Travel Style Posters.

I recently set up a store on Zazzle and attempted to create my first set of vintage-style travel posters. The following are the results of that. I'll have more attempts at them over time, but these are my first six.

Four of the pictures were created based on pictures I have taken and can also be seen on Clickasnap; the two New York pictures were created from images used under Creative Commons commercial licence.

I created them using Photoshop. I took the original image, cropped it, resized it, and then used the cutout filter in the filter gallery to give the image an illustration-style look. I completed the image by adding the text.

This picture looks out towards the Isle of Arran from Ardrossan Beach, Ayrshire. I took the original picture in 2013. Clicking the image will open a link to the unwatermarked image on Clickasnap.

Beaumaris Castle, this picture was originally taken in the 1970's. Clicking the image will open a link in another window to the Clickasnap version of the picture.

Not sure where in Lanzarote I took this only it was in July 2013. Clicking the picture will open a link in another window to the version on Clickasnap.

This image, if clicked, will open a link in another window to my Colins_picture_this store on Zazzle. I offer my pictures taken outside Calderdale, my home county, in various formats there.

Clicking this image will open a link in another window to my Calderdale_Unframed store on Zazzle, a place to offer various products of images taken in the Calderdale area where I live.

Wharf Street, Sowerby Bridge, the original picture was taken on January 1, 2020, early morning, and unusually for the main street through Sowerby Bridge, it was very quiet, with the road usually being nose to tail with traffic. Clicking the image will open a link in another window to the version on Clickasnap.

 

Please take a moment to browse my stores on Zazzle and my profile on Clickasnap.

 

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Jameos del Agua, Lanzarote.

 Jameos del Agua is a set of pictures I took in July 2013. This trip to Lanzarote was the first time i'd ever taken any sort of interest in photography as a hobby and that was due to having a Samsung Galaxy Tablet. At the time i thought the picture quality was fantastic, it's only by recently going through them and finding that out of over 30 pictures taken barely 10 are usable to show the area around Jameos del Agua.

The lobster sign at the entrance.

The Jameos del Agua attraction is a set of caves formed in the lava rock around the area. You can see a subterranean salt water lake which is home to a species of squat lobster, which are small, white and blind and can only be found at Jameos del Agua. It also features a restuarant, gardens, museum, auditorium and swimming pool. It is said that only the King of Spain is allowed to swim in the pool.

The attraction first opened to the public in 1966 and was the inspiration of Cesar Manrique, fully opening in 1977 including the auditorium which was closed for several years to the public.

These pictures were taken on the 30th July 2013 using a Samsung Galaxy Tablet, they can also be seen on my Clickasnap profile where they are full size, resolution and un-watermarked.

The swimming pool area, the guide I was with claimed that only the King
of Spain is allowed to swim here.

The stairs up from the saltwater cave to the swimming pool
and bar area.

The auditorium, the guide claimed gives one of the best sounds around.

The saltwater cave that is home to the squat lobster.

Thanks for looking and please take a moment to share and follow me on social media. You can also view and buy copies from my Clickasnap account.

All the pictures remain the copyright of Colin Green.

Ermita de Los Delores.

 Ermita de Los Delores is an 18th Century church in the village of Mancha Blanca on the Island of Lanzarote. The stunning little church was part of a tour of the island I took and has an interesting story or legend attached to it.

The last great volcanic eruptions to hit Lanzarote had lasted for 6 years when in April 1736, the villages of Mancha Blanca went with a priest carrying the Virgin Nuestra Senora de los Delores to meet the lava flow heading towards the village. When they reached Guigan they prayed and inserted a cross in to the ground, promising to build a church in the honour of the Virgin if she stopped the lava flow towards the village and fertile fields nearby.

The lava flow changed direction away from the villages and over a previous lava field, and the villages soon forgot their promise to build a church. In 1774 the Virgin appeared to a local shepherd girl and told her to remind the villagers they needed to construct the church, the girl was eventually believed and work started taking 10 years to complete the build of the church paid for by inhabitants from all over Lanzarote.

The church was closed in 1850 for restoration, reopening in 1861. It was again in need of restoration by 1988 and on the 18th June all the contents were removed to the Parish of Tinajo, including an image of the virgin. Just a few hours later the dome of the church collapsed.

