When you think of Morocco, I'll bet that you don't think of Roman ruins. I know that I didn't have that on my shot list for the visit, but was happily surprised to see some amazing ruins in Volubilis.
This site is a UNESCO World Heritage site, with excavations starting in 1915 and still going on today. Ali asked us how long we wanted to walk around the ruins, and I told him that we probably needed about 45 minutes. I was definitely wrong about that!
As we walked around the ruins, I kept looking for interesting vantage points, aiming for something different from what 99% of the mobile phone shooters were taking. I looked for flowers and other interesting foregrounds and backgrounds.
I saw these two red poppies growing out of a wall and thought that they would make a perfect subject in front of the ruins. I had to hike my way to them, but it was well worth it.
As I photographed in this area, I kept thinking of all the teaching I could do here. There were so many interesting patterns and unique vantage points.
Going at this time of year provides cooler weather and greener hillsides.
As I mentioned earlier, they are still excavating much of the ruins, but in the last hundred years they have found some incredible discoveries, like this mosaic floor.
As you can see, we had overcast weather, which actually worked well for photography. This provided nice even light over the ruins, without the harsh light and shadows of direct sun.
I looked for interesting reflections in the puddles, but did not find much.
I saw this one column standing on it's own, and in front of the farmland in the distance. I really liked the contrast between the ancient ruins and the agriculture of today. I also liked the patterns and lines in the distance.
I took this photo to show more columns, this time with the nearby city and mountains in the background.
There were a fair number of people visiting Volubilis when we were there, and I had to wait a couple of minutes to get a clean shot like this, without anyone in the photo.
Same for this photo.
We looked at the time and realized that we needed at least another 30 minutes to explore more of the area.
The more we walked around, the more incredible things we saw.
For most of the year, there are not any flowers in this area, but we were there at the right time to get pretty flowers like this. This is why I am aiming to do the next photo tour at the same time of year.
More to come from Morocco in the next blog posts.
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