Valladoild Week Seven- Taking Flight and more

Top Photo of the Week

'Taking Flight'

A paloma perched on a center courtyard ledge, 

nervously pacing, watching, unsure of which way to go. 

Suddenly, she took flight...

***************

The daily walks continue, 

today starting with the Provincial Administrative 

building on the Plaza Major

Leaving the Plaza, the meandering takes over. 

At every intersection, it's look left, look right, which way shall it be today?

In the old city center, the streets are narrow, never straight.

Do I get lost here? Of course, that's part of the adventure.

But if I keep walking, eventually, there will be something I recognize.

If seriously disoriented, a five Euro taxi ride will return me to the Plaza Mayor.

Some streets are mostly empty.

The Christmas lights were hung this week.

Next week they turn them on.

Have been walking for several hours now, 

must be noon as school kids are walking home for lunch.

Riding on Papa's shoulders is a highlight for any toddler.

If you have a good imagination, you could write a spy novel from this photo.

The image suggests a sinister event, while in reality,

 the distant stranger had nothing to do with the two ladies racing toward me.

Another reflection,

 this time, taken inside a department store...

A butcher shop...

why do you never see a skinny butcher?

Hopped over to the train station for a few photos...

Spotted the cleaning lady working alone on the platform below.

a rider emerges from the underground crosswalk

To wrap up this week's images, 

geometric shapes and shadows on the station platform.

Thanks for following along as we explored what Valladolid has to offer visually.

Ride safe, ride far...

CCjon

Valladolid, Spain Week Six - Street lights

Someone asked why is European street photography so much darker 

when compared to most US street photography?

 Is it cultural, historical, physical, or just the photographer's preference?

My observation is:

 in the US, our city center buildings are relatively new, modern structures located on wide avenues, cloaked in hard flat surfaces: glass, stainless steel, polished stone, etc. All of these smooth polished surfaces reflect light. In some cases, sun-blocking mirrored glass on modern buildings actually amplifies the light, making everything around it brighter, including our street photos. Outside of the New England area, few American cities have neighborhoods of narrow winding streets. The wide broad avenues allow more sun rays to reach street level.

Most large European cities have a history dating back to pre-Roman times. Many of the city centers initially evolved with narrow winding lanes and streets. Their oldest churches and castles are of hand-chiseled stone and rustic brick. Many were finished with a sandy stucco. All of these materials absorb light 

and do not reflect it.  

With narrow streets, the number of hours a day when a direct light reaches the pavement is limited. Then, most of the sun rays are absorbed by the surfaces. That creates darker shadows.

This is analogous to sound. With hard, smooth surfaces, sound bounces off the surfaces, 

reverberating, even amplifying itself beyond the original level. Making the sound heard everywhere.

When the sound is produced in an area of uneven, porous surfaces, the sound is absorbed and muffled, not amplified. That can create dead spots where the sound is muffled.

But then again, it might be dark memories of WWII... as some opine.

******

Birds start looking for their evening roost though the sun is still well above the horizon.

Evening shopper... most grocery stores are open here until 9 pm.

It is normal to see many shoppers and pedestrians out walking until about 9 - 9:30 p.m.

After that hour, it's the shop clerks and teachers going home. 

The restaurant and bar workers are still on the job until 11 pm or later. 

Since this is a weeknight, not many are out and about late. 

On weekends bars and nightclubs are open til dawn.

By 10 pm, most Buses are making their last run of the evening. 

After ten pm, only a few buses on the main routes operate until midnight.

The city has both diesel and electric buses in its fleet. All of the larger electric buses are articulating with an 'accordion' section in the middle so they can bend in order to 

navigate the narrow streets and tight corners.

Not all the brick side streets are level and smooth. 

Actually, the only vehicles that use this street are taxis and private vehicles trying to reach 

their parking garage.

 Streetlights illuminate the way for people to safely walk home.

First, there were oil lights and candles, then gas, maybe arc lighting, then electricity to illuminate the narrow streets in Europe. Which occurred first depended on which raw material 

was abundant at a low cost. 

Cordoba, Spain claims to be the first European city to have public street lighting starting in the 9th century. Before that, only churches or major buildings might have night illumination near the main entrance.

This side street appears empty, although one person is still out.

Turning towards home myself, a beauty shop window reflects 

the lights of an empty street.

Fall is in the air; the yellow leaves are slowly releasing their grip with each breeze.

People walk faster to reach their home's warmth.

Pulling the wool scarf tighter, hunching my shoulders, I hasten on.

Ride safe, ride far, my friend

CCjon

Photographer Notes: The typical starburst effect from bright lights is not seen in these photos. Am using a diffusion filter called 'Cine Bloom 20%'.  The same filter is utilized in moviemaking to soften the undesired starbursts.  28mm,  f4,  1/60,  ISO3200,  +1.3ev

Valladolid - Spain's Underground Parking

In the previous post, I mentioned parking garages on narrow streets. 

So what do they look like?

Most parking in the old parts of the city are all underground. On the narrow streets, one sees unassuming garage doors that control the access to the parking garage below. 

This is not public parking. It is private so you need a key or controller to enter.

Interestingly, these underground parking spots are sold separately from the apartments above them unless the seller owns both an apartment and a parking spot together. 

Have seen ads for individual parking spots for sale, ranging from $20,000 to $45,000 Euros each (US$21,500 to $48,400). Some investors buy them and will rent them out monthly.

These are not enclosed garage spaces where you could store a bicycle or other personal stuff. These are open-area garages with painted lines and numbers indicating your spot.

