Barcelona Psychedelic Garden

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This jazzy yellow flower deserved some tweaking in Photoshop so why not give it a psychedelic mood to make it more artistic. As usual I need help to know the name of this specimen but the most important thing is its intrinsic beauty. I must confess that my fascination for photography is growing rapidly and every picture is taking me more and more time but I enjoy the process of creation like a child with a new box of color pencils and a white wall. Of course some people would have preferred the flower as such but then it would be just a static report of reality.
Recommended: An essay called Just say 'Yes' by Alain Briot, the famous landscape photographer whose tutorials I recommended here before. The author analyzes typical questions photographers have to hear often, such as “Do you manipulate your photographs?” or “Do you change the colors?” "Is this real?". For French readers I recommend his excellent site about high res photography Gallerie-Photo.

Latest News: Last Tuesday night, famous lizard fountain by Antoni Gaudi at the entrance of Parc Güell was destroyed by three vandals according to reports published today in El Periódico de Catalunya.

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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.

Estrella Damm, Damm Good Catalan Beer

One hundred and thirty forty years  is enough time for a beer to be prestigious and renown.

Founded in 1876, the Damm Beer Group has consolidated as one of the most solid beer brewers in Spain. The Catalan beer reinvents itself every year with aggressive and successful campaigns like the Monoblock 2006 and 2008 with Custo Barcelona among others or their sponsorship in many sports events especially soccer games.

Aside from other products sold by the group likeVoll-Damm, Inedit, Daura, Xibeca, Free Damm, Damm Lemon, Bock-Damm, AK Damm, Saar or Redeberger, it is Estrella Damm, by far, the most popular beer in Catalan bars. 

Such is the popularity that instead of saying 'a beer please', you say 'give me a Estrella'. Moritz, an old competitor, has regained position in the market in the last years. But there is an enormous list of crafted beers made in Catalonia that are knocking at the door of consumers and that are by far, much more pleasant if you are into finding new flavors. We old buddies from the block gathering around the counter are still fond of classic stuff, be it because of quality, tradition or commercials.

Here is a full view of the Damm brewery  and a link to the Damm Group Site and the Estrella Damm web site where you can learn about its history or watch their gallery.

Catalan Romanesque: Wood Carving

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The Virgin with Child, a wood carving quite common in old churches around Catalonia like the one I visited this weekend in Gualba de Dalt about 30 or 40 minutes away from Barcelona city by car. To learn more about Catalan Romanesque, visit the National Art Museum of Catalonia (MNAC). The quality of the image is not good but I like it. The hieratic figures, the roses that look like brush strokes and the light give the image a special mood (in my opinion of course).

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Pieta in Gualba de Dalt, Barcelona Province

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Better to publish late than not to publish at all. This is what is known as a Pietà, that is, the Virgin holding the dead body of Christ. It is located in the romanesque church of a town called Gualba de Dalt in the province of Barcelona. Gualba is part of the Natural Park of Montseny.

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Catalan Modernisme: Lamp at Palau de la Música

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I am going to be brief today, it is Saturday and we have to enjoy the real world! Just in case you can't quit the habit I leave you this lamp, an elaborate example of Catalan Art Nouveau or Modernisme hanging inside our famous concert hall Palau de la Musica. Although beautiful as such, I thought it was better to use some tone mapping with an HDR program and thus enhance the design in the ceiling, the glass, the wood and of course the lamp. Have a nice weekend!

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Catalan Architecture: Balcony at Plaza Catalunya

Here is a detail of the Casa Bosch Alsina balcony at the intersection of Rambla de Catalunya and Ronda Universitat (Plaza Catalunya 8), just next to H10 Catalunya Plaza Hotel. To get a better idea see Casa Bosch Alsina balcony in Google maps street view.

PS: Don't forget there are two Holgas for free in the ABSOLUTLOMO CONTEST! and anyone can participate.

Barcelona Waterfront: Hotel Arts and Mapfre Tower

Here is a dusk image of the walk in front of Barcelona's Olympic Village. On the right you can see the Mapfre Tower, which is an office building and Hotel Arts. In the background the famous El peix d'or (Gold Fish), by Frank O.Ghery and on the left from this point on, a leisure area full of restaurants, always plenty of tourists, with good, bad and very bad restaurants.

I apologize for any inconvenience Blogger might cause you whenever you try to access my archives. I had in mind to change topic and call it "Shame on Blogger" but they don't deserve that much attention. Now there is a major bug in the beta bloggers' pages, something called error code bX-vjhbsj, which either won't let you see archives or crash the whole site. Unbelievable in this day and age and so far after many thousands of claims yet unsolved, and worse, not even faced in public by staff.

Now, changing subject...today was the theme day in the City Daily Photo group. It is about " What really annoys you in your city". Obviously my image is not related (it must be that I like everything :), but I highly recommend you browse this list to find real curious things and of course to support all the effort behind our daily work.

(Albuquerque, NM (USA)

(Dubai (U.A.E.)

