Orange Bells

Walking along the fence of Mossen Costa i Llobera Cacti Gardens which happened to be closed on Sunday, I don't know why, I found this beautiful orange flowers that look like pods or long bells. I am unable to determine the name but I do like the bright colors against the green of cacti in the background.

Blowing Up The Color Scale: The Seduction of Red Roses in Barcelona

Oversaturating an image is a risky thing in photography but if not abused it can really draw your visitor's attention. I am trying to get deeper in my "theory" that bright, vivid photographs, especially on the thumbnail level are more probable to bring visitors to your blog. Of course not everything is valid here, if after you zoom in you get terribly disappointed. I accept that reds are too strong in these roses I captured at Rambla dels Flors although I tried not to get that sloppy. I guess there is a long way to master the right balance and I try my best since I am just an amateur in this stuff. I am having a lot of fun in the meantime.

Pink Flowers Fantasy in Rambla dels Flors, Barcelona

And as one is never enough here goes my second post on flower stalls along Rambla dels Flors. Another bouquet, this time a pink bouquet or is it magenta? Well who cares! The thing is it must be nice to see this on the front page along with the previous post. Call me weird but I sometimes like to combine pictures according to colors in my blog, I find it interesting. Sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't. Have a nice day my friends.

Purple Flowers Fantasy in La Rambla de las Flores, Barcelona

A close look on a bouquet of purple flowers in a stall at Rambla dels Flors. As you know Las Ramblas de Barcelona is divided into different sections which I won't recall here not to repeat myself. One of them though is La Rambla de las Flores, a group of flower stalls set along the way which help to create a special mood in this famous part of town.

Colored Flowers Bouquet Detail in La Rambla dels Flors, Barcelona

Due the success the larger picture of flower bouquets in La Rambla dels Flors had, I have decided to perform a little cropping to show you a small detail of the image in my old post. I was wondering how the saturated colors of these artificial flowers would look against the black and white picture I posted yesterday. I want to thank Strangetastes from St. Louis Daily Photoblog for the kind suggestions about other members of the City Daily Photo group who are really good at taking black and white pictures.

Branch Fantasy

In this one, I just liked the way these branches hung, the overlapping of the many flowers, and the happy mood they created in my soul some time last autumn under the bright morning sun. I believe these are bougainvilleas although they look wilder than the garden vine.

Carnation Fresco, Flower Stall, Las Ramblas, Barcelona

Of course this is no fresco, these are real carnations, as shot in a flower stall at Las Ramblas, Barcelona. I added a very subtle pastel effect and it is meant to draw your attention from the distance. It is a very common image, so I took the liberty of playing with it. Although it is almost imperceptible. Here are three pictures that appeared in Barcelona Photoblog in the past, taken in the same place: Flower Bouquets, Flower Stock Photography (notice the same carnations below) and Flower Bouquet at La Rambla dels Flors

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Yellow Flowers Fantasy

This yellow flowers fantasy could be easily called Psychedelic Garden II since it is very similar to a previous post of mine. I took this picture in the cloister garden of Pedralbes Monastery which I will show you tomorrow and of course the original background was green.

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Bougainvillea

Walking along the beach at Sant Pol de Mar near Barcelona I spotted these beautiful bougainvilleas hanging from a white balcony right in front of the sea. Don't forget to check my previous posts about flowers.

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Flower Bouquets at Flower Stall, La Rambla, Barcelona

These colorful flower bouquets I found at one of the flower stalls along La Rambla. 

It was a holiday in Barcelona as today it was the day of Catalonia, that is, La Diada that happens to coincide with the anniversary of the terrible events of the twin towers on September 11th or what we all know as 9/11. 

I went to see if I captured some new images of street artists so abundant in the area and I managed to take some pictures in the end. I will show you in coming posts since on second thought I preferred to post the flowers to honor 9/11 victims and commemorate our Diada.

As you probably know it is common to find flower stands along this famous street, in fact this part is called Ramblas de les Flors or Flower Ramblas because of the big assortment of flowers. 

There is a great offer of bouquets, made not only of natural plants but also of dried colorful flowers, some of them even painted.

Here are some links to examples of some flower bouquets of Las Ramblas, Barcelona as shown in other posts:

1.  Flower Bouquet at La Rambla dels Flors
2.  Carnation Fresco in Flower Stall
3.  Flower Stock Photography
4.  Small Colorful Bouquets of Paper Flowers
5.  Purple Flower Fantasy in Las Ramblas
6.  Pink Flower Fantasy in Las Ramblas

Red Flowers in Memoriam

How much I admire a person with a gift. Not the mundane kind of gift like when you have a talent to make money or to memorize the yellow pages, but the sort of gift that transforms an individual into a unique person, a historical character, a reference for generations to come. Most people have to die first so others become aware of their imprint on history but a few are lucky enough to leave this world with the satisfaction of not being just a number but an idea, a spirit, a name, flowing in the stream of the collective mind till the end of times. I did not have any particular reason to post these red flowers today but one item of news called my attention this morning: Luciano Pavarotti dies at 71. One single headline lost in a sea of tragic stories but ladies and gentlemen we should rise and give his eternal soul a stand-up ovation and throw a thousand red flowers in memoriam.
Una Furtiva Lagrima - Luciano Pavarotti

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A Face-Like Flower

A face-like flower, or at least this is the impression I always get from the distance whenever I come accross with them, is what I have today to bring a colorful note after the dull image in the previous post.

