I know I have a couple of friends who do actually look at this blog, so thank you.I have been busy on other projects and have been finding the time more difficult. I will try to do better. I am in the process of building 2 new websites, one for my Portraits and one for my Large Canvas Art prints. I am using Wordpress and I am slowly getting there. The first website will be the Canvas Art one. But trying to sort out all the SEO stuff etc. takes ages. Tonight in my local Camera club I had arranged for 3 speakers to come and give a talk, they are doing a tour round Ireland and came to Bangor & North Down CC first. They are Roy Elwood, Vince Rooker and Arnold Hubber, 3 great speakers and photographers all showing different styles of work. Roy is well known for his nude images and they do not disappoint, you can buy his books from Blurb.com.Vince Rooker showed some wonderful Colour landscapes from the many places he has visited. And Arnold Hubber entertained us and showed us his passion for infra-red photography, from using film to the present day using a converted Nikon D70 camera. Beautiful work by all three masters. |
Tuesday, 20 October 2009
I must post more info here
Monday, 24 August 2009
Neiman Marcus Cookie recipe
This is aapparently a true story from a lady in the states.
A little background:
Neiman-Marcus, if you don't know already, is a very expensive boutique
shop (they sell a typical $8.00 T-shirt for $50.00)
My daughter and I had just finished lunch at a Neiman-Marcus Cafe in
Dallas , USA . Because both of us are such biscuit lovers, we decided to
try the 'Neiman-Marcus cookie'. It was so excellent that I asked if they
would give me the recipe. The waitress said with a small frown, 'I'm
afraid not, but you can buy the recipe.'
I asked how much, and she responded; 'Only two fifty - it's a great
deal'
I agreed to that, and told her to add it to my bill.
Thirty days later, I got my Visa statement, and the Neiman-Marcus charge
was $285. I looked at it again, and I remembered I had only spent $9.95
for two sandwiches and about $20 for a scarf. At the bottom of the
statement, it said, 'Cookie Recipe - $250.00'. That was outrageous!
I called Neiman's Accounting Department and told them the waitress had
said it was 'two fifty', which clearly does not mean 'two hundred and
fifty dollars' by any reasonable interpretation of the phrase.
Neiman-Marcus refused to budge. They would not refund my money because
according to them; 'What the waitress told you is not our problem. You
have already seen the recipe. We absolutely will not refund your money.
I explained to the Accounting Department lady the criminal statutes
which govern fraud in the state of Texas . I threatened to report them to
the Better Business Bureau and The Texas Attorney General's office. I
was basically told: Do what you want. Don't bother thinking of how you
can get even, and don't bother trying to get any of your money back'
I said, OK, you've got my $250, and now I'm going to have $250 worth of
fun. I told her that I was going to see to it that every cookie lover in
the world with an e-mail account gets a $250 cookie recipe from
Neiman-Marcus for free. She replied, 'I wish you wouldn't do that.' I
said, 'Well, perhaps you should have thought of that before you RIPPED
ME OFF!' and slammed down the phone.
So here it is! Please pass it on to everyone you can possibly think of.
I paid $250 for this, and I don't want Neiman-Marcus to EVER make
another penny from this recipe!
NEIMAN-MARCUS COOKIES (Recipe may be halved as this makes heaps)
2 (500 ml) cups butter
680 g chocolate chips
4 (1000 ml) cups flour
2 (500 ml) cups brown sugar
2 tsp. (10 ml) Bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp. (5 ml) salt
2 (500 ml) cups sugar
500 g Grated Cadbury chocolate
5 (1250 ml) cups blended oatmeal
4 eggs
2 tsp. (10 ml) baking powder
2 tsp. (10 ml) vanilla
3 cups (375 ml) chopped nuts (optional)
Measure oatmeal, and blend in a blender to a fine powder. Cream the
butter and both sugars. Add eggs and vanilla, mix together with flour,
oatmeal, salt, baking powder, and bicarbonate of soda. Add chocolate
chips, grated Chocolate and nuts. Roll into balls, and place two inches
apart on a cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees (180 C).
The above quantities make 112 cookies. Enjoy!
PLEASE KEEP THE RECIPE AND SEND IT TO EVERY PERSON YOU KNOW WHO HAS AN
E-MAIL ADDRESS!
This is not a joke-it's a true story.
