Now a confirmed fan of Winter Sun, we tried another Canary Island - Lanzarote - last December. As unprepossessing as it looks from the air - and from its reputation as merely a holiday destination - it turned out to be far more interesting. A wild place where nature is dominant and where the thrill of potential danger is just below the volcanic crust. These are the places I enjoy photographing the most. Places where the technological human world is sidelined for magnificent vistas, unpolluted air, and primal forces that have shaped the land, in this case even quite recently. The eruptions that created Timanfaya National Park in the 1730's created over 30 new volcanic cones, created one of the largest lava fields on Earth, wiped out multiple villages, and gave us probably the craziest lava formations on Earth. And that's before we talk about the stunning North Atlantic beaches all over the Island. Many may not be suitable for swimming but they are truly spectacular in their volcanic wildness - see the La Santa images below. Add a pleasant 22ºC in December and Lanzarote is a photographer's delight.
P5S7 La Santa Beach, Lanzarote, Canary Islands

P5S10 La Santa Beach, Lanzarote, Canary Islands P5S9 La Santa Beach, Lanzarote, Canary Islands P5S4 El Golfo Beach, Lanzarote, Canary Islands
V19L5 Fuerteventura from Lanzarote, Canary Islands P5L8 Echinocactus Grusonii, Lanzarote P5L47 Hacha Grande, Lanzarote, Canary Islands V19L9 La Santa Beach, Lanzarote, Canary Islands V19L6 Fuerteventura from Lanzarote, Canary Islands V19L8 La Santa Beach, Lanzarote, Canary Islands V19L11 Montañas del Fuego, Yaiza, Lanzarote, Canary Islands