Becho/Mulakhi, Svaneti, Georgia, late July 2010

A very convenient and nice group with which Lali & I traveled from Etseri to K'ala for the Kvirikoba festival, then back to Etseri, and down to the lowlands the next day. Bottom is a view of the south peak of Ushba from Becho as we were going up, in the morning. Top 2 - the same mountain, behind the group.

Nr Mulakhi & Ipari, Svaneti, Georgia

Top 2: a couple of views of Mt Ushba's twin peaks, with the towers of Mulakhi village in the bottom shot of the 2

Bottom: The lone tower between K'ala and Ipari, on the banks of the Enguri

Ushguli, Svaneti, Georgia

Ice and water on the Enguri River, tower reflected in it

Tamar's Summer Tower Fortress above the village

Mt. Ushba at left, Mulakhi village spread out below it

Murqmeli, lowest hamlet of Ushba, and the Enguri

Dizi & Etseri, Svaneti, Georgia

Top three, from Dizi: Someone making k'ubdari (Svan meat pies) for the first time; and Svan ladies (Nodar's sister Tina, a widowed mother; her daughter and sisters-in-law)

Bottom: Mt Ushba from Etseri, just peeking over the horizon

Becho/Ushba, Svaneti, Georgia

Three more from the April 2005 visit to Svaneti with Peter Nasmyth and Nodar Aprasidze.

The road near Becho; magnificent Mt Ushba above Becho; and a closeup of the south peak

More from Ushguli, Svaneti, Georgia

It was really a privilege to live in Ushguli this last winter, as I hope my photographs demonstrate. (The middle shot of these 5 is of Mt Ushba from Etseri, Svaneti, which I visited in January.) It was the essence of winter, not really for cold but for amount of snow and the feeling of being shut in. But there was much beauty as well.

Mestia, August 2007

In and around the town. The top shot is - surprise - the twin peaks of Ushba, obligingly revealing themselves long enough for another portrait. Just long enough. This must be one of those mountains which makes its own clouds.

Above Mestia, August 2007

The walk with my 2 American friends. Ushba nicely visible in the top 2 pictures before vanishing.

Ipari to K'ala, August 2007

The beautiful carved wooden cross at the pass near Ipari again; and a couple more views of Ushba from near K'ala.

Mestia, August 2007

A morning walk to overlook the town.

Usually Ushba's awesome size has its own scale, fitting its surroundings. But I find that from this angle, with Mestia below, it seems to be peering over the top of the mountains in front of it, altering dimensions in a way which makes me feel that both the rest of the landscape and I are very, very small indeed. Rather a numinous sensation, if I may say so.

Svaneti, July 2007

Bottom three: final looks at Ushguli from July.

Middle two: Ushba towering over part of Mulakhi village, on the way home.

Top: Tower, Lenjeri. See? You CAN have the sun in your photos, as this and earlier shots demonstrate, if you're careful. An example of breaking the rules and getting away with it. You'll often have lens flare objects cutting across the frame, and may need to take several shots at different exposures (known as bracketing) to get one which is right, but that's usually all part of the image process.

K'ala, Svaneti, July 28, 2007

Wrapping up Kvirikoba. More animal sacrifices (lots of those), picnics, feats of strength for young men involving a huge stone or bell to pick up and move... I would estimate that 1000 people came through for the event. TV cameras were there as well, and foreigners from: Armenia, Belgium, China, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Iran, Israel, Japan, Poland, Spain and the UK.

The top shot is a last look at Ushba above K'ala before clouds claimed it for the day.

Svaneti, July 2007

More from my Ushguli-K'ala walk on July 28.

Bottom: Svan roadkill. This led to...

Next up: one of a set of shots of me walking. Wide angle lens pointed down and slow shutter speeds to blur the motion.

Top 2: a couple of frames from near K'ala, the top one with Ushba's first appearance from the road. In this shot, the path near centre is the beginning of a 1/2 hour climb up to Kvirike Church, where Kvirikoba happens every year on July 28.

Today I leave again for Ushguli, just for 2 or 3 days via Lentekhi, with some kind friends who are Land Rovering my winter things up for me. I hope to move to the village by the end of October. I think this will mark my first visit to Svaneti in a September. Here's a link to keep you busy until I return:
http://play.blogger.com/
There you'll find a realtime feed of the photos being added to blogger.com from around the world. It's somewhat habit-forming.

Svaneti, July 2007

Some of the scanned images from my early morning walk up above Ushguli which resulted in the 2-shot pond reflection panorama of a few days ago.

Bottom, Tamar's Tower fortress at about 7 am.

Next up, part of the Shkhara glacier wall towering over a tiny Lamaria Church.

Then: Ushba at top left of the frame; part of Ushguli at bottom centre, and the Tamar Tower fortress at bottom right.

Next up, the entire Shkhara wall and Valley, again with tiny Lamaria Church at bottom.

Finally, above, the Shkhara pond reflection again, a single-frame shot.

What a privelege to have such scenery to photograph, and such good weather for it! Is it any wonder that I feel driven to do what I do when I'm in the mountains?