(Evry (France)

(London (UK)

(Sequim, WA (USA)

(Seattle, WA (USA)

(Stavanger (Norway)

(Joplin , MO (USA)

(Nelson, New Zealand )

(La Antigua (Guatemala)

(Nottingham UK )

(Not Strictly Seattle, )

(Bandung (Indonesia)

(Vantaa (Finland)

(Hyde (UK)

(Madrid by Dsole (Spain)

(Oulu (Finland)

(Saarbr?cken (Germany)

(St. Paul [Carol] )

(Sydney (Australia)

(Tokyo (Japan)

(Kyoto (Japan)

(Trujillo (Peru)

(Shanghai (China)

(Nice, (France)

(Naples, Florida (USA)

(Hong Kong)

(Quito, Ecuador (South America)

(Cottage Grove, MN (USA)

(Paris, (France)

(Auckland (New Zealand)

(Newcastle upon Tyne(England)

(Houston, TX (USA)

(Sydney by Nathalie (Australia)

(Mumbai (India)

(Anderson, SC (USA)

The Castle of Cardona

Remember we talked about the Spanish War of Succession, well this picture was taken in the castle of Cardona, the last redoubt of Charles VI of Austria's supporters before being occupied by Philip V's bourbonic troops in 1714. High upon a hill of the Cardona valley, known by its salt mines and near the Cardoner river, this historical romanesque and gothic castle built in 886 by Guifré el Pilós, used to be the house of the Dukes of Cardona, one of the most powerful families in the Crown of Catalonia and Aragon. 

It is a real joy to stay up there on a bright day, sitting on the grass right next to the base of the surrounding walls to look over the neighboring village and the salt mines or to climb the ramparts and explore the ruins like this sort of firing hole from where the rampart was protected. There is even a wonderful place to stay inside the castle which recommend: El Parador de Cardona.

Berries

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Today I resume my garden shots. I want those of you who are experts on botanics to find this out for me. I would like to know the name of this berry. Hey, it is not another competition. You have time enough to participate in the absolutelomo contest (I have to choose two winners now, so you see it is not that difficult to take the prize, and one thing is clear someone is going to take the Holgas). As to the berries, I took them in the garden of a hotel in Riells near Barcelona. It was early morning and the light was superb. I want to thank those of you, especially Isabella and Curly who helped me with the name of those flowers in a previous post: cyclamens. Also Ruth for suggesting the flower was a primrose in the Bird Hawk Moth post (thanks Mark for correcting my mistake). So come on lend me a hand with this one.

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My Vintage Camera - Check AbsolutLomo Contest!

What is it with old things that they are so attractive to us after all these years? Why is retro in?. Why are vintage cameras so cool, like this rusty German Voigtländer V6 I treasure? Or why are old "communist" Russian cameras so in fashion now. 

I'm in my forties fifties and I always catch up late with the latest trends, but there's one that has come around here to stay and I go nuts about: Lomography. 

How many times haven't you heard - "Hey, Russian cameras are rather ugly but their optics are state-of-the-art". So this is not something new. Now our kids are going to start telling us about Holgas, Zenits, Kievs or Horizons...wait a minute, I already knew that! I already liked the typical old washed out look or had a knack for those fisheye cameras!. 

And now you wonder, why do I tell you all this?. Well, it happens that I frequently visit this web called Absolut Lomo featuring a wonderful gallery in Sweden where artists pin their lomo pictures on a wall and you can zoom in till you see each and every single lomo image at will. After one of those visits I have been invited to host a CONTEST!, yes, really!. Let me give you some details, first I give you the, "What do I get?": You get a totally free lomo camera, a Holga, and there are no minor details, no tricks, the bad news is I can only choose one winner among you but if you are not the "chosen one" you still have your wonderful lomo work hanging on the gallery wall so there is nothing to lose. It is a new kind of contest organized by Absolut Lomo (yes the same Absolut in the famous brand you all know). 

Now I give you the "What should I do?": you only have to enter Absolut Lomo, register for free, go to the "Submit to Lomo" section and upload your shot, then, and this is important so I can choose!, you send me the link to your lomo picture on the wall. That's it, and in just two short weeks any of you will be the lucky one. I send them my final veredict and they send you the camera. With a present like this who can resist to Lomography, a passionate hobby.

Update: This contest is no longer valid. And the website Absolut Lomo no longer exists. The Voigtländer though is still with me as well as the Holga which I eventually use for my Lomo photography.

Barcelona Heron City: Neon Palm Trees

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This is a detail of Barcelona Heron City, a big shopping center in Nou Barris district. I have shown you some other images about this leisure complex that I usually visit when I go to the movies (today we saw Night at the Museum). As my photo stock keeps diminishing I took my camera just in case. We stepped out of the cinema, and the first thing I saw were these red neons on those atrezzo palm trees. No sooner I shot them and got my eye out of the viewfinder, two ex-disco goons now acting as shop private guards came to me and said, "hey, you can shoot people but not panos of Heron City. What's wrong with taking pictures of a shopping center anyway? Well guys I think you should read this item of news: Gerald Ronson, the developer has agreed a deal with Australian investment firm Babcock & Brown to sell Heron City in Barcelona, its flagship leisure and retail scheme, for around €140m (£95m).

