Capturing Gran Canaria of the Canary Islands on Film

I traveled to Gran Canaria of the Canary Islands as part of a two week Europe trip with a photographer friend and his cousin. We found cheap flights into Amsterdam, then prioritized finding warm destinations with unbelievable hikes and views. Gran Canaria was our first stop of the trip and it did not dissapoint. We hit up four major areas of the island: Las Palmas, Aegete, Tejeda and Maspalomas. I was quite amazed at the intense variety of terrain we encountered on the 3 day excursion. 

These images were recently featured on the fabulous film blog: Trendy Bride

Trendy Bride - Gran Canaria On Film

Las Palmas was a surprisginly developed city and far more populated than I had imagined:

Our next stop was the northwest corner of the island and the mountains surrounding the city of Aegete. We stayed more central to the island, for two nights, in a mountaintop hostel. The hostel rooms were built into the rock face, and it proved to be a wonderful escape from the heat. 

By far the best view I had of the whole trip was found outside of Tejeda at Roque Nublo 

Trip Advisor - Roque Nublo

We were greeted with a surreal mountaintop sunset, high above the clouds, with 360 degree views. We enjoyed summit beers and jammed out to some radiohead that a European couple was so casually listening to over a few glasses of wine and some charcuterie. 

We drove south, following the best driving road I have ever been on my life, to the beach town of Maspolomas. Maspolomas is quite touristy, with an abundace of beach resorts, but the sand dunes are worth the trek. In a matter of hours we transitioned from mountaintop views to something fit for a star wars movie. 

Trip Advisor - Dunas de Maspalomas

I always travel with film, as I feel that it keeps me more in the moment. I'm not constantly reviewing the last picture I took. I trigger the shutter, and move onto the next scene. I don't spend my nights in the hostel editing photos, but instead enjoy the company of those around me and the nightime views bathed in moonlight glow. Film allows me to relive my memories in slightly unpredicatble glory, weeks later, and is the most amazing gift each and every time I get an email from my lab. My travel kit of choice is the following:

CAMERAS:

1. Leica M-A + 50mm Summilux F1.4 - Well built, small form factor, and a genuine pleasure to shoot. 
2. Contax T3 - My dedicated black and white 35mm camera. Honestly, why not bring it everywhere. It is small enough to fit in my jeans pocket and it takes unbelievable images
3. Fuji GF670 Medium Format folding rangefinder - The most portable medium format camera you can buy. It isn't necessarily light, but it folds up and can fit in my jacket pocket. I pull this camera out for the show stopping landscapes

FILMS

1. Kodak Portra 400 - the do it all, always nails exposure, always produces beautiful colors with just a touch of grain
2. Kodak Ektar 100 - my favorite landscape film, fine grain, brilliant earth tone colors and blue skies
3. Kodak Tri X 400 - I rarely see a Tri X image I don't love. It's grainy, it's contrasty, and it has such a timeless and classic bnw rendering
4. Kodak Ektachrome E100sw - Expired 16 years, medium format E100SW. This was my wild card film. I'd shot it, expired, in 35mm before and it rendered everything with a beautiful warmth. I learned that this film was less properly stored, and it rendered everything various shades of pink and blue. I LOVED the result. It was surreal and otherworldy, and was such a fun surprise. 

• Tags:
• 35mm,
• medium format,
• film,
• leica,
• gf670,
• kodak,
• travel

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