Images

Montemayor del rio

Image | | andy townend


I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
– The Road not taken, Robert Frost

An expedition along the Ruta de la Plata which traces the path of a still visible Roman road known as the Via de la plata.

Along the road which winds its way from Mérida to Astorga, we had a close encounter with a frisky bull and a less than adequate fence, (two) group(s) of brightly clad bikers, a couple of donkeys, some bees and some very friendly locals in a bar in Peñacaballera.

The incident with the bull involved a degree of clear, present and imminent danger and I felt stopping to take a portrait shot would perhaps have been inadvisable. The bull which features below was of a much calmer disposition, much less exciting than its cousin back along the way.

And of course there were photographs. There will probably also be blisters, aches and assorted pains.

Continue reading →

bajo el puente

Image | | andy townend

‘It’s hard to believe
That there’s nobody out there
It’s hard to believe
That I’m all alone
At least I have her love
The city she loves me
Lonely as I am
Together we cry’

– Under the Bridge, Red Hot Chili Peppers

debajo del puente entre valdelagua y santa marta de tormes

imágenes realizadas con fujifiulm x100f con lente fija de 23 mm gracias al artista de graffiti

tangled

Image | | andy townend

Oh, what a tangled web we weave…when first we practice to deceive
– Walter Scott, Marmion

Grafitti shot on the streets of Salamanca.

It’s time to return to shooting, writing, posting.

Time to return to living.

Be seeing you.

Images made with Nikon D700 and 70-200mm f/4 lens except ghostly figures made with Fujifilm X100F and 23mm lens

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……

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.