Postcards from Ñirihuau

Having not uploaded the last pictures of the previous photography course, last week I started another one about Nature Photography at the Club Andino Bariloche. Very interesting first class on Friday (landscape photography, its history and relationship with painting) and immediately the first field trip on Saturday.

Taking advantage of a nice day we went to the Ñirihuau bridge, just leaving Bariloche and going (very little) into the steppe. Although the light was too flat/cold for my taste, the place helps to take nice pictures. And it was also a good moment to test the new HDR tool on Canon's DPP program...

"Montag went ahead. He looked at the river and the sky and the rusting track going back down to where the farms lay, where the barns stood full of hay, where a lot of people had walked by in the night on their way from the city."

Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury

From the same course:

1 - Postcards from Ñirihuau

2 - Gutiérrez's woods

(esta entrada en español)

A heart

When somebody tells you about an island that looks like a heart, you can believe it and imagine a piece of land with a vaguely familiar figure. In the middle of the Mascardi Lake, close to Bariloche, that island really exists: green, alive, surrounded by the turquoises waters of the lake, it exceeds any attempt to imagine it.

These pictures are from a couple of hours hiking to the viewpoint over the island, in March 2009. That day the yellowjackets were a little bit irritable; four stings are really painful...

"Ah, well, if the little lady were only here with me in the boat, I should not care for any darkness."

The Brave Tin Soldier, Hans Christian Andersen

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Humans in nature

I've already posted some pictures here of a very nice place in the mountains near Bariloche called Laguna Negra. A couple of months later, at the beginning of 2009, I went again with some friends and we continued up to the 2000 meters summit of a near peak. The Cerro Negro, just to the south of the small lake, offers an unrivalled view of the National Park. This time, however, I won't focus on the nature around but in the harmonious presence of the people on it.

Do you wonder were is the relation to human beings in the last picture? I didn't say it was obvious....

"There wouldn't be an observation tower – or something? I mean, in the open air."

Foundation, Isaac Asimov

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López's panoramas

The López mountain is a typical excursion of Bariloche. The access is easy (urban bus line), it's short (2:30hs to the shelter) and it offers incomparable views. But if you really want to be in the top of the world you must continue to the mountain's ridge, until the so-called tourist peak. From there the free view in all directions is spectacular.

"Que den las campanadas a deshora, que salga del armario la cultura, que el Corán no se enfade con la Torah, que apeste menos la telebasura."

Wishes for the New Year (This Mouth is Mine), Joaquín Sabina

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Laguna Negra

Deep and dark, locked between mountains, Laguna Negra it's a place of peace and tranquillity. When the last patches of snow stand out over the black rock and are reflected in the cold waters at the end of the winter, nothing can be wrong with the world.

And in such calmness there are animals that aren't afraid of the camera, as long as they can get some bread's crumbs...

"The Doors of Durin, Lord of Moria. Speak, friend, and enter."

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, J. R. R. Tolkien

To the memory of Santiago Delgrosso, my grandfather.

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Going German

After touring around the Italian speaking part, I crossed to the North of Switzerland and went to the German border. A day of visit at Konstanz and Zürich left few pictures owing to the rainy weather, mainly from the botanic garden at Mainau (Konstanz) and the surroundings of the Rathaus (Zürich).

"-Are you afraid of darkness? -I am the darkness"

Let's All Kill Constance, Ray Bradbury

From the same trip:

1 - Retouches of Puerto Madero

2 - Walking the Seine

3 - Mediterranean sunset

4 - In the mountains

5 - French Moon

6 - Scandola Natural Reserve

7 - Montsouris macro

8 - Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace

9 - Visiting the kings

10 - Chantilly, but not the crème...

11 - Sunday's Genève

12 - The old Bern

13 - The garden of the roses

14 - Going South (part 1)

15 - Going South (part 2)

16 - Going German

17 - Mondial de l'Automobile Paris 2008

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Going South (part 1)

The South of Switzerland, full of valleys and lakes between the mountains, offer tens of small towns to visit. Going down from Bern and going past Lucerne; I installed myself for three days at Mendrisio and devoted some time to travel around.

