3,200kms of Travel Pleasure and Photography

You can find the set here

Late in July I had a break from the PhD to indulge in travelling and photography :D My In-laws visited us for six weeks, and after having travelled to Rome and Paris by themselves it was only just for us to join them for eight days.

First we travelled to Paris to catch-up with my In-laws and to take Valentina to EuroDisney. I have to say it was a great time to take her there, she really enjoyed it and fell for the "magic" of the place. I posted some images here already.

After that we rented a car and visited...
Belgium - Bruges
Germany - Cologne, Stuttgart, Ludwigsburg
Italy - Venice, Florence, Pisa
Switzerland - Geneva

... for an approx. total of 3,200kms. I have to say that all that driving was kind of a present for me, driving is something I miss a lot since I arrived in the UK.

Obviously I carried some photo gear with me and took plenty of photos. I will post some pics of the gear because some friends have asked me about buying a DSLR, and I want to show here how much stuff I carry with me when I travel.

Above you may see some of my holiday pictures. I am planning to feature some of the images in separate posts -- to explain how they were taken -- but in the meantime you can browse this set since I still have plenty more to add.

Thanks for following...

PS: Thanks to Roy Tanck for the Flickr-widget.



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Someone is always watching...

I just couldn't let this one pass by. First, because I've always been a fan of Star Wars (lease Estar Güars) and second because I'm always weary of what might be appropriate or not to post online. Enjoy the beauty of online society but always think that something might come back and bite your...

Brought to my attention by Gizmodo from The Daily What, apparently it was a T-Shirt from TeeFury.

Now back to work.


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You must have a really nice camera!

Just as Michael Schumacher used to have a really nice car every time he won the F1 (7 times), right?. BTW it is sad he won't be running again innit? I was really looking forward to his comeback.

Anyway check Aaron's page for more photographic sarcasm.


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Oh, this hurts!!

Honestly, I don't know whether to laugh or to cry! this strip is so true it actually hurts :D

Did I ever tell you I'm an accountant trying to finish a PhD in accounting?? jeez. But a true photographer at heart... [sniff]

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Update

Don't you hate it when you make a promise and immediately afterwards something happens that prevents you to stick to your word? Well that's precisely what happened just after I promised to air the anti-school of photography (which is basically a collection of funny lessons covering the basics of photography).

What happened? well the thesis is what happened. I've been really trying to get it done as soon as possible and with personal, university and computer issues it's been hell!! I kid you not! bloody vista must be shot right in the eye!!

Anyway I wont promise anything but will try to write more often. Even if it is only to vent about my misery. I've heard many times that writing is a lonely process, well it is right. Nobody can help me now I must sit down and attack that keyboard until my fingers bleed!!! ok ok I'm not a martyr either hehe (for the Mexican folks exageré, exageré, exageré).

So lately I've been writing the lit review chapter and it is a real pain. You know, you have this top notch author who has a book, a paper (in top journal 1), a conference paper, a chapter on an edited book (from one of his/her sidekicks I'm sure), another paper (now in top journal 2), etc. And all of those say the same with the same data!!! sometimes at least he/she changes the order of the paragraphs so as to make your read a bit more before realising what's going on!!! Publish or perish is right but when you are checking on extant work this is terrible!! I only hope one day I'll do the same ;¬)

I did make some time this weekend to have some fun cause a friend of mine visited from New Zealand and he's one hell of a Kiwi I just couldn't let him wonder around Manchester alone!!

I also had a day-long photoshoot on Saturday. First photoshoot since I dislocated my shoulder and it was simply brilliant. I have some good shots that I'll share with you soon no promise, just saying). After all day my shoulder hurt a bit and my legs even more. This thing is not easy ;) need to join a gym or something.


Ok, that's what been going on. Bear with me and I'll show you some shots and also some basic photo tips.
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Beneath murky waters - Revisited

If you follow this blog you might remember this post about the Manchester Canal. Well at that time I asked my friend Francisco (aka Darth Tradd) to write a short "Noir" story for me relating the canal with some obscure crime or something, he has a great imagination and I'd say he can write as well.

Sadly, he was busy at the time and I had to come-up with my own story to accompany the pictures. A rubbish story to go with some very good pictures of rubbish floating by the canal, I had to say all that to avoid saying "rubbish pictures" but I digress. After almost a month Francisco got some time and wrote this piece for which I'm very grateful! (he even linked back and included my pics).

If you follow this blog in English I'm sorry, the story is in Spanish so chop chop and head to the closest Spanish Institute so you can read it within a year's time. :D

Gracias Paco!!


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Beneath Murky Waters...

She made a run for the alleyways near the canal in a desperate attempt to lose him. She had no clue on his intentions but had no plans of finding out, not with the news she read this morning – “Sixth victim of the Jackal found in a dumpster” – suddenly the idea of walking back home with the obnoxious Johnny from the office didn’t sound too bad.

Amanda was kicking herself for not driving to the club tonight; drinking and driving seemed like an excellent idea at that moment. Wearing those high heels was not helping either – she was proud of her legs and those heels were the perfect final touch, so much for that now! She stopped a moment to listen … nothing … “where’s everyone?”… no sound! … “maybe I lost him!”… two more steps… damn clacking noise! … a shadow!! … silence.