A little background:
Neiman-Marcus, if you don't know already, is a very expensive boutique
shop (they sell a typical $8.00 T-shirt for $50.00)
My daughter and I had just finished lunch at a Neiman-Marcus Cafe in
Dallas , USA . Because both of us are such biscuit lovers, we decided to
try the 'Neiman-Marcus cookie'. It was so excellent that I asked if they
would give me the recipe. The waitress said with a small frown, 'I'm
afraid not, but you can buy the recipe.'
I asked how much, and she responded; 'Only two fifty - it's a great
deal'
I agreed to that, and told her to add it to my bill.
Thirty days later, I got my Visa statement, and the Neiman-Marcus charge
was $285. I looked at it again, and I remembered I had only spent $9.95
for two sandwiches and about $20 for a scarf. At the bottom of the
statement, it said, 'Cookie Recipe - $250.00'. That was outrageous!
I called Neiman's Accounting Department and told them the waitress had
said it was 'two fifty', which clearly does not mean 'two hundred and
fifty dollars' by any reasonable interpretation of the phrase.
Neiman-Marcus refused to budge. They would not refund my money because
according to them; 'What the waitress told you is not our problem. You
have already seen the recipe. We absolutely will not refund your money.
I explained to the Accounting Department lady the criminal statutes
which govern fraud in the state of Texas . I threatened to report them to
the Better Business Bureau and The Texas Attorney General's office. I
was basically told: Do what you want. Don't bother thinking of how you
can get even, and don't bother trying to get any of your money back'
I said, OK, you've got my $250, and now I'm going to have $250 worth of
fun. I told her that I was going to see to it that every cookie lover in
the world with an e-mail account gets a $250 cookie recipe from
Neiman-Marcus for free. She replied, 'I wish you wouldn't do that.' I
said, 'Well, perhaps you should have thought of that before you RIPPED
ME OFF!' and slammed down the phone.
So here it is! Please pass it on to everyone you can possibly think of.
I paid $250 for this, and I don't want Neiman-Marcus to EVER make
another penny from this recipe!
NEIMAN-MARCUS COOKIES (Recipe may be halved as this makes heaps)
2 (500 ml) cups butter
680 g chocolate chips
4 (1000 ml) cups flour
2 (500 ml) cups brown sugar
2 tsp. (10 ml) Bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp. (5 ml) salt
2 (500 ml) cups sugar
500 g Grated Cadbury chocolate
5 (1250 ml) cups blended oatmeal
4 eggs
2 tsp. (10 ml) baking powder
2 tsp. (10 ml) vanilla
3 cups (375 ml) chopped nuts (optional)
Measure oatmeal, and blend in a blender to a fine powder. Cream the
butter and both sugars. Add eggs and vanilla, mix together with flour,
oatmeal, salt, baking powder, and bicarbonate of soda. Add chocolate
chips, grated Chocolate and nuts. Roll into balls, and place two inches
apart on a cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees (180 C).
The above quantities make 112 cookies. Enjoy!
PLEASE KEEP THE RECIPE AND SEND IT TO EVERY PERSON YOU KNOW WHO HAS AN
E-MAIL ADDRESS!
This is not a joke-it's a true story.
Friday, 26 June 2009
More Holiday Info.
I have not updated this lately, I am a week back from a trip to France, Northern Spain, and a big drive down to my own wee place. So I will update with details over the next few days.
Wednesday, 22 April 2009
Visit to Andalucia, Seville & Cordoba
I am finally getting round to writing about the trip I and 6 mates made to Andalucia.
Last year we all went to a small place up in the Sierra Nevada mountains called Mecina Fondales, it was very rural and very enjoyable. This year we decided on a city break so we decided to explore properly the cities of Seville and Cordoba.
My wife and I had been in Seville for 2 days earlier in the year and although the hotel was fine we had to pay extra for parking (19euros per day)so we decided to have a look at a small town about 20 miles outside Seville called Carmona.
Carmona has a very long history, right from Roman times, and has been a favourite of Roman Ceasars, Moorish and Spanish Kings.
We drove from Malaga airport to Carmona (about 2 hours), we had done our research on hotels and we picked the hotel La Alcazar de la Reina.
This is a 4 star hotel and we were very pleased with all aspects, including the themed "Irish Pub" connected to the hotel. Being from "NORN IRON" (Northern Ireland) we need our Guinness. The town itself is excellent and there are lots of places to explore, we found eating out in one of the many bars in the town square really excellent. It was great trying all different types of Tapas and Raciones, and although one of our party was a vegetarian he found enough to keep him well fed and happy. We tried a restaurant the first night that had been recommended in Trip-adviser but we were disappointed. It was expensive and not a lot of it, and we were the only people in the restaurant.