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Lonesome Biker at the Beach

Taking someone against the sea is a very common shot cause it usually works fine. I got this lonesome biker reading at the beach near La Barceloneta quarter. It would be a very boring picture (ok, it is boring already I know) if it weren't for the light falling on those boats on the horizon. Here I show you an aerial picture of the place and to compensate for the lack of "interestingness" of the post I leave you with three Barcelona clips I found at Discovery.com. Enjoy them and have a nice weekend.

Defying Gravity on a BMX

I wish I had more time to post-process this image. I dismissed the original soft colors and decided to work with tritones, an orange/gray/black combination in fact, using the BW Workflow Pro plugin by Fred Miranda in Photoshop. I would have made it more contrasty but it was late and I could hear my bed calling me from the other room. You know the scene already from a previous post this month so there is no need to resume the BMX topic. In this one I liked the look of those kids on the right, with that mixture of desdainful look and secret admiration towards the skillful fellow so I moved the main subject further to the left on purpose.

Rafael Casanova Statue: Catalan Sculptural Realism

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This is the monument in honor of Rafael Casanova (1660 - 1743), Chief Councillor of the City of Barcelona in the previous year to the invasion of Philip V troops (Bourbons) during the War of the Spanish Succession. It is one of the two significant statues (the other is that of Josep Moragues) where members of the Catalan government lay flowers to commemorate La Diada, the National Day of Catalonia on September 11th. The historic figure, Casanova, is a subject of controversy between Catalans and some other people in Spain (there are lots of political subtleties behind this topic and I am not going to deal with them).
Some facts: Rafel Casanova was appointed Conseller en Cap in 1713, Barcelona was on the Austrian side (Habsburgs) so the city was besieged by Bourbonic troops. The militia led by Casanova and other officers resisted three assaults in a row, until food and powder were scarce and some claims of armistice were made. Nonetheless, rendition was rejected until Barcelona fell in the final assault of September 11th, 1714. Rafael Casanova had been wounded in the leg during battle, and his family hid him from Bourbonic repression declaring, legally (there was a death act), he was dead. Dressed like a friar, he left the city and reappeared after an amnisty in 1719. He died in 1743. Those were times of resistance, heroic resistance, to defend the honor of the city and its inhabitants. The rest is history, and history is always interpreted and reinterpreted according to people's beliefs, but that, is another story. By the way the statue is by Rossend Nobas one of the best representatives of Catalan sculptural realism. Don't miss the omnipresent pigeons!

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Moderniste Tower in Park Guell, Barcelona

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No, this is not Disney Land. It is a little older than that. You are watching a tower located inside Park Güell, Barcelona. In fact the spire is part of a house where the park's museum is. It is mostly appreciated by tourists for the furniture designed by Gaudi who used to live there for some time. I have a closer shot which I will show you in the future. Today I think is better to contemplate the harmony between a unique piece of architecture and nature.

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Rider Girl in Barcelona

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She looks like a model but this was totally improvised. I was having dinner at Escriba's, one of my favorite Barcelona restaurants, in the terrace just in front of the beach and there she was with her slim figure and biting her tongue in the afternoon sun. The shot was not that bad but it had some golden counter light which made it right for a black and white image so I post-processed it with Photoshop CS2.

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Humming Bird in Barcelona

Leaning over a small pond to take a picture of the flower I saw what I thought was a big drone or a bumblebee feeding. On looking at it closer I realized it was a hummingbird. I was not prepared so I relied on my luck. The bird was not as stunning as in a side profile picture but was visible in my image and the flower was not that bad so I chose to share them with you.

PS: I was wrong, it was a moth, a hummingbird hawk moth

Some Flowers in Riells near Barcelona

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Just some flowers that I shot while visiting a town near Barcelona city but still inside the province, called Riells. This small town is located inside Montseny Natural Park. As I don't know the name of the flowers I would like someone to help me find out.

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Tours of Barcelona: Park Guell, A Visionary's Whim

Like the water that flows through these small gargoyles or spouts connected to a gutter, visitors of all kinds come and go as part of the many Tours of Barcelona to enjoy the architectural design of a master applied to the natural environment of the mountain, in other less pompous words, Park Guell, the whim of a visionary architect, Antonio Gaudi, who was commissioned by Eusebi Güell i Bacigalupi, Count, textile industry businessman, art patron and friend.

Following the Count's idea he was supposed to build a luxury garden city made of private plots surrounded by common greens, based upon a British model by Ebenezer Howard thus the name Park and not Parc as in Catalan. The project was interrupted in 1914. Only three plots had been sold from a total amount of 60. The estate was sold in 1918 by Eusebi's heirs to the city council and became a public park.

Recommended: Some good tips for a Tour in Barcelona can be found in the travel section of The New York Times as Fodor's Choice