Amanda was nowhere to be seen, only a couple of rain-washed blood drops that went unseen by the inspectors searching the alleyways…

I know, I know terrible story! that's why I'm a photographer and not a writer. However the pictures I want to show today made me think in criminal novels and wanted to give it a shot. Obviously it's more difficult than I thought ;¬)

With TV shows like "Life on Mars" shot in my adoptive city - Manchester - I always considered the canal banks like something mysterious and full of stories. Despite being renovated now I cannot stop thinking it could have been a good place to hide something or err someone...

"“What the hell does that fish mean?” ... "It's a Sicilian message. It means means that Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes"”

Last year I had the chance to take some pictures when the water level dropped in the canal for some reason and this is what I found. No skulls or anything like that though ;¬) only rubbish.

see more images after the jump >>
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Can this be considered urban art?






Let me know what you think!!


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What do I love about photography?

Since I am not particularly good at drawing -or writing as you can witness here- photography gives me a way to express myself. Through photography I can express my views, feelings and ideas. That is why I opened a Flickr account long before thinking of having a blog.



It also gives me a escape from daily problems, close contact with other people and even some power when I'm directing someone else. Even though I like landscapes and cityscapes...



... that is not really my thing (my cuppa tea as they say here). Too lazy to wake-up in the early hours to go find the perfect place at the perfect time - not me - I much rather deal with people so portraiture is what moves me. Wish I were more creative though, a portrait is not just the mere sum of someone sitting/standing/jumping/contortioning (you get the picture, no pun intended) and someone pressing a trigger. All the planning, camera equipment and models are worth nothing if you cannot convey YOUR idea. I will talk more about portraits in some other post let's stay with the phtography discussion.



My approach to portraiture is simple, whatever it works! I've heard lots of people moaning about film vs digital and straight from the camera vs Photoshop (here some disasters), and even among portraitists natural light vs strobes. I believe it all depends on your vision. In my case I embrace digital mostly because I couldn't afford buying film and develop it back in the day. About Photoshop I can say it is a great tool if you don't play too much with the sliders, and why limiting yourself if you have at hand such creative freedom. In terms of lighting, sometimes natural light is enough some others (especially here in Manchester) you need some help from external flashes -by now I have a nice collection of them - I will show you all my kit some other time ;¬)



As you can see from the previous image, photography is an excellent way of documenting what is going on with my life and what is important to me like my daughter and family.

Well this is it for now but I promise to get more into photography and into how I work and what I carry to my photoshoots. Hope you can come and read my blog from time to time.
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Tales from Albion, Part 1

While living here in the UK I've noticed many funny stuff going on with this old species referred to as "the Britons". And in this series I will mention some of the aspects of their lives that I find amusing (Check what my friend Mark has to say about that!).

In this first part however, I've decided to skip the obvious comment about the two taps and jump straight into the "British Gentleman" concept. For instance, before coming to the Island I had a very Sherlock Holmes idea about the British people: educated, polite and law-abiding, you know what I mean right? Even if by now I've discovered that is not always the case, today I saw something that proved me that there are still law-abiding people in this country.

Let me begin my story almost a month ago when a contractor started working on my street. Apparently they found gold or something, and ever since then they've been punching holes everywhere without any regard for the poor motorists that find new traffic signs every single day.

Today was the cherry on the cake when the contractors surrounded a pay and display* machine without worrying to leave any clue to the motorists on HOW or IF they had to pay. No need to mention that I spent countless minutes just watching different people come and go wondering how on earth to get close to the darn machine and pay. This could have easily been an episode of "Candid Camera".

Here a picture of some of them that finally made it to the machine. They are gentlemen indeed or those red hatted officers are really fearsome =)



* If you haven't seen the concept before "Pay and Display" means that you have to park your car, leave the door open (as many do) while you go to a machine -which is always in the farthest part of the street in relation to where you parked- and after paying you go back to your car and put the receipt on the front window just above the board. Don't forget to close the doors afterward.
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A little bit of sun and...

Here in Manchester:

- People hurry to the closer terrace to have some drinks. Today when I was coming back from the Uni, I noticed a rumbling all around me coming from people gathered and chattering in those terraces. I still can hear people at the Rain Bar across the street enjoying some good time (its now half past nine).

- The girl's skirts suddenly lose an inch or two. I have to say I've never seen such long legs or such short mini-skirts. Hurray!! I also have to say that one can see mini-skirts, cleavages and open-back dresses all year round. This girls are crazy I'm telling ya!

- People start wearing sandals, short trousers and sleeveless shirts.

And all of this happens while it's barely above 10C and I still can see my breath while walking (and not for the spiced curry I ate earlier).

On other things... I've found that I just can't stop writing!! but sadly not PhD related stuff but more silly things for the new blog. I hope I can keep the enthusiasm even though nobody is gonna read all this. I'm also feeling attracted to the idea of using more Spanish in the blog...

More to come...
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Decisions, decisions, decisions!!!

In a world were you cannot just ask for a cup of coffee (or tea) without having to make an inconceivable amount of split second decisions in front of a bored looking cashier (decide if it is gonna be short or long (whatever happened to small, medium or big?), real or fake milk, decaf, with chocolate on top, yadda yadda...), I thought that publishing a blog would be easy as suggested by Francisco.

Indeed it is easy enough for a granny to do it but now I have to decide about the colour (or color), the layout, the settings, etc, etc, etc. As if thinking a name wasn't paramount already (and I only managed to come up with that thing at the top of this page!!). However the most difficult question I am facing right now is:

Should I go about it in English or in Spanish as my mother tongue dictates?
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