 Similar to what you would see in an airport parking structure.

From personal experience, I can tell you that these spaces are NOT wide or long.

 Don't even think about trying to park with the car's side mirrors extended. Fold them in. 

Every support column here has rubber bumpers to protect your vehicle's paint.

Only mid-size and smaller vehicles can fit in the allotted space. 

This space between vehicles is measured in inches... make that centimeters.

If you park with one of the tires touching the painted line, 

you are in violation.

 I am assuming the car market for the larger SUV's and mini-vans is for the people 

who live in the suburbs.

While the parking situation is unusual for me, it works for them. 

Just different. Aren't we all?

CCjon

Valladolid Spain - High Contrast B&W Photography

Top Photo of the Week

Am switching up the blog to feature my favorite photo of the week,

A high-contrast image of the Cristobal Colón Museo (Christopher Columbus Museum).

The sharp, crisp B&W photo of the brick building with its iron bars contrasts with the black steel gate,

 making it feel more like a prison than a welcoming museum.

***********************

This next photo of the side street behind the Cathedral

 got me thinking about high-contrast photos.

Where shadows have a deep rich tone, the lights are bright, leaving minimal mid-tones.

It's an either-or capture, nothing halfway...

If you cut back on the middle tones, can you still have an interesting image, or...

will it look simply cartoonish?

For this week's topic, High Contrast, we will be using a "Red Filter" on the camera lens.

The red filter creates more contrast when shooting black & white.

Let's start with this image...

an unusual statue of a standing Christ in the Cathedral museum.

One does not normally find a standing statue of Christ without the cross.

Outside the sun is harsh, much stronger today as there are fewer clouds in the sky.

Here the red filter adds contrast.

Narrow streets create deeper, darker shadows,

adding to the contrast in the scene.

 Bright sunlight highlights whatever it falls on,

at the same time, it gives the dark shadows a sharper edge. 

With a red filter, creating a stark contrast is a given. Besides giving drama to a scene, 

it also brings out the textures of the various surfaces.

This lady, with her best friend, finds solitude in a recess of a church courtyard.

Witness the various surface textures that would not be noticeable with a softer light.

The next high-contrast image can create curiosity in the viewer's mind.

We can see the older couple going into the church.

But there are other people in the shadows.

What are they doing? 

What else is happening in the shadows?

Now, on to my favorite street in the city of Valladolid, Santo Domingo de Guzman.

But first, here is a regular photo taken without the red filter.

Although vehicles  occasionally use this street, 

it is more of a pedestrian shortcut between two neighborhoods.

This narrow street has a sweeping curve, high stucco walls, and cobblestone pavement.

All of which combine to offer a textural smorgasbord. 

Particularly when the afternoon shadows start to appear...

 Using a red filter, the darkening shadows give us a strong contrast,

adding drama to the image.

Note how the texture of the rough cobblestones is enhanced.

The high contrast also gives a greater depth of field to the image.

There is no need for a vignette to focus the viewer's attention.

At the peak of the day's shadow show,

the sun's angle with the varying rooftops casts 

a hard-edge design on the stucco wall of a religious convent.

In another hour, when the sun is lower in the sky, this stucco wall 

will be bathed in a soft shadow.

While the red filter does deliver a stronger contrast between light and dark, 

it is not good for creating a softer image in portraits where harsh detail is not normally desired.

Like all choices, it depends on what is the effect or feeling

 you wish to achieve with a particular image.

Hope you enjoyed this exercise in photography as much as I did in creating it for you.

Ride safe, ride far, my friends,

CCjon

Valladolid Week Four - Reflections

This picture... spirits dancing... it wasn't even Halloween or Day of the Dead.

 However, this picture that I captured the other night caused me to think more 

about reflections and distorted images. 

Is there a technique, an art, or just trickery to capturing interesting reflections?

When and how to capture the best?

Let's find out.

****

When the overnight rain finally let up, I spent the morning hours looking for reflections,

 Caught a few so-so...

Caught a good one,

Caught many bad ones that will not see. the light of day...

In the end, I keep learning.

******

Riding the down elevator, behind me was the first reflection...

Once outdoors, I walked...

a light drizzle, ducking under overhangs.

Hey, there is a puddle with a reflection...

And then another one...

better look twice at this one... did you spot the three layers?

As I started seeing more water reflections,

umbrellas re-opened everywhere.

People were hugging the buildings,

I could see the walls reflecting umbrellas.

Ducked through an open church door...

 more reflections were inside...

Once back on the street, the outdoor dining areas 

had raised their protective glass partitions to keep the tables and chairs dry.

The world globe shows a large gap between Melbourne and Madrid, as reflected here.

Melbourne,  eh Mate?

Is it a sign of self-confidence how far away from the wall someone walks?

Not in this case, the roof overhang was shielding both her and I from the rain.

 I remained under the overhang... waiting.

... as more people came out.

Racing against the clock and the rain...

His reflection looks to be beating him by a centimeter or two...

This Halloween store display was entertaining and spooky...

...until it took a weird turn... !

Who's possessing whom now?

While we are experimenting with dark reflections, let's try something less weird.

like this... 

it has that proper London look.

Or this...

Break Dancing?

And finally, the next day, the sun came out.

Working with reflections can be challenging, with surprising results. There were a lot of learning shots and one good capture. You decided which is which.

That was this week's self-taught lesson in growing one's photography skills.

Ride safe, ride far, my friends.

CCjon