Ambergris, a photo from Belize, North

Photographer's Note

Ambergris is the southern tip of the Yucatán Peninsula. The little village's name is San Pedro and at least for me it is the most charming and original little place of the Caribbean. Well, it was, in 1997 when I made this photo, scanned just today. (I hope that it is still preserved). The results of scanning slides is much better than working negatives, since we got some grains on negative scans, and it is what happens here.
This is a classic view of San Pedro main street. In 1997 it was 100% sand streets and sand roads. I hope it is still the same today.
The most curious of San Pedro was the transportation. Everybody were riding golf carts! Some were driving motorcycles and many were driving golf carts! Cars? Maybe one or two pickups to work with heavy stuff. Can you imagine yourself going out for a dinner at night driving a golf cart? It happens every night in San Pedro. I can't forget!
Most of the people living in San Pedro works at sea, fishing or taking tourists to fishing or to scuba diving. Its a very nice people, friendly and helpful.
In 1997 there wasn´t any big american resort over there, but just little charming hotels. The place is very original! Scuba diving is one of the best of caribbean, for sure. You can spend some time snorkeling with at least 12 stingrays and 12 nurse sharks. I did it!
San Pedro and its people is a place that I keep in my heart and I would like to be there again in the future.
They use to say that Madonna wrote the music LA ISLA BONITA for them when she visited Ambergris, so here is my homage:

"Como puede ser verdad

Last night I dreamt of San Pedro
Just like I'd never gone, I knew the song
A young girl with eyes like the desert
It all seems like yesterday, not far away

Tropical the island breeze
All of nature wild and free
This is where I long to be
La isla bonita
And when the samba played
The sun would set so high
Ring through my ears and sting my eyes
Your Spanish lullaby

I fell in love with San Pedro
Warm wind carried on the sea, he called to me
Te dijo te amo
I prayed that the days would last
They went so fast

Tropical the island breeze
All of nature wild and free
This is where I long to be
La isla bonita
And when the samba played
The sun would set so high
Ring through my ears and sting my eyes
Your Spanish lullaby

I want to be where the sun warms the sky
When it's time for siesta you can watch them go by
Beautiful faces, no cares in this world
Where a girl loves a boy, and a boy loves a girl

Last night I dreamt of San Pedro
It all seems like yesterday, not far away

Tropical the island breeze
All of nature wild and free
This is where I long to be
La isla bonita
And when the samba played
The sun would set so high
Ring through my ears and sting my eyes
Your Spanish lullaby

Tropical the island breeze
All of nature wild and free
This is where I long to be
La isla bonita
And when the samba played
The sun would set so high
Ring through my ears and sting my eyes
Your Spanish lullaby

La la la la la la la
Te dijo te amo
La la la la la la la
El dijo que te ama"

(Written by Madonna, Pat Leonard, and Bruce Gaitsch)

Regards,
Zeca

ribeiroantonio, besnard, siamesa, ellelloo, dareco, ElAprendiz, bakes888, AiresSantos, siolaw, wgreis, mark_mk, mydrjoe, stego, lucasgalodoido, Buin, belido, danos, gracious, pcp, derek3755, Amaz ha contrassegnato questa nota come utile

Critiques | Translate

ribeiroantonio (22730) 2008-08-29 21:23

Estou simplesmente impressionado pela qualidade da conservação dos teus slides. Eu continuo a digitalisar os meus e estou a chegar à triste conclusão de que estão todos estragados.
Comos dizes esperemos que ainda não tenham recebido nenhum carregamento de asfalto vindo dos "States"! Talvez os habitantes não digam o mesmo!
Está muito bonita a tua foto.
António

leo61 (0) 2008-08-29 21:27

Hi Jose!
Good shot of this road with a nice and colorful foreground.
Great depth,good sharpness overall and I like the compositionwith the restaurant sign and the lonely person a bit out of the center.
Regards,Leo

besnard (59196) 2008-08-29 21:50

Bonjour Jose
Un bon cliché de cette rue avec de belles couleurs et beaucoup de netteté. On se croirait dans un western.
Merci pour le partage et bon week-end.
Nicole

chirasak (2) 2008-08-29 22:42

Hi Jose
nice picture for this common scenes, look like a quiet place and good composition nice picture TFS

