Return To La Sagrada Familia

The other day I was changing the desktop on my Mac and I came across this photo, which was featured in a post from almost exactly two years ago. I won't go into the details on this famous Barcelona landmark since the earlier post does that already.The one thing that is striking about the architecture of cathedral is its diversity, which I think was a Gaudi trademark. The square, block-like design of these figures is remarkably different from the kind of detail you see in the earlier post.I would love to go back to Barcelona to see what progress has been made since I was there is 2004. In fact, I'd love to go back to Barcelona for any reason, as it was one of my favorite places in Europe.

Arches Gone Wild!

Today's post features a detail photo of some of the stone work in the Cathedral in Seville, Spain. Why "Wild" in the title? As you will see in Monday's post, the Roman arch was round and utilitarian. A thousand years later someone in western Europe decided to enhance the look a little. And the so-called "Gothic" arch was invented. It's main feature is that it is somewhat pointed at the top. The other feature is that medieval stone masons, without the benefit of sophisticated math and computer modeling, were able to make whole ceilings out of arched stone. And while they were at it, the dressed up the stone with elaborate carvings.The carvings add nothing structural to the arch. But they do look nice!

The Old Farm - Another View

Ansel Adams is to Yosemite as Shephard is to The Old Farm. I'm no Ansel Adams, of course, but like Adams, I keep returning to the same subject over and over again trying to get the perfect photo. And I'm still looking for it. . .Here are some previous attempts:The Old Farm At SunriseEarly Morning FarmsteadAbandoned

Alte Pinakothek

One of Thousands

Deb in I had a little extra time in a small town in Slovenia called Lesce Bled before our train was scheduled to leave for Vienna. We had coffee at a small cafe and then went exploring. This beautiful church was our best discovery.There were many things that struck me about this place. The first was that, though the church was unattended, it was also unlocked so that anyone had free access. But the most striking thing to me is that this church is only one of thousands that are scattered throughout many small towns of Europe. This church would have been this town's pride and joy when it was built. And I think it still is.

Angels In the Architecture

This is a shot I took at the Getty Center. Are there really angels here? Perhaps if you look closely, though for today's title I was thinking of the Paul Simon lyric that contains that phrase:

He looks around, aroundHe sees angels in the architectureSpinning in infinityHe says Amen! and Hallelujah!

I see many things when I look at the photo. I may even see angels. . . .

Craquelure (iPhoneography - Instagram)

This is the time-worn eggshell blue kitchen paint in one of my favorite places to take photos - an old farmstead north of Watertown. The light had a great quality when I was there the other day and it helped give more dimension to this old paint barely hanging on the kitchen wall.

St. Paul Cathedral - Another View

I like the lines and curves and angles in this shot. In fact, if you study my architectural photography, I may seem a little "hung up" on lines, and curves and angles. I guess that's my style?

St. Paul Cathedral

I wasn't planning to photograph the St. Paul Cathedral yesterday morning. Instead, I went off to photograph the capital building in St. Paul, Minnesota. Unfortunately, there was scaffolding all over the dome. So I took photos of the nearby Cathedral.Some of you are wondering if this photo is "real" or whether I put in a fake sky (or a fake cathedral!)? This is real, though it is actually two photos - my camera doesn't have the ability to expose a bright sky and the north side of a building and make it look this this. In photography talk, it doesn't have the "dynamic range" to do this.Thus, I took two photos, exposing one for the sky and the other for the church and then combined them into one picture. This is called HDR photography. It's a neat trick that helps the camera see things closer to how the human eye does. The human eye has an incredible dynamic range.

A Day At the Getty

The Rusty Pelican (iPhoneography)

Labyrinth? (Getty Center, Los Angeles)

Even if the Getty Center, which sits above Los Angeles, California, didn't have great works of art, it would be worth visiting. The setting, the architecture and the landscape make this place a "must see" destination. It is photographically fascinating and I could have spent much more time there.This photo was taken with my iPhone and is heavily doctored by Instagram, but I like it. Perhaps when I have time, I'll post a photo of the same subject that I took with my "real" camera.If you are still reading, I want you to check out some photos I took with an iPhone app called Photosynth. I have posted a couple that I took at the Getty Center:The Van Gogh GalleryThe Big Metal Flower TreesGetty Center Entrance Hall (a true 360 shot)