AntiguaDailyPhoto.Com

About three years ago while doing a job with the terrible weather conditions I was able to capture this sunrise vista which is one of the few photos that saved the trip for me.

text and photo by Arturo Godoy.

How do you think you would feel if you were on top of the Acatenango Volcano and then you watched the Fuego Volcano erupting and making a huge loud noises? I tell you it was loud!!! It was just impressive!!! It’s one of those things that happen a few times in life; something that reminds us on how small we are when we find ourselves on nature’s hands.

text and photo by Arturo Godoy.

A year ago we went to Café Sky to celebrate a friend’s birthday and all of a sudden I glanced to my right and saw the San Francisco El Grande church with the Volcán de Agua nicely lit despite that area was a bit hazy. I wish I knew a little history the San Francisco El Grande church so I could share it with you. Perhaps Rudy or Nelo who actually lived in front of the church can come forward to let us know about the San Francisco El Grande church. Or what about you, what can you share with us?

text and photo by Arturo Godoy.

Just compared today’s November photo with last year’s November photo which marked the end of the rainy season.

That’s right, we want to know who stole our beautiful, rain-and-cloud-free November. This year has been the rainiest year ever. This October, which normally is still part of the rainy season, was pretty much dry and gorgeous, just like Novembers are usually. And this November, which is the beginning of the dry season, has had lots of rain and cloudy skies, just like Octobers are normally. In fact, now that I think about it, it looks like more like somebody switched the order of October and November.

Anyway, we want our “normal” November back; it’s urgent!

While some people prefer to make an extra buck, or a lot more extra bucks, here in La Antigua Guatemala some of us try to just live with what nature presents us. So, here is an experiment on a brief time lapse when the Volcán de Fuego erupted on September 14 while I was capturing the gorgeous sunset.

How can some people forget to live life?

text, photo and video by Arturo Godoy. Check out Arturo’s portfolio to purchase photos from his massive photographic bank.
(more…)

After being away for so long in El Petén, and dealing with a lot of archaeological photography. Anyway, in one of those trips around La Antigua Guatemala, I found myself capturing the above photograph. The light wasn’t that good at that time, but I thought of it as a black and white image and then it worked for me. It’s always a matter of taste, but I do think in this case B/W for landscapes turned out fine. What do you think?

text and photo by Arturo Godoy. Check out Arturo’s portfolio to purchase photos from his massive photographic bank.

Now, this is how I like my weather conditions. Talking about the weather, Guatemala’s Instituto Nacional de Sismología, Vulcanología, Meteorología e Hidrología, INSIVUMEH for short, has declared 2010 the year with most rains in the past 50 years; just like I said the other day, The Rainiest Year Ever. Now, consider that the next two months are the months with the most precipitation. My good friend Norman Ávila, Guatemalan weather guru from ClimaYa, confided me that we are very close to surpassing the rainiest year in record, 1936.

Needless to say, I am happy we are having a break from the drenched season.

Wow, time flies by; I just realized I have not shared a wallpaper with you since the Earth Day Wallpaper From Antigua Guatemala on April 22.

Let’s fix that right away. I took this photo earlier this morning driven by the Stephanie’s comment on Blink And The World Will Change:

Thanks for using the maximum zoom on this photo! This is the most detailed photo I’ve ever seen of Volcan de Fuego. Usually the photos are more distant so you appreciate the form (and the sky) but don’t get a rich sense of the color and textures. I think this is my favorite of the volcano pictures.

So, today’s photo serves two purposes, I show you a extreme close-up Volcán de Agua’s crater and share with you another wallpaper for your computer. Download the 1280×960 Crater of Volcán de Agua wallpaper here.

Of course you can download other wallpapers by browsing the Wallpaper category. Let me know which ones you’ve downloaded.

Volcán de Agua Teleférico aside: Not too long ago I read in the newspapers that there’s a definite plan to built a Teleférico (tramway) from Santa María de Jesús to the crater of Volcán de Agua. If I remember correctly, the funds for such a tourist project will come from Taiwan.

It’s kind of paradoxical that in a place like La Antigua Guatemala things change in the blink of an eye. But, things do change quite often.

For instance, while I was taking this shot of Volcán de Fuego a fumarole emerged. I took this photo from our west-looking balcony using the maximum zoom (560mm) in the new camera, by passing many of the gravileas trees in the coffee plantation next door. Half hour later the dead Gravilea trees that created the frame were gone.

Sadly, the same thing happens to a lot of businesses in Antigua Guatemala. The other day, I was on my way to La Cenicienta cake shop and cafe to buy some sweets and when I got to location on Calle del Arco where La Cenicienta used to be for as long as I can remember, a new taco restaurant by the name of Tacotento had taken its place; just like that.

