Photographs from Mexico

El Dorado Maroma

After four days in Mexico at El Dorado Maroma, I did not take a single photo; I was surprised. It’s not that I didn’t want to, but I was enjoying the company of others. I hadn’t seen anyone in a whole year, and I was meeting others for the first time. With numerous restaurants to choose from, we had a good choice of places to indulge, but on a few nights, it went a bit too late; the comfortable bed and the air-conditioned room became difficult to abandon in the early mornings. I was waiting for a great sunrise, and upon waking up, I peeked through the curtain, but I noticed the sun was mostly hidden behind the cloudy morning skies.

I threw on shorts and a shirt and grabbed a ball cap to tame my wild morning hair. With my camera in hand, I opened the room door and was immediately hit with humidity as it rushed into the room, consuming the comfortable coolness. Two minutes later, I sat on a beach chair, listening to the ocean—the beginning of day number four.

Not many people were on the beach that first morning I made it down; a few were walking, some were jogging, and some staff cleared the seaweed that gathers each morning. Listening to the sounds of the ocean and watching the sun slowly peak above the horizon is nothing short of spectacular. It was relaxing and peaceful, and it was a morning that contrasted with the weather the days prior.

The rainy season in Mexico lasts from May through September, and most of the rainfall for the entire year occurs within these months. During this period, severe thunderstorms can occur, and when the temperature drops and the wind picks up, the best place to be is under a canopy or balcony where one can witness nature’s force in comfort.

Our week in Mexico was late May/early June, and we experienced thunderstorms periodically for three of our seven days there. Although that sounds like a way to ruin a trip, it was terrific. The thunderstorms were everything you would expect from a good one - bursts of light periodically filling the sky, bolts of lightning every few seconds, and claps of thunder coming from just overhead. We stayed in a swim-up room that was quite close to the beach, and the room featured a nice covered area where we could sit and enjoy the storms.

The Photos

To no surprise, I packed light for this in terms of camera gear. My camera, as usual, was the Fujifilm X-E4, along with the 35mm f/2 and K&F Concept 43mm Polarizing Filter. My maximum range with the X-E4 is 55mm, but I didn’t bring that with me as I decided to go with exactly what I used the year before to keep things consistent, even if that came with a limitation in range.

I shot RAW photos only (no JPEG simulations) to keep the look consistent. I processed the photos by starting with the Fuji Pro Neg Hi camera profile in Lightroom and making individual adjustments. Each photo has slightly different adjustments applied. After Lightroom, I moved over to Photoshop to apply colour balance for a minimal amount of blue to the shadows, and I added a curves adjustment if needed to adjust contrast.