Street Artists: Las Ramblas Clown, Barcelona

Among dozens of human statues in Las Ramblas de Barcelona you may now and then find other "minor", less sophisticated and striking ways of artistry equally respectable and venerable as is the case of the Clown. See this artist in context using my geotagged Barcelona photos set on Flickr.

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Candy Mix

In my spare time I am beginning to take the first steps on the world of small things. I neither master the technique nor have the adequate gear so you may call this a house experiment. I set eyes on a bag of sweets at random. This is not publicity. I don't sell candy. But the brand name was there and it came handy for choosing the title of the post.

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Flashy Colors at Stall in Passeig de L'Angel, Barcelona

This is a stall at Portal de L'Angel. Some figures are easy to recognize like butterflies. Some others are funny like the mushrooms. Motley articles seem to sell better.

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Street Market: Colorful Ribbons or Bracelets With Girl Names

Something I like about street markets in Barcelona and the rest of the country is that many times when you don't like what you see you can always go and refresh your eyes with the explosion of colors of South American stands. I mean, there is always a Bolivian or Peruvian stall where you don't know exactly what's on sale but you can't help staring with curiosity. Something is telling you that you want to buy. Not because of the pottery, the Che Guevara or Bob Marley T-shirts and the familiar leaf silhouette, not because of these personalized ribbons or bracelets with girl names but because of the whole impression, the warm colors, the Latin flashy hues that make the stand look more appealing than the rest. For me, much better than a 50 percent off sign.

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Blowing Up The Color Scale: The Seduction of Red Roses in Barcelona

Oversaturating an image is a risky thing in photography but if not abused it can really draw your visitor's attention. I am trying to get deeper in my "theory" that bright, vivid photographs, especially on the thumbnail level are more probable to bring visitors to your blog. Of course not everything is valid here, if after you zoom in you get terribly disappointed. I accept that reds are too strong in these roses I captured at Rambla dels Flors although I tried not to get that sloppy. I guess there is a long way to master the right balance and I try my best since I am just an amateur in this stuff. I am having a lot of fun in the meantime.

Small Colorful Bouquets of Paper Flowers in Las Ramblas, Barcelona, Spain

In trying to keep the colorful posts cause I think most of all like bright colors, at least that's my impression, I chose a bunch of small paper flower bouquets on sale at the stalls along Rambla dels Flors. I am not happy with the level of detail, that is, upon taking a very close look at the flowers but it was almost dark, I had to fire my flash, ask for permission to shoot, watch not to be shoved onto the flowers by passerbies, hold one cigar in my left hand which the stall owner asked me to keep an eye on and last but not least finish fast so my wife and daughter didn't get too tired of waiting.

Colored Flowers Bouquet Detail in La Rambla dels Flors, Barcelona

Due the success the larger picture of flower bouquets in La Rambla dels Flors had, I have decided to perform a little cropping to show you a small detail of the image in my old post. I was wondering how the saturated colors of these artificial flowers would look against the black and white picture I posted yesterday. I want to thank Strangetastes from St. Louis Daily Photoblog for the kind suggestions about other members of the City Daily Photo group who are really good at taking black and white pictures.

Carnival Costumes: Indian Chief Feather Hat, Barcelona, Spain

Another one for the road, a boy wearing an Indian Chief feather hat during Carnival 2008 celebrations in Barcelona. I am trying to get more colorful pictures, I calibrated my monitor recently but as you know that's not an easy task. My screen is relatively big but not too good in quality. It looks somewhat softer now but I can perceive all the gray scale tonalities. Maybe in my attempt to make my images more contrasty they show too dark on your monitor. Perhaps they look more saturated now. No matter what the final result is I hate dull pictures, at least unintentional dull pictures. We may not be good photographers but at least let's avoid that disgusting washed out look. I know many of you obtain quite colorful images full of contrast, any tips that might help us all enhance our photos?

Barcelona Carnival Costumes: Clowns in the Mirror

Barcelona Carnival costumes detail. Two clowns or is it just one, looking at herself in the mirror? As usual this picture looks better if enlarged. I could have cropped the faces but I wanted to keep the hand gesture and the out of focus clown in the far right to emphasize the fact they are on top of a carnival float. Am I digressing here? Well at least she is cute and those piercings give her quite a modern look. See if you can find her clown nose.

Women Paintings at Maremagnum Promenade, Barcelona

These paintings of women wearing veils, hats or ties at Maremagnum promenade or Passeig D'Itaca looked so beautiful I decided to take a snap agaisnt the artist's will (check google maps below). I just don't know what gets into their minds when they see a big camera. You come with a small compact and nothing happens, you stick out some big lens and they immediately jump at your throat. Take it easy man, this is free advertising for your work which on the other hand is amazing and hypnotic, according to my opinion. Please buy him some paintings and tell him I was the one he shunned the other day.

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Barcelona Icecream Greed: Diet Followers Please Refrain

Weight loss diet followers please refrain. This is an icecream shop at Libreteria street (see pic on map at page bottom). Creamy, fat rich, sweet and delicious icecreams are part of the special food program in the city for those sinful gluttons I mentioned in the last post, that is, for Barcelonians struggling to look like Brat Pitt, George Clooney and Matt Damon, all in one, but are more likely to resemble Marlon Brando, in the last years of his life. It is almost winter now so don't rush for icecreams unless you live South, of course!. "Oh, shut up Hyde!" - said Jekyll again.

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Red Pepper Drying Up In The Sun

Red hot chili peppers could easily be the title of this post but I prefer to concentrate on the color and not the famous band. I don't think this is a chili pepper either but it certainly looks hot. The afternoon sun and the texture of the cement floor emphasize the shape and highlight the vivid color of the pepper which was drying up fast although not where it was supposed to be, hanging from a string on the wall nearby.

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