Vatican Museum

Jose & I 07/07

Fun with Photoshop

Vatican museum 07/07

Photo Op

I miss taking photos like the one below. Rome 07/07

I personally like the B&W version. What do you think?

Managing our digital lives

There used to be a time when photography was easy. Digital photography has changed everything. Technology has given us many more options and overall made digital photography more enjoyable. The benefits are obvious. Immediate feedback and ability to take as many photos as you wish are just two benefits that immediately come to mind. Most people in my generation (generation Y) have become so used to the immediate feedback to the point where they must always see the photo right after it is taken. Heaven forbid the photo was taken from your “bad side”.

Nothing is free
An initial cost analysis may lead one to think that digital photography is less expensive than traditional photography. I strong disagree. Digital photography has more options and more options mean more complexity. The immediate costs to take one photo or 100 photos are the same. Yet, the post processing costs are not free and they have become increasingly “expensive”. They require something much more valuable than money: time. Post processing costs include all of the time and energy required to transfer, organize, edit, categorize, share and backup those photos. I don’t know about you, but these costs have become increasingly burdensome for me.

Sharing
All of my friends are taking photos as well. Of course, I want those photos. Then I have to integrate those into the photos I took and start all over again. Oh yeah, then my friends want copies…copies that I must make smaller because the original photos are too large for email. They could download them off my flickr site one at a time (which again took time to upload to). But honestly, what normal person has time for that?

F#@K, I lost everything!
I’m betting there will be a large portion of my generation that will have their photos (read: memories) erased due to viri, hard drive crashes and other crazy reasons like "ransomware". I’ve already seen family and friends lose their data far too many times. An informal survery of my friends revealed that approximately 75% don’t have any type of backup. This is crazy. I don’t know about you, but losing my music, photos, videos and documents would be like losing part of me. I would probably cry.

Preserving these memories is already challenging and will become more difficult as the amount of data increases.There must be an easier way to manage this process from start to finish (end to end) and I must find it…fast. Please email me if you have any suggestions. If not, perhaps this is a business opportunity. Maybe I just gave you the best business idea ever. Invite me oven when you are an internet billionaire.

But first, immediately backup all of your files. You’ll thank me later.

The elderly of europe

Older people in Europe seem to have more youthfulness and energy than their U.S. counterparts. I've always had an odd fascination with the elderly, mostly because I feel we can learn a lot of them. I plan to be a very eccentric older person. I plan to use my age as an excuse to do crazy things that only old people can get away with. If everything goes as planned, my brother and his wife will need to explain how Uncle Chris " just old" and "a little special." Until then, below is my photo tribute to the elderly of Europe.

B&W series

I noticed that I take a lot of street art and architecture photos and not a lot of "people" photos. The photos below are my first attempt to shoot random people in their everyday lives. I'm happy with the results.

The Puti's

More proof that Jose is an amazing graphic artist. Top to bottom: Me, Jose & Keyan. Done in the style of the cover artwork on the Best of Blur album. Simply amazing!

Poble Nou Street Art & Vagabonds

A few hours before I left for Rome, I noticed some fun new street art very close to my house in Poble Nou. I made a mental note to take some photos when I returned from Rome. Yesterday I went back when it was starting to get a bit dark. The lighting made for good photos, which you'll see below. Even better, a group of vagabonds were chatting in front of some older graffiti. I immediately saw an opportunity for a good photo. I didn't want to disturb them and wanted something more candid, so I took the third photo below while I was on a bicycle riding past them. For some odd reason, one of the guys shouted, "que tal, guapo" (how are you, sexy) as I rode past the group. The framing turned out very well considering that I captured it while moving on a bike.

Monday mullet photos

I'm not exactly sure why it's been so long since I posted mullet photos. They were some of my most popular posts. Go figure. Anyway, the Monday mullet madness continues with some Madridian mullets. Enjoy!

Seville Spain photos

Simply amazing. The photos show the beauty much better than I could ever explain it. View all of the photos here.

This guy owned what I think is the best tapas bar in Seville.

The Cathedral in Seville. Remarkable

Plaza España, Seville

Cathedral in Seville

Yes, I have the skills of SpidermanView all of the photos here.

World's cutest old man

If this isn't the world's cutest old man then I don't know who is. He was enjoying a nice stroll along the beaches of Barcelona earlier today. His over sized clothes, socks pulled up, vest, hat that, gangster style, was slightly shifted to the side...too much. I love it!

Sevillian Gastronomy

I was in Seville during the Festival De Las Naci Nes, an annual arts, cultural and gastronomical extravaganza held along the Guadalquivir river. Food, music and arts from Colombia, Cuba, Greece, Germany, Jamaica, Ecuador, India, Mexico, France, Peru, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, along with many other countries were represented. I had food typical of Cuba, Ecuador, Mexico, France, Peru and Argentina. It would be fair to say that I ate enough food for a week in my 3 days in Seville. Check out the photos below. Yum!

Argentinian Steak. Need I say more?

Typical Spanish breakfast. Cafe con Leche (espresso w/ whole mike), pan (bread) w/ Jamon (ham).

Argentinian sausage - amazing

Cuban spiced chicken and beef with killer sauce.

Salmorejo, a very typical dish of Seville.

French crepe. "The Exotic": Chicken, nata, cheese and pineapple. Loved the mix of flavors.

Seville Street Art

The street art in Seville was very impressive. It was mostly concentrated around the Guadalquivir river area. Below are a few of the many photos that can be found on my Flickr page. Other Seville photos to follow.

More photo on my Flickr page.

Difusor - International Stencil Summit

Top stencil artists from all over Europe gathered in Barcelona for the premier Difusor stencil summit. The results are remarkable. Below are some photos with a lot more on my Flickr page.

More information, along with some videos are on the Difusor site.

See more on my Flickr page