Gloria Grandolini
October 2026 - EL SOPLADOR
About the Image(s)
This image captures the El Soplador blowhole in Punta Suarez, on the western tip
of Española island in the Galapagos. This effect is caused by the ocean waves
Forcing water under high pressure through a subterranean volcanic fissures embedded in the black lava cliffs. The pressure results into a geyser-like spout of sea water blasting up to 75 feet into the air. The sound was amazing!
Unfortunately the day we hiked there it was cloudy.
So the sky is not that great. It was nice to include in the photo a few swallow-tiled gulls, an iconic seabird that breeds in Española.
Shot with Canon R5 handheld.
31 mm (RF 24-105 f/2.8 L IS USM Z)
1/640 sec at f/11 ISO 800
I adjusted exposure as the day was very grey.
1 comment posted
Well I really like clouds and like where you hiked. The composition is pleasing with its alternating color contrasts with green, dark, whites and blues. My first comment is that your submiited file size is only 491 kb. You are permitted to go to 1000 KB which I just set as my upper limit of file size in export in LR. We would see a higher quality image. I played with your file for a few minutes in LR. I decided to make the water spout the star and masked it. The I increased the exposure just a bit and added some texture and contrast. I also masked the sky and added some texture, a small amount of clarity and dehaze. I also masked the green and changed its white balance a deeper green. Overall I raise the shadows a bit. I like the potential in this image and I encourage to reprocess the original file. There are lots of possibilities for processing and cropping. Posted: 10/01/2026 13:13:35