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Capture the Colour 2013

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Capture the Colour is back! Run by travelsupermarket.com, this competition asks bloggers to submit their favourite travel photos from the past year that feature the colours red, blue, green, yellow and white.

Last year, I focused my Capture the Colour post on Colombia. Since then, I have explored most of South America as well as New Zealand and I’m currently living in Sydney on a Working Holiday Visa. Here are some of my favourite shots from the most incredible year of my life.

Thanks to Lucy from On the Luce, Julika from Sateless Suitcase and Jen from JDomb’s Travels for their nominations. Lucy’s entry includes a really cool urban beach shot, Julika has captured brilliant bright colours in some of Europe’s most impressive cities and I absolutely love the snowy owl’s fixed glare in Jen’s post.

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Red

Capture the Colour - Red

One of the most incredible aspects of the Galapagos Islands is that the wildlife is so unaffected by human presence. You can get within a foot of a bird of prey or a sea lion and it won’t move an inch. In fact, you really have to watch your step to avoid inadvertently stepping on an iguana or kicking a blue-footed booby around the head! This makes it a wildlife photographer’s dream…until you meet the crabs. These Sally Lightfoot crabs are ridiculously mobile. Despite hundreds of them swarming over the rocks, actually focusing on one and getting it in frame before it scarpers is not an easy feat. I like that this one looks as though it’s scheming. It’s as though its last thoughts were ‘She’s zooming in and I’m still in shot…hold it………hold it……and go go go!!! Darn it! She got me!’

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Blue

Capture the Colour - Blue

One of the most memorable regions of South America was the salt flats of southern Bolivia and northern Chile. Before I visited, the only images I’d seen were of people playing with perspective shots near Uyuni. The massive expanse of pure white salt certainly is a spectacular backdrop, but it’s only a small part of what the area has to offer. Taking a backseat in popularity are lakes of the brightest blues, greens, yellows and reds – sometimes all together in a rainbow, and often speckled with flamingos. Balanced against a constantly clear blue sky, I could sit and admire the view by one of these lakes all day long and not get bored.

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Green

Capture the Colour - Green

I chose this photo because it draws your eye to a drab brown butterfly, while one of the world’s most spectacular sights – Iguazu Falls – is just a background blur. Sometimes, I’m so intent on capturing the ‘main event’ that I forget there’s so much more to see. As butterflies go, it’s not the most colourful, nor is it free from blemishes. The mark at the top of its wing is reminiscent of a cigarette burn, and yet it’s still intriguingly beautiful. This photo is a reminder to me to keep my eyes and mind open to less obvious opportunities, to not take the familiar for granted, and to appreciate the beauty of every living thing.

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Yellow

Capture the Colour - Yellow

The floating islands on the Peruvian side of Lake Titicaca are fascinating to visit. As legend has it, the Incas were born from the lake and, given their warrior-like nature, drove local Uru tribes to seek protection in the form of new settlements. The islands are made entirely of reeds and, as a form of defense, can be relocated if necessary. Totora reeds are also used in the construction of their homes and boats, and are the basis of the Uro people’s diet. They can be broken down to form medicine, cool a fevered head and even help cure a hangover. This photograph shows a local in the typical bowler hat and brightly coloured dress looking out over the spectacularly clear and reflective lake. Just as a glimpse into the life of a person we know in the Western world might be gained by peering through a window, this woman has been pictured through a bed of reeds – the foundation of almost everything she owns and a hugely important factor in the history of her ancestors.

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White

Capture the Colour - White

Everybody loves a cute animal shot and my post about the wildlife of Puerto Madryn – a haven for sea life on the coast of Argentina – was one of my most popular. One morning, my friend and I clambered down a cliff with our guide and spent two hours sitting still on a pebbled beach watching elephant seal pups as they whiled away their time in a largely recumbent state. For me, the highlight was watching this particular pup open its sleepy eyes, stretch out its flippers and then use one to cover its mouth as it yawned. I still can’t look at this shot without ‘catching’ the yawn and replicating its movements!

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I hope that one or two of these images might inspire you to visit the destinations I was lucky enough to see over the past 12 months! If you’d like to enter, you don’t need to wait to be nominated, but I’d like to nominate: Helen from Helen in Wanderlust, Katherine from Travel the World, Jill from Jack and Jill Travel, Laurence from Finding the Universe and Caz and Craig from Y Travel Blog. You can find out more about the competition and how to enter here.

Comments

  2. aboslutely Love these!!! just like last year’s entry on the subject, you managed again to show us a lot in a few pictures and remind us of the beauty found everywhere. Thanks!

    Have a great time in Sydney!

    (have a practical question about the working Holiday visa: my cousin is applying for one in Australia, is he supposed to have found a job before he goes to Oz or is it easy to find one on the spot? how did it go for you? thanks for your insight)
    Les Petits Pas de Juls recently posted..“White Dress in Town,” Summer series – #4My Profile

    Reply

    • Nope, won’t let me message you on Facebook, so I’ll reply here after all. I don’t think many people on a working holiday visa have a job before they get here. If he’s looking to travel around a bit and do hospitality jobs I reckon he’d get one quite quickly. If he’s in a profession, the website SEEK is really good. I had a lot of experience in publishing, which made it easier, but it still took me about 4 weeks from arriving here to my first day in the office. I do wonder if some employers are put off employing people on working holiday visas because we’re only allowed to stay working for the same employer for 6 months (unless they sponsor you). Signing up for general office work at recruitment agencies is another option. They tend to have a few short-term positions. Hope that helps!

      Reply

    • It’s a fun competition. You should enter! I love looking through my old photos each year. And yes, they were definitely daring each other to take the mick out of humans. One of them did a pretty good stretch too!

      Reply

  13. What a fun competition! I wish I had some travel photos to submit. That crab photo was amazing. But my gawd, how close were you that seal pup!! Awesome shot, Arianwen! :)

    Reply

    • Aw, thanks Jen! The yellow one was the only one I decided on without trawling through all my photos! It’s also one of the more difficult colours to find a photo of so I’m glad I had that shot!

      Reply

  19. What a fantastic selection of images you have here, Arianwen. You’ve totally excelled yourself! These are Lonely Planet phto book quality for me.

    I’m a bit behind, and so, although I knew you were in my city, Sydney, I didn’t realise that you were going to live there for a while. I’m really looking foward to seeing more of my hometown from your perspective.

    All the best from the other shore of the Pacific…
    Andrew Graeme Gould recently posted..Cherry blossoms and poetry, Santiago styleMy Profile

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    • Thank you so much. That means a lot to me! Yes, I’m Sydney based for at least a year. For the timebeing I’m working, but I hope to see much more of Sydney and perhaps further afield in the coming months!

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  23. Wow, your pictures are amazing! They are well chosen for the contest, technically of good quality and you also have ‘the eye’ to capture a unique moment (the seal) or perspective (the butterfly). I am very impressed!
    Oh, and I loved Iguazu. I still recall it as one of the most beautiful places I have visited in my life.
    Anja recently posted..Capture the colourMy Profile

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    • Thank you for your compliments. I’m flattered! I loved Iguazu too. I don’t think I’ll ever be so impressed by a waterfall again. My only regret was not having more time there. We were running around like headless chickens trying to see as much as possible before the park closed!

      Reply

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