A CHRISTMAS STORY...

't was after midnight, we'd again worked late, the lights in our Christmas tree were on, some candles spread their wonderful light and made everything flickering sparkly.
We relaxed in front of the fire, to unwind and enjoy, before going to bed.
The previous night a dusting of snow had whitened our world, the day was bitterly cold with a biting frost.
I heard a tinkling bell in the silence of the night, a slight knock on the door...
I opened and there was Father Christmas, he was on one of his pre-Christmas rounds, to see how  'good' everybody was, what they deserved, or not... (he doesn't always get it right, but maybe that's his helpers?) and  he had been caught in a blizzard!
Saw our lovely inviting home...
I quickly invited him in, he took of his hat, the gentleman that he is... I saw how wet and icy it was and offered to hang it up to dry.
I fixed him a hot drink, we sat and chatted, he asked how my photography was going, (he really does know EVERYTHING!), was I happy with my new camera? And why had I not waited... he would have put one under the tree for me...

I blushed and confessed that I'm not the most 'patient' of people. He smiled and stroked his beard.
Well, warmed up and dry, he was ready to go, lots to do, deadlines to meet, gosh it all sounded so familiar...
A hug, I waved him out,  another bell-jingling, ho-ho...then he was gone... that's when I woke up!


I wish you all the very best, may your wishes come true, and thanx for all your kind words, time. Very much appreciated.
M, (*_*)

I am a  Featured Photographer In the Hall of Fame HERE:

www.flickr.com/groups/1579256@N23/discuss/72157625511641635/
I say a few things...



IT IS STRICTLY FORBIDDEN (BY LAW!!!) TO USE ANY OF MY image or TEXT on websites, blogs or any other media without my explicit permission. © All rights reserved

Why not view the set as a slide-show?
Also I often upload more than one image at the same time, I see a tendency to only view the last uploaded...

Another fun Blog HERE: magdaindigo.blogspot.com/2009/11/light-in-dark-season.html

A WEEK IN THE LIFE OF A PHOTOGRAPHER, IN SPAIN. DAY 3, Part 1. Along the Coast and up the mountain..

Please do not COPY or use any of my images on websites, blogs or any other media without my explicit permission. © All rights reserved.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

After a good night sleep, we have a leisurely breakfast, we bought something we want to try, the Spanish cheese, Tetilla (Spanish: Queso de Tetilla) is the most characteristic cheese made in Galicia, it is the pride of the land where it was created, the secret of this cow's milk cheese has been passed down from generation to generation. The soft cheese is hand formed into the shape of a woman's nippled breast! (1)

In Spain, people revere this cheese and assert that it "tastes like kisses."

It is lovely.

We’ve decided to drive from Fuengirola, along the ‘old’ coastal route, the A7, Autovia del Mediterráneo towards Marbella, the weather is perfect, a few clouds left, which makes it all the more interesting.(2)

Only around 25 km, but it looks promising.

Parts you drive along the Med, then you drive through or along villages and small sleepy towns, well it is Domingo (Sunday) AND around the Midday, only the silly tourists are out. LOL.

Names like El Faro, where you see the old and the new. (3)

El Chaparral, Ana Maria, Torre de Calahonda, Torre Ladrones, Costa Bella… we stop at one of them, discover a lovely little beach, with a fish restaurant, looking very local, the fire is burning, the fish is cooking in a typical way!(4)

The beach is deserted, we walk the shore, the sun is pounding, Paul forgot his bandana in the car, so I give him my blouse which we make into a ‘turban’, he looks quite rakish, my Sultan!(5)

We walk to the end of the Cove, stopped by the rocks. We see what's further down, the beautiful blue of the sea, Torre de Calahonda... (6)

Looking down, to our dismay, we are once more confronted with a sad sign of our times… people just discarding their rubbish… wherever. My lens is not wide enough to take the whole lot, this is only part of it! (7)

WE ARE THE ONLY ANIMALS TO SOIL OUR NEST LIKE THIS!!!

I am disgusted and storm away, the walk through the sand is tough, it fuels my anger, but by the time I get to the stairs towards the car, I’m exhausted, and feel flat.