So Raciones in the local bars after that, brill!!
The next day was Sunday so we decided to travel into Seville, traffic was light and we managed to get parked next to the bullring. (free all day parking on Sunday) There are large underground carparks close to the bullring and on normal days I would recommend trying to get into those. So we decided to walk around and see the town.
The first place we went to was the Cathedral, there was a service on and we did come back later. It is absolutely amazing, apparently the third largest in the world after St. Peters in Rome and St Pauls in England. One thing about most of these building is that you are not allowed to use a
tripod when taking photographs. I would recommend a small table top tripod you can set on the ground or use to steady against a pillar, I had to use my camera bag as a method to steady the camera for long exposures. A little earlier we went to the "Alcázares Reales de Sevilla" This is a smaller version of the more famous Alhambra in Granada. You can read the Wikipedia info here >>Alcazar<<
There was a bit of a queue to get in and a fair number of school parties but it did not seem to be too overcrowded. Although i t is still always difficult to get a photograph without some people in it. Go early January very few people then.. We walked around looking for photographs and once again tripods are frowned upon, I even tried laying the camera on the ground pointing up at the ceiling and as I sat beside it to press the shutter I was told to stand up.Take your chances!!
Another image I have been playing around with.
Also worth visiting in the Alcazar are "Los Baños de Doña María de Padilla" Now this place is quite dark but you can use a tripod.
When we went back to the cathedral one of the things worth doing is to climb up the La Giralda tower. There are no steps just a sloping walkway, much easier to walk up. Great views from the top.
One other place we visited was the " Plaza de España " , this is large semi circular building which was built in 1929. It is interesting to visit although we did not find that many photo opportunities. But the architecture is interesting and well worth visiting. It was also used as a backdrop in one of the Star wars films. See a clip here >>STAR WARS<<
Last year we all went to a small place up in the Sierra Nevada mountains called Mecina Fondales, it was very rural and very enjoyable. This year we decided on a city break so we decided to explore properly the cities of Seville and Cordoba.
My wife and I had been in Seville for 2 days earlier in the year and although the hotel was fine we had to pay extra for parking (19euros per day)so we decided to have a look at a small town about 20 miles outside Seville called Carmona.
Carmona has a very long history, right from Roman times, and has been a favourite of Roman Ceasars, Moorish and Spanish Kings.
We drove from Malaga airport to Carmona (about 2 hours), we had done our research on hotels and we picked the hotel La Alcazar de la Reina.
This is a 4 star hotel and we were very pleased with all aspects, including the themed "Irish Pub" connected to the hotel. Being from "NORN IRON" (Northern Ireland) we need our Guinness. The town itself is excellent and there are lots of places to explore, we found eating out in one of the many bars in the town square really excellent. It was great trying all different types of Tapas and Raciones, and although one of our party was a vegetarian he found enough to keep him well fed and happy. We tried a restaurant the first night that had been recommended in Trip-adviser but we were disappointed. It was expensive and not a lot of it, and we were the only people in the restaurant.So Raciones in the local bars after that, brill!!
The next day was Sunday so we decided to travel into Seville, traffic was light and we managed to get parked next to the bullring. (free all day parking on Sunday) There are large underground carparks close to the bullring and on normal days I would recommend trying to get into those. So we decided to walk around and see the town.
The first place we went to was the Cathedral, there was a service on and we did come back later. It is absolutely amazing, apparently the third largest in the world after St. Peters in Rome and St Pauls in England. One thing about most of these building is that you are not allowed to use a
tripod when taking photographs. I would recommend a small table top tripod you can set on the ground or use to steady against a pillar, I had to use my camera bag as a method to steady the camera for long exposures. A little earlier we went to the "Alcázares Reales de Sevilla" This is a smaller version of the more famous Alhambra in Granada. You can read the Wikipedia info here >>Alcazar<<
There was a bit of a queue to get in and a fair number of school parties but it did not seem to be too overcrowded. Although i t is still always difficult to get a photograph without some people in it. Go early January very few people then.. We walked around looking for photographs and once again tripods are frowned upon, I even tried laying the camera on the ground pointing up at the ceiling and as I sat beside it to press the shutter I was told to stand up.Take your chances!!
