Marble Living Statue With Lady In Las Ramblas, Barcelona

A Touch of Marble and a Lot of Friendship

Since today's post is going to deal with awards and friendship, I couldn't think of a better image to start with than this one. What better symbol of connection is there than a handshake? Here we have one of those anonymous Barcelona street artists—a "marble" statue completely draped in white cloth—breaking his frozen character to share a warm moment with a tourist.

I love the contrast in this shot. You have the cold, rigid appearance of the statue, mimicking stone right down to the draped fabric and the face covering. And then you have this lovely lady in a bright turquoise dress, wearing a smile that is as sunny as the street itself. She looks proud and happy, like a child meeting a hero. It’s a funny, sweet reminder that behind the "stone," there is a person smiling back.

You Made My Day Award

Speaking of making people smile, I was absolutely thrilled to be granted the "You Make My Day" award by Beautiful Places blog (Update: 2025 link not available anymore). It is a wonderful site that you should visit often, and I want to say thanks so much to them. It really means a lot to me that you chose my blog.

As part of the tradition, I want to pass the torch to 5 blogs that always manage to make my day a little better. A big thank you to these creators for always being so supportive and friendly. It is a real pleasure to know you, and I highly recommend everyone check out their creative work:

• Secrets by Quintarantino
• Com Imagens by Daniel and Carol
• Nashville Daily Photo by Chris
• Wailea Daily Photo by Kuanyin
• Momentos by Dsole

The Rules (and a Note)

Please don't worry if you break the chain; I won't consider it rude at all since I am not a huge enthusiast of strict rules myself. But mostly, I just like that someone thought of me, which is really flattering. So, I took my time to think of people I care about, like you guys.

For the record, here are the rules I was given:

1. Write a post with links to 5 blogs that you like (update: as 2025 first two are not working anymore).
2. Acknowledge the post of the award giver.
3. Display the "You Make My Day" logo (I put it on my sidebar).
4. Tell the award winners that they have won by commenting on their blogs or emailing them.

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.

Flute Player in BW, Tres Tombs Parade, Barcelona

Black and white pictures are scarce in Barcelona Photoblog as many of you know. There are a few exceptions though. Take the case of this flute player, this flutist girl I captured during last Tres Tombs parade at Sant Andreu quarter. I loved the original image but sometimes I get so carried away by the light that I end up choosing the bw option. I know I am not good at black and white photography but you never know if you don't explore other fields. Not that there's anything special in the action or the subject but I do like the way she spots the camera as she walks and gives me this wary look.