Billie Mercer. John Woods. Gary Denness.
Whenever you visit their blogs, you know you are going to get first class photographs of Mexico.
I thought of that the other night as I looked across the bay to Barra de Navidad. From my terrace, Barra looks like a fairy wonderland.
Not because of anything in Barra itself. It is simply a little Mexican beach town.
What sets off the bay is the five-star resort, the Grand Bay Hotel.
Now, we all know that the stars granted to these resorts can be as suspect as a five-star general from a third-rate country, but it certainly looks enticing from my side of the bay.
If I were Edmund Pevensie, it would imagine it to be where the White Witch spent her vacations.
Billie has immortalized San Miguel de Allende at night. And what does SMA have that la belle Barra lacks? Sure, we have no churches with gaudy domes. But we have a resort that smacks of a cross between San Simeon and Cinderella's castle.
And why couldn't I capture this grand scene?
Whenever you visit their blogs, you know you are going to get first class photographs of Mexico.
I thought of that the other night as I looked across the bay to Barra de Navidad. From my terrace, Barra looks like a fairy wonderland.
Not because of anything in Barra itself. It is simply a little Mexican beach town.
What sets off the bay is the five-star resort, the Grand Bay Hotel.
Now, we all know that the stars granted to these resorts can be as suspect as a five-star general from a third-rate country, but it certainly looks enticing from my side of the bay.
If I were Edmund Pevensie, it would imagine it to be where the White Witch spent her vacations.
Billie has immortalized San Miguel de Allende at night. And what does SMA have that la belle Barra lacks? Sure, we have no churches with gaudy domes. But we have a resort that smacks of a cross between San Simeon and Cinderella's castle.
And why couldn't I capture this grand scene?
Well, for one I have a small digital camera with a powerful zoom, but no vibration reduction, and 60-year old hands that seem to be powered by caffeine.
The photograph at the top of this post is the result. Or, I should say it is the best of about 30 exposures.
I could say that I have captured the very essence of the fairy fantasy on the bay. But I cannot think of any other explanation. So, I will say that.
There you have it. Until Billie or John or Gary come here to give you a better shot of my lovely view on the bay.
Maybe, next time I will give you a daylight shot -- bereft of all expressionist pretension.
The photograph at the top of this post is the result. Or, I should say it is the best of about 30 exposures.
I could say that I have captured the very essence of the fairy fantasy on the bay. But I cannot think of any other explanation. So, I will say that.
There you have it. Until Billie or John or Gary come here to give you a better shot of my lovely view on the bay.
Maybe, next time I will give you a daylight shot -- bereft of all expressionist pretension.
You know, a tripod isn't all that exotic a piece of equipment, really.
ReplyDeleteSaludos desde el Norte,
Kim G
Boston, MA
Where we own a bunch of tripods. But don't get to use them as much as we'd like.
Tripd? And lose all of these Gaugin moments?
ReplyDelete"And lose all of these Gaugin moments?"
ReplyDeleteLeave it to a wordsmith to turn a blurry photo into a Gauguin moment (assuming you meant Gauguin). I like the tripod idea.
It appears I need a tripod -- and spell check.
ReplyDeleteActually I tend to agree with you, it does look Gauguinish.::clearing throat:: :D I think you are still trying to get your senses together with everything that has gone on and it's okay to make meeesstakes once in a while. :) Take care and a hug to Jiggs.
ReplyDeleteNo matter how you try to color it, it's still a bad picture. Maybe instead of spending all that time salivating over a kayak, you should have been shopping for a good camera? That should be a priority item for anybody who blogs and wants to post pictures. (I'll be nice to you again tomorrow!)
ReplyDeleteI was going to leave a one word comment....tripod! But I'm far too late to be original. Maybe one day I'll make it that far from Mexico City and give it a go. Perhaps after a beer and having forgotten my tripod, I'll have a Picasso moment...
ReplyDeleteWhen I'm taking photos at night I put the timer on a 3 second delay and it does away with the motion of pressing the button. Give it a try!
ReplyDeleteIt's those pounding waves Steve - you have to time your shot
ReplyDeletehttp://sparks-mexico.com/costalegre/melaque-west/melaque-02-18/slides/MVC-813S.JPG
Gloria -- I think this may be as artsy as I will ever get. Jiggs gives you a bark back.
ReplyDeleteIslandgringo -- That is an understatement. It is terrible. No matter what I tried to do with it, it still came out as DELETE material. But it made for a fun post. The camera is rather good. It is the photographer who needs retraining.
Gary -- You are welcome at any time. Even though the English teaching moments will be few and far between.
Nancy -- For all concerned, I think I will hold off on night shots until I have a digital SLR.
El Jubilado -- Ooh! That's a good one. Never thought of it.
Since tripod is not in your immediate want list, take the camera set it on something that is stopped, like the hood or roof of your car, and wall,some one else's car, and set the self timer and walk away from the camera. Do not stand in front of the camera since that will immediately fracture the it inexpensive plastic lens.....Night picture then turns out better.....try it, it may save your the 10 bucks of a cheap tripod. They also have these little 6 inch ones that have 3 gooseneck lamp style of legs, also cheap....
ReplyDeleteConstantino -- Here is the sad part of the story. I was balancing the camera on top of a wall.
ReplyDeleteHere is an old photographers trick for you.
ReplyDeleteTake an old floor lamp, unscrew the shade. Now the little screw that sticks up will fit in the bottom of your camera.
Free tripod, tri it!
Todd
Steve - My Mexican-style tripod: anything stable will do. I have used the top of my car to shoot the moon, and got an excellent shot. You could use a fence post, a stack of bricks, whatever. Just walk along the beach until you find something sticking up out of the ground, and set your camera on top of it.
ReplyDeleteSLR is my vote
ReplyDeleteCool picture for engendering interesting responses. I picked up at least 2 helpful camera tips. Thanks
ReplyDelete....and I love Monet's style....Renoir, even better.
Todd -- Every time I click the shutter, the light turns off. :}
ReplyDelete1st Mate -- I also need to stop using the manual shutter. That always seems to jostle the camera.
AMM -- And I may eventually do that -- even though I do not look foward to the lens problems.
Mic -- If a bad photograph can get this conversation rolling ...
I have a nice small tripod that folds down to 3 inches. It is always with me. Another great trick to stabilize a camera is a string running from the camera to a washer under your foot. http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2008/01/make-your-own-t/
ReplyDeleteAnonymous -- It appears that a tripod is going to be in my future. I have enough trouble remembering to take my camera with me -- let alone another piece of equipment.
ReplyDelete