travel photography

I left my heart in Barcelona

A painter in this photograph is Pablo Picasso. During his Blue period he divided his time between Paris and Barcelona. Picasso museum Museu Picasso in Barcelona is a must-see: there is no other place with such a vast collection of his art, especially his early works.

Picasso didn’t like Gaudí. Strange, because his art was definitely influenced by Gaudí‘s organic geometry. I think that he was just jealous.

Almost everything in Barcelona is “Gaudí“, anyway.

Can you imagine any other place where an architect like Gaudí would get a job in the end of the 19th century? It is why I love Barcelona, for that spirit!

I visited Barcelona shortly before The Prisoner of Heaven English edition was published in 2012 – a book by Carlos Ruiz Zafón, another of my favorite Barcelonians. His books are magic and intelligent, and they are about Barcelona, of course :). If you somehow missed them, The Cemetery of Forgotten Books series will win your heart (The Angel’s Game, The Shadow of the Wind, The Prisoner of Heaven).

Speaking of magic. The Magic Fountain of Montjuïc was constructed in 1929. The light and music performances take place on Fridays and Saturdays every half an hour between 7:00 and 8:30pm ( October to April), and Thursday through Sunday every half an hour between 9:00 and 11:00pm (May to September).

Here is a video from YouTube for you to enjoy 🙂 Watch to the end – it is getting more and more dramatic . 🙂

Some images from Gothic Quarter.

I walked this street to get to the Park Güell.

Plaça de Catalunya.

Vallcarca.

Don’t know what that means – either good or bad 🙂

Street performers across from Hard Rock Cafe.

Last, but not the least, Palau de la Musica Catalana. No photography permitted inside.

Hope you plan a visit to Barcelona. 🙂 Thank you for your comments on my previous post!

Photography tip of the day: Keep your equipment clean. Here is an advice how to clean your camera sensor. If you are afraid of doing it yourself, ask in the shop and they will know. Sensor and lenses have to be cleaned regularly.

http://youtu.be/pesZUj78S6s

Have a great weekend!

Antoni Gaudí – a genius dreamer

When you are moving to another house you cannot help thinking about windows, stairs, IKEA and useful space. I have been doing that for a month, but let’s think about something beyond the usual. Let’s think about Antonio Gaudí – the most amazing mind ever born.

You know I love to share music to illustrate my posts. There is a 37 minutes long project of Alan Parson who is a legend himself. If you want to know more about Antonio Gaudí of Barcelona please find time to watch this video project from 1987: Gaudí.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cfy9KGK5pd8&w=560&h=315%5D

I took a few images of Gaudí’s strikingly beautiful work – Casa Batlló (1904–1906), a building designed to comfortably live in – and the family did live there until the 1950s.

The image from the beginning of the 20th century

Another stunning building with the fleshy, organic look, Casa Milà (1906-1910)

It is sad that many Gaudí‘s projects were turned down because the authorities didn’t like them or abandoned because there was no financial support. Casa Mila was a target for critics for decades and stayed neglected until the 1980s when it was finally restored. Gaudí was too ahead of his time. He designed three dimensional shapes a century before computer imaging.

Palau Güell (1885-1889), Gaudí‘s project for his friend and patron Eusebi Güell. He was the only man who supported Gaudí all his life and understood his vision and a courage of fanatic.

In 1900 Güell and Gaudí started their unsuccessful housing project – Parc Güell. They envisioned a community living in a beautiful natural park, but it didn’t work out the way it was intended. Their project was appreciated a century later: nice to see that architecture has progressed beyond “less is more”, finally.

The images of the exquisite furniture are taken in Gaudí‘s home in the park grounds where he lived until his death in 1926. His bedroom has rather ascetic look though.

There are some more images from the park – an archway designed by Gaudí – a place for beautiful walks and numerous performers.

The archway designed to be a part of the nature, and even the roots of the trees are growing through it.

Park Güell looks like it came from a fairy tale. It is so busy that it is difficult to get close to it’s famous sculptures and other features to take a photograph.

The work of Gaudí‘s life is La Sagrada Familia. “My client is not in a hurry” he is said to have remarked, and it has been prophetic since the work is already going on for 130 years.

There is an incredibly beautiful blog by Indah Susanti, and recently she posted series of exquisite images of Sagrada Familia sculptures. I share a few of my images from inside the basilica. Unfortunately there was no access to the central area of the main nave that day and I was not able to get that iconic image of the ceiling, but I was happy to see the play of light high above, and sit there overwhelmed by unspeakable quiet joy.

Not being a specialist in Architecture I cannot tell what is exactly work of Gaudí and what was added by other architects during almost 100 years since his death, but I am sure that no architect has come close to matching his genius. Completion of the work is expected by 2026.

Gaudí was buried in the crypt of La Sagrada Familia, his unfinished masterpiece. They say that half of Barcelona was gathered there.

