Little House On The Caribbean Prairie

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I visited Tricia down in Lower Hell’s Gate and came upon this little house perched quietly on the cliff, fronted by a messy tangle of foliage above the great Caribbean expanse, looking out on a bright, almost nuclear-lit horizon in the wake of good storm, with Statia presiding in the right upper corner. It’s interesting to me how our visual brain discards all the noisy information it sees in a scene like this when you’re looking at it, and all that cluttery detail reappears when you look at what the camera’s eye saw. Post processing for me is really painting the picture as close as I can to what I see in my mind’s eye when I take it. Some purist photographers disregard these processing techniques, but in the end, it’s all about aesthetics to me; you like an image or don’t, for reasons you may or may not understand, or it gives you pause to examine its detail, or you turn the page or click onwards…

The House Of Sand And Fog

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English Quarter Ramble

Yet another century or more old shuttered house whose owners are probably abroad and may never return. I was doing my best itinerant vagabond imitation in the English Quarter, returning from a visit with a friend with a bad knee and a penchant for 1 pack a day kill sticks when I
I saw the fog rolling fast over Mt Scenery, and below it, this lovely place nestled within lush foliage and flowers.

I’m a hack photographer compared to so many others–even on this island–but if you put a monkey in a room and have him pound at the keys of the typewriter…or laptop, in modern adage…eventually, he types the Gideon Bible. I get lucky a lot, and I’m on a tiny island rife with explorable nooks and crannies that yield treasure views.

Boats Upon The Water Wait For A Precious Few

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Walking Tall

Sea Saba Dive Center German dive instructor Vicky strides along the Fort Bay Pier towards the the dive boats Giant Stride and Sea Dragon. I’m heading into dive number 20 this week, a blip on a dive instructor’s radar, but man, the zen of floating weightless in the big blue is every bit the thrill as the aquatic creatures and reefs around me. Underwater pictures soon, I promise!

When We Were Young, And Our Hearts Were An Open Book

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Shuttered Cottage, Saba, Dutch Caribbean

Another Shuttered Ghost

This isn’t my favorite picture, but I keep coming back and back to it, intrigued by who its owners might be or have been. The shutters are closed, the whitewashed sides streaked brown with dirt and debris from Saban winds and rain. Looks like time has run past this Windwardside cottage with its great tree, its yard grown tangled and wild.

How long ago did children laugh and play in your yard, little house?

Timeless Pier: A Saba Less Travelled

Fort Bay Pier, Saba, Dutch Caribbean
Fort Bay Pier, Saba, Dutch Caribbean

Two If By Sea

It’s easy on Saba to forget that the two primary transportation hubs to the island: the pier and the airport, are relatively modern conveniences. Though The Road was built in 1937-1953 the airport came along in 1963, and the Fort Bay pier was only completed in 1972, and it has been rebuilt and repaired from hurricanes several times since, due to its exposure. The current Fort Bay pier is huge concrete chunks as breakers, but I thought this picture kinda captures the vintage feel of it, complete with Saba’s dramatic cloudscapes. Enjoy!

The Auld Rock

Saba From The Dive Boat, Jan 2013
Saba From The Dive Boat, Jan 2013

Swells, Sharks, and Stingrays

Cranking the picture colors of Saba on this pic taken on the way to diving 100 feet down to the Pinnacles yesterday–fantastic underwater site!–got me this ominous shot of the island to share; I suspect the Auld Rock is picking up the blue water reflections the naked eye doesn’t necessarily see by the bright light of the Caribbean morning sun.

Pictures of stingrays and sharks? Uh, no, not yet, although now that my buoyancy underwater is decent enough to confidently float inches above the reefs to look at the l’il critters and do swim throughs under hanging formations, I’m planning on the logistics of taking pics underwater soon. The dive sites down here have names as cool as their aquatic denizens: 3rd Encounter, Babylon, Hole In The Corner…

More to come…