We drive off in silence.

At some point; we come to a sign pointing to Altos the Marbella (Heights of Marbella), we both think that if we can get higher up into the mountains we might have great views, with Cypress, Olive trees. (8)

We pass a huge half finished hospital, another building site which seems deserted.

Vendors have been telling us Spain is in a crisis! Yet, everywhere you look, they are building, self-contained enclaves in the mountains, along the beaches, they are raping their land! Everywhere you look, it is like Lego-land identical boxes, neatly arranged and mostly empty and for sale, masts, cables, and roads leading nowhere.

Again, there’s silence in the car, up we go, lovely (new) road, brings us to our destination, a Securitas protected (new) village, no barrier so we drive on, you feel the cameras on you, all the villas are hidden, the gardening plantation looks well maintained, watered and fresh, lots of beautiful oleanders, NOBODY to be seen… it feels like ‘The day after’!

We meander on, till eventually, we are out and on the way down again, the nice road is finished, now more rocky, we pass a few deserted old ruins of small farmhouses, come under the The Autopista del Mediterráneo, the E15(see day 1.) (9)

It is both impressive and intimidating; we both get out to take photographs.

Driving on, we come into a lower new development… just as empty, our sat nav tries to get us out, however, every road we get to is blocked off, we see the faint arrows still there, no way out… I feel like I’m in a bad movie, in the end, we just doubled back in silence, now no longer interested in the surroundings. Another sharp bend and we are in the surreal world of Dali, amongst the manicured estate, in the middle of the road stands a herd of goats…

We stop, neither one of us gets out..., I open the window and put out my arm, hand with camera, no viewing what I'm shooting!

What a bonus auto-focus is! I 'chance' it.

They stare at us, we look at them… it is a stand off! (10)

A few minutes later, they charge…(11) past us, although at first it looks like it is at us!

Out of nowhere appears a shepherd and his two dogs.

THAT I want to photograph! I jump out of the car, camera in hand, again in my ‘BEST’ Spanish I ask him if I can take a portrait of him, he smiles, laughs, tells me a whole lot of which I don’t understand anything. I see he is wearing a Securitas jacket... is he also the security guard?

He walks off, turns around, waves at me, (12) comes back and asks if we have water for him!(13)

We do and Paul gladly offers him a bottle, he’s very grateful and takes a deep drink immediately, talks a bit more and waves good-bye, (14 )then he’s gone.

We sit in the car, except for the droppings in the road; it could have been a dream...

It has made our day, we laugh a lot.

Eventually we leave the place behind and get back, past the hospital onto the main road.

We are going to Mijas, the mountain village above Fuengirola.

Thanx, M, (*_*)

A WEEK IN THE LIFE OF A PHOTOGRAPHER, IN SPAIN. DAY 2. FUENGIROLA.

Please do not COPY or use any of my images on websites, blogs or any other media without my explicit permission. © All rights reserved.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

DAY 2.

The morning after our arrival, we wake up and see that it has rained and it is very overcast!
Slightly disappointed, we decide we will not let this dampen our spirit and that we are going to 'discover' Fuengirola. Get to know it, our way around…
It is a good thing that we thought of bringing our sat-nav (satellite navigation).
We already know from last night, that Spanish drivers are not the most patient and like driving fast and quite aggressively!
Fuengirola was in ancient times known as Suel and then Suhayl and is a municipality on the Costa del Sol in the province of Málaga, autonomous community of Andalusia in southern Spain. It is a major tourist resort, with more than 8 km of beaches, and home to a medieval Moorish fortress,(1) Sohail Castle. The town has its origins in Phoenician, Roman and Arab civilisations.
We want to find the ‘southern’ beginning of the promenade and come to the foot of the fortress, proudly waving the Spanish flag!
We are impatient and want to see the Mediterranean again, on our short way I spot an Egret (2) standing in a bit of a laguna. Click, a shot… (I don’t DO birds…lol)
The Med is not its usual glorious blue because of the grey sky, but the temperature is fine. (3)
I sit and soak up the atmosphere. (4)
A balmy 23 degrees, suits me perfectly... up to 25, I'm fine, more then that and I suffer, I'm the Northern type, what can I say?
Paul cannot resist and walks onto the empty beach with only stacked redundant and rather tired looking sun-loungers. (5)
When he returns, he’s happy, he ‘touched’ the sea! (6)

