On our first night we walked down to the beach after a brief storm had passed through. That was the cadence of the week: sun, storms, sun. Within those moments though, were startling visions where the light would play in fantastic ways. 

Locals are used to the rain patterns - some keep umbrellas around, others ignore it. This man rocked a hat that was both functional and eye-catching. I had trouble understanding him but he loved being able to see his photo in the back of the camera.

The people on the island knew how to embrace color - young and old. Their houses were colorful; their clothes were colorful. They mimicked the vibrant colors of the nature surrounding them and it transformed people and place.

Religion plays a strong role across the island but everyone has their own version. These two women represented many of the different contrasts on how people practiced. More to come on photographing in sacred spaces - a topic that has been on my mind for years.

With thousands of acres of protected rainforest in the middle of the island, only a handful of towns and cities dot the coastline. It's an extraordinary place and each view is distinctively dramatic. One of the technical challenges of photographing the island was dealing with the haze - a wash of sand blown over the ocean from the Sahara. A polarizer helped but even after I worked hard to bring the image back to the emotions I felt looking out over the sea and land.