After Fes, we drove south up in to the High Atlas Mountains, staying at Bin El Ouidane, which is south of Beni Mellal. It sits next to a beautiful reservoir on the El Abid river. Sadly, due to climate change, the area has had droughts for several years now and the lake is only about 5% full, which is way lower than anyone in the area has ever since. All the lower half of the picture would normally be submerged. The rains/snows were due shortly after we left, but if they don’t arrive again, then the waters will be almost gone, especially as it can get up to 50oC in the summer!
Bin El Ouidane sits at about 850m in the foothills of the High Atlas Mountains – these peak at around 4,200m and have snow on them for most of the year. From the lake, you can only see the lower peaks of the range, which are at about 2,000m. This shot was about 45 minutes before the sunset with a fabulous orange glow and long shadows over the hills around the reservoir. It used 83mm, f/11, 1/125s and ISO 80, while the truest White Balance was at 6,500K. I used a fair amount of Dehaze too, so that the distant peaks were much clearer.
Fes has one of the largest Medinas (walled cities) in the world with a maze of around 9,500 narrow alleys, all full of shops, souks and houses. You would be lost within minutes without a guide! It was absolute chaos on the streets, which were packed full of local people, traders and some tourists, with lots of donkeys and motorbikes too.
Out of nowhere, we were shown in to the Cherratine Madrasa (Islamic school), which was built in 1670 – it was so serene, a sanctuary of peace and quiet, completely hidden away from the bustling streets outside. Even though it was just after midday, the low winter sun brought lovely areas of bright sunlight on to one top corner of the central courtyard, with deep shadows elsewhere. The contrast was stunning, especially as the lighter areas picked out the fabulous details in the starkly white plaster stucco and the carved dark cedar wood facades.
We were able to climb up through the building, along the stairs and corridors to the previous classrooms and dormitories, to see much more than you could witness from the courtyard alone. This first image of the sunlit corner through an Islamic arch was taken at 46mm, f/11, 1/125s and ISO 100, while the second shot was higher up again, looking across to a top window. It was taken using 27mm, f/11, 1/160s and ISO 64.
It's only when you see the photos up at 100% on a big computer screen that you see the incredible details in the stucco and timber – you only get a tiny hint of that intricacy on these small website files, and even when we were there, you don’t really see that level of detail, or only in small parts where you can literally touch it. It was my favourite place so far in Morocco.
We were up early in the morning to see the Royal Palace of Fes (or Fez), though just on the outside. It is one of the many palaces in Morocco for the King of Morocco, who is the ruler of the country, not simply a figurehead. These are the elaborate main gates at the Place des Alaouites. The palace dates from the 13th century but most was actually built in the 17th to 20th centuries – these gates, old as they look, were built in 1970!
The classic Islamic/Moorish arches are in evidence again, as are the five material elements of this architectural style - marble, timber, stucco, mosaics and calligraphy, plus quite a bit of ornate bronze on the doors. This shot was taken at the widest zoom of my Z 24-120mm f/4 S using f/9, 1/100s and ISO 200.
On top of the palace walls there were larger number of White Storks (Ciconia ciconia) making their winter nests. This pair were busy moving sticks and twigs around in a very large nest, though there seems to be a bit of old blanket up there as well! We had seen many storks on the roads around the city too, nesting on pylons, microwave towers or street lights. They nest here on their migration from southern Africa to Europe, crossing the Mediterranean at the Strait of Gibraltar, where the water is only about 15km wide. This image was taken at the narrowest zoom of my Z 24-120mm f/4 S using f/8 for good depth of field, 1/500s for movement and ISO 140. I use the Auto ISO function for wildlife images, as it enables accurate exposures when you do not have time to carefully set the aperture, speed and ISO manually. Unlike the previous F-mount lenses, which could be a little soft at their zoom extremes, these mirrorless Z-mount lenses are fantastic throughout their range (of zoom and aperture).
I had to crop the picture quite tightly to 3,000 by 2,000 pixels, which is the smallest size that I can sell on Alamy. I did also have my 70-200mm f/4 lens and a D500 on this trip, but not at this particular moment, which is why the 120mm zoom on my Z 7II is always very useful.
Between Chefchaouen and Fes, we stopped at both Volubilis and Meknes. The Roman ruins of Volubilis were from the 1st and 2nd centuries, before the fall of the city to local Berber tribes in 285. The Triumphal Arch, or Arch of Caracalla, was built in 217 to honour the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antonius, whose nickname was Caracalla – he was also a North African. The arch features the classic semi-circular shape of the Roman style. This arch is formed from one circular arc, based centrally. Through the arch, you can see the foothills of the Middle Atlas Mountains, which peak at around 3,400m. This shot was taken using my Z 24-120mm f/4 S at 27mm, f/11, 1/125s and ISO 100.