As we drive off to further explore, I spot a high-rise building being painted ‘a la Española…’. (7) (8)
I’m grinning ear to ear. That’s the stuff I’m after!
We discover a lovely little park with flowers and trees that are new to me, bliss, if only the light was better, not so flat. (9) (10)
Fuengirola seems to be busy for this time of year, it’s not easy finding a parking space, but when we do, we‘re glad, because it is very close to the harbour.
The old port is still used by the local Spanish fishermen. (11)
It is Sábado (Saturday) and there is little activity, the boats are in.
Eventually we find a fisherman checking his gear, again it is something I’ve never seen before, and yet, every country I ever visited, I’m always drawn to the fishing harbours, their methods, netting, boats and people.
He’s sorting out ‘pot’ after black pot on one rope, from the quay to the boat. (12)
He spots me; I go up to him and (try) asking him in my BEST Spanish, what they are for?
He answers kindly… for catching ‘pulpos’. (13)

They catch octopuses by taking advantage of the animals' habit of hiding in safe places during the night. In the evening they put grey ceramic pots on the sea bed. The morning of the following day they check them for octopuses that sheltered there.

They are very popular in Tapas and most Spanish dishes, like Paella!

He looks at my camera, I tell him it is sad that the light is not better, to which he replies … it will be fine tomorrow, Mañana… now there’s a word you’ll hear more of in the coming days!
A bit further I spot more people, mending the netting, where I come from it was the ‘old’ people’s job, not here it seems. (14) (15)
I sense they don’t like the ‘intrusion’.
We take some general shots and walk back to the promenade, as we sit on a wall, suddenly the clouds open a bit and the sun is caressing us, what a wonderful feeling. Everything changes, it comes to life! We stay and enjoy it.
Looking north, we see the mountains and the blue in the sky. (16)
Mountain villages clinging on the flanks, looking forward to exploring that!

Eventually, we head home, to our apartment; we’ll eat the beautiful gambas that we bought, with some olive bread and a glass of white Rioja, on the terrace, that’s after a glass of Jerez with mejillones (cooked mussels, mmmm) as an aperitif.
After our meal, we view our images and we sit happily outside till all’s gone quiet, this is the night the hour changes to Winter-time, so we gain an hour.
We’ll have our beauty sleep and tomorrow we’ve planned to venture a bit further along the coast…
Thanx, M, (*_*)

A WEEK IN THE LIFE OF A PHOTOGRAPHER, IN SPAIN. DAY 1.

Please do not COPY or use any of my images on websites, blogs or any other media without my explicit permission. © All rights reserved.

At last, the day has arrived, we are ready!

To us, each ‘travel’ is an adventure; we are full of trepidation, excited, we know that we’ll encounter things and people new, that once more our lives will be enriched…

Our plane is ready on the tarmac; I see our suitcases going in as we are absorbing the electric atmosphere so particular to stations, ferry-terminals and airports.

People arrive, people leave, hellos and good-byes, tears and laughter, a chunk of life.

Our flight is called, we are installed, the weather is dreary and dank, it really is full-on autumn here in Yorkshire.

Paul and I squeeze hands as the plane leaves the earth and soars the sky… up, up and away!

I grab my camera as we almost climb above the clouds, one last glance and the land is gone.







We travel through the cotton wool layer of clouds, till we see the bright sun, beneath us, it is like the Arctic, endless white, a horizon and blue, the surrealness of SPACE…

The captain announces that we have a strong headwind (we’re going to be late!), the speed and the temperature outside: -46 degrees.

I see the ice on the window, the sun sparkling it, I’ll just take advantage of the window-seat I have, to break some of the monotony, and try to take some images.

We turn, I see the sun sinking slowly into blanket, it’s turning golden, adding a different sparkle on the ice.

