprised by its images. It was my second visit to this beautiful Canary island. My first visit was back in 2005, it was still in the analog era. It is striking how the subjects and pictures differ from each other. I am convinced that when I go back there in say 10 years the result will again be totally different. It is of course not the country that changes, it is me. And that’s one of the things that so intriguing about photography.

I would like to show you some (for me) typical La Palma images. You’ll notice they are not all macro pictures. Although I shot macros, I was also very impressed by the ‘big’ nature and volcanic landscape of La Palma. See for yourself.

Canary Island pine on dark volcanic soil

A Red-veined Darter on the thorns of an Agave

Fog in detail on a mountain side with Canary Island Pines

Hoverfly visiting Purple secretia

Double exposure of pebbles on a beach

Abstract view of two characteristic plants on La Palma: the Agave and the Canary Islands Dragon Tree

Detail of pine tree

Two Canary Island pines in the spotlight of early morning sun

Canary island lizard on rocks, shot through colorful vegetation

Double exposure of Canary Island pines with early morning backlight

Close-up of the moss Lethariella canariensis