Azores v.4.13

After loooong weeks of waiting for the slide film to be processed... and a couple of hours fidgeting with the film scanner and photoshop, here they are, the underwater pictures:


If you can hear them, you eventually end up seeing them...
A group of (spotted?) dolphins materialize between sun rays converging in the BLUE.


A soft encounter? hardly...


Three spotted graciously swimming by.


Some mackerel (?) on the run...


... and if dolphins weren't enough, they have to keep an eye on Cory's shearwaters too.


Two bird-like-patterned common dolphins say hi.


"We're going down, want to join us?"


(and to end with, the best moment)
Head above the water, I saw this spotted dolphin coming directly at me some 30m away. Dove a couple of meters and waited for it to materialize straight ahead... it then swerved while making eye contact... and somehow I managed to capture this.

Azores v. 4.12

The perfect flying machine. It's amazing how Cory's shearwaters are able to "surf" every ripple of the ocean's surface (which this image fails to show), without touching the water, and using all the energy for their flight. This image is a small tribute to a run over Cory's shearwater I saw yesterday...


Common dolphins and Cory's shearwater chasing a "ball" of fish. Notice the baby-dolphin just next to mama-dolphin.


Another common dolphin says hi...


A 15 minute exposure with some cows preparing to sleep and Pico mountain in the background. I used a flashlight to "paint" the cows.
...
Got a plane to catch...
I can't wait to see the underwater shots... this film-age waiting thing is agonizing, I missed it :)

Azores v. 4.11

Today was a particularly uninspired day behind the camera. Missed all the good moments and ruined almost all shots. A sperm whale waving goodbye and saying hello to some poor squid on the bottom.


Another sperm whale.


A tough striped (?) dolphin exhibits his scars.


Going back home, road to São Roque do Pico from Lages do Pico.

Azores v. 4.10

No dolphins today :( :( :( ... and a lot of wind and some swell out in the ocean.
I guess they were right, the first day was unusually good... let's hope today was unusually bad.
However, in sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) terms, it was great! The photos came out too bad because of the rocking of the zodiac (a great excuse, eh, eh), the following two images made the cut though :)


Notice the single blowhole on the sperm whale's left side and, on the left of the image, that white speck over the hill is the watch tower from which whales and dolphins are sighted and their locations radioed to the zodiac.


"Whale watchers usually say aaaaah when I do this"


I spent the rest of the day trying to dodge the rain on the south coast of Pico... When I returned to São Roque it was sunny...
I like this image, even though it looks like it was taken in Ukraine.


Two kids take their laser class sailboat out of the water in São Roque. In the background, that's right, Pico Mountain.


Local kids discuss ice-cream flavors in São Roque docks.