Gran Canaria, October 2017 - one month after wildfire and a new toy

Caldera de Tejeda planet

After the wildfire of September 2017 I try to go to Las Cumbres, the highest area of the island, as often as I can, to check things out. I am happy to report that some visible changes are happening already, and I expect many more will happen once we start getting some seasonal rains. 

Very confused sweet chestnut trees behind our favorite cafe. You can see old leaves that were dried up on the left; also some partially burnt fruit. The new tender green leaves and inflorescences are coming from the tips of the branches. It is way way too early, so maybe there will be no fruit this year; but at least the tree is alive.

So far mostly grassy, i.e. non-woody things are coming through - I could identify leaves of Canarian Sage, Ranunculus, Silene, Asphodelus and just plain old grass. But, as you can see from the pic above, some deciduous trees definitely survived the heat of the fire. True, the chestnut above is not the worst affected one, and some fruit orchards are definitely gone, but the tender new greens are a joy to behold all the same.

Retama bushes are gone; together with old pine needles they were the main fuel of the fire. They grow back fast though.

Now, about the toy. I got myself a crystal ball from Tinyyo. It is a nice little thing, and a lot of fun to use. There is an instruction manual somewhere , but I find it better to experiment with it myself. So far I find that for me it combines optimally with my macro lens (Canon 100), giving nice bokeh in the background and convincing "little planet" effect.

Obviously, the image will be turned upside down, so you need to figure out the best presentation. I plan to do some still life photos with it too. it must work wonders with geometrical backgrounds, or in urban surroundings.

Long needles of Canarian pines cover the forest floor around Pico de Las Nieves, the highest point of the island; all these fell off the trees already after the fire. The old cover was burnt.

Salvia canariensis, Canarian sage, new leaves coming through the ashes.

I just searched through the pics I took on the last walk with Arawak and discovered that I failed to take a single photo of new leaves of Asphodelus ramosus, locally called "gamona". Shame, but I am going to go back many times before and after it flowers. It is going to be spectacular against the blackened pine trunks background. 

I was assured (again) that many of the canarian pine trees will survive. There will be an extra reforestation effort, too. That is, the reforestation program is ongoing anyway, but there will be some extra events due to the fire. I haven't yet seen any calls for volunteers; if there will be, I will go.

Crystal ball nestles between burns branches of retama.

Roque Bentayga behind the eucalyptus trees. I am not sure if the eucalypti survived; I rather think they are not as tough as canarian pines. They did keep their leaves on; but the leaves turned yellow-brown.

Now, a little safety reminder before you rush into the mountains with you very own crystal ball: mind where you put it. It focuses the light next to its surface; strong sunlight creates a point hot enough to burn your skin AND to start a fire, if you put it in (un)suitable conditions. The hot spot will be opposite from the sun; so in late morning - noon - early afternoon special care is needed, as the sphere can start burning material more or less directly underneath itself.

When the contrast in the landscape is strong (such as black branches against a light sky) chromatic aberration is very noticeable, especially towards the edges of the sphere. The visual center of the sphere is where you get sharpest, (almost) aberration-free image.

That's all for the moment. I will be back, though.

Photos of Gran Canaria after forest fire on Shutterstock