Tag Archives: spain

Zaragoza – By the River Piedra I Shot In the Rain


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[...Monasterio de Piedra, Nuévalos - Zaragoza, Spain May 29, 2011...]

Cola de Caballo - "Horsetail" - the tallest of the waterfalls in the monastery's rainforest measures about 50 meters high.

Fans of literary genius Paulo Coelho will recognize the play on title as being inspired by his bestselling novel “By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept.” The river Piedra, as you might know, was one of the settings for this novel about love and spirituality. Being a Coelho fan myself, it was a pleasure to see the same river that his heroine Pilar came to, although unlike her, I did not come here for spiritual cleansing or deep meditation. I have seen photos of this place during my research on Zaragoza, and that triggered my desire to see it for myself.

I’ve read that it is believed that anything you give up to the river Piedra will disappear forever. Its geological location being high in calcium carbonate, makes it so that whatever the river touches turns to stone, thereby it is also known as the stone river, “piedra” meaning stone. I did not have any intentions of making wishes when I got there, but it turned out that I was forced to make one – and that is, for the rain to stop!
[...Read more about Zaragoza...]


The Other Art of Bilbao


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Jeff Koons' "Tulips" sits on the terrace of the Guggenheim. It can be seen from the outside but if you want to take a closer shot of it, you need to pay the museum fee.

We all know about the Guggenheim and Maman the giant spider, and even the beautiful bridges of Bilbao. But apart from those, there are more artful details around the city. [...See more photos here!]


Sunrise to Sundown at the Guggenheim


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I waited quite a while for the area to be empty but the chance never came. It was nearing sunset when I finally decided to use a 10-stop filter, and not only was I able to "eliminate" people, I also got some nice sunset hues. I could still make out a few people on the shot in the right but thank goodness, they couldn't stay still for the 2-minute exposure. (Left, late afternoon) 0.5 sec @ f/18, ISO 100 (Right, at sunset) 2 minutes @ f/5.6, ISO 100.

On Saturday afternoon in Bilbao when the temperature was in a comfortable 60′s, the area around its most famous attraction – the Guggenheim Museum – was filled with tourists and passersby. Everyone wanted to get underneath the famous giant spider and pose for a shot, which is what I would do to if I was merely there as a tourist. Also, every few minutes, the small pool in front of the museum would generate a mist, sort of part of the attraction, and that would make the tiles near the spider wet and create a good reflection. I wanted to take a shot of that reflection, but there were just too many people in that area. I quickly figured this was one of the days when you just had to work around what you have, photographically speaking. And in the late afternoon when it was still too early for at least a 30-second exposure, I tried the shot with an ND110, and that seemed to work like a charm. [...Wait, more photos here!]


Arachnomania in Bilbao


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Maman – the famous giant spider of Guggenheim Museum, was my favorite subject while I was in Bilbao. I was immediately amused and intrigued by her. This creation by French artist Louise Bourgeois was inspired by emotions from her childhood, particularly by her mother who she had deemed as her protector.

Bourgeois has once explained:

“The Spider is an ode to my mother. She was my best friend. Like a spider, my mother was a weaver. My family was in the business of tapestry restoration, and my mother was in charge of the workshop. Like spiders, my mother was very clever. Spiders are friendly presences that eat mosquitoes. We know that mosquitoes spread diseases and are therefore unwanted. So, spiders are helpful and protective, just like my mother.”

This is how I’ve captured Maman at different times of the day, from sunrise to nightfall. [...See photos here!]


My Favorites of 2010


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As the year is drawing to a close, I thought I’d put together a short list of what I consider my  most memorable shots of the year. The selection is based on both viewer feedback and my own attachment to a particular shot. For behind each photograph is a story to tell, a little something for me to remember them by, and some have proven to be more memorable than others. If you have not followed my work on Flickr, this is a good sampling of my work.

I’ve decided to categorize them into such : (1) REFLECTIONS (2) BRIDGES (3) FOUNTAINS (4) LIGHT TRAILS and  (5) MY PERSONAL FAVORITES.