Again I’m reminded of Dante; first there was heaven, then inferno, now it looks like we are descending into hell.

We are well above Spain, but nothing to be seen.

Then, I see a few flashing lights, our ears are popping, the descend has begun, we’re nearly there, I see more lights, a ribbon of orange, The Autopista del Mediterráneo. The motorway of the Mediterranean or AP-7 is a shaft of 1109 km, which connects the entire Mediterranean coast from the border with France, La Junquera to Algeciras, and ends in Guadiaro (Cadiz).

The first section of motorway was opened in 1969 from Barcelona to Granollers.

We land safely at Malaga, get into the hall, pick up our luggage, go for the keys of the car we hired, finally, we breath in the mild Spanish sea-air, I'm engulfed by all the exotic and heady fragrances.

We head for Fuengirola, which is to be our 'base' for the next 10 days.

It is dark; we do not see any of the surroundings, except some lights dotting the mountains.

Because we're late, the restaurant is closed, we walk a few streets through the balmy night and in a side street, discover a genuine, local tapas-bar. In our 'paleness' we attract the attention, but they are quite 'merry' and are singing Spanish Flamenco songs, we can't believe our luck... too bad we did not bring our cameras... However, I think that some things are just to be experienced and enjoyed!

Can't wait for tomorrow!

Thanx, M, (*_*)

WILLEM VERMANDERE, OF THE PASSION FOR YOUR MEDIUM AND AN ARTIST'S HANDS...

Please do not COPY or use any of my images on websites, blogs or any other media without my explicit permission. © All rights reserved.

Willem Vermandere is a famous and much celebrated Belgian Artist.
My friend is a sculptor, singer-songwriter, musician, writer, poet and painter, but also a wonderful philosopher and raconteur.
We always enjoy a get together when we visit the Continent, this time no different!
Here, after a whole animated discussion about why we do what we do, how to do it well etc... here, he had told us the fascinating story of this old ebony clarinet, still in the original, allbeit battered instrument case, he then for a moment disappeared into his own world of melodious sound, eyes closed, see beautiful portrait, full of the emotion, taken by Paul.Indigo : HERE.

We got back to our earlier conversation, about PASSION!!! He talked about visiting different regions, the quarries, the choosing of the rock, stone he wants to work in, wood, metal, he caresses the roughest material as if it was something very precious, well, it is to him!
You have to have PASSION for your medium!
For a photographer we agreed that that should be all about the light!!!
As you can see, his hands are his tools, during the week, he carves, cleaves, chisels, chops and files on his quarry trasures, the granite, marble... all very rough on his hands, then on the week-ends, his hands become the softer tools as he performs as a musician, stroking and playing the delicate instruments, strings and keys...
Combining the two passions is a constant concern to him! Both disciplines so important to him in their own way!
The gorgeous afternoon-light fell onto his hands, that afternoon in his studio...


Such moments are pure magic.




THANX, M, (*_*)


This is about the man himself:
magdaindigo.blogspot.com/2007/08/willem-vermandere-is-fam...
with a follow-up
magdaindigo.blogspot.com/2009/09/let-me-tell-you-story-on...


And here is my blog on The Importance of Hands in portrait Photography:

magdaindigo.blogspot.com/2009/01/importance-of-hands-in-p...

ALA-REMBRANDT. Magda, portrait for movie, called "Get Real! Wise Women Speak"

Please do not COPY or use any of my images on websites, blogs or any other media without my explicit permission. © All rights reserved.

