Europe - Barcelona for the day.
A full day in Barcelona with everyone's favorite wedding photographer Mike Hendrickson.
Spent most of the day shooting street photography and the sites. I'm exhausted but want to make sure I get this post and photos out before I leave tomorrow morning for Paris.
So i'm preemptively starting this blog to tell about my day.
So far i've woken up and decided yes, I want to leave the hostel and walk around.
My bunk mates are from France, China and Omaha Nebraska and we had fun conversations before bed, for some it was their first time in Europe.
So today it's a bit cloudy which is nice because it gets hot here and quick. I'm thinking about trying the bus system or just doing a lot of walking today. I don't know if i'll get to go swimming, I think I would rather a more relaxed beach scene than they have to offer. I hope that was the correct than,then?
I started the day by walking next door to the hostel to rent a bicycle for the entire day. After the lengthy contract process to borrow a $100 dollar bicycle I ventured off. I set up a mount for my iPhone so I could make a time lapse video, it worked and then failed. The mount for the iPhone felt a little too loose and then upon tightening it I was able to, with my super human strength pull the mount off. I checked directions on my Iphone so that I could head to the beach, I want to get some shots of all the people there. After a few hours and getting very close I gave up. I'll look up the directions tonight, it's very easy to get turned around on some of the side streets.
The traffic in this city is composed of bicycles, human traffic, scooters, car and truck and motorcycle. Everyone follows the walk, don't walk signs and all traffic. The city is consistently swept and cleaned and cleared of dead leaves and trash from what I could tell daily.
So I took a shower when I got back to my hostel today and then headed out with the Sigma 150-500. My aim for today was to get some really stunning photos of the people of Barcelona and some of the sights. I couldn't be happier with what I got. This lens is amazing for street photography. So with street photography it's best not to be seen I believe so that you can maintain those moments of spontaneity between people. I set up all my shots, crossed streets, hid, pretended to be shooting past people and at other things. When I had the subject completely unaware that's when I would strike. I cannot wait to show everyone my photos from today. I plan on doing this style of shooting even more when I hit Paris in a day or so. I do need to find a lighter, smaller bag to travel with while on bike or foot.
Now i'm back at the hostel and i've decided to call it a night. Just some snacks from the vending machine and maybe a soda before bed. Last night I was the first person in the room to come home and go to bed which meant I was the first to get woken up and the first to wake up in the morning. I have to return the bicycle I rented by 10am tomorrow morning. Going to try and take the Canon EOS M and a bike ride around the city when I wake up. I'm all ready packed up for the most part, can't open all my stuff around everyone at the hostel and pack properly. While i'm writing this there is a table of hot German girls talking and drinking.
So now I am going to finish working on my photos and present them at the bottom of the page. That part will be added in post though, for now you will have to just read.
Government Center closing for 2 years
Government center is closed now (March 22nd, 2014), this is a final trip for me before the reopening in 2 years. Visited this MBTA location a day before it's closing with Michael Stepien, Stacy Bouley, Tom Haran. We had a run in with a MBTA employee who was not versed in the MBTA photography policy, I helped him out a bit using their own website.
You'll be able to see all the construction rearing to take place, little by little over the past few weeks and months they've been getting ready. Can't wait to see the finished product.
So on March 21st I believe we visited Government Center to get some final photos. My friends Michael Stepien, Stacey Hellzaboppin, Tommy Haran came with me on this trip. We shot all around the city and one of our final stops being here. We found ceiling tiles missing, spray paint marking the walls and floors where construction was to take place.
While we were taking photos we had a MBTA worker stop us and ask us for our photo permit and why we were taking photos and what it was for. We informed him that it's a public space and that we are allowed to take photos. The MBTA worker said "not since 9/11 you can't take photos". The MBTA worker then asked for our permit again and said that he could get someone down here to help verify our information. We were also told that we were in restricted areas (we had one foot on the yellow tred area), keep in mind that around 8 people had their foot on the yellow safety tred at this time. While he got more forceful and louder and started arguing with my friends I calmly looked up the MBTA photography policy via the MBTA Website. I then proceeded to aim the phone towards him and read aloud their own policy, after that he left,
We moved to a different area and documented a bit more. Win for photography.