Regards
Chirasak

carper (96) 2008-08-30 0:34

it looks to me a very hot place,
very nice composition, for me unusual buildings but nice as a western shot, good pov, very nice to look at, thanks for sharing, have a very good weekend.
gr. jaap

danyy (0) 2008-08-30 0:37

Bonjour Jose,
il ne nous vient pas beaucoup de photos de cette région du monde, une ville qui me fait penser à certaines de Louisiane que j'ai visitées il y a 10 ans, je les trouve accueillantes malgré le manque de richesses qu'elles exposent.
Très belles couleurs et lumières, un excdllent cadrage.
Regards.
Daniel.

Disabled_A (0) 2008-08-30 2:20

Hello Jose,
Nice photo! Interesting composition, and the photo is full of very nice natural colours :) For a scan of the photo taken so long ago it s perfect scan!
I wish I could visit this place some day...
TFS!
regards,
Elena

ellelloo (6572) 2008-08-30 5:54

Hello José,
For a scan of an old photo this has very good quality. A very picturesque village. Many details to look at. Good POV and composition, beautiful colours, good depth and sharpness. Well done!
Greetings and have a good weekend,
Lasse

dareco (17136) 2008-08-30 11:07

A very interesting picture, much to see on this street. Very good colors and detail. TFS and have a happy day!

PixelTerror (0) 2008-08-30 13:25

Ola Jose
With the non teered road it looks deliciously remote and with the house style and the flowers sooo tropical, nice village street perspective.
Have a nice day JY

ElAprendiz (30) 2008-08-30 15:26

Hello Jose Augusto:

Following the Madonna song, this place became very famous. I did not know that it was up to your country.

Extraordinary viewpoint within a low level. The depth of field towards the end of the street, can observe thousands of details, naturally within a perfect urban setting and proper handling of light.

John

bakes888 (18499) 2008-08-31 2:14

Hi Zeca. Very appropriate that you mention Madona as it was her birthday this week. (According to the TV news) This looks very laid back and relaxed, the perfect place for a holiday. Well captured and thanks for sharing.
Have a good week, Paul.

siolaw (38294) 2008-08-31 12:03

Hi Zeca,
The quality of the scan is very good with clear colors and sharp details. The place looks very quiet, maybe siesta time! God POV down the street.
Greetings
Laurent

wgreis (8267) 2008-08-31 18:06

Oi Zeca,
uma rua realmente diferente dos padrões brasileiros. Sua nota também está particularmente rica.
Como o Antonio diz, suas fotos analógicas estão ótimas.
Abraços,
Wagner.

vascao (192) 2008-08-31 18:23

Que perspectiva espetacular, Zeca! Lindas cores, linhas dando um componente gráfico e uma arquitetura bem peculiar com estas casas em madeira. O chão de terra batida lembra cidades à beira-mar aqui do nosso Nordeste.
Abração. Bom estar de volta.
Sergio

mark_mk (266) 2008-08-31 18:54

Hi Jose,
such a colorful image you present us here. The POV is very nice and the sharpness excellent. This city seems quite empty though, I only counted one person in the image. The quality is great, especially having in mind this was scanned.
Well done!

Best regards from Florida
Mark

AiresSantos (56155) 2008-09-01 3:15

Hi Zeca
Great street picture from San Pedro, Belize. Magnificent POV and colours. I like how you framed it and details.
Thanks for sharing and hugs
Aires

mydrjoe (1240) 2008-09-01 10:47

Olá Jose,

Está claro que tí fai muito tempo que sabes como hay que façer para sacar boas fotos. Esta mesma é excelente e a nota está en consonancia con ela. Parabéns!

