Salamanca

farewell wordpress wpc

Image | | andy townend

Like many people, I suspect, I am saddened to see the unannounced demise of the WordPress weekly photo challenge. In the early days of salamancastreets the weekly prompts from the WordPress team often offered a much needed spur to action, created a platform and built a community.

The WordPress team, and their occasional guests, created a cherished sense of community. They will be missed.

How to choose a favourite? Not exactly Sophie’s Choice I know, but hey guys, you may be ripping out the soul from your blogging platform. Why not at least have issued some kind of warning, canvassed opinion, or even sought out those willing to carry the torch?

So, I publish again my very first photo for this esteemed challenge.

See also my posts on belgradestreets, andytownend and belgianstreets……

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lloviendo

Image | | andy townend

i woke to the sound of rain
― sylvia plath, the bell jar

see me

the face

in the rain

see me

the fingers

on the pane

see me

before

i am

wiped

away

*one of a series of shots made in salamanca with my ancient olympus om10, with zuiko 50mm f/1.8 lens, and loaded with ilford xp2 super ISO 400 film*

plaza

Image | | andy townend

“Look at the rain long enough, with no thoughts in your head, and you gradually feel your body falling loose, shaking free of the world of reality. Rain has the power to hypnotize.”
― Haruki Murakami, South of the Border, West of the Sun

We often spend time wondering who, where, or perhaps what we are.

What we’d rather be.

Maybe, our lives would be better if we simply accepted who we are, where we are.

And what we have.

Let the rain wash over us, cleanse us.

Make us whole again.

And maybe then, we’d rather not need to be anything that we are not.

Already.

A thoughtful piece for this week’s WordPress Weekly Photo challenge which posed the rhetorical question ‘I’d rather be’

And, in an odd way, the fact that each of these shots was captured, in Salamanca’s Plaza Mayor, with a 35 year old Olympus OM 10 with a battered Zuiko 50mm f/1.8 lens and a fresh roll of Ilford XP2 Super ISO400, and posted here edit free, says something about where I’d rather be too.

Perhaps.

build it of gold

Image | | andy townend

I tell you, money can’t build your spire for you. Build it of gold and it would simply sink deeper
― William Golding, The Spire

It’s been a while since I have posted on any of my blogs, for many reasons.

This shot was taken with my Nikon D700 and Nikkor 70-200mm f/4 lens (at 175mm,ISO200, f/9 and 1/80s). I was leaning precariously out of a window at the time and the lens was unsupported other than by my less than steady hand. Given that, I was quite happy with the result of the shot with only modest tweaking in Lightroom CC.

I really must get out, and shoot, more.

frame

Image | | andy townend

To the complaint, ‘There are no people in these photographs,’ I respond, There are always two people: the photographer and the viewer.
― Ansel Adams

2016_08_27_26937-Edit

For WordPress weekly photo challenge – frame
*Shot with Nikon D700 and AF 80-200mm f/2.8 D lens, ISO200, 100mm f/2.8 1/800s, edited in Lightroom CC and Analog Efex Pro 2*

See also my contribution at andytownend

Huevos fritos (fried eggs)

| andy townend

Huevos fritos in Valdelagua.

A photo essay in black and white.

andy townend

What happens when people open their hearts?
They get better
―Haruki Murakami, Norwegian Wood

fingered
(three)legged
resigned
seated
poured
stacked
seated (again)
cooked
spotted
branded
pulled
fried
wired
bugged

A social event involving fried eggs, a certain suspension of disbelief, and a bug.

And, the additional application of manual settings.

This was a tough test of my manual aspirations, I had to adjust ISO, aperture and shutter speed. These images are far from perfect but they were an interesting challenge.

All images were made with my Nikon D700 and Nikkor AF-S 50mm f/1.4 lens.

This time out I chose to shoot in JPEG (fine) and use the Nikon monochrome picture control. Yes, it was an experiment. The images were processed in Lightroom CC but all I did was to make some crops and apply the lens profile adjustments that I referred to in an earlierpost.

And you, what do…

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strawberry fields

Image | | andy townend

living is easy with eyes closed
misunderstanding all you see

– lyrics from strawberry fields forever, the beatles

The third in a series of photographic posts featuring a group of friends hiking in the beautiful countryside in the province of Salamanca, Spain.

El tercero de una serie de publicaciones fotográficas que ofrecen un grupo de amigos en excursiones en el hermoso campo en la provincia de Salamanca, España.

Continue reading | Seguir leyendo