Malta

Yes, Malta! A small island country in the middle of the Mediterranean with compact and friendly population and own language which is an interesting mixture. Anyway, English is the official language as well as their own Maltese so travelers have no problems getting along with locals.
So, why am I writing about Malta anyway? I don't have much of a choice really - it's a wonderful place for photography. Back in my days as a cruise ship photographer I would visit Malta on a schedule and it became my favourite port.

The old stone buildings that survived turbulent
 timesare a great opportunity for
 photographers and film
makers.

Tourists can book a round-the-island trip and
 enjoya view from above. I didn't
 have time for this unfortunately.

For such a small place the island presents just too many opportunities for sightseeing. One could just wander around on foot, get a regular bus, use a hop-on hop-off transportation or get a round-the-island trip by plane. I just didn't have the time for the air trip but I enjoyed myself a lot just taking random turns and ending up at where people were just having coffee or resting from busy tourist routes.
To my great surprise, there are parks with fat cats that just stand there eating. They have small wooden houses and just walk about all day. It's not the Indian cow cult but still... a little weird.

Sometimes you have to take the photo.
I  used some HDRretouch technique
to boost the sky here. I hope I didn't
overdo it.

So, they have imaginariums
in Malta? I don't know
how this works but it
looks kinda weird.

So, here was I walking around in Malta with my trustworthy dSLR thinking "Oh, what a great place to shoot a movie!" but so many people have walked around with the same idea and you can click here for a list of movies shot Malta.
Let's get back to photography and let the guys with deeper pockets shoot some great movies. Malta is not only spectacular on the outside but it's great to enter some of the old buildings too, like the St. John co-cathedral. Don't miss it! It's full of artifacts and history from Templar times!

The altar of the co-cathedral
 seemed
rather
spectacular.

The wall and ceiling paintings astonished me
even after my visit to theVatican.
It was amazing even though
the scale was smaller.

I really spent a lot of time visiting places on foot. It was a great experience especially for a man like me who likes taking unexpected turns and ending up in off-the-course places. I wish I could stay and take photos at just about every corner but I can't... You know, going back to work is something we all have to do.

Going on foot gives you a different
view of things and
takes you interesting places.

Some streets you just take
without knowing what's
on the other side of the hill at all.

I will visit Malta again soon, that's a promise! I will take lots more photos and return to tell. My stay there was so enjoyable I just didn't want to leave. All I have now is a bunch of photos, nice memories and a good friend who lives there.
If you get a chance to visit, please do! If get a chance to stay longer, go ahead! Bring your camera along and lots of big memory cards, you'll need them. Oh, what a nice place for photographers.

All the best,

Kamen Kunchev