A week with two photo shoots, lots of fun, lots of work, food and friends. In other words, another week in Alicante.
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On Sunday morning I drove to Almoradí for a brief visit with my friend Carmen. She had invited me to come by and help myself to some oranges from her grove. They are particularly good this year. The setting:
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Two oranges:
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My modest harvest:
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That afternoon I did one of my usual bike rides. On the way back, in El Campello, I happened on this flock of goats and sheep. I love seeing this, just one km from the beach. The dog came over to check me out:
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Having decided that I represented no danger to the flock, the dog went back to work:
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On Tuesday, during lunchtime, I went to a nearby beach called Arenales del Sol with a Polish colleague, Justyna. She had asked me to do a photo shoot on the beach. This is the walkway from the parking to the beach:
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Same scene, three views. First, an overall view of the dunes and the apartments that dot this part of the coast:
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A closer, more abstract view:
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And a view looking towards the sea:
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It was a sunny and windy day, exactly what Justyna was after. She had something very specific in mind; she wanted to wear a flowing dress, and she wanted tennis rackets and oranges as props, the rackets to symbolise the active lifestyle in Alicante, and the oranges to symbolise our part of Spain. I took around 60 pictures. As usual, I tried contre-jour:
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A close-up, although this is not really what Justyna was after:
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This is more what she was after:
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In fact, the images she liked best were ones like this one, where she was essentially just an element in the seascape:
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This one is my own favourite:
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That evening, we met with some friends at a Japanese restaurant in the centre to celebrate a birthday. Before entering the restaurant, I took some images of the Plaza de Correos, one of the nicest squares in Alicante:
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A smile:
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Elio and Assumpta making a selfie with the birthday lady:
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The restaurant is called Enso, and the food is fancy-ish sushi:
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There is an element of fusion as well–I do not think the Japanese use trufles:
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And here is sushi in a Pedro Ximenes sauce:
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A beef dish:
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Then, the birthday cake arrives:
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Blowing out the candles:
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Sharing a laugh:
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Back at work. Our photo club at the office, Lightbox, has come up with the idea of producing a book of studio shots of employees, each expressing his or her personality and passion. We have a decent studio at the office that is normally used for webinars and the like. On Wednesday we got together to do a test shoot. Pierre is the guy responsible for the studio:
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Robert and Christophe roll out the backdrop:
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Group chimping:
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Our first “victim” is a fan of all things Ferrari (and yes, he apparently has one):
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We tried different things:
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Driving:
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A close-up:
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I was next. Given the practicalities of bringing a bicycle into the studio, I decided to highlight my love of photography instead. Here I pose with my Texas Leica:
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On Saturday, I went for a bike ride in strong wind. This is what Playa Muchavista looked like:
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The wind is clearly blowing in:
On Saturday night, we met up with Elio and Assumpta again and went out for dinner at a nearby Galician restaurant called Tasca A Queimada.
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Our Argentine/Catalan friends:
I finish this week’s blog with images of the delicious seafood from Galicia, the world’s best.
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Zamburiñas:
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Pulpo a la plancha:
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Grilled asparagus:
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Gambas al ajillo:
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And finally, my main dish, Rodaballo a la plancha:
