Windmill

Remember the post of the waterfall, well this is found on the same park, so now you have more tips.
It is Not Newyork, and it is not Holland.  where can this place be?

Another Hydroplane

Please take your time and compare this post with THIS other one of an HYDROPLANE. Try to find the diferences, at the first sight they look alike isnt it?



Try to look closer....

...

Pay attention to the details...


...

...

Ok I will tell you the difference...  The previous post is an actual plane, full-size, However this one is a Remote-Controlled airplane. and its actual size is about 1:25 (rough guess)  This one has a wingspan (size from one edge of the wing to the opposite edge)  of 50cms.


This is the kind of "magic"  that the movies do :-P

Waterfall

Natural or Artificial?  Can someone tell me what do you think about this waterfall?




I found it in the middle of a park, which I think is not a natural park but one of those huge parks in the middle of the city.  Or is the Central Park from NY natural?  Well I dont thinkso, However this is not NY.

Maybe someone might guess where it is?

By the Beach

Sometimes is just relaxing to be by the beach dont you think?!

Full Moon

What I like about this picture (Besides the great full moon) is that I got somehow the result that I was looking for.



 

The challenge was the following:
 I had no tripod and it was really bright moon.

Having a bright light source might be good but not this time because it was blowing away the craters and the detail on it. it was easily white saturated.  Therefore what I did was to close the aperture to its minimum.  f/38.  And being a far away object I had the focal lenght to its maximum 200mm.

This kind of settings would make a very dark image, or a large exposure time would be needed right? but well,, having no tripod how would I be able to mantain the camera still?

Less focal lenght would give me a smaller moon.
more aperture would overexpose the moon loosing the detail
and a large exposure time would have make a blurry picture ( my hands are not as still as a tripod)

This is the first time that I solve an issue by just boosting the ISO to a high value 3200.
I used the exposure at 1/250 (even if I need to use something like 1/400) because of my focal lenght.

The result was a "dark" picture and with lots of noise, but sharp because of the aperture and exposure time.
What I did was just tweeking it a little bit with the software to gain some brighness on the moon, and filtering the noise due to the high ISO.

The result is shown above.

What do you think? What do you think about digitally enchansing the pictures to solve issues like this?

Ghirardelli Chocolate

For those Chocolate lovers, a visit to the Ghirardelli chocolate fabric and shop would be a nice stop for a coffee and view of the bay.

I am not a chocolate lover but still I need to admit that it was a very good one.

Candles in the Street

Just walking downtown I found some candles. The picture was taken a couple of blocks away from the market. It was sort of weird to find this just in this street and just a few of them. I am wondering if they were used before on the streets and these are the only one left?

 

Anyway they have some sort of yellow light, which can not be seen during the day. I would suggest to turn this off to save some power dont you think?

San Francisco

It is now time to make a change of City, from now on I will be showing some pictures from San Francisco, California.

One of the city icons would be the cable car, alcatraz island (prision island) and the Golden Gate which I will show later on.

And yes.. the streets are very steep!!

hydroplane

I think that the bucket list will continue to grow the more I travel. Now this plane was flying above me and I instantly tought.... I want to fly one of those.. 

I am not sure but I think that this is not a plane that you find usually am I right? or at least it has been a long time since I saw the last one.

Pudding bread

This is what I found at the end of the Road, it seems it was not a "Mirage"



Well... not really, I found this somewhere else.

It would have been nice to find something like this isnt it? By the way.... This Pudding bread is the best one so far that I have had. But I am not telling you where to find it unless you ask for that specifically.

Hint:  Follow the mirage road..

Mirage on Road trough the desert

This is not quite what I mean by traveling from Tijana to Los Cabos trough the desert. I wanted to to it off-road, but this is how it looks in-road.   It is amazing how the reflection of the road, blends with the sky.

And back there you can see something also, I am not sure if it is real or I am imaginating it.. are this the so called "Mirage"

Palm Trees

I like how palm trees and some other things, contrast black with a sunset. In fact this picture might have been modified to show the palms totally black, but I just uploaded it as it came out of the cammera, I migt try to work with it later to see if I get another result. In fact I must say that Calibrating the monitor might be important.

Because when I upload the picture it was much darker, now while posting it I am not sure if I like to see that much color on the palm trees. I think I would preffer a picture with more "blacks"  What do you think?

Manzanillo Shipments

This is not exactly the kind of Ship that I was planning to take when I say "Ferry to Manzanillo" on the previous Post. However it might also be fun to take one like this to cross the ocean dont you think?  am I crazy? anyway. Lets take a look at the Stern of the ship.

Sand Texture

I think this is not the first time that I am posting some textures, however I must say that I like them specially when they are created naturaly.  The picture shown below, shows some patterns that were drawn in the sand in a beach near pichilinge. 




