Macuca

She is Macuca. She is beautiful. She delivers happiness all around the house. She is a cotton pompom. She let me make her a photo session after her first bath...

"Formemos cuadro, Mendieta!"

Inodoro Pereyra, Roberto Fontanarrosa

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Serenity

At last! After a bit more than a year, this is the fourth and last delivery from the night photography course a did at Comunidad Cíclope. The location in this case was the beach at Bahía Serena.

The basic ideas involved are the same we'd used before at the Moreno Lake, the Cathedral, and the Casa de Piedra: long time exposures, movement, and light painting. Plus a final trick: circles of fire!

"- But it ain't all buttons and charts, little albatross. You know what the first rule of flying is? Well, I suppose you do, since you already know what I'm about to say. - I do. But I like to hear you say it. - Love. You can learn all the math in the 'Verse, but you take a boat in the air that you don't love, she'll shake you off just as sure as the turning of the worlds. Love keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down, tells you she's hurtin' 'fore she keens. Makes her a home."

Capt. Malcolm Reynolds, Serenity

From the same course:

1 - Let there be light

2 - Light stripes and religious illumination

3 - The night at the Casa de Piedra

4 - Serenity

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Gutiérrez's woods

Second field trip of the nature photography course at the Club Andino, this time having the flora as the main subject. The day didn't help us (a typical Autumn day, drizzle included), but we could take some pictures protected by the woods at the shore of the Gutiérrez Lake. The goal: to go from the big picture to the detail...

Unfortunately due to schedule problems I couldn't go to the other two field days (fauna and macro), but you can see a selection of the best pictures from the whole course here.

"I attempted to rise, but was not able to stir: for, as I happened to lie on my back, I found my arms and legs were strongly fastened on each side to the ground; and my hair, which was long and thick, tied down in the same manner."

Gulliver’s Travels, Jonathan Swift

From the same course:

1 - Postcards from Ñirihuau

2 - Gutiérrez's woods

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The night at the Casa de Piedra

Third installment of the night photography course at Comunidad Cíclope, this time from the bridge of the Casa de Piedra river. Adding the movement of the water to the long duration night exposures gives another dimension to the pictures...

The observant reader will notice that the course ended at the end of last year, and that there are more than six months between this post and the two previous of the Moreno Lake and the Cathedral. I'm trying to speed up the upload of pending pictures... ;)

"The Martians stared back at them for a long, long silent time from the rippling water..."

The Martian Chronicles, Ray Bradbury

From the same course:

1 - Let there be light

2 - Light stripes and religious illumination

3 - The night at the Casa de Piedra

4 - Serenity

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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

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To infinity... and beyond!

One of the reasons why a couple of months ago I bought a "prime" lens for the camera (50mm f/1.4) was to do some astrophotography, and this weekend I could finally do a first test. Taking into account that it is a fixed camera, without sky tracking and from my backyard, it came out more than acceptable...

The picture is from the region between the constellations Crux (the Southern Cross) and Carina, as can be seen on the annotated version to the right. In principle, I had no particular reason to photograph that area of the sky more than it being the part of the galactic plane best positioned at that time (1AM of the 24/03). But after processing the images I was pleasantly surprised to find that, between other things, I had pretty visible in the center of the picture the Carina Nebula!

This is a crop from the central part of the image. Top right we have the eta-Carina Nebula (NGC 3372), to the left a globular cluster (NGC 3532), and the portrait is completed below by the Southern Pleiades (IC 2602).

Now I just need a simple and cheap way to do sky tracking and extend the exposure times...

PS for those interested in the technique: the picture is a stack of 75 exposures of 4 seconds (5 minutes total), f/2.0, ISO 800, plus 75 dark frames and 70 bias frames, processed in DeepSkyStacker. The camera is a Canon EOS 5D Mk II with a lens Canon EF 50mm f/1.4, mounted on a simple fixed tripod without tracking.

"Lucy in the sky with diamonds..."

The Beatles

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Light stripes and religious illumination

Continuing with the night photography course, the second field lesson was around the city's Cathedral. The idea was to play with the white balance under artificial and natural lighting, and to get some long exposures of moving cars.

"Roads? Where we're going, we don't need... roads."

Dr. Emmett Brown, Back to the Future

From the same course:

1 - Let there be light

2 - Light stripes and religious illumination

3 - The night at the Casa de Piedra

4 - Serenity

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Let there be light

Last week I started a night photography course at a school in Melipal (Comunidad Cíclope). The first lesson on the field was in the beach of Lago Moreno, at sunset. Between the ash in the air, the lights of the city and some light painting, these pictures came out...

"And God said, -Let there be light-, and there was light."

The Bible, Genesis 1:3

From the same course:

1 - Let there be light

2 - Light stripes and religious illumination

3 - The night at the Casa de Piedra

4 - Serenity

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Back to life...

Well, that took longer than expected.

