Michael Breitung Photography

MICHAEL BREITUNG PHOTOGRAPHY

Blog - Photographing Colombia – Nuqui

Back in September I traveled through Colombia for three weeks. I started my travels in Medellin from where I flew straight to Nuqui at the pacific coast. There I was picked up by boat to finally reach my destination for the next four days – the El Cantil Ecolodge.

This was one of the more remote places I have been to. Getting there involved quite a bit of planning and effort and I was glad when I finally arrived at the black sand beach in front of the lodge.

I hadn’t seen many photos from there and I wasn’t sure what kind of opportunities to take seascape photos this area would provide me with. The satellite view of google maps had given me a rough idea and I knew there would be some sea stacks in the area. But it was still a bit of a gamble.

Right when I arrived though, I knew that this would be the perfect location to take the photos I was after. The pacific coast of Colombia is a wild place. The jungle basically touches the sea, everything is lush and green, rivers flow out of the jungle into the ocean every few 100 meters and there are countless rocks and sea stacks lining the coast.

And I should also mention that this area is a great place for wildlife encounters. Whale watching is possible between June and October and I already saw the first group on our way to the lodge. In the jungle I also saw monkeys, a sloth and many different birds.

The fin of a humpback whale above the water

The great thing about the whale watching tours are the small boats, which gives you a low perspective to capture these magnificent animals.

But as I already wrote, my main reason to visit El Cantil were the seascapes I hoped to find. I spent a lot of time exploring the coastline, making sure to find the perfect spots to photograph sunrise and sunset. Then all I needed was some light.

Unfortunately it rained nearly everyday. And it wasn’t just a drizzle. For most of the time it was just chucking it down. This made photography quite challenging, but also presented some interesting photo opportunities to photograph rivers and waterfalls in the area.

In the end though I had to get at least one photo of the spectacular coastline, which would do it justice. And on a rainy morning I think I managed to do just that.

The golden morning light filtering through the rain created an ethereal atmosphere. The scouting of the previous days had provided me with the perfect composition to capture all that this coastline is about for me in one photo: a dark sand beach, sea stacks and sharp, black rocks, palm trees lining the length of the beach and also the characteristic wet weather, of which I got plenty during my stay.

Golden sunrise light at the pacific coast of colombia near Nuqui

In the video below I take you behind the scenes and share a bit more of the experience I had at the pacific coast of Colombia. Despite the weather I loved that place and I will certainly return someday, because for me it’s paradise.

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