In this first part, photographs from Lucerne (just passing by), Milan (the Duomo and the Castello Sforzesco), Como (idyllic lake when it's clear), Locarno (the Madonna del Sasso), and Ascona (the Swiss Monaco).

Update: Going South (part 2)

"After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified: -I tell you the truth, one of you is going to betray me-."

The Bible, John 13:21

From the same trip:

1 - Retouches of Puerto Madero

2 - Walking the Seine

3 - Mediterranean sunset

4 - In the mountains

5 - French Moon

6 - Scandola Natural Reserve

7 - Montsouris macro

8 - Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace

9 - Visiting the kings

10 - Chantilly, but not the crème...

11 - Sunday's Genève

12 - The old Bern

13 - The garden of the roses

14 - Going South (part 1)

15 - Going South (part 2)

16 - Going German

17 - Mondial de l'Automobile Paris 2008

(esta entrada en español)

The old Bern

History tells that an unknown assistant at the patent office of Bern shook the physic's world in 1905. His inspiration might well have come from walking the streets of the beautiful old quarter of this city. The cobbled paving, the arcs, the fountains, the views from the gullies and the bridges, invite us to visit her peacefully (including, at one tip, the roses' garden).

"The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science. Whoever does not know it and can no longer wonder, no longer marvel, is as good as dead, and his eyes are dimmed. It was the experience of mystery -- even if mixed with fear -- that engendered religion. A knowledge of the existence of something we cannot penetrate, our perceptions of the profoundest reason and the most radiant beauty, which only in their most primitive forms are accessible to our minds: it is this knowledge and this emotion that constitute true religiosity. In this sense, and only this sense, I am a deeply religious man."

The World As I See It, Albert Einstein

From the same trip:

1 - Retouches of Puerto Madero

2 - Walking the Seine

3 - Mediterranean sunset

4 - In the mountains

5 - French Moon

6 - Scandola Natural Reserve

7 - Montsouris macro

8 - Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace

9 - Visiting the kings

10 - Chantilly, but not the crème...

11 - Sunday's Genève

12 - The old Bern

13 - The garden of the roses

14 - Going South (part 1)

15 - Going South (part 2)

16 - Going German

17 - Mondial de l'Automobile Paris 2008

(esta entrada en español)

Sunday's Genève

First city that I visited in a one week trip through Switzerland, Geneva didn't turn out to be one of the prettiest cities of the tour. However, some places of the city are worthwhile and are portrayed on these pictures: tortuous passages from the old city, the lake Léman and the parks at its shores, and, of course, the famous water jet...

"There is a concept which corrupts and upsets all others. I refer not to Evil, whose limited realm is that of ethics; I refer to the infinite."

The Avatars of the Tortoise, Jorge Luis Borges

From the same trip:

1 - Retouches of Puerto Madero

2 - Walking the Seine

3 - Mediterranean sunset

4 - In the mountains

5 - French Moon

6 - Scandola Natural Reserve

7 - Montsouris macro

8 - Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace

9 - Visiting the kings

10 - Chantilly, but not the crème...

11 - Sunday's Genève

12 - The old Bern

13 - The garden of the roses

14 - Going South (part 1)

15 - Going South (part 2)

16 - Going German

17 - Mondial de l'Automobile Paris 2008

(esta entrada en español)

In the mountains

Corse is not only the Mediterranean beaches, so that taking advantage of the free Sunday we went to travel around the marvelous valleys and woods of the island's mountainous interior. Near Évisa there are several paths from where to enjoy the spectacular views of the region.

These pictures cover the stops of the route between Évisa and Piana, with views not only of the valleys but also of the town of Ota and Porto's bay.

From the same trip:

1 - Retouches of Puerto Madero

2 - Walking the Seine

3 - Mediterranean sunset

4 - In the mountains

5 - French Moon

6 - Scandola Natural Reserve

7 - Montsouris macro

8 - Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace

9 - Visiting the kings

10 - Chantilly, but not the crème...

11 - Sunday's Genève

12 - The old Bern

13 - The garden of the roses

14 - Going South (part 1)

15 - Going South (part 2)

16 - Going German

17 - Mondial de l'Automobile Paris 2008

(esta entrada en español)