I hope you enjoyed my photographs this year and I thank you for taking the time to look at them and making my every bit of effort worthwhile by making nice comments. To my fellow photographers, I wish you lots of GOOD LIGHT this coming year.

HAPPY NEW YEAR all!


#5 MY PERSONAL FAVORITES OF 2010

I have no criteria for choosing my personal favorites of 2010 – it does not necessarily have to be technically or artistically appealing or both, I just simply like them for whatever reason. It could be that the selection is influenced by the memory behind it, or that the shot just felt right at the moment of capture, or a part of it could be because I received good feedback on the photo. These photos make me happy when I look at them and I hope somehow they do the same thing to you.

LYON, FRANCE - St. Jean's Cathedral and Bonaparte Bridge on the River Seine. Truth is, a perfect reflection never fails to make me happy and I always pack up for the night satisfied. The Saone river that night looked like a mirror had been laid underneath the bridge. It was a perfectly still night, something you have to see to believe.

[...Click for the rest of My Favorites of 2010...]


The Best of 2010 – Light Trails


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As the year is drawing to a close, I thought I’d put together a short list of what I consider my  most memorable shots of the year. The selection is based on both viewer feedback and my own attachment to a particular shot. For behind each photograph is a story to tell, a little something for me to remember them by, and some have proven to be more memorable than others. If you have not followed my work on Flickr, this is a good sampling of my work.

I’ve decided to categorize them into such : (1) REFLECTIONS (2) BRIDGES (3) FOUNTAINS (4) LIGHT TRAILS and  (5) MY PERSONAL FAVORITES.

#4 MOST MEMORABLE LIGHT TRAILS

It’s no secret that successful photographs are the products of perfect light and perfect timing. Capturing great light trails definitely needs perfect timing, and obviously, it helps to be in a location with a good flow of traffic, but not necessarily. Sometimes, all it takes is one bus to come at the right time. But there are other factors to a successful light trail shot other than perfect time – and those are – lots of patience and being on the safe side of the road.

My Top Ten Most Memorable Light Trails of 2010:

VALENCIA, SPAIN - Torres de Serranos. The flow of traffic was not ideal on this night so I had to wait quite a bit; in the meantime, the light in the sky was changing fast. I knew that buses, instead of cars, would complete my vision here, and fortunately 2 buses came to a halt just when the last bit of blue hour light was fading away.

[...Click for the rest of my Top Ten Light Trails...]


The Best of 2010 – Reflections


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As the year is drawing to a close, I thought I’d put together a short list of what I consider my  most memorable shots of the year. The selection is based on both viewer feedback and my own attachment to a particular shot. For behind each photograph is a story to tell, a little something for me to remember them by, and some have proven to be more memorable than others. If you have not followed my work on Flickr, this is a good sampling of my work.

I’ve decided to categorize them into such : (1) REFLECTIONS (2) BRIDGES (3) FOUNTAINS (4) LIGHT TRAILS and  (5) MY PERSONAL FAVORITES.

Starting off with my Top Ten Favorite Reflection shots of the year.

#1 MOST MEMORABLE REFLECTIONS of 2010

I love to shoot where there is water – rivers, canals, rain and puddles, fountains, moats, pools, even a baptismal font as I’ve recently discovered. So I have many photos to choose from in this category. If I had to guess, I’d say about 80% of my shots has water in it, and probably half of that involves rain before or during the shot. When planning for travel, I usually go where there’s lots of water; if there’s none, I’ll find it. Or sometimes it finds me, in the case of rain.

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN - View of Gamla Stan from Slussen. Stockholm is without any doubt a beautiful city, but by nightfall it loses its luster, at least to a photographer. I would have liked to have seen more light in the city. This shot of the popular district Gamla Stan was taken on my second night after a disappointing rainy previous night. Scandinavian countries have long blue hours and I must have shot non-stop for at least an hour-and-a-half this night, walking about a mile and a half from Slussen to Skeppsholmsbron with hardly any people on the streets.

[...See the rest of my Top Ten Reflections...]