Archive for the ‘Valencia’ Category
Last “Photowalk” in Valencia
I went out, a couple of days before leaving for Bulgaria, into Valencia to take some photos one last time.
Here’s the slideshow of those photos:
Time Panoramas
One of this semester’s assignments for my Painting & Photography class was to create something that dealt with time. It was entirely free in what was created and what medium it was created it, as long as it focused on time.
So I created three “time panoramas.” I set up my camera at the beach, the port and the City of Arts & Sciences and took photos, usually about an hour or so before the sun started to go down. Later I stitched the photographs together in Photoshop to make a “panorama” of a place through time. I pretty happy with the way it turned out. My favorite is the City of Arts and Sciences one. The others just seem like practice ones.
I have yet to print them, so hopefully I’ll locate a place that prints photos in the next week or so. Only two weeks left of classes!
City of Arts and Sciences (view the LARGE version by clicking here)
The Bullfight
In celebration of Our Lady of the Forsaken, a patron saint of Valencia, bullfights were held at the Plaza de Toros this weekend. Since they don’t occur too often (not every weekend, like some might think, including myself), I thought I’d take the opportunity to see one.
Before going I had some apprehension about this part of Spanish “culture.” I turns out the apprehension was valid. I can safely say that was my first and last bullfight.
The “sport” of bullfighting is a sport of stabbing a bull, usually about ten times, with several kinds of sharp impaling utensils over a period of fifteen to twenty minutes, slowly bleeding the animal until it can “fight” no longer. Its spectators consisted of old cigar-smoking men and tourists from all over. The stands were made of concrete and brick, surely putting many rear-ends to sleep.
I took over 800 photos spanning the demise of five bulls; I wanted to document as much as I could. The gore was easily captured in many a shot. If you can stomach it, view some photos from the day by watching a slideshow of 150 photos or by clicking the link after the slideshow to see photos presented individually. Warning: Some of the photos are graphic and bloody.
L’Oceanogràfic and L’Hemisferic Visit
On Saturday I finally visited Valencia’s aquarium, L’Oceanogràfic. It’s stated that the aquarium is Europe’s largest. In comparison to the National Aquarium in Baltimore, this aquarium seemed slightly larger. In contrast, L’Oceanogràfic is subterranean and visiting different exhibits requires the visitor to walk from point to point outside, which on a beautiful Valencian day is no problem. The aquarium’s tanks are organized into categories like the Arctic, Mediterranean, and Temperate and Tropical. The aquarium also features an outdoor dolphin show, and a sea lion exhibit.
As part of the City of Arts and Sciences complex of attractions, combination tickets are offered, so I took advantage of that, along with my fifteen percent student discount, and bought a ticket for the IMAX film about ancient Egypt at the L’Hemisferic. L’Hemisferic is the half-circle like building I’ve taken many a photo of. All in all it was a good film, but sitting near the stairs, to the side is not such a great location, mostly because the screen is actually a very curved wall that distorts the image.
Take a look at photos from my weekend at the City of Arts and Sciences by clicking the link below the photo.
America en Valencia
For my Psychology of Art: Photo II class I’ve been working on my project for the semester, which I’m calling “America en (in) Valencia.” I’ve been taking photos of signs, stores, restaurants and anything else that shows anything that might be familiar to an American or English-speaking person. The point of the series is to make the viewer question the place where the photos were taken. Take a look at some of the photos I’ve taken, presented below.
Saturday Walk
Today I went for a five mile (eight kilometer) walk into Valencia’s older area and then across the old riverbed of the Turia and into the Jardines de Real and on to the Avenue of Blasco Ibáñez.
Here are some photos from today. I felt like I had a bit of an off day today, photography wise.
Bioparc Visit
On Friday I took the number 5 train to the Nou d’ Octobre area of the city. I wonder what happened on the ninth of October for them to name an neighborhood (or at least a metro station) that. Anyway, the point of the subway ride was to get to the Bioparc, Valencia’s zoo.
Valencia’s zoo is less about cages and more about open space for the animals to roam. Despite this, of course, they are still in captivity. The zoo has two parts, an Madagascar species zone and, the remainder, an area for species from the continent of Africa.
I’m not sure if it was worth the 21€, because I found myself questioning whether I had seen the whole zoo once I got back to where I started. But, according the map and the animal silhouettes on it, I saw all there was to be seen.
Click the link below to view some photos. Video to come next week.
A lemur, I believe
March 19 Fallas Video
Mascletà Video
Here is the video of Wednesday’s mascletà in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento. Sorry for the shakiness, it can be a challenge to operate the photo camera and video camera at the same time.
Click here to view the video in HD
On to Dublin today! My flight out of Valencia to Madrid is at 3:35. I should get to Dublin by 9:30 (4:30PM EST) tonight. Posts and photos of Dublin to come soon!
Mascletà in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento
Everyday at 2 o’clock in the afternoon, since the beginning of March, the city presents a mascletà (fireworks show mainly for the sound) in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento (Plaza of the City Hall). It is much like the Grand Mascletà Napolitana from this past Saturday, but only lasts for five minutes.
I made it to the Plaza del Ayuntamiento today to check it out. More photos after the link below.
