I Came to Capture an Island

(King's Wharf from an oceanside view, the City of San Fernando in the Background.)

King's Wharf is one of those places that you pass everyday and easily underestimate its beauty. It is located in the city of San Fernando in Trinidad and Tobago. To be honest, it is as plain as one can get, there aren't any eye candies just fishermen, their smelly fish and unkempt fish markets. Atleast so we Trindadians thought! There is but one thing that interested me enough in the wharf that got me to visit and that was Farallon Rock, a little man made island way out in the ocean that was once a grand offshore hotel in the early 1900's. It has since gone and all that is left is the concrete foundation and soil upon which someone has planted a tree. It really is a peculiar sight and not that many people have seen it up close including me. What better way to explore it than with the drone! I came for the island but left some shots that ended up being my utmost favorite, even more than those of the aforementioned land mass.

(Overhead view of where I parked.)

I decided to get the shots during golden hour just before sunset so the video footage would look amazing and so that photos would have some character to them. I parked at the side of the roadway and sent the drone up; the above photo shows the view from the roadside. I'm not going to lie, the view looked so much more beautiful from up there than it was ground side. The golden hour lighting just made all rocks and roadways looks amazing and the water that usually looks grey or brown looked turquoise and so heavenly! That is the other thing as well, the water was so calm, I had never seen an ocean be so calm and still!

(Up close photo of the Farallon Rock Island taken with the drone.)

I set the drone off in the direction of Farallon Rock and the flight over to it took so much longer than I had anticipated, it always looked so much closer on from the roadway. The vision I had in mind for the first shot was to take it as if someone was literally standing in the water and taking it with their phone or camera. To do this I literally just lowered the drone as low as I could to the water as possible before it could initiate auto landing.

(Top down view of the island.)

The red hues of the sun that had just began to set peppered the island and set it on fire. It looked so stunning! There was a lot of graffiti on what was left of the foundations of the once grand and affluent hotel where raving parties and dances were had. The tree atop the island is a dongs tree (Ziziphus Mauritania; A small round berry), that someone planted a while ago. Such an interesting yet unorthodox thing to think about, the island, its history and all its present condition!

I wanted to get some camera shots of the sunset from the shoreline before the sun had completely set so i brought the drone on the way back to me. Just before landing thought, I took a quick shot of the remains of an old jetty that once serviced a water taxi back in the day. Once again I tried to take the shot as if it were someone standing on the water by lowering the drone to an unusually low height to get it! This was one of my favorite shots because no one had taken photos of it before from this perspective.

(Managed to get the sun just above the horizon just in time)

I got the drone back at the shoreline just in time to set up my tripod and camera to get some of my most favorite shots of the evening. Once again those extremely tranquil and still waters as well as the sky and clouds were all so perfect that they culminated in such perfection that show cased nature's beauty! Just looking at the above photo, I can remember the amazing feeling I got, so much so that I was compelled to put down the camera and take in the view without technology.

(Some people fishing at the edge of the waters)

I was so excited and focussed on getting shots that I did not notice that there a lot of people who came out to enjoy the sunset! I caught some people fishing on camera and they it looked so relaxing! I would not mind setting out a nice comfy chair having a nice soda and enjoying the sunset while catching some fish!

This was one of the more memorable shoots that I had been on. It is not often that I get so many great shots with so many amazing subjects. You photographers would know that feeling I am talking about! When you're so excited to just get home safely to unpack those RAWs and get to editing them. I came just for the Farallon Rock island but got got so much more!