Also worth visiting in the Alcazar are "Los Baños de Doña María de Padilla" Now this place is quite dark but you can use a tripod.
When we went back to the cathedral one of the things worth doing is to climb up the La Giralda tower. There are no steps just a sloping walkway, much easier to walk up. Great views from the top.
One other place we visited was the " Plaza de España " , this is large semi circular building which was built in 1929. It is interesting to visit although we did not find that many photo opportunities. But the architecture is interesting and well worth visiting. It was also used as a backdrop in one of the Star wars films. See a clip here >>STAR WARS<<So the next day we decided to go to Cordoba it is a bit further away and it took us about 1 1/2 hours. We did use our Sat.Navs but the place we wanted to get to was well sign posted. We were going to La Mezquita, >See Wikipedia info here
It is interesting to see the differences in style and architecture. There are 
certain areas where you can just about get away with hand holding a camera, but not many.
And the iso rating has to go up quite a bit. Once again I tried to take photos by sitting on the floor and with the camera propped up on my Camera bag. (No Tripods allowed) But I was told to get up. So instead I (as we would say in Norn Iron) "Hunkered Down" and had the camera on the bag and used a time exposure. Worked just fine.
certain areas where you can just about get away with hand holding a camera, but not many.
And the iso rating has to go up quite a bit. Once again I tried to take photos by sitting on the floor and with the camera propped up on my Camera bag. (No Tripods allowed) But I was told to get up. So instead I (as we would say in Norn Iron) "Hunkered Down" and had the camera on the bag and used a time exposure. Worked just fine. The group of us hardly saw each other the place is so big and as usual there is always the problem of tourists and school groups going about, but they can be avoided. We really enjoyed our time there and afterwards we went out into the warm sunshine. We walked down to the Roman bridge that spans the river, there has been a lot of work done on it and from the top it bears no resemblance to an old roman bridge, in fact it looks quite modern. It is only when you go underneath at the far side can you get a feel for how it may have looked.
We decided to move on from Cordoba and we made our way back to the cars. Obviously La Mezquita is in the old town with narrow streets, but on getting back out to travel back we went through the more modern part of the town. It is a very nice city and there are probably lots of places to visit, but we had no time.
We went back towards Carmona by a different route through the country and made a few detours. We stopped at one place and went into a local bar for a beer, we got about 10 beers in total and were given a couple of dishes of what looked like thick Gazpacho soup with bread, the whole lot came to 9 Euros. Wonderful!
So this is now the last chapter in our trip. On the day before we had to leave we took a trip all the way over to the Costa de la Luz area. We drove round Seville and headed towards Portugal taking the A49, E1, road. We left this road at Moguer and headed down towards Mazagon. As you drive through this area it is covered in Plastic tents all growing strawberries, there is a large immigrant North African community here who seem to be the workers in the fields. So next time you see your strawberries in the supermarket and they say Southern Spain, most likely they come from here. This whole area is classed as a National Park but it is mainly a type of small Fir tree. I can tell you now, don't bother going if you want great pictures of landscapes "muy aburrido" in Spanish "VERY BORING" But if you keep going you reach a small town, on the map it says Ruinas Torre Vigia, We stopped here and just lazed around on the beach for an hour or more before getting a "Menu del Dia" and then heading off again. No photographs worthwhile were taken here. We then in heading back towards the main road we had to pass a small town called El Rocio. Now this looks more like something out of a Cowboy film.
All the streets are just sand and there are lots of houses but not that many inhabitants. There is an amazing church, very rich and well decorated and it seems so out of place in this town. But apparently once a year over a million people congregate here to celebrate a sighting of the Vigin Mary. That is where the wealth comes from. If you are in the area then do visit it, a real one horse town and I have the photo to prove it.
All the streets are just sand and there are lots of houses but not that many inhabitants. There is an amazing church, very rich and well decorated and it seems so out of place in this town. But apparently once a year over a million people congregate here to celebrate a sighting of the Vigin Mary. That is where the wealth comes from. If you are in the area then do visit it, a real one horse town and I have the photo to prove it.
After that we headed back to the main road and Carmona. Was very tired when I got back from all the driving so I had a lie down for an hour before going down to the bar to meet the other guys.
It was St. Patricks day and the hotel was helping to celebrate, and so we just had to join in!!!!