A few more images from Barcelona in my next blog 🙂

Photography tip of the day: When you take pictures in the street watch your environment. To get extra light you can position yourself to have a white or light painted wall across from where you shoot so that it reflects light on your subject. In the bright light use an open shadow where it is possible.

Have a wonderful week!

A little bit of melancholy

Once in a while there are these days when you feel like the last leaf on the tree…. and the wind is shaking you around… and then you just stop fighting and let the wind blow you away… and you just land wherever it puts you…

This image was taken in Jardin du Luxembourg, Paris. There are many good sad songs reflecting my present mood, and most of them are French.

“Autumn Leaves” is a popular song that was originally written by Joseph Kosma and Jacques Prevert. It has been performed in countless arrangements, but Yves Montand was the one who introduced the song in 1946 in the French film Gates Of The Night.

I am sad for no particular reason, but if there is anybody who feels lonely, you can listen this song with me.

These images were taken in Hyde Park, London.

In the light of the recent events I want to share a sad song by a Scottish alternative rock band Del Amitri, in which the notorious British weather is mentioned… 😉 All of those who are sad because no one loves you, welcome to listen this song 🙂

I think it is all because of the Summer slipping away. The songbirds fly South… Even this crow didn’t want to stay with me…

…and took off leaving his shadow.

Another sad song from a rock band Counting Crows.

Soon, so very soon all the creatures will hide…

… and even the spiders will freeze to death…

Ah, enough of that sad mood! Stop it:)

Tomorrow will be another day, I will do something useful and cross out another item in my long-as-a-life to-do list. To cheer myself up I will listen to the Gypsi Swing band from Waterford, and share their music with you all.

Photography tip of the day: Autumn is the time of clouds. If you are shooting black&white, use orange filter. Your sky will stand out.

Have a great weekend!

Castle and Peacocks

I learned to read very early: the magic of putting the letters together opened the whole world to me. One of my first books was a photo anthology of European capitals. Very little text and a lot of pictures, but when you are four even very little text is too much, and architecture is not your idea of fun. The only worthy images in the book were those of Zoo animals.

I memorized their names. I hadn’t been taken to the Zoo yet, but living in the farm with my Grandparents, surrounded by forests and bogs and all sort of wildlife I appreciated the variety of species… I don’t remember seeing much of exotic animals on TV until the mid of the 60s, except some cartoons, so the photographs in that book were my only source of knowledge. The most beautiful of all the animals in the book was a peacock. In my imagination I pictured him walking in our back yard where my Granddad’s blue, green and brown beehives were sitting in the lush grass. My imagination painted the bird in pink, purple and gold: the pictures in that old book were black & white…

I want to share a few images from my recent visit of Johnstown Castle and Park, Co Wexford. If you want to go there some day, here you can find useful information about the tickets and directions.

As you can see, the weather was gradually getting better. Cranky grey morning turned into the perfect sunny afternoon. Photographers are wandering around the castle looking for a good composition.

Since the days I was four I learned to love architecture, but still I visit Johnstown castle mostly because of the peacocks.

Their beautiful plumage hasn’t fully grown yet at this time of the year, so I didn’t take any breathtaking images of a peacock in his full glory. I was simply happy to be close and watch them.

A bold one came to me to check out if I had any snacks.

After getting some pieces of French toast he settled in front of me.

I don’t remember when I found out that peacocks are not pink and purple, but I was right about the gold.

There are two images of the trees taken into the sun. I loved trees before I learned to read.

After that I went to the lake and took all the pictures I posted in REFLECTIONS. This is how the castle looks from the lake.

Thank you for visiting Johnstown Castle with me! Do you remember what animal or bird impressed your young mind? 🙂

Photography tip of the day: Horizontal means horizontal. Keep your camera straight. Of course you can straighten your images with the editing software, but sometimes it means losing the details that are important for your composition.

Have a great week!

Good old-fashioned sunset

“Nobody of any real culture, for instance, ever talks nowadays about the beauty of sunset. Sunsets are quite old fashioned. To admire them is a distinct sign of provincialism of temperament. Upon the other hand they go on.”

Oscar Wilde

I am a fan of Oscar Wilde since age of 12, so I cannot tell for sure is it his hidden influence or my personal whim that I have never had a picture of a classic sunset on my wall. Nevertheless, the images I am going to share today prove that nothing human is alien to me, which is another quote 🙂 . Sunsets and quotes, hope you enjoy them.

“When the sun sets, who doth not look for night?”

Shakespeare

“Clouds come floating into my life no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky.”

Robindranath Tagore

“Every sunset brings the promise of a new dawn.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

“To leave out beautiful sunsets is the secret of good taste.” 🙂

Dejan Stojanovic

“What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night. It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime. It is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset.”

Chief Crowfoot