Porlamar: A Freelance Photographer's Messy Guide

porlamar, man, what a place. i've been chasing light for a week now, and this *beach town keeps surprising me. got my cam and three lenses strung around my neck like medals, sweating through my shirt at 9am. just checked the weather-it's that sticky 25°C feeling right now, where the air clings to your skin like cheap perfume. if you're coming, bring a fan. or three. humidity is no joke here, makes my lens fog up faster than a cold beer in a sauna.

stumbled into this local market yesterday. chaos. vendors yelling prices, fruit stacked like neon pyramids, and one guy selling what looked like suspiciously bright spices. someone told me the mangoes are legit, but the street food? risky. i heard a warning from a local bartender-who was definitely three sheets to the wind-that the empanadas near the port can give you 'a souvenir you won't forget.' so yeah, stick to the stuff that's busy.

"if you get bored, Caracas is a short flight away, but honestly? why would you? this place has more texture in one alley than that whole city has."

"someone said the sunsets here are fake. like, photo-shopped fake. nah, bro. seen 'em with my own tired eyes."

shooting street art at dawn is my jam. the light's soft, the city's still groggy, and you get these incredible silhouettes against crumbling walls. found this mural near the old fort-vibrant, but not the 'vibrant' travel mags use. raw. real. like the island itself.

"i heard that the tourist traps on the main strip? overpriced. go two blocks back. ask for 'el viejo' at the blue door. he knows the cheap rum spots."

pro-tip: pack a tripod. seriously. the coastal winds* pick up hard after lunch, and trying to shoot handheld is like wrestling a ghost. also, that pressure drop? 897 hPa. my sinuses are screaming, but the skies stay clear. weird trade-off.

before you go, check the Porlamar Local Boards for pop-up art shows. and if your gear breaks? Yelp lists this tiny repair shop run by a guy who fixes lenses with what looks like dental tools. sketch, but it works.