A good night was had by all and a late night before we headed to our rooms to sleep it off.
Next day was our last so after breakfast we got packed, paid our bills, and headed towards Malaga by the scenic route. We had only left Carmona a short 
distance when we came across these fields. So we spent a bit of time taking lots of Pictures.
distance when we came across these fields. So we spent a bit of time taking lots of Pictures. We then headed to Malaga for our flight home.
It was a great trip and now looking forward to somewhere different next year.
Sunday, 29 March 2009
Andy Rouse
Went to great talk on Friday night, Andy Rouse gave a show of his images and in his own particular style talked about his work and how he gets those amazing images. I am not into "Natural History" shots normally although I love all the TV wildlife films. But Andy's work is really just amazing. And I can recommend his book "Concepts of Nature" because he not only shows his work but how he got the shot as well. Brilliant!!
Thanks to me oul mate Jim Moreland for getting him over to Norn Iron .
Also congrats to the CBCC (Christian Brothers Camera Club) for putting on a great feed beforehand.
Buy his book >>ANDY ROUSE<<
Thanks to me oul mate Jim Moreland for getting him over to Norn Iron .
Also congrats to the CBCC (Christian Brothers Camera Club) for putting on a great feed beforehand.
Buy his book >>ANDY ROUSE<<
Thursday, 26 March 2009
How to clean your Camera Sensor
Even with all the modern automatic sensor cleaning now incorporated in modern Digital Cameras, there still arises a need every so often to actually physically clean the sensor.
This site gives an informed view and an overview of most of the methods.
I have used the "Dust Aid" one and it has worked very well.
See here for details. >>Camera Sensor Cleaning<<
This site gives an informed view and an overview of most of the methods.
I have used the "Dust Aid" one and it has worked very well.
See here for details. >>Camera Sensor Cleaning<<
Sunday, 22 March 2009
Friday, 6 March 2009
Focus and other things
Been back from Focus for over a week now and I did enjoy seeing all the new gear and bits and pieces. It was also great meeting up with old friends who I don't see very often. Met quite a few on the BIPP stand and also on the MPA stand, could hardly get near the SWPP stand because of seminars. MPA had Guy Gowan on and I saw the first of his talks, always interesting, and he makes it look so easy. I picked up a great wee idea for making "Canvas Wraps" from the Hannemuhle stand. As I do picture framing as well I do understand the problems in stretching canvas, but this system is ideal for photographers and artists who are producing inkjet canvas prints. See HERE for details from Fotospeed.
Next Saturday the 14th I am off to Spain "again" with a group of mates from my local camera Club, see website HERE We are going to Andalucia and staying about 30 miles outside Seville in a place called Carmona. It is very handy for travelling into Seville and also getting to Cordoba.
Should be a very serious trip all about photography etc. and we won't be going near any Bars!!!!!!!
Below is a picture of rural Spain taken near Ronda.
.jpg)
Next Saturday the 14th I am off to Spain "again" with a group of mates from my local camera Club, see website HERE We are going to Andalucia and staying about 30 miles outside Seville in a place called Carmona. It is very handy for travelling into Seville and also getting to Cordoba.
Should be a very serious trip all about photography etc. and we won't be going near any Bars!!!!!!!
Below is a picture of rural Spain taken near Ronda.
.jpg)
Wednesday, 18 February 2009
Who needs a pocket camera?
Just saw an article in the paper about the Mobile Phone show in Barcelona. Apparently Sony Ericsson's new "Idou" phone has a camera which will take a 12.1 megapixel picture.
So really why bother with an extra small camera to fit in your pocket when your phone will do it for you. Ok it will not do anything like your lovely small camera, you will not be able to adjust exposure, or aperture, or even focusing, but that is why you have your Nikon, Canon or any of the other big names. But think about it, If you have a contract on your phone now and are paying £30 a month for all your minutes and texts and you can get this phone for the same tariff. Then your camera is free. Be great for all those snapshots and pictures you might have missed.
I will assume that the images are all jpeg (RAW would be a bit too much to expect) but open up the image in Photoshop or Lightroom convert it to 16bit tiff, do any adjustments needed and save to the size you want. I would say that a minimum of an A1 print would be possible without a problem.
I have a camera with only a 3.2 megapixel camera and I can do A3s.
Must try an experiment and use my camera/phone to do a studio shot and compare with an image taken on my Nikon D300
Interesting times.
