Photowalk - July

Last Saturday I went out again with some colleagues on a photowalk. Really good fun, great company and great photos. Each of us has uploaded five photos to a shared album and we have 15 points to give away as we see fit, so the fun continues for a few days. Good example of how gamification of activities can have a benefitial effect.

From all the photos I took, this is the one I like best.

Peluquería antigua

La semana pasada estuve de nuevo en El Toboso para pasar unos días de vacaciones. Una visita a una peluquería antigua dio paso a una conversación con el peluquero y a un par de retratos. Yo, que casi nunca hago fotos de extraños, me pasé de repente dos días arriba y abajo haciendo retratos de gente en sus puestos de trabajo. O en la calle. Las típicas fotos de aquí te pillo aquí te mato. Y casi todo el mundo accedió a posar con una gran sonrisa.

Tengo suficientes fotos para hacer una exposición. Son unos treinta retratos de gente variada que me encontré en dos días intensos, en los que tuve que explicar una y otra vez que era nieto de Enrique el músico y biznieto de Brígida la partera, exactamente como cuando era pequeño y mi abuela nos mandaba a hacer recados a las tiendas del pueblo...

Last week I spent some days in my mother´s place of birth, El Toboso. A visit to the hairdresser´s triggered a series of portraits of people from this lovely village. I don´t take portraits of strangers very often, and neither I am much of a street photographer, but there I was, spending the best of two days walking around, asking people for permission to take a photo of them at their workplace and, in some cases, literally entering their homes to take a couple of photos. Quite an experience and very much worth the effort. There is a very good chance that this ends up in an exhibition some time later in the year, as if the one planned in Summer here in Berlin is not enough. 

Regatta Princesa Sofía

There was an added bonus to our Easter holidays in Mallorca, as we happened to stay on the same hotel as the Spanish Olympic sailing team. That was the week of the Regatta Princesa Sofía, and it seems pretty much every country was there in preparation of the Summer Olympic Games.


I got to talk quickly to the guy in the photo and he mentioned he was doing a time lapse. We exchanged addresses and I´m looking forward to receiving the link of the video when it is finished. If this is something to go by, it will be superb.

Patios de Palma de Mallorca (iii)

Reading

Street Vendors

You would imagine that this woman earns her living selling fruit. Well, think twice. You cannot really make much with such minute amounts of fruit. This woman makes her living getting tourists to pay for a photo with the hat and the baskets, at western prices. A colleague of mine has the photo after paying two dollars for a couple of bananas that, by the way, we did not eat.





There are hundreds, if not thousands, of other women in Hanoi carrying heavy goods in this traditional way. But these, I photographed discreetly from the back, not showing her faces and, believe me, were not so smiley as the one above...

Ultimate DM 2010

It´s been a while since I last played Ultimate, but I was close to Jena on the weekend of the german championship (about a month ago) and managed to come round for a couple of hours and see a game or two. I got the decent shot above and two burnt arms before of the sun...

Hochzeit

While walking in one of Weimar´s parks during my holidays, I found this couple having their wedding photo session. They did not seem to mind me taking a few shots, although they probably did not notice that my interest was on the photographer and his crew!


Off-topic update: As it happens from time to time, today somebody from Madrid discovered the blog and spent some time reading it (30+ hits). And then disappeared without a message. Who knows, maybe he/she will come back? Maybe somebody I used to know?

Classic Open Air

Durante los días que dura El Classic Open Air, Gendarmenmarkt se llena de gente escuchando la música desde fuera del recinto. Esta chica era de las más comedidas, pero se ve de todo, gente con botellas de vino y copas de cristal, manta de hacer picnic e incluso nevera portátil...

Por cierto, esta foto me recuerda a esta otra.

Marathon

Un año más, nos perdimos ver a los primeros, pero a cambio pudimos ver a otros participantes mucho más interesantes. Las fotos están tomadas el domingo pasado, 28 de septiembre, entre el kilómetro 25 y el 26, y la gente ya llevaba tres o cuatro horas en las piernas.

Once again this year, we missed Gebrselassie and co. but enjoyed a varied amount of very interesting marathon runners. The shots were taken between km 25 and 26 last Sunday, September 28th, and by then these guys had already been running for three or four hours. Some of then running bare feet, others battling with blisters, others with impressive costums and sense of humour and absolutely all with a strong will to make it to the end.

Fin de las vacaciones?

Me gustó la luz que bañaba a esta señora mientras esperaba sentada cerca de la piscina.

I like the early evening light on this shot. I think she was waiting for her family next to the swimming pool.

Castellers

Tuvimos la gran suerte de ver como hacían un castillo humano dentro del castillo de Bellver.Para nosotros era la primera vez que lo veíamos en directo y sobre todo impresiona como los niños pequeños suben hasta lo más alto.

We were very lucky to see a Castell, and in great surroundings too, as it was in Bellver Castle. It was the first time for us to see such a thing live and it´s particularly impressive to see the little boys and girls climbing to the very top.

Fotos que hay que hacer

Esta foto está hecha en unos columpios en Manacor. Me llamaron la atención los zapatos de una de las madres pero tuve que hacer las fotos sin mirar. Me falta mucha práctica en esto de hacer fotos desde la altura del ombligo, porque tuve que hacerlo cuatro o cinco veces hasta que acerté.

This one was taken in a playground in Manacor. The shoes were great but taking a belly shot definitely needs some practice. This must have been the fourth or fifth shot.

Yo en tu video y tú en mi foto?

Me gustaría ver su video. Si alguien me ve en youtube, que me avise.

I´d like to see her video. If anybody sees me in youtube, please let me know.

Descanso en la playa

Relato con imágenes

Prólogo

J: Si tú te atreves, yo también.
C: Vale, pero tú primero.
J: No, no, tú primero.





Desarrollo:

C: que voooooy!!!


J: Ahora yo. Paaaasooo!!!


Epílogo:

J: Oye, la cadena se ha roto. Tú sabes arreglarla?
C: No, si sólo se hubiera salido, sí. Pero es que se ha partido...
J: Y ahora?

Terraza al sol

Cuándo fue la última vez que te sentaste en una terraza al sol a escribir algo? Yo ya ni me acuerdo...

Virtudes de un teleobjetivos: el piercing en la ceja, el anillo en el pulgar y el tatuaje en la espalda (que no se aprecia en la foto), y todo ello sin mostrar la cara, claro.

When was the last time you sat outside in the sun writing something? I cannot remember it myself...

Good things about a tele lens: she has a piercing in her eyebrow, wears an extra ring in her thumb and (not to be seen in this shot) a tatoo in her back. And of course, the face remains a mistery.

Colores...

Verboten...

Este fin de semana ha sido uno de los más calurosos en Alemania en lo que va de año. Nosotros hemos tenido la suerte de pasarlo en Boltenhagen, en el mar Báltico, donde tomé esta foto.

Como os podéis imaginar, está prohibido saltar desde el muelle al agua. Está bien ver que los alemanes también pueden romper las reglas de vez en cuando...

This weekend was one of the hottest ones in Germany so far this year. We were very fortunate to spend it in the Baltic Sea, in Boltenhagen, where this photo is taken.

As it is easy to imagine, it is forbidden to jump from the pier into the sea. Good to see that Germans can break the rules some times...

Ensayando...

Agosto de 2005, cerca de Potsdamer Platz / August 2005, close to Potsdamer Platz