inspired photography with just enough perspective
Yesterday I was inside Casa Batlló which is a home designed by Antoni Gaudi. It is a priceless example of design and architecture and has been designated a world heritage site by UNESCO. This is from one of the hallways on the top level. Every nook and cranny is a study in organic lines, ergonomic utility and otherworldly beauty. To someone such as myself who is inspired by design, this house is perhaps one of the most spell binding I have every laid eyes on.
Yesterday we stopped in Collioure which is a French village on the Mediterranean just north of the border with Spain. It’s a lovely little place with views of the sea and many cafes and shops. There is a cathedral right at the edge of the sea and then extending out is a smaller chapel. Perhaps a place to wait or pray for mariners, I’m not really sure. Nonetheless the clouds were dramatic so I captured this as I walked out from the church to the chapel. Once out there the wind was brisk and you would surely lose anything not held tight, yet back in the village there was only a breeze. A perfect place for an afternoon.
Near Queenstown New Zealand is Lake Hayes which has homes and cottages around its perimeter. Most had kayaks or rowboats laying along the shore. As you can see I was here in the autumn when the leaves were changing and carpeting the ground. Off in the distance to the South is the Remarkables, a mountain range that had already started collecting snow. We were here midday and it was fairly warm without much of a breeze, thus providing a glassy surface to the lake. These still waters are more common first thing in the morning, but in this case we had a rare occurrence in the afternoon.
Yesterday we attended a form bloodless bull fighting indigenous to southern France known as course camarguaise. Long story short, it’s an elaborate form of tag played between trained athletes. The athletes are both human and bovine and if you are human you don’t want to be tagged by the bull, that would be bad. I had no idea this even existed but the bulls are very well cared for and seem to enjoy chasing the raseteurs (human athletes) around the arena. All in all it was an absolute amazing spectacle, from the agility and speed of the bulls to the outstanding athletic ability of the raseteurs as they flew out of the arena to avoid the bull. Each bull spent about fifteen minutes in the arena after which he trotted back to his pen, in some cases quite proud of himself. Here is a Wikipedia if you are interested: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullfighting#French
The other day I was walking around the streets of old Montpellier in the afternoon. Is was a fun thing to do but towards the end of the day it started to rain. For most people that poses an inconvenience but for me it increases the possibilities for photos because of the reflections on the ground and reactions of people. Here I am walking back to a parking garage behind a couple of ladies sharing an umbrella. I ended up soaked to the bone but was pretty happy with some of the images. I was also glad I had a warm jacket in the car to change into.
Speaking of rain, I had this photo sitting in the hopper for a while. I was testing out a little plastic bag over my camera to use in the rain. So I went out to the front of my house and took pictures of the raindrops in the gutter. Maybe not as interesting as France, but fun nonetheless. Sometimes I wonder what the neighbors must think.
This was taken at a little western mining town in Apache Junction just outside Phoenix. Set agains the superstition mountains it’s everything you’d imagine including a blacksmith and saloon. I wandered into the saloon not to sure what to expect and when the bartender asked , before I knew it I blurted out, “Whisky”. I don’t even like whisky but I was in the moment. So I took my whiskey to the porch to work up some courage and finally slung it back like a cowboy. As the fire alarms when off in my head I managed to pull out my camera and take a few pictures of the scenery. And that folks, was my little adventure in the wild wild west.
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In the last few days I went from Canada to Florida and then to here in southern France. That’s a lot of time sitting on planes and such and so the very first thing I did to decompress and stretch my legs was take a stroll along this Mediterranean beach. The water is crystal clear and refreshing and the sound of the waves was just what I needed to set the world straight again.
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Its now autumn in the northern hemisphere but I’ve not yet gotten out for some fall pictures. Nevertheless I took this about a year ago in Gorges State Park North Carolina. This is in the Blue Ridge Mountains and I think it’s one of the best places to go for fall colors. I was hiking up stream along a trail towards a much larger waterfall. The trail was short but strenuous and so I kept leaving the trail to look upstream towards the big waterfalls that would mean I was finally there. It was almost as if I had a voice in my head saying “are we there yet?” over and over again. When I finally did reach the falls it felt like the effort was well worth it.
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This was taken at the Lands End beach in San Francisco. When a big wave came in it landed in a flat section behind the rock. Then as the water receded it created this pattern of ripples in the sunlight. A simple thing but I thought it was pretty awesome.
This image is a composite of three images all taken from the same location. The first image was a long exposure of the water receding and forming this pattern. To do that I had to use a small aperture and a neutral density filter. Then, I added the waves on the left from another image that was a short exposure since a long exposure makes the sea appear calm. Finally a third image was taken of a gentleman walking along the beach.
To create this image I stitched all three back together to convey a sense of what I saw on that lovely Sunday afternoon at the beach.
While in San Francisco I just had to “do the bridges”. By that I mean, drive over and take pictures, …just like everybody else. I went through the motions but I didn’t have my heart into it. I mean, it’s only been done one-million-and-four-hundred-and-sixty-two-thousand-and-seven-hundred-and-ninety-two times (excluding Andriod devices). Not like it’s popular or anything. Even when I showed up at 5AM on a MONDAY MORNING there were three other photographers there. I mean, don’t these people have anything better to do than get up early on a MONDAY morning and take yet another picture of the bridge? Good grief, some people.
Anyway, I stuck around looking for a unique angle that hadn’t been done before, how hard could that be? Those other pesky photographers finally left and I was about also when I looked back and noticed that the Blood moon had popped up over the bridge. How lucky is that? I quickly took my shot and I think I may be the only person in the world to have a shot of the Blood Moon over the Golden Gate.
I’m currently in negotiations with Hogwarts to have this hung in the grand hall, but I wanted you all to be the first to see it.