I took 4 pictures of the church with a Samsung Galaxy Tablet, they can be seen here or on Clickasnap where they are full size, resolution and un-watermarked. They were taken on the 30th July 2013.

Clicking any image should open a link in another window to the Clickasnap Version.

Thanks for looking and please take a moment to share and follow me on social media.

All the pictures remain the copyright of Colin Green.

Hotel Club Sirocco.

 This is not a review, just a small selection of pictures I took around the Hotel Club Sirocco, Costa Teguise in July-August 2013. These have sat on my hard drive for 9 years and I wasn't sure what to do with them as the hotel was fantastic during my stay there but I have no idea what it's like now and from looking online believe it to be an adults only hotel now. When I stayed my wife and then 14 year old daughter were with me and the hotel made a fuss of her on her birthday when we were staying.

They were taken on various dates during July-August 2013, out of 31 pictures taken around the hotel with a Samsung Galaxy Tablet, the 6 below are probably the best to share on here and Clickasnap where they can be seen full size, resolution and un-watermarked.

One of the hotels garden pathways. The black ash providing a base
for the plants that need little water to survive. Lanzarote being just off the
coast of Saharan Africa averages 16 days of rainfall per year.

The restaurant.

Looking over the hotel skywards from
the room balcony.

The swimming pool.

The hotel's poolside bar.

Another of the swimming pool.

Thanks for looking and please take a moment to share. All the pictures remain the copyright of Colin Green.

Texas Rancho Sea Lion Show

Filmed on a Samsung Galaxy Tablet in July 2013, the Sea Lions at the Texas Rancho Park was a sea lion show to show the intelligence and skills that sea lions have. The show features Patagonian and Californian Sea Lions who show off their playful and noisy nature whilst performing for the public. The video was filmed by my daughter. Whilst not particularly being a fan of animals being caged in what I assume is not their natural habitat, the sea lions seemed happy enough whenever I saw them during the shows that were performed that day.

Thanks for looking and please take a moment to share, the video can also be seen on my YouTube Channel. It remains the copyright of Colin Green. Please take a moment to follow me on social media and YouTube.

Vinos El Campesino, Lanzarote

 Vinos el Campesino is a vin yard on the island of Lanzarote, I visited in 2013 whilst on a tour of the island and at that point was just starting to take an interest in photography as a hobby. The vines are grown in the surrounding plains in shallow pits dug in the ash, and protected by the constant breeze by low horseshoe style walling. The view from the front of the restaurant up to the mountains (I think they are mountains rather than big hills) is wonderful and the rows of vines in there little walled compartments was quite regimented. The Mountains (hills) are actually volcano craters with the Montana Blanca the more widely known of them.

On my visit there was a wine tasting and buffet meal which was reasonable for the price, which I am unable to remember but it was 9 years ago.

There are a total of 5 pictures which I took around the vin yard, they can be seen below or full size, resolution and un-watermarked on Clickasnap. They were taken on Tuesday 30th July 2013 using a Samsung Galaxy Tablet.

The mountain, hill or volcano crater is the Montana Blanca

As you can see the vines are well organised in there horse show shaped
pits, this is to protect from the constant breeze.

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Clicking any image should open a link in another window to a higher resolution and un-watermarked version on Clickasnap.

All the pictures remain the copyright of Colin Green.

Lanzarote - Videos from 2013

 These are a set of short recordings taken by my daughter and me whilst in Lanzarote whilst on holiday there in 2013. At the time I had just started to take an interest in photography and I had never filmed anything in my life, but I wanted some memories of the holiday and some of the places we visited so gave it a go. They were filmed using a Samsung Galaxy Tablet.

The first clip was filmed from the Penas Del Cache, the highest public viewing point on Lanzarote, their is an area of the island that was a little higher but if my memory is correct it was only accessible by the military. 

The area I was filming from was a car park for a restaurant and offered unobstructed views down to sea level approx. 670 metres below, I was on an organised trip of the island during the day. It's a popular destination for stargazers as there is limited light pollution and in the summer season the constellations of Sagitarius and Scorpius stand out.

The following clips were taken on a visit to the Aquarium Lanzarote. Situated in Costa Teguise a short walk from the hotel we were staying at.

