Click on the image for licensing terms
The magnificent volcanic landscape of the Teide National Park in Tenerife was one of the main attractions that led my wife Liz and I to choose the Canary Islands for a week of winter sun in late January 2020.
We'd been here before, so we knew what to expect, but even so the views that unfolded before us as we drove into the giant caldera of the ancient Las Canadas volcano, with Mouth Teide at its centre, took our breath away.
Emerging into the clear skies and sunlight at 6,500 feet above sea level from the mist shrouded cloud pine forests below was like arriving on another planet, with multi-hued lava fields, punctuated by improbable rock formations, stretching out before us.
There's a single hotel and restaurant complex in the park (if you don't count the cablecar station), which we stopped at for a much needed coffee and trip to the toilets (one euro for a day ticket!).
By now sunset was approaching, so while Liz ordered the coffees I wandered off, camera in hand, to photograph this huge volcanic rock outcropping behind the hotel.
Earlier in the day, with the sun high in the sky, this lump of rock looked pretty bland and featureless, but with the sun approaching the western horizon, grazing the landscape with warm, low angled light, the scene took on a whole different, and much more attractive, appearance.
The coffee was particularly good also!
Filename - tenerife teide rock 17
Lens - 24-105mm zoom @ 50mm
Exposure - 1/30 sec @ f/11, ISO100
Filters - Polarising filter used to enhance colours.
Location - Teide National Park, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain
Image enhancements - Adobe Lightroom
Comments - Handheld exposure with image stabilisation.
All content copyright © Howard Litherland 2009-2024 unless otherwise stated.