“Look, sir,” answered Sancho, “those which appear yonder are not giants, but windmills, and what seem to be arms are the sails, which, whirled about by the wind, make the millstone go.”
“It is very evident,” answered Don Quixote, “that thou art not versed in the business of adventures. They are giants; and if thou art afraid, get thee aside and pray, while I engage with them in fierce and unequal combat.”
— From Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (1547–1616)
The Business of Adventures
To be in Spain’s historical region of La Mancha is to be in the land of Don Quixote. The figure from Cervantes’ 17th century novel was notorious for battling windmills — windmills much like the 12 that you’ll find on the hill above Consuegra. In fact, each of these 12 windmills bears a name taken from Cervantes’ novel. I imagine the connection with Don Quixote has also helped lead to the preservation and restoration of these mills, which — along with the nearby 12th century castle — were named a Cultural Historic Site in 2006.
These mills are so iconic to La Mancha that I wanted to be sure and make a few good photos of them during my short stay in Consuegra. Luckily, I found myself with some free time and was able to spend both evenings on the hill, with the “giants.”
I wasn’t exactly alone on the hill, but the crowds from the day’s festival did mostly disperse as the sky began to darken. Left behind were mostly other photographers, including some shooting wedding or engagement portraits. I see this more and more as I travel and I’ve lost count how many wedding photographers I’ve encountered over the years. Certainly many on the Charles Bridge in Prague. Some in the islands of Greece. Just about anywhere you can find an epic sunset, you’ll find wedding photographers.
No problem — I’m happy to share the spot. I surely have no more right to the top of this particular Spanish hill on this particular evening than anyone else. Unfortunately, there was one other photographer who was less considerate of his fellow shooters, and who was downright reckless to the site itself.
Please don’t be one of these people.
He first showed up at dusk, and — even though he was obviously surrounded by other photographers with tripods staking out their territory — he unpacked and set up some intense colored LED lights and proceeded to try and light paint the windmills. The relentless wash of sickly green light was a real problem, so I would constantly change locations to try and eliminate his influence.
Then it got worse.
I imagine you’ve seen the “sparkler” photos people have made where they light steel wool on fire and swing it around on a rope. If not, google it. You’ll see what I’m talking about.
Well… this guy decided to try it himself on this dry, grassy hill, surrounded by ancient windmills. I had put some distance between him and myself by this time so that I could still get some shots without his interference, but I could see what was going on. Again and again, he would swing his flaming rope around, trying to make a photo.
I had moved further down toward the castle and continued shooting until it got so dark that the floodlights on the white mills just became too contrasty. I packed things up and met my ride to head back down the hill.
From the car, what did we see but a fire on the hillside. The photographer’s sparks had gotten out of control and set fire to a patch of tall grass. It was so senseless and dangerous to these historic structures. I found out later that the “gentleman” did get into a bit of trouble with the authorities about the event and I can only hope he learned his lesson. But probably not.
I found the hillside, scattered with windmills — and a castle — overlooking the town of Consuegra with the rosy mountains in the distance to be far and away picturesque enough, without feeling the need to set up multi-colored lights or risk a grass fire with silly tricks. I’m sure he got some interesting shots (well, maybe he did), but there’s no way they were worth the risk he took, or the problems he created for others trying to enjoy the same public spot.
Look, I’m all for trying some different things with my photos — and I have done my share of light-painted night photography — but I’ve always done it when I was on my own somewhere, not in a shared space with a bunch of other shooters, and I’ve certainly never done something that would put my subject or surrounds at risk in such a way. It was totally irresponsible of this photographer to act in this way, regardless of what shots he walked away with.
Please, if you ever take away one thing from my blog, let it be that you will never be this person. Photograph responsibly. No shot is worth the destruction of property, especially historic, irreplaceable property.
