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Showcase
MARCH & APRIL 2026
Caribbean Colors
Virgin Islands National Park
A portfolio of human-made imperfect images. Captured at real locations, using real light and film or digital sensor exposed to real photons. Real life experiences and lasting memories. No AI.
Virgin Islands National Park is located on Saint John, with just 20 sq miles the smallest of the main islands of the USVI. The national park preserves about 60% of the island's land mass and some 9 sq miles of the surrounding ocean.
To get there we flew to Saint Thomas, picked up a rental car and took the car ferry to Saint John. As the island is quite small it is easy to get an overview within a day. We had rented a vacation apartment on the hillside above Cruz Bay, which allowed for easy access to photo locations and restaurants in town. We rented a 2 door Jeep Wrangler, which I strongly recommend for driving there. Most roads are paved but many are extremely steep, narrow, and hairpin curves are quite common on the island. When (not if) it rains the roads become a bit slippery and you will be glad you had opted for a low gear 4x4. Interestingly, on the islands they drive on the left side of the road, but have cars with the steering wheel on the left as well. A bit strange at the beginning but you get used to it very quickly. Compared to some other Caribbean islands traffic there s rather slow, mainly due to the narrow and winding roads, but also to the a bit more laid-back "Living the Dream" attitude on Saint John!
One thing to know is, parking in the national park is very limited and first come-first serve, arriving early pays off. You could take the open-air taxis running from Cruz Bay but this is really only an option for sightseeing and visiting the beaches, which are busy places during the day hours. Surprisingly, at sunrise or sunset, as well as on the trails we met only very few people. As a matter of fact, we didn't encounter any other visitors when I took the photos of this Showcase. Only a wild donkey at Annaberg Plantation and a deer at Peace Hill showed interest in my photography. Not sure how many "likes" this will yield.
Photography-wise, like on most of those islands there are no iconic features like e.g. El Capitan in Yosemite, which would be an obvious photo motive. Here the beauty of nature has to be found by exploring beaches, visiting historic ruins and hitting the trails. The golden and blue hours around sunrise and sunset are also the best times to experience the pastel color shades of the Caribbean.
I hope you enjoy the photos.
JMZ
Trunk Bay
If there is an iconic view in Saint John it is likely this overview of Trunk Bay. The area is named for the leatherback turtles, which are locally called "trunks". This is arguably the most popular beach on Saint John.
Trunk Bay at Sunrise
Actually I hadn't planned to shot at Trunk Bay that morning at all. The plan was to set up tripod and camera at Cinnamon Bay before sunrise. Right when I got started a local but heavy downpour happened. Within seconds I was soaked, a park ranger we met refered to it as the "island blessing". We decided to go back and change for breakfast. When we came by Trunk Bay overview the sun was just rising behind the mountains. The shower had passed and we had this amazing soft light. Guess what? Changing cloths? Can wait!
Trunk Bay at Sunset
The same location, however this time after sunset. Around sunset the temperatures were quite pleasant but shooting in shorts had one big downside. We didn't see mosquitos but they do have no-see-ums aka Ceratopogonidae, tiny biting flies. Two days later my legs looked like I had the measles. For the following few days hydrocortisone was my best friend . Leason learned: use DEET.
Beach Impressions
Of course when you visit a tropical island you want to take pictures of the beaches. I decided to start a small project trying to capture the soft light around sunrise and the pastel colors of the sky and the ocean. The price: daily wakeup at 5am. The treat: breakfast at 7:30am. The bonus: enjoying a people-free beach at sunrise.
Little Hawksnest Beach
A small beach that can be reached via going west on Hawksnest Beach and scrambling over a large outcropping of rocks, When I took this shot it was much darker than the photo suggests, It is a long exposure frame, which captured the soft pre dawn colors and smoothed the water.
Cinnamon Beach
Another popular beach on Saint John. With a length of a little over 1 mile Cinnamon Beach is the longest beach in Saint John. It is a white coral sand beach, this rocky area is at the east end of the beach. As you can see localized downpours are not uncommon at that time of the year.
