The streets are totally overcrowded but somehow I have managed to take some photographs of the beautiful christmas lights. Have a look at the last image there is a big thermometer hanging on the Portal de l’Àngel. I love this temperature I wish you all nice weekend
Ups, to see the thermometer you have to follow this link
In album Barcelona Christmas 2011 (11 photos)

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The National Palace of Montjuic houses National Art Museum of Catalonia abbreviated as MNAC Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya. The National Palace of Montjuïc was constructed among 1926 and 1929 for the International Exhibition of Barcelona of 1929. The building was built under the supervision of Pere Domènech i Roura inspired in the spanish Renaissance. Several artist were involved in the decoration of the Palace which is kept more in art nouveau style. It is perfectly placed on the Montjuic hill closed to Placa de Espana and the museum inside opened in 1995 houses great collections of art from different epochs from Romanesque to Modern Art.

In album Barcelona (13 photos)

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Barcelona

In album Barcelona

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It has been long time I did not post any photo from Barcelona.
It is a view of Barclonas district Eixample seen from the tower of Sagrada Familia photographed on a cloudy day but it shows nice the grid pattern and the characteristic to this part of the city square blocks with chamfered corners.
Enjoy the view

In album Barcelona (11 photos)

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Las Arenas de Barcelona built in 1900 was a place hosting traditional famous Spanish sport of bullfighting till 1977. In 2011 the building was totally transformed by architect Richard Rogers into the modern shopping mall with cinemas, restaurants and cafes to enjoy. From the roof of the building the visitors can admire 360 degree view of the city.

Plaza Real (Plaça Reial) is one of the most popular squares of Barrio Gotico in Barcelona. A lot of tourist but also local people like to meet there probably because of it`s special atmosphere created by unique architecture, street performances, beautiful palms, restaurants and clubs situated around the square. There are people hanging out day and night around the water fountain called Tres Gracias. On Sunday mornings there is a stamp and coin market. What maybe not everybody knows it is the only one arcaded square at Barrio Gotico and the decorative lamps where designed by young Antoni Gaudi. This is without doubts one of the most picturesque square in Barcelona very close to Las Ramblas.

Entrance to Placa Real

Plaza Real at Barrio Gotico

Decorative lamp desined by Gaudi

One of my favorite places in Barcelona is as you probably guess Barrio Gotico. It is a little bit overcrowded in the summer time but you can always look for some quite place at one of its many peaceful squares to relax. The architecture of this place is a mix of old and new buildings what makes it even more interesting. When you are walking around do not forget to look up to see the architectural details like balkonys, windows, lamps, ornaments. They are so beautiful.

Architecture of Barrio Gotico

Architecture of Barrio Gotico

Architecture of Barrio Gotico

In 1898 Eusebi Guell, a leading industrialist commissioned the architect Antoni Gaudi to design a church for the textile estate that he founded in the municipality of Santa Coloma de Cervello in 1890. In 1908 building work began and took time till 1914 when the Guell family informed Gaudi that it would no longer fund the works and Gaudi abandoned the project. The ambitious project, which foresaw two naves, an upper and a lower, to be completed with various lateral turrets and a central dome 40 meters high, remained unfinished. The church represents a high point in Gaudis work. For the first time, almost all of his architectural innovations are combined in this building.

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I spent last Sunday morning photographing the newest five star hotel in Barcelona. Images were made in the beautiful sunrise light which gave them delicate pastel colors. Hotel Vela “W” is created in avant-garde style by world known architect and designer Ricardo Bofill and it is situated at spectacular beachfront of Barcelona. If you like to see images from the interior of the hotel visit the page of Starwoodhotels.

Barcelona’s Magic Fountain located at the foot of National Palace designed by the engineer Carles Buigas was built in 1929 for the International Exhibition. It offers a spectacular display of music, water acrobatics and lights with over 50 kinds of shades and hues. It is worth to mention that fountain operates on recycled water in order to save drinking water.The show can be seen in autumn and winter on Fridays and Saturdays from 7pm to 9 pm and spring and summer from Thursday to Sunday from 9pm. to 11.30pm. There is a maintenance time when the fountain is not working so if you do not want to miss this beautiful show check it before you plan your visit to Barcelona.

I just wanted to share my experience as I am still a beginner in the subject of HDR photography and learning from my own mistakes.Two weeks ago I went to Colonia Guell to photograph a crypt designed by Antoni Gaudi. Because it is quite dark place with lots of texture I decided to use HDR technique to explore better details in lights and shadow. After composing a scene I have made 3 exposures each time then at home I used Photomatix to get the final version of the image.

After few days of watching the image I decided finally to correct the colors in Ligthroom.
So this is the final version of this image, more similar to this what I saw in real.

So if you prefer more realistic look of your HDR images do not forget correct the colors.
And finally I would like to show a black and white version of the same image which I like too. The choice is yours.

Just added some  images of Hotel Vela, Barcelona’s newest 5 star hotel by Ricardo Bofill to my LicenseStream Store.

License This Image

License This Image

I have spent one Saturday with temperatures around 25 degrees watching Red Bull Air Race in Barcelona. This guys are really faaaast! I had a fun. Here are some images from this event.

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© Joanna Pechmann. All Rights Reserved. Images may not be used in any way without written permission of the photographer.