Caged

Once again, I found myself racing for cover as the heavens opened up. Not quite on time, I screeched to a halt under a forest of scaffolding. It was dry, but I couldn't shake the feeling that I was being watched from high up in the framework

Our Lady of the Metro

With my vivid imagination I picture some sort of juvenile delinquent stalking vertical surfaces with a duffel bag of spray cans in the middle of the night. But what kind of delinquent breaks the law to embellish walls with Christian symbols!?

Twisted

I took these photos in the dunes behind the Dutch coast. It was dull and gray day so I switched the camera to a high contrast black & white mode and hoped for the best. In fact these are slightly tweaked out-of-camera JPEGs.

Pronged │ Sony RX1 │ 35mm F2.8 1/800s ISO100

Stand Up Night Out

One never knows what ugly issues will rear their heads when I'm out on the road and can't do anything about them. So, just to be on the safe side, I thought I'd test posting to my new layout from my NEXUS 7. Just in case...

Stand Up Night Out | Sony RX1 | 35mm F2.8 1/60s ISO2500

A Touch of Blue

There's not much blue to be found in the skies these days, so I have to look for it elsewhere. I would have preferred a dose of yellow, but that color is tougher to find.

Blue Glenda │ Sony RX1 │ 35mm F2.5 1/100s ISO100

Some of you may have noticed my new blog format. It's intended to make the photos more dominant as these are supposed to be the focus of this site. By removing the side bar, the site's look will be more consistent across the various platforms (mobile and desktop). Hopefully there won't be too many teething problems...

Inside the Box

You just have to love a black floor that's continuously polished to a high gloss. In this case, it's so reflective that the atrium's various grids are superimposed over each other.

Twine Thicket

It seems a lot of us are motivated to be creative. Some of us grab a camera or type madly on a keyboard. Others feel compelled to fashion a “piece” under a patch of trees, using discarded lumber and twine. Personally, I wouldn't have driven nails into living trees nor left refuse lying on the forest floor. Still, it's a good example of the desire people have to express themselves.

To Bokeh or Not

When I'm shooting with the RX1, I often have to resist the temptation to reduce all backgrounds to a sumptuous blur. Just because I can, doesn't mean it's desirable for every photo. In this image I actually prefer a bit more definition to the context

Colony │ Sony RX1 │ 35mm F4.0 1/80s ISO100

Isolated Colony │ Sony RX1 │ 35mm F2.5 1/200s ISO100

The Not So Good Old Days

No, this isn't some trendy filter that I used to make my images look like they did in the good old days. These photos were actually taken in those good old days with a film camera. As I'm beginning to scan some of my vast archive of analog photos, I'm discovering that the good old days weren't actually very good at all. When I scan these old photos, negatives and slides, the results are technically appalling. Maybe the images have a certain amount of charm, but that's about it.

A Tree in the Old City

...pruned and forced by the will of man into a specific shape.

Rainbow Rise

This was taken just down the street from yesterday's photos, as you can see in “Rainbow Platter.” I'd made a special trip to the outskirts of Madrid to see this colorful hotel, when I happened upon the at least equally interesting Torres Blancas of yesterday's post. I'd suggest always taking a chance and getting off the beaten path into the suburbs. At the worst, you'll discover an endless sea of parking and fast food establishments. But you might also get lucky and discover some unusual gems. In either case, you'll get a better sense of what the city you happen to be visiting is really like.

Rainbow Platter │ Sony RX1 │ 35mm F4.0 1/200s ISO100

Through Acrylic Curves

This is Madrid's Torres Blancas, a magnificent structure that broke with the conventions of the late sixties and still seems innovative four and a half decades later.

Cylindrical Concrete │ Sony RX1 │ 35mm F4.0 1/200s ISO100

Smoking Lavapiés

While I detest the smell of smoke, a puff here and there sure looks good in a photo.

Watery Keys

This was obviously taking while I was in Canada; my friend made me return her D600 before I flew back to Europe. The photo shows how a long focal length lets you edit and compress a scene into abstraction.

Delicious Bokeh

Although there is some consent as to what constitutes a good dessert or bokeh, it's partially down to personal taste.....and this is yummy.

Royal Ride

No, we weren't able to get on this tram, it seemed to be reserved for more important people than ourselves. But the weather was more suited to cycling anyway.