The Aquarium was not overly large but was an enjoyable experience. Whilst having many different species of marine animals they do try to concentrate on the ones more local to the Canary Islands.

The following clips were taken at the Rancho Texas Park. The animal park has a couple of  daytime shows featuring sea lions and birds of prey, not together.

The following clip was taken at Timanfaya national park.

There are also some slideshow videos of the island that can be seen on my YouTube channel, just search Lanzarote on my clips.

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Lanzarote Aquarium

 Visited in July 2013, the Aquarium Lanzarote is an aquatic museum featuring 33 tanks and over 1 million litres of water. The tanks feature mainly sea life native to the Canary Islands including clown fishes, blowfishes, sea urchins, sharks and turtles. the aquarium can be found near the centre of Costa Teguise  in the east of the island. I took a number of short videos whilst touring the aquarium and they can be seen below and on YouTube. They were filmed using a Samsung Galaxy Tablet.

Uploaded to YouTube on the 4th August 2013, currently seen 379 times. The video features a 3 legged turtle swimming around.

Uploaded to YouTube on 10th August 2013, the video has to date been viewed 2668 times. It features a shark swimming.

The final video uploaded to YouTube in August 2017 and seen 41 times to date shows all the clips put together of the sea life in their tanks.

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Timanfaya National Park, Lanzarote

Timanfaya National Park was a trip I took in July 2013. The visit was part of a tour of the island of Lanzarote of which it has to be said I had little enthusiasm for. They visit to Lanzarote was something that my wife and daughter planned and in the lead up to it was something I looked forward to less and less, I will admit now I was wrong, the island being one the places I have enjoyed visiting the most and look forward to one day getting the opportunity to revisit. One of the many highlights of the trip was the day we took the tour of the island which included the visit to Timanfaya. I did not know what to expect upon the visit as I was aware that the area was still home to an active volcano, but despite the disappointment of finding whilst active there was no lava flowing or bubbles to view the trip was still worth it. There were demonstrations of how close the heat was to the service and a look inside the El Diablo Restuarant, where you could see the food being cooked over an open well of heat.

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Timanfaya National Park was established in 1974 and covers an area 19.72 square miles of the south western area of Lanzarote. The park is regulated with only selected areas open to the public and most viewable only via a coach trip. There is an area for visitors to take camel rides and a restaurant for refreshments when visiting. It was along with the rest of Lanzarote designated a UNESCO  Biosphere Reserve in 1993. This is to protect the unique flora and fauna that can be found on the park.

The Volcano whilst active is considered dormant, the last eruption being in 1824. The greatest eruptions to hit the island were through a 6 year period from 1730 until 1736 when much of the landscape around the park was created. During this period the island lost the villages of Tingfa, Mancha Blanca, Maretas, Santa Catalina, Jaretas, San Juan, Timanfaya, Rodeo and Mazo, and much of the land covered by volcanic ash was the most fertile upon the island so it was a time of great hardship. The land is considered to be of great interest to science as it's one of the newest places on earth and they are interested to see how it develops with no major human interaction.

Whilst the volcanic activity is still active, this activity happens just below ground where temperatures can reach between 100 to 600 centigrade at a depth of 13 metres. The park offers a geyser demonstration to show how hot the below surface temperature is. The following video shows the demonstration.


The pictures and video were taken using a Samsung Galaxy Tablet. They can be seen below or alternatively on Clickasnap full size, resolution and un-watermarked.

The Fire Pit is used as a demonstration to show how hot the temperature is
just underneath the surface of the park.

The parks restaurant can be seen to the left of the crater.

El Diablo, created by Cesar Manrique is the symbol of
Timanfaya National Park.

The restaurant uses geothermal heat channelled through open pits like this
to cook the food served.

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Clicking any image should open a link in another window to the un-watermarked, full resolution image on Clickasnap.

All the pictures and video remain the copyright of Colin Green.

Timanfaya Water Geyser.

In July 2013, I had the extraordinary opportunity to explore the otherworldly landscape of Timanfaya National Park on Lanzarote. This park, a testament to the raw power of volcanic forces, is a place where the earth itself seems to breathe. During my tour, I captured numerous photographs, previously shared, that attempt to convey the stark beauty of this volcanic terrain. However, it was the geyser demonstration near the restaurant area that truly brought the park's geothermal activity to life.

