BobaPhotoBlog

Time for a photo of me I think... time to add it to my profile...

Surprise Surprise

One of the best things about going on holiday is the unexpected places you manage to find.

For some reason, when Jen and I went to Barcelona recently, it didn't occur to me that Mies van der Rohe's 'Barcelona Pavilion' would be there.
But, after a day of wandering round looking at Gaudi buildings we wandered up to the palace on Mount Juic and lo and behold, tucked into a corner, there was Mies's contribution to the modernist architecture movement. Revered in the same way as Le Corbusier's Villa Savoye or Walter Gropius's Bauhaus, I never quite got why the building was so important. Basically, the pavilion was a temporary structure, built as the reception for the 1929 Barcelona International Exhibition, somewhere for the King and Queen of Spain to sign the “Golden Book”, officially openning the expo. It was dismantled the year after, when the exhibition ended, but rebuilt in 1986 because of its architectural importance.

It's not a domestic dwelling, so it's difficult to see it embodying Le Corbusier's 'Machine for Living' mantra. It always appeared to me to have no clear purpose, and so I always found it difficult to analyse in terms of modernist architecture, so focused on the importance of function.

But then we walked in. Despite its long straight lines, crisp marble walls and simple, clear details, this building flowed beautifully and naturally. It invited us to wander and contemplate, and not rush you as we did so. For its small size, the building was full of views, glances round corners, ending at either Georg Kolbe's sculpture 'Dawn', or the pebble floored pool. Each view was serene and quiet.

And then it struck me... It's a machine for hanging around and looking good in.

Camera: Canon EOS 350D
Exposure: 1/40 secs
Apeture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 49mm equivalent
ISO: 100

Camera: Canon EOS 350D
Exposure: 1/160 secs
Apeture: f/8.0
Focal Length: 67mm equivalent
ISO: 100

Mam Tor

At the beginning of the summer a group of us bundled into cars and went for a wander up Mam Tor.
Bit windy up there..

On top of the world (not me)

Camera: Fuji Finepix 700
Exposure: 1/550 secs
Apeture: f/10.0
Focal Length: 109mm equivalent
ISO: 400

Technorati Tags: Robert+Baillie,photography

Brighton Beach

One of the real advantages of living in Brighton is the fact that the beach is actually inviting. Coming from a town where, for a long time, the beach was just the part of the town that stank of seaweed and fish... it's quite a nice change.

Life's a beach

Camera: Fuji Finepix 700
Exposure: 1/680 secs
Apeture: f/8.0
Focal Length: 41mm equivalent
ISO: 160

Technorati Tags: Robert+Baillie,photography

Budapest

To celebrate this being the weekend of the Hungarian Grand Prix, I thought I'd post a few photos from Jen and my visit to Budapest earlier this year...

Dohány Street Synagogue

This is a monument in the garden of the largest synagogue outside of America

Camera: Fuji Finepix 700
Exposure: 1.5 secs
Apeture: f/3.2
Focal Length: 45mm equivalent
ISO: 200

The Purpe Danube

Camera: Fuji Finepix 700
Exposure: 1/90 sec
Apeture: f/5.0
Focal Length: 61mm equivalent
ISO: 200

St Stephen's Basilica

Camera: Fuji Finepix 700
Exposure: 1/5 sec
Apeture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 37mm equivalent
ISO: 200

More Sculptures

OK, so I've finally managed to get the Brighton Sand Sculpture photos up onto Yahoo. there was just a few too many to put up on here...

You can find them here

Hard at work

Buried Treasure

Where I live

I figure that these photos don't always have to be those perfect arty shots, and that sometimes I can get away with some snapshots.

So here's a couple of the area that I live in, lovely Brighton...

Regency Square

The square where I live

Hove Lawns

The lawns just down the seafront

Beirut Towers / Embassy Court.

Until about 6 months ago, this place was in an absolute mess. A real shame since you could see that it was a beautiful art-deco place. Thankfully they've recently done some refurbishment work on it, starting with a lot of painting. The entrance is currently boarded up, so fingers crossed they're doing some good work on the interior.

Update:I've found evidence of the previous state of Embassy Court. See it here

Couldn't resist just one more

I just loved this sculpture...

Camera: Fuji Finepix 700
Exposure: 1/7 sec
Apeture: f/3.2
Focal Length: 45mm equivalent
ISO: 200

Castles in the sand

Well, we made it back to see the sand sculptures, and there's going to be a few more photos up on the yahoo photos site. But a couple of the ones I really like get to live here too...