Gerry
So really why bother with an extra small camera to fit in your pocket when your phone will do it for you. Ok it will not do anything like your lovely small camera, you will not be able to adjust exposure, or aperture, or even focusing, but that is why you have your Nikon, Canon or any of the other big names. But think about it, If you have a contract on your phone now and are paying £30 a month for all your minutes and texts and you can get this phone for the same tariff. Then your camera is free. Be great for all those snapshots and pictures you might have missed.
I will assume that the images are all jpeg (RAW would be a bit too much to expect) but open up the image in Photoshop or Lightroom convert it to 16bit tiff, do any adjustments needed and save to the size you want. I would say that a minimum of an A1 print would be possible without a problem.
I have a camera with only a 3.2 megapixel camera and I can do A3s.
Must try an experiment and use my camera/phone to do a studio shot and compare with an image taken on my Nikon D300
Interesting times.
Gerry
Wednesday, 11 February 2009
35mm Film and the new age of Digital
This is a podcast from the Lenswork magazine (brilliant little photo mag)
Talks about something I as an "OUL FELLA" never thought about. I understand what the focal length is of a lens when used on an "OLD" film camera and how the new Digital Focal lengths offer an equivalent focal length, but what if you have never used an older film camera. What is the relevance?
Listen to the podcast.
Gerry
Podcast #495, 9 February 2009
35mm Equivalence
When camera lens focal lengths are expressed in "35mm equivalence," that assumes we know what this means. But what about those people who never used a 35mm -- past or future photographers?
Audio MP3
Run time 3:14
Talks about something I as an "OUL FELLA" never thought about. I understand what the focal length is of a lens when used on an "OLD" film camera and how the new Digital Focal lengths offer an equivalent focal length, but what if you have never used an older film camera. What is the relevance?
Listen to the podcast.
Gerry
Podcast #495, 9 February 2009
35mm Equivalence
When camera lens focal lengths are expressed in "35mm equivalence," that assumes we know what this means. But what about those people who never used a 35mm -- past or future photographers?
Audio MP3
Run time 3:14
Saturday, 31 January 2009
Visit to Seville
Just back from a trip to Seville and also drove up to our own place on the Costa Blanca.
First Seville, we flew into Malaga and took the motorway up to Seville, it is very well signposted and even without a map or Sat Nav it would be easy to follow. We stayed in a hotel on the Triana side of the river, problem with Seville is parking so we had to choose a hotel that had it's own parking spaces even so it still charged us €19 per day. Also the room heating was set very high and the air con was not switched on so we could not cool the room down. Left the window open all day and night. It was not cold by our standards but the locals were all wrapped up. As we had arrived on Friday afternoon and were leaving again on Sunday morning we got out and about very quickly.
We went out and crossed the Puente de Triana bridge and headed towards the Cathedral and Giralada tower then back down towards the river. This gave us the basic idea of where things were.
Then after a quisk change we went out and had something to eat. I had the local speciallity of Fried Fish, which is a plate of a whole mix of small fish and prawns, far too much and I could'nt finish it. My wife got a pork dish with blue cheese sauce, again lovely but far too much.
We then walked out to the Plaza Espana, a great Semi circular building set into a large park area.
By this time feet were getting sore (new shoes) and we headed over to another smaller palace and then walked through the main designer shopping area. One thing I will say about the Spanish in Seville, they are very stylish in their dress.
After our visit we then travelled up to our own place on the Costa Blanca area. It took us 8 hours including stops, and we went from light cloud to heavy rain and from 10c in Seville (it got cooler and wetter when we left) to 4c going over the Sierra Nevada and up to 17c on our journey up. There were strong winds and some very heavy showers but we ended up the next day in sunshine and did very little travelling around after that.
First Seville, we flew into Malaga and took the motorway up to Seville, it is very well signposted and even without a map or Sat Nav it would be easy to follow. We stayed in a hotel on the Triana side of the river, problem with Seville is parking so we had to choose a hotel that had it's own parking spaces even so it still charged us €19 per day. Also the room heating was set very high and the air con was not switched on so we could not cool the room down. Left the window open all day and night. It was not cold by our standards but the locals were all wrapped up. As we had arrived on Friday afternoon and were leaving again on Sunday morning we got out and about very quickly.
We went out and crossed the Puente de Triana bridge and headed towards the Cathedral and Giralada tower then back down towards the river. This gave us the basic idea of where things were.