Later in the day, we looked around the Medina (old walled city) of Meknes. This is the entrance door to the Mausoleum of Moulay Ismail, who was the Sultan of Morocco from 1672 to 1727. His mausoleum was built in 1703, though amended after his death in 1727-29. We had a fascinating tour around inside too, though you cannot really get any high-quality pictures inside, without using exposures of about 1s, which need a tripod, of course – this was too difficult to do. The whole building is all in the classic Moorish style, which is the type of Islamic architecture seen in the Western Mediterranean, ie the Iberian Peninsula (Spain & Portugal) and North Africa. The Islamic arch style here is formed from two circular arcs, which result in the typical pointed top to the arch. The entrance also features the five elements of Moorish architecture – marble, timber, carved or moulded stucco/plaster, tiled mosaics and calligraphy. This photo was taken using 29mm, f/11, 1/160s and ISO 100.
Down at the Kasbah again in Chefchaouen, this first image captures a sunburst through the turrets of the 15th century fortress. It was about 3.30pm, with the sun getting lower in the winter sky. I took quite a few here waiting for the red Moroccan flag to unfurl sufficiently in the breeze. The green pentagram star represents the five pillars of Islam, while the red background is the blood of the ancestors and the French colonialists! Also featured is the top of the octagonal minaret of the Grand Mosque, which was built in about 1550.
The photo was taken at 39mm on my Z 24-120mm f/4 S lens using f/11, 1/160s and ISO 100. I used a WB of 6,500K and held the sky back by one stop to better capture the sunburst.
Later in the afternoon, we walked up the Spanish Mosque at sunset to view the panorama over the whole city. This second shot was a panoramic view merged from 5 photos in Photoshop. It was taken about 10 minutes before the actual sunset at 6.30pm, though the sun had already popped behind that particular ridge of the Rif Mountains.
It was another lovely mix of orange and blue colours – the huge numbers of shades of orange in the clouds, combined with the darkening blues of the sky and the light blues of the city buildings at dusk. There are also the crepuscular rays shooting from the mountain peak, which point back to the location of the sun itself. In the full-size image, which is 15,600 by 4,600 pixels (72MP), you can see the fine detail of the walls of the densely-packed old city (the Medina) on the right, with the newer city surrounding it, mainly to the left. You only get a hint of that detail in this much smaller web image, which is only 0.7MP! The five photos were all taken at 30mm, f/8, 1/125s and ISO 200.
After a long drive from Casablanca, we arrived right up in the north of the country, just below the Rif Mountains, which peak at around 2,000m. Here, we stayed at Chefchaouen, aka The Blue City for very obvious reasons. The city was founded in 1471 and was painted blue shortly afterwards, partly to reflect the sky, partly to keep it cool and partly to keep mosquitoes away.
I took this panorama of the whole city on the way in at about 5pm. The medina, or old walled city, is almost central in the shot, tucked right at the foot of the mountains. The image consists of two photos merged together in Photoshop, giving a picture that is around 10,600 by 4,600 pixels, ie about 49MP. Both images were taken on my Nikon Z 7II mirrorless full-frame (FX) camera with the wonderfully versatile Z 24-120mm f/4 S lens, using 27mm, f/11, 1/125s and ISO 100. Besides the typical adjustments of the RAW files in Lightroom, I used a White Balance (WB) of 6,000K and held the sky back with a mask by 0.4 stops.
I had to do a fair amount of cleaning up of the final image, as Morocco has a staggering problem with rubbish everywhere. Seemingly, the majority of Moroccans keep their houses and cars clean, but happily throw rubbish everywhere else – an odd trait for a strongly religious and community-based society.
About an hour later, which was then about 30 minutes before sunset, ie the Golden Hour, we walked around the main part of the city. The orange glow of the dying sunlight on the orange Kasbah was fantastic – no sign of any blue buildings in this shot, though the sky was gloriously clear and blue. The Kasbah was the original fort of the old city, built in 1471. As with most city images, you need to look upwards to avoid the people (and the donkeys!) and various other bits of clutter (and rubbish) spoiling the view. I can only sell images on Alamy without any people, as otherwise you need to get model releases, which is impossible in a public space. This photo was taken using 34mm on the same camera/lens combination, with f/8, 1/125s and ISO 125. The best WB was still 6,000K and I held the sky back here by 0.3 stops.
We had a great personal guide for this trip, who told us so much about the history, religion, culture, peoples and traditions of each region – you could fill an entire book with all his pearls of wisdom!