Carnival Costumes: Indian Chief Feather Hat, Barcelona, Spain

Another one for the road, a boy wearing an Indian Chief feather hat during Carnival 2008 celebrations in Barcelona. I am trying to get more colorful pictures, I calibrated my monitor recently but as you know that's not an easy task. My screen is relatively big but not too good in quality. It looks somewhat softer now but I can perceive all the gray scale tonalities. Maybe in my attempt to make my images more contrasty they show too dark on your monitor. Perhaps they look more saturated now. No matter what the final result is I hate dull pictures, at least unintentional dull pictures. We may not be good photographers but at least let's avoid that disgusting washed out look. I know many of you obtain quite colorful images full of contrast, any tips that might help us all enhance our photos?

Barcelona Carnival Costumes: Clowns in the Mirror

Barcelona Carnival costumes detail. Two clowns or is it just one, looking at herself in the mirror? As usual this picture looks better if enlarged. I could have cropped the faces but I wanted to keep the hand gesture and the out of focus clown in the far right to emphasize the fact they are on top of a carnival float. Am I digressing here? Well at least she is cute and those piercings give her quite a modern look. See if you can find her clown nose.

Carnival Costumes: Girl With Mantilla

Another carnival photograph taken in Barcelona. This time, a girl covered with a colorful mantilla or manta cloak. Our Carnival 2008 has been a total success and fortunately it started to rain just when celebrations ended around 11:30 at night.

Carnival Costumes: Three Men In White, Barcelona, Spain

This is my second image about Carnival costumes. As I said most of them are regional clothes mainly from the immigrants, the new Catalans that added the brightest colors to Carnival celebrations in the city of Barcelona. This year a new variant has been introduced in the event: the Rua, that is, all the participants in the parade (about 3000 people) walked along Passeig Maragall, a long avenue in the Nou Barris and Horta Quarters about 20 minutes from the city center (subway or bus). As you can imagine to have such an important event happening in front of your door once in a life time makes all the citizens in this part of town quite happy. No more traffic jams going downtown to find that there's no room to watch the parade and then walk your way back because the subway is packed with people or buses won't stop. It was about time authorities organized Carnivals in other areas of Barcelona. I don't know who the smart guy or girl was, but hey, you can have yourself a couple of drinks, I pay!

Carnival Costumes: Sisters on Fire

With this post I start my Barcelona Carnival series. Most of my coming pictures are costumes, specially regional costumes. But as you can see kids make better images due to their spontaneity and that ability to find magic where our untrained eye hardly sees happiness and beauty.

Carnival Time in Barcelona!

Hereby I want to make clear that this blog is not dead. No way! With this enthusiastic cry of joy I want to declare carnival season open in Barcelona Photoblog. I know many of you wanted to know about this important event in Barcelona so I have a whole set of carnival images coming your way. Please forgive my irregular posting, I think sometimes we need a little break to gasp for some fresh air. By the way this February my photo blog will be two years old. I don't believe in celebrations but I am happy to be around and be able to share some time with you.

The Age of Innocence: Young Little Adults

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Three little kids in their carnival costumes last February in Barcelona. Concentrated, looking at bigger students parading in fancy outfits. I didn't ask them to stand still, they were like statues themselves pricking their ears and absorted. What do you see when you contemplate this scene? Do you still see the child inside yourself? Do you remember you once lived in the age of innocence? If only we could be in their shoes, at least spiritually, and rediscover colors, fantasy, nice smells, euphoria, laughter, the warmth of our parents' hands and see only kindness in our peers' eyes. I don't take many photos of kids but I really enjoyed these young little adults.

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A Mouse-Like Zebra Costume

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There are some pictures from last Friday, when I took some photographs in my daughter's school at random just to show you the funny costumes some kids designed for the occasion, like this zebra which in fact looks like a mouse to me!.

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Carnival Masks in Barcelona

Saturday was raining cats and dogs so I decided not to go to the Carnival parade. Today we went for a walk downtown and still could see costumes here and there or take shots of beautiful masks like these displayed in a shop in the Gothic Quarter or Barri Gotic. I took some more pictures in the area, not related to today's topic, which I will show you soon.

More about Carnival in Barcelona

Barcelona Carnival 2007: Feather Mask

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Carnival 2007 is on, today there will be a parade or Rua de Carnaval departing at 20:30 from carrer Gran de Gràcia/Plaça de Lesseps up to Als Jardinetes de Gràcia. There will be other parades but this will be the biggest. Schools like every year in Barcelona, organized their own carnestoltes where the strangest costumes could be seen. I took two scores of photographs of kids in assorted outfits but I was not expecting the cherry on top at the very end of yesterday's party, in my daughter's schoolyard. Mysteriouly and seductively, out of the blue, showed up this woman wearing an attractive smile behind an exuberant feather mask, like an illustrious lady travelling incognito on a secret affair during a Venetian Masquerade.

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Carnival 2007 is Around the Corner

Carnestoltes is almost here! Carnival 2007 (February 17th thru 21st) will start in a few days in Barcelona. Carnival comes from Latin carnem+levare (raise meat)in allusion to Lent, a period of sorrowful reflection to identify with Jesus' redemptive death. As you know these celebrations are deeply rooted in paganic rituals dating back to Roman times. Of course these two kids are unaware of that but traditions endure the past of time and there is a sort of wild call inside telling us that spring is coming soon so we have to celebrate, with flesh or without!. Now that Ash Wednesday is coming and we are talking about flesh, let's watch and listen to a wonderful song called Ashes to Ashes.

PS: Don't forget there are two Holga 120 CFN Color Flash Cameras for free in the ABSOLUTLOMO CONTEST! and anyone can participate.

Hot Costumes

Now that is carnival time there´s nothing like "hot" costumes to wear. I noticed this funny windowcase where manikins were basking in the sun on top of the main floor of this little shop at Plaza Ibiza in Horta, a quarter near the hills surrounding the city.

Carnival in Barcelona

Carnival is a name for any kind of revelry or festivity. By tradition, it is the season just before Lent celebrated by merrymaking, processions, dancing, and feasting. During Carnival week masked balls, processions of decorated floats through the streets, costume parades, and feasting generally mark the celebration. The word "carnival" probably comes from the medieval Latin carnelevarium, meaning to take away or remove meat (in the past, Catholics were forbidden to eat meat during the 40 days of Lent). The first day of the carnival season varies from country to country. Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday, from the custom of using up meat and fats in the home before Lent, here in Spain is Fat Thursday.

Barcelona's Carnival is not very important, there is no central parade - individual districts organize and hold their own. At night-time, during the week before Ash Wednesday the streets are full of people dressed up and many parties are held (the most popular of which is usually held in the Spanish Village - Poble Espanyol - on the Saturday night). During the day children's carnivals are organized and most schools let the children go in fancy dress on the Friday before Ash Wednesday.