Needless to say that AntiguaDailyPhoto functions as a blogumentary and historic archive of places that once existed in La Antigua Guatemala.

Can you name a place that you’ve seen in AntiguaDailyPhoto that no longer exists?

Today’s photo and Colonial Church Ruins Within My Fingers were the result of fortunate accident. Let me explain. I was playing around with the fish eye adapter donated by my good friends Michele and Eddie trying to capture entire churches within a frame at a close distance. Unfortunately the fish eye extension creates soft edges and has a little distortion as well. So, I take the photos with and without the fish eye lens. In one instance, while removing the adapter I unscrewed only half of the piece which basically consists of two lens, the fish eye and a macro which lets you focus on the fish eye. A wow was my immediate response as I saw the ruins of San José El Viejo completely engulfed by the fish eye lens. I took four shots in total, two were discarded because they were out of focus. And that’s how these two photos came to be.

Now, I have received requests to photographs other churches in a similar fashion. I will take some time in May to go around the churches, ruins or buildings that you request and turn it into a series. It is up to you what will show up in this coming series.

Once again I thank Eddie and Michele and all other supporters of AntiguaDailyPhoto for helping with equipment and donations so I can bring new and fresh vistas from the same old town that we all love.

4th year anniversary reminder: We are two days away from reaching four years of daily photos from La Antigua Guatemala. It has been quite a ride. To be completely honest with you, I did not think I was going to be able to keep it up for even thirty days. I am glad I was wrong and happy for the opportunity to share with you my particular point of view about La Antigua and Guatemala and its people and culture. You and I have created an amazing resource, an unparalleled multimedia blogumentary in English about Guatemalans and our unique lifestyle. I thank all of you for your comments, feedback and support along each stretch of this journey.

This morning, at 7:31, we were awaken by a 5.6-magnitude earthquake near the Mexican border. Later we were kept on alert by the continuous eruptions of Volcán de Fuego. If you ask me, that’s way too much commotion for a Sunday morning.

Sometimes, often, I just feel lucky.

Let me explain.

Just four days ago I was telling you about the pruning of the gravileas trees. What I did not tell you was the those Gravileas trees were in the adjacent coffee plantation to our house. The simple fact that the trees were pruned a couple of days ago enabled a west view towards the Fuego and Acatenango volcanoes and allowed me this morning to photograph this rare event: snow on top of Volcán Acatenango [3,976 m (13,045 ft) for Pico Mayor (Highest Peak) and 3,880 (12,729 ft) for Yepocapa].

Now, my luck is your luck since I share everything with you. Do you feel lucky?

Here’s a typical vista of a municipal clinic and pharmacy found in La Antigua Guatemala villages.

Can you guess the name of the volcano in the background?

Have I told you how much I love the dry season in Guatemala (November through April)? Well, I do for so many reasons, like the dry season is also the cooler, even chilly, time of the year. The quality of light is superb and thus the sunsets are incredible almost every day. Because all the winds blowing from the big white north, the skies are clear and the volcanoes are bare naked (without the fluffy clouds). And Volcán de Fuego begins its relentless activity sending smoke signals several times through the day. I believe this picture encapsulates quiet well the reasons why I love the dry season.

So, what are you waiting for, pack your luggage and come to La Antigua Guatemala before the rains come again!
(more…)

Split a life in two; then in decades; the decades in years; the years in days and so on. Life is just a string of fleeting moments; like a necklace of beads strung together. Life is good the moment one begins appreciating the brief instants that occur everyday; that bring happiness, peace or perhaps a tear. Short lapses of time like a sunset can bring good feelings if one is ready to accept them. Break often to smell the coffee, to hear the fountain, to appreciate the falling leaves; a passing cloud over a lit park.

If we were the least as Funes the Memorious, we could perceive everything in full detail and remember it all. If we were the least as Funes el memorioso, we could feel, shiver really, with the form of a constantly changing flame. Instead, most us have poor memory like René from the film Wintersleepers, so we need take advantage of every opportunity to capture those distant instants. Life pues!

That’s what I do; I take pictures of the quotidian life of La Antigua Guatemala to share with you. In the process, I focus on the fleeting moments and sometimes I am able to capture some of them. Like René, one picture at a time I build my life puzzle, my memory, my good life.

To close this incoherent entry, I would like to share with you this tender and thought-provoking melody by Rockdrigo González entitled Distante instante. I would love to hear your impressions, your pondering, your feelings pues.