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Flower Classification Wanted!

In another shameful and flagrant act of ignorance and neglection this blogger dares to post another photograph of flowers without even knowing the family, the genus and the species' scientific and common names. Taxonomy lovers must be scratching the back of their necks compulsively, twitching their eyes involuntarily while trying to assimilate this. Well yes, I just know it is a flower. Since this blog is photography oriented, or disoriented sometimes, it is not always prepared to detach from the pixels and light path. There have been some sad stories in the past of Barcelona Photoblog when I dared to mistake a moth for a hummingbird. On the other hand, why losing the opportunity to show you flower pictures just for the sake of beauty. Besides, were you born being called Rose or Hyacinth?, are you going to be ignored if you don't have a name?. I don't think so. In the end, they will give you a name, a simple name, flower or in your case, human being. I advice you to follow this youtube video link, sit and relax.
I quote: In the garden, growth has its seasons. First comes spring and summer, but then we have fall and winter. And then we get spring and summer again.
Unintentional and naive link: Flower

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Blue Cliff Wildflowers in Costa Brava, Spain

Totally offtopic and out of place, I know, but these blue wildflowers that I spotted on a cliff in Costa Brava are beautiful and beauty always has accomodation in this photoblog. I don't know the name of the plant so finding out the name is your assignment for tomorrow. I like the contrast of the blue petals against the sepia tones of the clay color background of the soil.
*Due to requests and after the kind cooperation of smb who told me these were thistles I found more information in wikipedia with a very similar image that indicates these can be especifically Echinops commonly known as globe thistles. I also have to thank Kate for the advice.

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Flower Patch Detail

Today I didn't feel like showing any specific place in Barcelona and I've decided to brighten up your eyes a little bit. I got this beautiful flower patch at Park Guell but framing the whole triangle was too obvious so I finally chose one of the corners to trace a diagonal line in the picture. It's a pity there was that tree shadow but I suppose felling the tree was impossible now that green is a sacred word. I hope I don't disappoint people when Barcelona is not featured in my photoblog in one way or the other but my camera sometimes digresses just as her proud owner.

Flower Digital Photography: Light Purple

Another assignment for flower enthusiasts: I came across these beautiful purple flowers at Park Guell gardens. Due to the long stem and leaves I suppose it is a bulb flower very common in public places but I must have missed that botany lesson so I need your help one more time.

Last quiz answer was Lantanas. Thanks to those who gave me the correct name or enhanced the scarce information of the post.

Update: agapanthus was the name!

Orange and Yellow Flowers at Sant Pau Hospital

Beautiful small orange and yellow flowers which I have seen many times before but I can't identify myself. I can tell you where I found them though: Sant Pau Hospital in Barcelona, Spain. Of course they are quite common and grow in many more places. If you happen to know the name please let me know.

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Garden Flowers: Musings

Not the first time I upload some flowers to my photo blog, and certainly I hope it's not the last time. Beauty is all around and as I am not going to have the eye of Ansel Adams for landscapes or Cartier-Bresson's gift for street photography, I'd better concentrate on capturing my modest reality come what may. There is always some art in minor things too. Take for example a bunch of orange flowers in a garden on your way to work or at your neighbors'. You can take a snapshot every time you pass them by and it will always be a different picture, not just because you arranged them in different compositions but because you were many times in a different mood. So art is also a state of mind, it has to do with the soul, with spirituality, and you must be satisfied first with what you create in order to please others. You may be good at it or clumsy as hell, but it's your work, and it is as legitimate as the art of Da Vinci or Michelangelo. This is what I saw, what filled my soul with joy for some milliseconds and now I want to share the scene with you.

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Well Guarded Thorny Cactus

Well guarded secrets have been protected by the sword for centuries and so does nature sometimes with her treasures in many ways. These small flowers perhaps are meant to carry the fruit of this cactus in the long run so they are better kept somewhere safe among these deterrent daggers. Only insects allowed.
Two interesting links I stumbled upon today: Sidewalk Chalk Guy and Lost Cities.

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Cactus Flowers

As I was missing my flower posts and I had a terrible need for colors again I've decided to display some tiny cacti full of "flowers". As I am not an expert in Botany here is a specific link to the so called cactus flowers. I try not to turn Barcelona Photoblog into a nature photography site but I am color addicted and I guess I am not the only one. To add some valuable content to the picture here is the web adress to the Botanic Garden of Barcelona.