Witnessing this demonstration was a visceral experience. Park staff poured water into a seemingly innocuous hole in the earth, a conduit leading approximately 13 meters down into the island's fiery depths. Seconds later, the water returned with explosive force, erupting as a powerful geyser of steam and superheated water. This display, while seemingly simple, is a potent reminder of the volcanic heat that simmers just beneath the surface of Lanzarote. It's a direct connection to the volcanic eruptions that dramatically reshaped the island in the 18th century.

The demonstration highlights the residual heat from those historic eruptions, a heat that continues to manifest in remarkable ways. The Islote de Hilario, where this demonstration takes place, is a key location within the park, providing visitors with a safe way to witness these geothermal phenomena. The fact that the restaurant there uses this geothermal heat to cook food adds another layer of intrigue, showing how the islanders have learned to live with, and even utilize, this powerful natural force. I preserved this moment by capturing a video, which I've shared on my YouTube channel, allowing others to experience the dramatic geyser eruption first hand

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The video remains the copyright of Colin Green.

Lanzarote's Spark: Where a Tablet and a View Ignited a Passion

In the summer of 2013, I found myself on the volcanic shores of Lanzarote, a place that, at the time, held little more than the promise of a sunny getaway. Little did I know, this island, sculpted by fire and time, would ignite a passion within me that I never knew existed: photography.

With a few days to spare and a desire to explore beyond the resort, I embarked on a comprehensive island tour. It was a decision that would forever alter my perspective. From the surreal, Martian landscapes of Timanfaya National Park, where the earth still breathes with volcanic heat, to the mesmerizing emerald hues of the Green Lagoon, each stop was a revelation. Jameos del Agua, a subterranean wonderland crafted by César Manrique, offered a glimpse into the harmonious blend of nature and art.

But it was El Mirador de Guinate, perched on the northernmost tip of the island, that truly captivated me. Standing there, overlooking the narrow strait of El Rio, with the serene island of La Graciosa floating in the distance, I felt a profound sense of awe. The landscape was a symphony of blues and browns, a panorama that stretched beyond the horizon.

Nestled within the municipality of Haria, El Mirador de Guinate is more than just a viewpoint. It’s an experience. The surrounding tropical park, a lush oasis against the stark volcanic backdrop, teems with diverse flora and fauna. As I wandered through its winding paths, I encountered vibrant birds, exotic plants, and the tranquil atmosphere that permeated the entire area.

Armed with nothing more than my trusty Samsung Galaxy Tablet, I began to capture these moments. It wasn’t a deliberate act of artistic expression at first; it was simply an attempt to hold onto the beauty I was witnessing. Yet, as I reviewed the images on the tablet’s screen, something shifted within me. I saw the world in a new light, framed and composed, captured in time.

The date was July 30th, 2013. A seemingly ordinary day, but one that marked the beginning of my photographic journey. The simplicity of my tablet, a tool I had previously used for casual browsing and entertainment, became the catalyst for a newfound passion. It was a reminder that inspiration can strike in the most unexpected places and with the most unassuming tools.

Looking back, those images, are more than just snapshots. They are a testament to the transformative power of travel, the unexpected beauty of Lanzarote, and the serendipitous discovery of a creative outlet. They are a reminder that sometimes, all it takes is a stunning view and a simple device to ignite a spark within.

Lanzarote, with its unique landscapes and captivating vistas, offered me more than just a holiday. It offered me a new way of seeing the world, a perspective that continues to shape my creative endeavours to this day. It was a lesson in appreciating the beauty that surrounds us and the potential that lies within the most unexpected moments. And it all started with a tablet and a view from El Mirador de Guinate.

Clicking any of the images should open a link in another window to my Colin Green Photography store on Zazzle.

Caleta del Sebo, the largest settlement on La Graciosa with a population
of over 730. The islands only ferry service runs from here connecting
with Orzola, Lanzarote.

The looking down towards the waters edge is approx 500 feet
from where the picture was taken. 

The western tip of La Graciosa.

Thanks for looking and please take a moment to share and follow me on social media, and check out my portfolio on Photo4Me via the link below.

All the pictures remain the copyright of Colin Green.