Salamanca

layered

Image | | andy townend

In the stillness of remembering what you had
And what you lost, and what you had, and what you lost
Dreams – Fleetwood Mac


I took this shot during a walk back in Salamanca before returning to Africa.

Even at the time I took the shot, I was captivated by this painting. Had the artist been there I would indeed have taken it there and then.

But, it was not to be.

There were at least three paintings, each with a dreamlike quality, each stacked against each other, seeming to peel back a layer of the beautiful city which formed a backdrop to the canvases.

And, in preparing this image, I couldn’t resist adding another layer of my own.

For WordPress weekly photo challenge – Layered.

*Made with Fujifilm X100F and 23mm (35mm full frame equivalent) fixed lens, ISO200, f/4 at 1/1500s with an extra layer of oil applied in Photoshop CC*

stranger

Image | | andy townend

. . .sometimes one feels freer speaking to a stranger than to people one knows. Why is that?
‘Probably because a stranger sees us the way we are, not as he wishes to think we are’
― Carlos Ruiz Zafón, The Shadow of the Wind

stranger, in a strange land

plucked from the earth

roots ripped

torn

stranger, in a strange land

plucked

ripped

torn

stranger, in a strange land

you, smell

so

sweet

stranger

Surprise 

Image | | andy townend

This week, I wasn’t sure how to respond to the WordPress weekly challenge ‘surprise‘.

Then, surprisingly, the road caught fire in the middle of the night.

The fire continues to perplex the gas and electricity utility companies, although thankfully, the firemen appear remarkably relaxed as the electric company dig a hole in order to isolate the electric cables.

There may be more ‘surprises’ to come.

sardines

Image | | andy townend

We ate well and cheaply and drank well and cheaply and slept well and warm together and loved each other
― Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast

DSC_6471
iced

DSC_6423
stirred

DSC_6419
tapped

DSC_6426
salted

DSC_6428
burned

DSC_6437
queued

DSC_6452
smoked

DSC_6456
shovelled

DSC_6462
seated

DSC_6465
forked

DSC_6470
deserved

DSC_6482
served

DSC_6493consumed

All shots taken with Nikon D700 and Nikkor AF-S 50mm f/1.4 lens in Manual mode and ISO200. All other settings made on the fly using the camera’s on board exposure meter, plus I confess to drinking and shooting.

Huevos fritos (fried eggs)

Image | | 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 earlier post.

And you, what do these images say to you?

cherry (well, olive) on top

Image | | andy townend

I never see that prettiest thing-
A cherry bough gone white with Spring-
But what I think, “How gay ‘twould be
To hang me from a flowering tree.
 – Dorothy Parker, Not So Deep As A Well

My response to this week’s WordPress Weekly Photo challenge – cherry on top – is (and is meant to be) ambiguous. The olive (which I am strangely proud to have planted, watered and nursed into life) or the lonesome cloud.

Who (which, what) is on top, and does it matter anyway?

(ps – this shot was taken with my iPhone 6S and so is not a particularly good example of my newly embraced manual approach)

changing seasons | v2 | seven

Image | | andy townend

As time goes on, you’ll understand. What lasts, lasts; what doesn’t, doesn’t. Time solves most things. And what time can’t solve, you have to solve yourself.”
― Haruki Murakami, Dance Dance Dance

Lemon f/1.4 1/500s ISO200
Orange f/1.4 1/400s ISO200
Prunus f/1.4 1/6400s ISO200
Membrillo f/1.4 1/640s ISO200
Some kind of tree that I need help in identifying please 😉 f/1.4 1/6400s ISO200
Olive f/1.4 1/6400 s ISO200
Rosemary f/1.4 1/1600s ISO200
Lavender f/1.4 1/6400s ISO200

In my piece out in the midday sun | 4 I wrote about my decision to go manual with my camera, the gallery above is my first real attempt at doing so (well, at least the first time to do so for many years).

Each shot was taken with my Nikon D700 and my favourite Nikkor AF-S 50mm f/1.4 lens. All the shots were taken with ISO200. I selected an aperture of f/1.4 each time because I was looking for a very shallow depth of field. One side effect of using such a shallow depth of field at this lens (at least in my experience) is that the images are not so sharp, but I still love the effect. The only auto setting that I left in place was white balance which I left sitting at auto. The images were recorded as NEF (Nikon’s proprietary RAW format) which I left at 12-bit (maybe I will switch this back to 14-bit). I used the camera’s on board exposure meter to help figure out the best shutter speed to allow the wide open aperture that I had selected, it was a very sunny day, without a cloud in sight, so some of the shutter speeds were very fast.

I developed the images in Lightroom CC applying the lens correction tools to ‘remove chromatic aberration’ and ‘enable profile corrections’ for the lens that I had chosen. I must also confess that I did also tweak the exposure setting, and add a little sharpening, on a couple of the images, so my experiment was not as pure as my original intention.

But, by and large, these images were as shot using manual settings. I have no plans to revert to any auto settings any time soon, what do you think?

Also, this is part 7 of changing seasons, I missed parts 4, 5 and 6 but then nobody’s perfect.

Oh, and as you can see, I am busy growing a selection of things that can be dropped into drinks, although I forgot to include a shot of my first vine.

for changing seasons | cardinal guzman | v2