Pichililnge is a port near La Paz, from this port you can take a ferry to Mazatlan México. That is another thing I will need to add into my bucket list.

" Travel from/to Mazatlan to La Paz via Ferry"

Parking lot in Baja

I like this picture because it gives an idea of what you can expect to be parked besides you while traveling to baja california. and some of the usual background that you will definitely find. (Cactus everywhere)

That is another thing that I would like to do. Traveling off-road trough the dessert.



I will write to my bucket list: "Traveling from Tijuana to San Lucas trough the desert."

Last Rock of Baja California Sur

On the way back to San Lucas, while traveling from the Pacific Ocean, to the Mar de Cortéz, there is a turning point to go arround the península. This is where the rock shown below is located.

This is also the southest part of Baja California, and while this is the last stone at the end of the Península, it seems to be habitated. A couple of Pelicans are living there and have a nice view of the ocean.

On the Right part of the stone (Island) you can see the Pacific Ocean, while on the left it is the Mar de Cortez.

It seems that this is also a nice place to go diving, ( I did not dive this time tough! :-(  ). But it is easy to see big animals, such as whales and sharks even Whalesharks. I think I might plan another trip to "Baja" just to come diving at this wondeful places who are left unexplored (by me).

Thinking by the Sea

I like the sea, and the beach. But I hate to leave it behind. I might strongly consider the possibility to live near to it. But for now it is time to say good bye and move on. 

So.. I leave this time a view to the horizon to help you think... "What´s next?"  "Where would you like to go?" "What would you like to do?"

Rocky Formations

Previous post was about rocky formations out of the sea. and they had some specific structure and shape. mostly shaped by the erotion from the sea. However some other formations are generated by the erosion by the air.

I am not a geologist, so If I am wrong, please forgive me. and if someone else knows if this erosion comes from something else, it would be nice to share it and explain us how where this rocks made.

P.S. By the way these are also in Baja California Sur near the rocks from the previous post. (You can see the huge difference among them)

Baja California Sur

 What do you think about this rocky formations? they are inmense and look impresive when comming out from the sea. I am not climber, However it might be nice to climb to the top dont you think?

Beach + Desert

It was not common (for me) to see rocky mountains, with big cactus and desert vegetation reaching the beach. However in Baja California Sur, Mexico it seems that it is a comon view. I show here a picture of it.
Maybe the cactus plants are not tottaly clear but all the green over there are this type of plants.

I will try to get some other pictures to show them clearyl.

Lovers Beach

There are several ways to get here, however my favorite so far is by walkint to it. It is located at the most south part of the Baja California Península,  Souther from the "Pelicans Bay" shown in the previous post.

This sort of "hidden Beach" is beautiful, however it can be reached via some water taxis departing from Cabo San Lucas, BCS, Mexico. Which makes it accesible to many turists. (Bad thing) 

But there is allways a way to visit it when it is alone. Going after 5pm, when everyone is gone and go there via the hidden walking trail. So that you can be there all by your own. The view shown above is the Pacific Ocean, by looking in the shown direction and if you are able to swim ( or sail ) about 8,000Km you will reach Hawaii. 

It is a really nice plae to dive, because there are lots of big animals, such as White Sharks and Whales. Unfortunately I was not there to dive. but it is definitely on the bucket list of places where I would like to dive.

 

Pelicans

I found some Pelicans at the South part of Baja California Península. This is just one of the stones where  some of them where gathered. In fact there were many of them but I chose just this picture because otherwise it might look crowded. (Minimalistic Pelicans View)

Conchas

This might be one of my Favorite breads, It is called "Conchas" and you can find them in a couple of different flavours, but my favorite is the "withe" one.  I dont really know how is it made or what is the official name of its flavour but it is with this white cover.

Ir any of you havent tasted it before and you find one like this while travelin in Mexico, I will strongly recomend to try one.

Blurry Lights

Today I was just experimenting with the "Bokech effect" or something like that.  I was in fact wondering how would it look like if I shoot out of focus, and when I saw the result. I remembered why. and in fact I like this one. It was like a unexpected picture untill I remember a little bit of the theory.

Basílica de Zapopan

Another place worth visiting if you come to Guadalajara, México, would definitely be Zapopan, Here you will find a nice Cathedral that by night is even better due to the ilumination. I have always seen it by day and it is really nice. By night I used to visit the corridor and its multiple pubs.. but It was a very nice view f the Cathedran by night.

I took this picture when some friends from Germany that were traveling over Guadalajara came at the same time I was here. so we gave a little tour arround the city.  I hope you like this picture and maybe.. why not.. come some day to Zapopan.

Blown bottles in tonala

This is is what i found in tonala jalisco Mexico.

They have lots of hamdcrafts and verv nice things, i would like to buy them all, but well i cant afford buying them all and i cant take them with me either.

