Yeah,  well a six pack of images that is!   As opposed to a six pack of abdominal muscles....which I do have....they're just well concealed by a middle aged waistline these days!Anyway,  I'm travelling again shortly and so won't be posting for about 3 weeks.    I won't say where I'm going other than to say it's somewhere I've wanted to visit for a long time and hopefully will result in some nice pictures.   In the meantime I'll leave you with a few more of my Latin America shots to see you through.

Evening on the trail to Pacaya volcano, Guatemala.

          As the title suggests,  evening was closing in and the sun was setting behind the distant mountains.   The foreground light levels were really low and the film and subsequent scanning/digital processing were right at the limit of what could be achieved regards shadow detail.   I was walking down from Pacaya at the time and about 5 minutes later had to get the torch out to see where I was walking in the dark back to the carpark.

Flores, Lake Peten Itza, Guatemala.

           Flores is a quaint little town on Lake Peten Itza,  with it's pastel coloured buildings and narrow streets, you can stroll around the town in the space of an hour.   The contrast in the image is a bit more than I'd like,  a product of being taken mid afternoon on a fairly clear day.

Sunset Lake Peten Itza, Guatemala.

       Taken at sunset on the same date as the preceding image.   The image was taken from the edge of the island/town of Flores.

The jetty, Lake Atitilan, Guatemala.

           Late in the day I took several shots around this area trying to take advantage of the light and the sky colour reflected in the water.   I liked the jetty as a compositional element and also the receding line of mountains in the background.

Tulum,  Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico.

     Tulum on the Caribbean coast of Mexico near Playa del Carmen is the site of several ruins such as this one clinging to the top of a cliff.   Being so close to a popular tourist town the site gets a lot of visitors,  indeed the greatest challenge in getting this shot was waiting for a moment when the tourists weren't in frame.

Tulum, Mexico.

     Another Tulum shot.  Taken with a 43mm wide angle lens on a Mamiya 7 II rangefinder camera,  the wide angle lens provided terrific depth of field but introduced some distortion on those elements that were close to the camera and near the edge of the frame. 

      So there you have it, a "six pack".    Thanks to all those people who have recently visited and left comments.   As always I welcome any feedback, comments, suggestions or requests that you may have.   I'm also thinking of offering some of my pictures as prints for framing/display,  perhaps even running a small contest along the lines of "name the picture that has a discarded sandal in it",  first correct response gets a print of your choice as a give away prize.  That sort of thing!   Hell,  I'm in the holiday mood already and feeling generous!   If anyone's interested in the idea,  let me know.

     Stay safe folks,  catch you in 3 and a bit weeks time.           Cheers KD  

     Part of the Latin America series, taken on the Yucatan Peninsula,  Mexico,  the weaver concentrates on her use of the handloom.     The image was captured on 6x7 film, scanned and then cropped in Photoshop.   

     Getting the full Latin America series finished and published is taking longer than I originally hoped.   I think a week ago I suggested it would be completed by the end of this week,  well,  with work and personal commitments it looks like taking longer than I thought.   In addition to that, I'll be away from the computer for about 3 weeks or so, starting the end of this week.  Sorry about that!   But it is coming,  honest....        cheers KD.   www.kevindowie.com  

From the Latin America series.  A solitary egret stands by the edge of Lake Peten Itza near the town of Flores, Guatemala.    KD  www.kevindowie.com

   From the Latin America series,  "The Stone Carver, Palenque, Mexico".   Palenque in Mexico is the site of several Mayan ruins surrounded by tropical forest and is a major tourist site.   Numerous people set up shop near the ruins hoping to sell souvenirs and handicrafts, including stone carvings as shown here.  I've elected to present this image a little differently to how I normally do.   The image has had a fair bit of Photoshop work done on it to focus attention on the parts I felt were most important.   

enjoy  KD   www.kevindowie.com     

   Still working my way through the Latin America shots.  This shot is of Lake Atitilan, Guatemala.  Guatemala has numerous volcanoes some of which are among the most active in the world,  the lake is surrounded by several.  The shot required a bit more digital processing than most.   The conditions were quite hazy meaning that the volcano on the far shore was a bit washed out.   The contrast and colour saturation have been boosted, particularly on the distant elements in the scene.   I'm hoping at this time to have a photo gallery and slideshow ready for display in about 2 weeks time,  then I'm likely to be away from the computer for a while so I better get cracking!      Enjoy KD   www.kevindowie.com

    I have updated the homepage image on my main website.   "Mountain ridges" is taken from the Nepal gallery and includes a brief explanatory article on the where, when, how and why,  it was taken.     www.kevindowie.com       enjoy KD.