BobaPhotoBlog

2006-03-01T22:00:00.000+00:00

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

Surprise Surprise

2005-09-03T20:51:00.000+01:00

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

2005-07-31T14:52:00.001+01:00

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

2005-07-31T14:52:00.000+01:00

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

2005-07-30T22:04:00.000+01:00

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

2005-07-23T11:15:00.000+01:00

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

2005-07-20T08:52:00.000+01:00

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...

The square where I live

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

2005-07-16T20:49:00.000+01:00

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

2005-07-16T20:42:00.002+01:00

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...

Camera: Fuji Finepix 700
Exposure: 1/480 sec
Apeture: f/8.0
Focal Length: 37mm equivalent
ISO: 200

Camera: Fuji Finepix 700
Exposure: 1/450 sec
Apeture: f/8.0
Focal Length: 37mm equivalent
ISO: 200

Brighton Marina

2005-07-12T08:37:00.000+01:00

We were down at Brighton Marina this weekend. Gotta love looking at boats in glorious sunshine!

On the way down we spotted the preparation for a sand sculpture contest... hopefully next weekend will be just as nice so we can get down there to check it out properly!

Sand Sphinx

Camera: Fuji Finepix 700
Exposure: 1/340 sec
Apeture: f/10.0
Focal Length: 109mm equivalent
ISO: 200
Image was cropped

The Marina

Camera: Fuji Finepix 700
Exposure: 1/480 sec
Apeture: f/8.0
Focal Length: 41mm equivalent
ISO: 160

Simon

2005-07-07T21:38:00.000+01:00

I'm never really sure about portraits, but I'm proud of this one. Such a good image of the mood we were in at the time.

Simon

Camera: Fuji Finepix 700
Exposure: 1/4 sec
Apeture: f/8.0
Focal Length: 37mm equivalent
ISO: 800
Fill in flash used

Trafalgar Square

2005-07-07T21:33:00.000+01:00

OK, so I took a few shots before I got this how I wanted it, but it was a lot of fun playing with exposure lengths. Fountains are perfect for really showing you the implications of the choices you make!

Trafalgar Square

Camera: Fuji Finepix 700
Exposure: 1/28 sec
Apeture: f/2.9
Focal Length: 41mm equivalent
ISO: 400

A view from St. Paul's

2005-07-03T19:13:00.000+01:00

Three posts in one day...

The final one's from a lucky break: a visit to St Pauls as the sun sets.

A view from St Paul's;

Camera: Fuji Finepix 700
Exposure: 1/300 sec
Apeture: f/10.0
Focal Length: 23mm equivalent
ISO: 200

Train Line

2005-07-03T19:11:00.000+01:00

Cheers to Toast for spotting this photo opportunity, and also to Alex and Ant for having this view out of their balcony.
It only took two attempts to get this shot of a train flying by...

Train Line

Camera: Fuji Finepix 700
Exposure: 3 secs
Apeture: f/2.9
Focal Length: 9mm equivalent
ISO: 800

Sakurajima

2005-07-03T17:25:00.000+01:00

Well, I've finally managed to get my photos onto a web enabled machine, so here goes with a few of the photos I love.
Taken on New Year's Day, 2005, this shot is of the most active volcano in Japan, Sakurajima, taken looking over some of the lava forms left behind from one of its eruptions.
Whilst not the most explosive in the world its still managed to spawn a few minor islands in its time...

Sakurajima

Camera: Fuji Finepix 700
Exposure: 1/170 sec
Apeture: f/8.0
Focal Length: 8mm equivalent
ISO: 200

Hello Picasa!

2005-06-19T20:47:00.000+01:00

I've just discovered the wonders of Picasa and Hello. Hopefully it's going to integrate nicely with Gmail when I get round to playing with it (uploading photos to Gmail has been a right pain in the past!).

For now it means that I've decided to put the odd photo onto this new blog as and when I feel like it. I've got some old ones to put up but for now here's this...

Stag Night

Camera: Fuji Finepix 700
Exposure: 1.0 sec
Apeture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 8mm equivalent
ISO: 800