I was contacted by Joni Steele Kimberlin, Producer, Director, Writer and the maker of this film/documentary,

Get Real! Wise Women Speak,
www.youtube.com/user/cowgirlfilms#p/a/u/2/vWpY0UH114I


www.cowgirlfilms.com


She wants to incorporate this self-portrait in it as a still!!!
Interviews with interesting and famous, mature ladies, like Actress Jane Fonda, poet Nikki Giovanni, Connecticut Governor Jodi Rell, Editor Susan L. Taylor, Buddhist Nun Tenzin Palmo, Oceanographer Sylvia Earle, Author Marianne Williamson, Nobel Laureates, artists, grandmothers, activists and educators and many more, check it out? Coming out in the fall...next year the DVD, I'll keep you posted on that!
How 'wow' is this? I am very honoured to be part of this project.
Ladies over 50… we DO have a voice, we DO have experience and ooohhh soooo much to give and share… however, not taking any nonsense anymore!
www.facebook.com/pages/Get-Real-Wise-Women-Speak/25223947209


I had to rework it, so that is why I re-upload it with the original title: Ala Rembrandt:
Rembrandt van Rijn had a particular light and tone in his wonderful portraits and paintings. Dark backgrounds and warm coloured subjects.
Well, Rembrandt's paintings were never (that) dark; they were plastered with crude varnish by well-meaning conservationist, and however that is how we see them now.
He had a paint-colour named after him, Rembrandt red= orangey red.

Paul and I were experimenting once more with different light settings in the studio, still fascinated after all those years at what light can do, how it is the most important in photography ( well, equal to the often 'neglected' EMOTION'? LOL).
We love challenges; I was dressed in black and chose a black bg.
Although I'm not photogenic and don't often go for self-images, this one, ALA REMBRANDT... well, in those days they preferred a bit more curvaceous ladies, so, fitting? HEEEEEEEEEEEEE.
I am a very smiley person normally but not in portraits and NOT with longer exposures, where the smile becomes too often like a grimace.

Silver umbrella on Goddard light, just using the modelling light. NO FLASH hence the long exposure and 'softness' ( you try and stand still for 20 seconds minimum? (You DO have a heart-beat!!!)
No filters.
May your day be a good one,
Thank you, Magda (*_*)

BEACH, SAND and WATER-ART and SERENDIPITY?

Please do not COPY or use any of my images on websites, blogs or any other media without my explicit permission. © All rights reserved.

We, my husband Paul and I, are just back from a few days in Northumberland, the North East of England. Very close to the Scottish border.

We'd heard so much about it, somehow never got there although it wasn't so far for us, less than 3 hours drive. But this time we made it, and wow, was it worth it! We were lucky with the weather…

Windy, which meant fabulous waves...

Cloudy and sunny, which meant fabulous light, light-play and interesting skies...

Only a bit of rain during the night, which made everything look fresh and vibrant!

We had rented a cottage at Seahouses, a small colourful harbour.

A good place to start, almost in front of the Farne Islands, to the north you have beautiful dunes, white beaches, and Bamburgh Castle Epic and majestic.

But let me come back to this in a later blog, after I have processed the photos?

What I really wanted to write about is that, besides the more obvious, I love to photograph the UNOBVIOUS. I arrive on a beach, I see the sand-patterns blown by the wind or shaped by the sea, some have stones, others have shells, and with wild seas you'll have lots of seaweed all very interesting, because of the variety, colour and shapes. I love looking, making compositions, when it all comes together, I'm thrilled, touched, and yes, it releases emotions.

I do understand that it is NOT to everybody's taste, but I do not take them for anyone...

So I uploaded some of them and as expected, they did not get much attention, which is fine.

And that is what I wrote in the write-up under the images yesterday.

SERENDIPITY:

Today, I discover what Seth Godin,

http://www.sethgodin.com/sg/

wrote in one of his latest blogs:

QUOTE:

"I need you to see things my way"

And that's the frustration of the marketer or the artist who hasn't figured out how to navigate critics and the marketplace.

If you need the validation and acceptance and patronage of everyone you meet, you'll get stuck, and soon. Everyone isn't going to get it. Everyone isn't even going to get you, never mind what you sell.

Experienced marketers and artists and those that make change understand that the new is not for everyone. In fact, it's not even for most people. Pass them by. They can catch up later.

It's not a referendum, and you don't need a unanimous vote of acclamation. No, you merely need enough to stay in business, to keep moving, to make a dent. And then your idea can spread.

If the kids in the back of the bus/audience/store don't get it (or don't get you) it's their loss. Focus on those that want to celebrate the work you do instead."

No need to say more he?

Thanx, M, (*_*)