Sometimes the Journey Is the Reward

We were between locations — hours into yet another drive across the volcanic desert of southwestern Bolivia. The kind of place where the road is barely a suggestion, and the landscape shifts from black rock to golden dunes without warning.

We weren’t chasing a shot. We weren’t expecting anything.

But then, this happened.

A sudden break in the storm. A sliver of light, soft as a sigh, touching the ochre hills just long enough to reveal a hidden rainbow — like a secret meant only for those who take the long way.

I barely had time to raise the camera — GFX 50S II, GF 35-70mm, handheld at f/5.6, 1/250 sec, ISO 800. No filters, no tripod. Just instinct.

Moments like this remind me why I travel with a camera, even when the light seems hopeless or the day feels like a write-off. Because not every reward is planned. Not every photo is the goal. Sometimes, the quiet, in-between moments — the ones you can’t script — are the ones that stay with you.

This frame is a reminder that beauty doesn’t just wait at the destination. Sometimes, it’s found on the side of the road, in a flash of color that vanishes just as quickly as it arrived.