In any case, after long months of self-censorship on anything not related to writing/related work, I've sent yesterday my PhD thesis to the jury. It's been a very rewarding and unequalled experience, but one that I hope I'll never have to repeat... ;-)

Regarding this blog, I'm going to use the next months to do some aesthetic redesign. Obviously, I'll start to upload pictures on a regular basis again, although it'll be a bit slow at the beginning. I have an 11-months digital backlog to share (and several years on the analogue one...)

Watch this space...

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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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Sunshine

A sunny afternoon in the backyard, flowers and something more...

The last picture is my first try (rather poor) at HDR photography.

"You'll remember me when the west wind moves Upon the fields of barley You'll forget the sun in his jealous sky As we walk in fields of gold "

Fields of Gold, Sting

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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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Dreaming awake

"-Last night I dreamed-, said LVX-1, calmly. Susan Calvin said nothing"

Robot Dreams, 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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Dakar 2009

The sound of the engine comes from far away, behind a gentle hill in the road. Grave and deep, it announces its arrival much before you see it. Slowly, from the roof to the huge wheels, it appears from behind the hill. Motorbikes and cars have passed by all the morning, but this is different. Your blood freezes and you feel small when the 8 tons, 3 meters high thing passes you at full speed, just meters away. A bit later the engine drops down the revolutions and the big mass waves a little under the powerful braking, but not for long: a quick turn to right and it accelerates again to disappear in the distance. Welcome to the awesome spectacle of the Dakar's trucks...

After calling off the 2008 edition of the traditional raid París-Dakar due to terrorist threats in the African part of the route, the organizers (ASO) took a risky decision: to move the 2009 edition to South America. Organized together by Argentina and Chile, the Dakar 2009 went through the wonderful landscapes of both countries in a route that took it from Buenos Aires to the Patagonia, through the Andes and to the driest dessert in the world, and back to the departure point two weeks later. Two weeks that will stay in the history of the competition because the risk taken by ASO was rewarded with a resounding success, specially between the public: in a country where motorsport runs trough the veins of the majority, millions rushed to the roads to see the passing of motorbikes, cars and trucks. I was among them and this is a little sample from the last stage for you to enjoy.

You are warned, however: you can see, listen and read everything at your disposal, but nothing and nobody can transmit you nor prepare you for the power of a massive truck in full competition...

"A challenge for those who go. A dream for those who stay behind."

Thierry Sabine

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Afternoon in the garden

How many times have we heard that the best moment to take pictures is the sunset? Well, it's true: the soft shades of the Sun in the hours that precede the night give a unique aura to everything they touch. And it's not necessary to go too far away to take advantage of it, it's enough to go out to your house's garden...

But the hummingbird isn't an animal of sunsets. To "hunt" this flying marvel you have to arm yourself with patience much earlier, in the heat of the midday hours. Fortunately it's a bird of habits: it comes every day at the same hour.

"The sound came vague and dull, like the fall of a chair on the carpet or a stifled whisper of conversation. I also heard it, at the same time or a second later, at the end of the corridor that takes from those rooms to the door. I throw myself against the door before it was too late, I closed it quickly leaning my body; luckily the key was on our side and I also closed the big bolt for more safety."

Taken House (Bestiario), Julio Cortázar

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Spider

It's not common to find a big spider in your home's floor, ready to pose for the camera in all detail. Those who can, enjoy it... :P

Photographic tip: spiders don't react to the flash nor to a finger resting 10cm from them (at least this one didn't, I'm not responsible if somebody repeats the test...)

"The girl distractedly dropped a hand and fitted an inexpressive golden mask to her face. Then she took a gold spider from her pocket and let it fall while the captain was still talking. The spider climbed docilely to the girl's knee, who was looking unexpressively at it trough the holes in the mask."

The Martian Chronicles, Ray Bradbury

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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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Snow at Frey

Winter retreats, spring is among us. But high in the mountains the snow still covers the slopes. It's a good moment to start the summer season. In this case, the 2008 at Frey-Catedral.

Photography in this case is a little bit tricky but gives good opportunities, with big contrasts between the snow, the sky and the ground. I still expect the opportunity in which a condor will get much closer than that (and gets me prepared...), but seeing them fly always marvels...

Well, flowers don't move...

"You must have moderation in your habits. The poet already said: - Last night I saw a feathered dragon clearly drawn on the moon. I should drink less. -"

Initiation to the Martial Arts, Les Luthiers

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Misery Quartet

Half-way through the year a group of friends took part of a swimming competition at a local club. It was an hour with relays every one hundred meters; and under the name of 'Misery Quartet' they managed to arrive in a very respectable third place in their category, less than 100 meters from the second. This is my tribute to such a venture:

Incidentally, this was also my first incursion at indoor sports photography without flash, armed of only high-speed film (1600ASA). The result isn't stunning (too much grain), but it's acceptable as a last resort.

"Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming. What do we do? We swim, swim."

Dory, Finding Nemo (PIXAR)

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