Then after a quisk change we went out and had something to eat. I had the local speciallity of Fried Fish, which is a plate of a whole mix of small fish and prawns, far too much and I could'nt finish it. My wife got a pork dish with blue cheese sauce, again lovely but far too much.
Next day we set out after breakfast for our big walk and headed back towards the cathedral. We did not go into the Cathedral but I took a few photos of the outside and of the tower.
Then we headed to the Alcazar.
This is just like a smaller Alhambra and really worth the visit.
Lots of photo opportunities and for us there
were not that many "Tourists"
(we are not tourists we are photographers and artists)
Also apart from all the usual rooms, look out for the entrance to the "Banos de Maria de Padilla" the moorish baths of Pedro the Cruel's mistress.
Then we headed to the Alcazar.
This is just like a smaller Alhambra and really worth the visit.
Lots of photo opportunities and for us there
were not that many "Tourists"
(we are not tourists we are photographers and artists)
Also apart from all the usual rooms, look out for the entrance to the "Banos de Maria de Padilla" the moorish baths of Pedro the Cruel's mistress.
We then walked out to the Plaza Espana, a great Semi circular building set into a large park area.
By this time feet were getting sore (new shoes) and we headed over to another smaller palace and then walked through the main designer shopping area. One thing I will say about the Spanish in Seville, they are very stylish in their dress.
After our visit we then travelled up to our own place on the Costa Blanca area. It took us 8 hours including stops, and we went from light cloud to heavy rain and from 10c in Seville (it got cooler and wetter when we left) to 4c going over the Sierra Nevada and up to 17c on our journey up. There were strong winds and some very heavy showers but we ended up the next day in sunshine and did very little travelling around after that.
Monday, 19 January 2009
Rankin on the BBC
I was watching a program on BBC4 the other night where Rankin (the photographer) was trying to recreate some very famous and Iconic images by other photographers. You might ask "Why" well I suppose it is good publicity for Rankin for a start and it fills a nice slot on TV. But I feel that basically we are always told take your inspiration from other photographers and don't just try to imitate what they have already done. I know he set out to copy their images and he does have his own style. But what I found fascinating was the Bailey section, Bailey had done a shot of his then girlfriend, back view turned looking right, one hand on hip the other on her head, a very strong simple image. Now Rankin came in with about 3 or 4 assistants etc, and all the modern digital gear, his camera wired up to the laptop (which is great) but when Bailey handed him a Twin Lens 6/6 Rolleiflex which actually uses "Film" (remember that) he was totally lost at first. Focusing by hand was I think a fairly new experience and the best bit for me was when he actually took a photograph on the Rollei he never remembered to wind on the film, one of his assistants was standing there to turn the wind on handle for him. (this advances the film in the camera and cocks the shutter ready for the next frame)
Now my thought is that if Rankin wanted to recreate the photographs then why not use the original equipment or similar to try and get the image, that would have been much more entertaining.
The program was interesting but hardly informative.
I think Rankin seems an alright sort of guy.
Just my thoughts.
COE (see I just use one name too!)
Now my thought is that if Rankin wanted to recreate the photographs then why not use the original equipment or similar to try and get the image, that would have been much more entertaining.
The program was interesting but hardly informative.
I think Rankin seems an alright sort of guy.
Just my thoughts.
COE (see I just use one name too!)
Thursday, 15 January 2009
New RedBubble site
This is a new site that may just get you or me a few sales. Have a look.
All my images on this site are exclusive to >>RedBubble<<
If you wish to see more of my work then go to my Artworks site >>HERE<<
All my images on this site are exclusive to >>RedBubble<<
If you wish to see more of my work then go to my Artworks site >>HERE<<
Wednesday, 14 January 2009
My Canvas Wall Art site
I have just updated the look on my Canvas Art website.
It looks a lot cleaner now and I think a lot better.
I would appreciate any comments.
It looks a lot cleaner now and I think a lot better.
I would appreciate any comments.
Thursday, 1 January 2009
New Travel Website
As I have a small apartment out there in the village of Lliber in the Jalon Valley, I have over the years done a fair bit of travelling around. I have found many interesting places to visit and there are some great photo opportunities. So now with the Blog I am able to give much more detailed information than you will find on a normal website. I am also looking for anyone who also knows the area and can give more information about places I have not visited or know well. There is a page to leave comments. More info to follow soon. Click Here
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