Blue Hour at Cinnamon Beach
The hues are very much depending on the light and weather conditions. This is the exciting thing when shooting before sunrise, You never know what you will come back with. When you set up the tripod and camera you still need the headlight. Then the long exposure time reveals the pastel color shades of the early morning light.
Little Hawksnest Beach
Tranquillity and gentle waves at sunrise in paradise.
Cinnamon Beach Pastels
A Caribbean sunrise
Blue Hour
An overcast dawn at Cinnamon Beach
Petroglyphs of a lost Culture
The petroglyphs of the Taino people are accessible via the Reef Bay trail. About halfway down to the bay a short side trail leads to a seasonal waterfall where the petroglyphs are located. The black basalt rock carvings are believed to be from the pre-columbian era. Many of the carvings are right above the waterline of a reflection pool, It was a partly cloudy day in the tropical forest and from time to time the sun came through providing extrem contrasts, which made it challenging to photograph them. For only a very brief moment the sunlight spotlit one of the carvings, which resulted this photo. The face became much more grafic and almost made you feel like it was watching you!
Ram Head Trail
Located in the southeast of Saint John is Ram Head, the southeastern tip of the island. This is an arid area located in the rain shadow. Because of this unique setting the fauna is quite different from the more tropical parts of the island. Here you can find two distinct cactus species, Pilosocereus armatus and the more colorful Turk's cactus.
Sugar Plantation Ruins
The history of the US Virgin Islands was heavily shaped by European colonization in the 1600s. Originally the former Danish colony focused on sugar production and slavery, later in 1917 the archipelago was sold to the United States. Today the sugarcane fields are overgrown by forest but many ruins of the former sugar plantations are still visible.
One of the most famous one is Annaberg Plantation which is located in the northwest of St John. The facility was established in 1721 and served as a plantation and a sugar factory. The photos below show the windmill which powered the machinery that crushed the sugarcane to extract the sugar sirup.
The first frame was taken in the evening just after sunset. The two other frames show the mill before and at sunrise. Because of the Tradewinds clouds move very fast there, only about 20 minutes past between the second and the third frame.
America Hill Great House Ruin
The trail to this ruin starts at Cinnamon Bay. It is a steep but only 1.8 mile long trail. At the top you reach the remains of the former great house and a detached cookhouse overlooking Maho & Francis Bay. Originally built in the early 1800s it served as a guesthouse for travelers in the early 1900s.
Cinnamon Bay is also home to a former sugar plantation. From the plantation a trail leads through dense tropical forest to a small historic Danish family cemetery. The photo shows two above-ground vaults, which date back to the 18th or 19th century.
Windy Hill Great House Ruins
Also known as the Murphy Great House Ruins this estate overlooks Waterlemon Bay, it was built in the late 18th century. Today the ruins are overgrown and when we visited the site the wildflowers were in full bloom. An amazing view.
Peace Hill Plantation
Established in 1718 this was one of only five plantations on Saint John that employed wind power in sugar production. It is an easy hike to reach the windmill which is overlooking Trunk Bay to the east and Hawksnest Bay to the west. The first frame was taken at sunrise and this was a tricky shot. I envisioned a low contrast, almost ethereal image of the windmill with the rising sun in the background. We went there the evening before and I scouted the location. Since the USVI aren't too far from the equator it is easy to predict exactly where the sun would rise. The length of day shifts only about plus/minus 30 minutes throughout the year. Therefore no sophisticated calculations (or app) were needed. I wanted the sun rising right in the gap left to the windmill. This part worked but the light conditions were really brutal. An almost cloudless but hazy sky combined with a bright rising sun, plus a dark foreground made it impossible to control the contrasts. I had expected something like that and was prepared to do several shots with different exposure times for a post-production exposure blend. At location, however, the light was changing so quickly that I gave up that option and decided to let go the highlights (what I usually never do) in order to save the midtowns and the shadows.
The second frame was taken around sunset. A much easier light situation.
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