Winter for Waterfalls

When to shoot waterfalls depends on what part of Mexico you are in and whether you are shooting color or black and white.  In central Mexico, summer rains produce rich foliage...and reddish water, yuk!  By December, the water is clean but you lose the green, a good excuse to go back to Ansel Adams and John Sexton and zone out in black and white.  This photo was taken below the Tixhiñu waterfall in the state of Mexico in January.

Huaniqueo, Michoacán

If you're headed over to the Pan American Games in Guadalajara heading east from Morelia, there is a portion of the drive on the cuaota near Huaniqueo that always has something special at dawn.  Sometimes it's fog, sometimes it's flowers, on this particular morning it was water in the fields reflecting the warm glow of the day's beginning.

Flower Season in Full Bloom

Summer rains begin adding some color to the landscape from now into October.  If you have a camera and see a patch of color, get out of the car and go check it out, you might be amazed at all the different flowers you find!  This orange succulent was shot in the Parque Ecologico of Morelia.  This park, near the "salida a Charo" and Ciudad Industrial, is also a great place to jog.

Michael Jackson in Morelia

Downtown Morelia one day looking for shots of some colonial history landmarks, came upon something a bit more contemporary!

Tapalpa, Jalisco, Mexico

During the summer months in Mexico, head for the highlands.  Most parts of central Mexico are being cooled of daily by rain, the hills glow green, patches of color begin to appear.  Tapalpa, a Pueblo Magico two hours south of Guadalajara, fits the bill at 6800 feet above sea level.   Surrounded by pine forest, quaint, lots of cool little hotels.

Serendipity Patzcuaro Style

My wife and I have this ongoing contest between Spanish and English to see which one wins.  "Serendipity" put a win in the English column, there's just no way to communicate this as accurately in Spanish.  It also happens to be a great way to enjoy Patzcuaro, Michoacan on any given Sunday afternoon.  You don't need an agenda, just go to the main plaza and wait for something cool to unfold.

Hillside of Ferns Near Cuetzalan, Puebla, Mexico

The rainy season has started in earnest here in Michoacan, reminding me of a trip to Cuetzalan, Puebla.  Located in the somewhat remote, mountainous north of the state of Puebla, accessible only by curvy mountain roads engulfed in fog, this Pueblo Mágico is well worth the effort.  I went there during the dry season, can't imagine what it's like now that the rains have come.

Find the Fishermen

Zihuatanejo, Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico.  If you're at one of the many beach resorts in Mexico and looking for something different than the normal resort photo, search out the local fish market.  Colorful boats, lots of action, dramatic light.  At markets like this one in Zihuatanejo, the fishermen are used to tourists with cameras so they just go about their daily routine without paying you much mind.  I tend to look for shots without people, in which case fishing nets make an interesting foreground like in the photo above.

Alebrijes

Compositions in red and green were the theme of a whole summer of photography back in the early 80's in Montana with my Nikon EM.  Here is a more recent one of an alebrije from the state of Oaxaca, wooden carvings painted iridescently, never boring, always changing.  Like Mexico.

Lake Cuitzeo, Michoacan, Mexico

"You don't miss the water 'til the well runs dry."  -Bob Dylan

You may not have known that today is World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought, I didn´t either until I picked up the morning paper.  Reminded me of this photo taken on Lake Cuitzeo in Michoacán a couple years back, the western extremity completely dry, abandoned fishing boats scattered along the shore.  Fortunately, the heavy 2010 precipitation filled it back up, but how long will it stay that way?

Tuxpan, Michoacan, Mexico

There is a two lane highway with some impressive views that passes through Tuxpan when going from Morelia to the monarch sanctuary or Valle de Bravo.  On this particular day, what caught my attention was this countryside cemetary (they always intrigue me), although I took all the color out with this infrared rendition.

Chorros del Varal, Los Reyes, Michoacan

It only took a postcard to get me here back in 1992, and some Spanish to stop and ask along the dirt road heading west out of Los Reyes if this was the way to the waterfalls.  No signs.  At that point, only a couple miles from the falls, we were driving through flat sugar cane fields.  At one little town, there was a rope across the road.  We stopped and paid the unofficial five peso fee to be able to continue.  This is Mexico.  A map will only get you so far, then you have to ask directions.  And if you come to a rope and need to pay a tip, just pay it.  Don't be the ugly American and request a receipt.  Believe me, the final destination, more often than not, will be well worth it!