Anyway it was nice to see the melting Crystal, and how it slowly becomes a bottle

cognac napoleon grande fine champagne 1802

I found a little Bottle that seems to be not-so-new,  If I read correctly it is from 1802 which means that it is more than 200 Years old Cognac.

I must say I am not cognac fan, but still I like it. However I will not dare to open this bottle. I am not a pro and I am sure I will not be able to "enjoy" it as it is meant to be. In fact I am not sure how much does this bottle might cost but I am sure that it is much more than the cheap cognac that I usually drink ( when I drink cognac once a year hahah)



In the label it says that it comes from the region of Champagne, a friend of mine and myself we at first tought it was champagne but not... it is cognac from the region of champagne.

Fireplace

This litte thing, saved the night, it is like having a fireplace but outdoors. Therefore we could enjoy the party even being outside. (in winter)



The flames and the colours generated by the fire are just great.(even if unfortunately they are not fully shown in the picture)

Water from ....

Hey, where is this water comming from? It is Magic hahah..

Any ideas? I might give some prize to someone that explains this on the comments below

Bottled

Some bottled things, would look nice in the living room isnt it? or kitchne? where would you put something like this?



I might even tell you where to find them.

Well I will do it anyway. in Tonalá Mexico.

Monarch Butterfly - Morelia

This are some of the views that you can find if you go to the "El Rosario" Santuary, in Morelia Mexico.
It was a really nice experience. From where I was living it is about 600Km, and I remember that I was kind of  "complaining" about that we should have stayed overnight to sleep closer to the Santuary. We spend the night at Morelia that it is 300Km away but it was, still a 5hour drive.

The next day, we drove really early to be there as early in the morning as possible. The moment we reach this place, I was just Amazed!!! every single Kilometer that we drove. and every single penny that we spend on this trip was worth 1000x times.






I was expecting to see a couple of Thousands, however, I am not exagerating by saying we saw a couple of millions.

Really, there are millions of butterflies flying around and lying on the trees. This is something that I would really recommend to everyone who stays in Morelia.

Flaming Moe

 No, this is not a Flaming Moe. In fact I even forgot the name of this beverage.
For those who saw the previous post from "EL POMAR"... No... It is also not how the sidra looks like. It is just a beverage that we found on our little trip to the beach.. In fact when I order it. I asked the waiter...
"What is that THING that is being served over that table..... Well I want one as well"
It is sort of coffe with a liquour what was amazing of it. is not how it looks like but the Show they make for serving it.



Pictures of the show. are not really good. It was hard to catch the flaming liquour while jumping in the air from one cup to the other. I will need to practice a litte bit more on those kind of environments, (Flames, movement, dark restaurant)

Cheers.

El Pomar Tradition

Every year, since about (unknown) number of years. Me and my friends get together to celebrate friendship. We have had several discussions on when does this tradition started. some of them say about 15years ago some of them say 20 or 22. but the only thing tha I am sure is that it was loooong time ago. We are all about early 30ies. Therefore 20 years is like 2/3rds of our lives.



This tradition started once that we had a get together and we requested to bring some "sidra". Somehow.. everyone brought the same bottle... maybe it was a destiny sing, or maybe it is just that it was the cheapest one on the store... no one remembers. but ever since... we get together and it is a MUST to bring this bottle.
It is called "EL POMAR" and therefore that is the name of our friendship tradition.

I must say that now a days, it is not the cheapes, and sometimes the hardest to find.. maybe because it is neither famous and expensive nor cheap and unknown. it is just in the middle and it might be that sores does not buy for some years this type of bottle. but so far we have managed to find at least 12 (one for each + some spare).

And well as you can immagine, it is a MUST that every one needs to drinks its own bottle. ( completely ).
This sidra is soft so it is no problem to drink it in an hour and not being drunk or anything. I really appreciate this tradicion and because I am not living in my home town anymore since 7 years ago I must confess that I have missed at least 3 of them.. However it has allways been at least 3 on the celebration(on rough times). As long as there is at least two  man standing the tradition will not die. and I will do my best to be o every single one. no matter where It is going to happen next.

New Year 2013

 I wish to everyone a very happy new year 2013, unfortunately last year I was not able to follow the pictures day by day, and therefore this year as one of the resolutions that I have is to finish this project this year. It isnot good to start something and let it un finished. It is allways better to be a "Finisher" than a "Starter".




To tell the truth, I am again delayed but I will catch up. and get 365 pictures by the end of the year. By the way, I am now using a software to organize my pictures so I hope that this might help on keeping track of the pictures while puting some order to my photo folders and some how to my life hahah.. I know there are some other things I need to solve this year. but at least I will try to use the technology on the things that technology can help.

For every thing else... I am on my own.

Happy New Year.

Best Regards
Ruben