Statue of Naked Woman At Montjuic Castle in Barcelona

On top of Montjuic mountain from where you have a privileged view of Barcelona there is a fortress as it is common at the entrance of bays. It is the Montjuic castle which I will deal with on some other occasion since it doesn't show in the picture. There is an esplanade with some huge canons and in the middle of this heavy artillery you come across a statue of a naked woman which honors the memory of Gaspar de Portolà the first California governor. Besides the weapons museum which is inside the castle and the canons all the rest around the statue (as you can see in the background), the view, the cleaner atmosphere and the sea breeze (that you don't see but it is easy to imagine) creates a special sense of bliss which is highly recommended after a hard day's walk downtown. I have to point out that my colleague Valery of BCN Daily and Trujillo had published this statue not long ago and we overlapped without me knowing it, that's good cause now you can enjoy the same place twice. Please visit his site to check his work too.

Here is the photograph geotagged at Flickr.

The Ceiling at Sagrada Familia Cathedral in Barcelona

This is a partial view of the impressive ceiling at Sagrada Familia cathedral by Gaudi. 

It is hard to capture new angles when it comes to frame these columns that resemble trees or those sort of stars and flowers that simulate the thick canopy of branches in a tropical jungle. 

The place is still under construction so it can be full of scaffolds but if you watch where you shoot, obstacles won't ruin your picture. 

There's no need to say that geometry plays an important part in the design of this ceiling. If you enlarge and examine details you will discover the mathematical perfection Gaudi obtained after prolonged sessions with scale models in his workshop. 

To make it look more surrealistic than it already is, I experimented a little with the picture and here is the result.

Seagull in Costa Brava

This snapshot of a juvenile seagull I took from about 2 meters distance using my 18-70 mm nikkor lens. I approached her little by little, squatting slowly till the nearest rock. Water was still coming out of her beak so I guess she was still digesting her food. There was a gentle breeze and we were both alone on top of the promontory, people down there in the cove basking under the sun. With scrutinizing eyes she followed my every movement but was too clumsy to fly with her full stomach. I had to stand on my feet with a sudden gesture to make the beautiful bird soar over summer air. Here is the same seagull against the darker background of brown algae accumulated along the rocky shore in Costa Brava.

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