Flower Sunday

One from Asia; the other from California, so goes Lotus Sunday.

Send me one of your flower photographs and I'll post next Sunday.

For other flowers on my blog, check out--

flower 1
flower 2
flower 3
flower 4
flower 5
flower 6
flower 7

These are flowers from all over the world.

Send to matthewbam@aol.com

Gaudi Style

Spanish architect Gaudi had a style of his own. In the image above is a building in Barcelona, Spain that he designed.
His signature style is a bit haunting at the same time as being festive, kind of like a Halloween carnival.

Gaudi's work in the late 1800s was unique and based on nature with the use of carved stone and twisted iron. This type of arhitecture is referred to as organic because the shapes emulate free forms that you might see under the ocean, at the tops of trees or on the rocky cliffs near the beach.

If your in Barcelona it's fun to walk the streets, spotting Gaudi's architecture.

Roman Mosaic

Photographing mosaics is probably the easiest photography you'll ever encounter. Just shut off your flash (provided there is some light), hold your camera as still as you can and shoot away in auto mode. (If there's little light use your flash.) Try zooming in close to isolate the objects that you like in the mosaic.

Here's a mosaic from the Getty Villa in Malibu, CA.

The Greeks constructed pebble mosaic streets with animal decorations 400 BC.

In 200 BC the pebbles from which mosaics were so small, that after they were constructed, they could have been mistaken for paintings.

The mosaic above is Roman and probably of a subject celebrating a God.

Revisiting Cartagena

No travel photography blog would be complete without at least a brief mention of the country of Columbia.

It's mysterious, a place where the words "judgement" and "fervor" come to mind.

It's history goes back long before Columbus and extends to stories of drug cartels, trafficking and commerce.

People in the United States, many of them, at any rate, would say Columbia is forbidden territory.

Others would have it that Columbia is full of exotic riches.

I'm with the later. I miss the place. It's unlike any other in the world.

Underdog

Underdog, my favorite cartoon character on TV via Photoshop

One of my favorite things to do is take pictures of old television sets and put campy things on the screen using the Edit>Transform tool in Photoshop.

In the picture above I took a picture television set that I snapped at Ruby's diner in Ft. Myers, FL and cleaned up the background.

Then I slipped this image on top and transformed it so it fit inside the TV set.

I've done this twice before on my blog, but with different images and television sets.

One is of Hillary Clinton on the TV and the other is of Peter Lawford on the TV.

Candid Sisters

Candid photography requires you to be quick.

I saw these two sisters in a van when I was in a small town in Mexico, just outside of Guadalajara.

I thought it was fascinating how the two girls and their parents agreed to let photograph (and were happy about it) from my perspective outside of the van window.

I thought the girls were not only pretty, but unique in that, when you first glance at them, you might be persuaded that they are twins. When you look at them a little longer, it's obvious that they're not. If you look closely, there are many differences between the two.

Candid photography is unique in that you can get away with small technical errors (some would disagree, saying any technical errors is not good photography). As you can see the lighting is off, but I like it because it really gives the atmosphere that you're inside some sort of vehicle with a brown interior.

Is Train Travel History?

LA's Union Station is located within walking distance of downtown.


LA's Union Station is the meeting point of many Southern California trains.

The train station offers some of the most colorful stories of life in the moment. From Harry Potter waiting for a fantasy train on the way to new experiences in the Hogworts School to mom and kids going to grandma's house, the train brings tales of people meeting and greeting under a canopy of sights and sounds that air or automobile travel can't match.

The sounds, sights and atmosphere of a train and inter-city stations offer travelers a unique experience, that far exceeds the seedy reputation that bus travel has. Even though the diesel inter-city Amtrak trains that exist in the United States aren't all that energy efficient, they are a bit more comfortable, scenic, and memorable. There's nothing like gazing out a picture window to see parts of the country where few have been and where roads are absent.

Amtrak should have connected most cities in the United States decades ago with modern stations and on-time trains. But it hasn't. Neither have the high-speed electric inter-city trains that are common in Europe and Japan caught on in the U.S. This is due not only to the oil companies' manipulation of the American transportation system, but also to the regional political quagmires that have prevented capital from reaching those lowly rail stations in cities and towns all across America. Most are desolate places, lonely stops surrounded by scenic vistas and battered by the elements.

One exception to this is Union Station in L.A., a busy place where many of the rail lines of Southern California end up.

--From my article, "Is Train Travel History" at Utne.com