Black and White Photography from Angel Falls, Venezuela

This morning, I was wandering through some of my photographs and realized I had shared only a couple from a trip to Angel Falls in Venezuela.  As I wandered through the Angel Falls collection , I immediately saw this as another discussion about processing photographs as black and white rather than color.

In this case, my reason for choosing black and white was to maintain an aesthetic consistent with a place lost to time.  If you want to visit Angel Falls, you will need to fly to Caracas Venezuela, take another flight to Puerto Ordaz on the Orinoco River, another 4 to 6 passenger plane from Puerto Ordaz to Canaima (located at base of Salto Sapo), overnight in Canaima, then take a motorized hollowed tree (like those above) from Canaima on a 4 hour trip to Angel Falls where you will hike another mile through the jungle to reach the base of Angel Falls.  Canaima and Angel Falls are protected as part of a national park, but even without this protection, the remoteness would likely still keep this rugged part of Venezuela relatively untouched.  For me, this timeless place demanded a similarly timeless black and white rendering.

Canaima is the last thing that looks remotely like civilization.  Once leaving Canaima, the only signs of humans are the occasional huts belonging to the Orinoco Indians, or the odd camp site on the banks of the Rio Churon, into which Angel Falls flows or the Carrao River that runs from Canaima to Angel Falls.

The beauty revealed on the boat trip is beyond description.  The scale is difficult to get your head around, and as you travel up the river, each bend brings another spectacular view.

Here is the difficulty of the scale; the photo above shows a side view of the Angel Falls plunge which measures over 1/2 mile.  It is tough to put a 1/2 mile waterfall into context.

The primitive beauty of this remote area of Venezuela is something you should enjoy if you have an opportunity.  The last couple of photographs were taken from our plane as we flew back to Puerto Ordaz.

Have fun, and go make some great photography.

Craig