Un saúdo,
JR

stego (24132) 2008-09-01 10:50

Olá Zeca,
Está surpreendentemente "limpa" para digitalização, i.e., boas cores, luz, nitidez, etc. E ainda bem, porque é uma linda vista dessa rua encantadora, de ambiente muito colonial. O enquadramento é excelente, aproveitando bem o ponto de fuga da rua. O placar colorido do Restaurante Celi ficou muito chamativo, o que não é mau, antes pelo contrário.
Um abraço, José.

lucasgalodoido (26956) 2008-09-01 17:17

Olá Zeca,
essas vilas são ótimas né, acho bem melhores que cidades grandes, pelo menos quando o assunto é praia. A qualidade ficou ótima também.
Parabéns e Abraço

shevchenko (20560) 2008-09-01 20:09

Hi Jose,
An interesting and peaceful place where people live in their personality style, good pov to show colorful houses beside the sand road, nice soft sunlight shinning and create long shadows, good shoot, thanks for sharing.
Ally

Buin (42580) 2008-09-02 2:48

Hallo Zeca!
Great photo - great note!
A village quite different from ours here. All these electric cables over the street are strange and interesting for European eyes. I like this one!
Greetings from an a tiny bit autumnal - but still warm - Germany!
Frank

belido (19934) 2008-09-02 5:09

Olá Zeca,

tive alguns problemas no recebimento de alertas e essa aqui passou despercebida. Sabe que Madonna não é muito meu estilo, mas confesso que Isla Bonita é uma música bem simpática, meio nostálgica. Parece ser uma lugar bem aconchegante, tranquilo. Sua imagem foi muito bem conservada. Gostei também da sua conversão. Ótimos detalhes e exposição bem controlada. A música cai muito bem aqui. Belo trabalho!
Abração,
Carlos

pablominto (53746) 2008-09-02 5:31

Hello Zeca,

An excellent point of view to capture this picturesque street!
For some treason the place reminds me of the lawless towns from Western movies, maybe it was used as location hehehe...
Excellent details, shining colours and a great sense of depth!

Greetings,
Pablo -

Flavia (10352) 2008-09-02 7:33

Oi Zeca,

Uma bela imagem tirada do fundo do seu bau. O lugar parece bem pitoresco e calmo. Sera que ainda continua assim?...

Abracos,

Flavia

danos (110407) 2008-09-02 8:31

Ola Jose,
nice composition with a good POV of Ambergris sandy road, with the native houses to make it so attractive.The depth and the contrasted colors are well managed.The informative note add the knowledge of the city.

Regards,Danos

Cretense (68709) 2008-09-02 11:21

Hi Zeca!

Excellent architecture photo, fantastic capture of this exotic and beautiful little town! Great low POV, excellent composition and framing, fantastic perspective! Great light managment and impressive colour palette! Congratulations!

Hercules

paura (25802) 2008-09-02 18:05

Zeca,
Uma beleza de fotografia, mostrando a linda paisagem urbana captada com bons olhos. Penso que não deve ser tão bonitinha quanto vc conseguiu captar.

Abraço

PAulo

gracious (20025) 2008-09-03 0:39

Ola Jose,
I loved this town a lot especially the architecture with it's design, really beautiful!
the exposure and focus is perfect with beautiful lighting over it
very sharp with wonderful colour and details
many thanks
best regards
tony

pcp (3396) 2008-09-03 20:39

Hi Jose,

Good shot, Wonderful colors and rite composition.Good note. well seen and very well taken. Well done.

TFS

Senthil

Stepan (27210) 2008-09-03 23:23

That's exactly how I imagine this place of the world I don't know : colorful, sunny, cool... Typical to me, attractive too...
Stéphane

derek3755 (2341) 2008-09-03 23:45

Hi Jose

scan looks very good to me, lovely composition and POV, and what a nice colourful street. Looks very peaceful.

Regards
Derek

trekks (14348) 2008-09-04 20:33

hi Jose

Really very interesting street scene and amazing that some architecture style can be found all over the world but this street of sand and free flow of traffic without any road signs is unique.

Such a fine TE post.

tfs, bill

Amaz (11475) 2009-05-16 1:53

Olá!!
Boa composição,bom enquadramento e excelentes cores !!

Meus parabéns, Zé,

Abração!