The Eagle Aquaduct at Maro in Andalucia

This 19th century iconic landmark has spent a large part of the last year wrapped in plastic, undergoing what natives and tourists thought was a bit of restoration and rightly so.  It looked spectacular, but perhaps needing  just a bit of a touch up.

I don’t think for a second that anyone expected this.  And surprisingly I don’t mean the photographers, I mean the structure !

The aquaduct was built in the late 19th century, before, believe it or not, any of the group of photographers were born !  It was used to take water from the Sierra de Almijara to the nearby sugar factory and obviously between them they made an impressive contribution to the industrial nature of the times.

However, what colour was it when built ?  Has it been painted this colour  to reflect some part in the region’s history ?  Perhaps to echo the colours of the Spanish flag ?  Or was it simply that the local do it yourself chain had a buy 2 get 1 free offer on these particular colours ? I hope not !  Any serious suggestions would be very welcome.

The sugar mill has been out of use for a very long time as can be seen in some of the  photographs elsewhere on this website, but the aquaduct is thankfully still in use in the local irrigation system.

Both locations feature in our photographic meanderings around the area and it is often difficult to get some to move on.

I’m away to see if I can beat you to the answer on colour.

Adios

Share this:

Well, back home again from another fine week’s tutorial in Spain.  It’s a hard life !!!  Great crowd of 6 this time, with the required Irish contingent, and all they seemed to want to do all week was take pictures.  I may see some of them one day, or so I am lead to believe. The bars in the Plaza must have suffered greatly by our absence.  And, as if to make me think I have special powers, which I always thought I might have, as we were saying the farewells at the end of the week, the weather began to change and what was to follow, on Monday particularly, would make Scotland’s best efforts at raining something of a not very wet joke.  You would not get wet through any quicker by jumping straight into the Med.  The rain in Spain was mainly in the whole country.  Lots and lots of it.  Even some of the ‘rivers’ had water in them.

After my week was over, I had arranged to stay in Nerja, a few miles  (oops, kilometers) along the coast from Torrox to meet up with 3 ladies from a holiday group earlier in the year just to catch up on stuff and have a wine or two.  They have a ‘reunion club’ going, open to all previous participants in the walk, paint or photograph – andalucia holidays, and there was no prearranged agenda for the period.  However the weather pointed us in a very nice direction.  Where we were!!  The bar in the posh hotel the ladies were staying in and several of the gazebos, attached to the many bars and restaurants on the Balcon de Europa.  And not forgetting the ice cream ‘bars’…mmmmmmm !  I think I can honestly say I have never before been buying ice cream, no matter how addicted I am, from an outdoor stall, with an Irish priest, at 1.00 in the morning.  First time for everything they say.

So I have dried up now, sorted out what needs to be done here and, well, would you believe it, I’m off again in the not too distant future.  Then that will be it for a period.  Something called Christmas gets in the way.

And when that’s all passed, why don’t you join me on one of the photographic holidays or keep an eye on this space as I expand my agenda of events in other parts of Spain and back home here in the UK.

And the one or two day tutorials, Walking with Cameras, which I do with my old mate Kevin O’Brien are taking off.  They are based in a very scenic part of the UK, Berwick upon Tweed on the border of Scotland and England.

So, until next time, adios amigos.

Share this:

Hi all.

Recently returned from my latest  adventures in Spain and I use the term ‘adventures’ accurately.  This time we, the photographers, all 3 of us, were sharing the week with the walkers, all 20 of them.  And all women!

We do our own thing during the days and meet up in the evenings and some lunchtimes to encourage the communal spirit of the holiday.   The painting group, our usual partners, were not participating in September.

That made it a bit different from the beginning.  On the Monday we voluntarily joined up with them on their 6 km easy circular walk along a dry river valley to a couple of beautifully quiet beaches, one of which was naturist.  We saw Ibex on a cliff face, several interesting ruined buildings in places you can’t imagine ever building a building and stunning views over the beaches and out to the Mediterranean.  And all this in the beautifully ‘warm’ Spanish climate.  After lunch we continued the loop back to the transport and headed off to the level playing field that is the Plazza and a very welcome glass of San Miguel.

It was a great experience and certainly was the main talking point for the rest of the week.  I definitely now understand why walking enthusiasts arm themselves with these walking sticks.

From there we 3 then carried out our usual duties, the photographing of southern Spain.  We covered the white village concept, the wonderful lively markets, some interesting buildings like the one used in this post, and if they hadn’t been so dedicated to the taking of the images, we might have managed some post processing before dinner.

The Torrox Balcon looks out over the Mediterranean and has a glass floor which looks down on some partially restored Roman graves.  It is situated at the eastern end of the promenade which is one long line of bars and restaurants to suit every taste, as you might expect.

And as always the craic was brilliant, the socialising in the Plazza ditto and as for the food and drink over the week, well…… you know what I’m going to say !!

And of course, the week passed quicker than you think possible.

See you next time !!

Share this:

Hi all.  Just thought I would post this to remind myself what sunshine is.  This is a view from Nerja of the Mediterranean Sea and a busy beach full of holidaymakers.  What a shame I am going out there again in a couple of weeks to do another week’s tutorial with photographically minded people through the Photograph-Andalucia organisation.  It will be hard to pull myself away from this rain, wind and general lousy weather, but I’m sure I’ll manage.

So, if you fancy the idea at the last minute I’m sure we can fit you in, or if you prefer to plan things you will find available dates and associated information on the dates page of either this site or the Photograph-Andalucia site.

Happy holidaying!

Share this:

Phantasstick 4 Fotogruffers

Well we have done it again!  Gone home, wherever that might be on the planet, from a week’s holiday in Andalucia full of wonderful memories and experiences.  The scenery, the food, the wine, everything was up to the usual high standards.  The clouds may have wanted to join in but we did not let them get the better of us.  Some fantastic shots were taken, as always, and a selection will be available on the Photograph-Andalucia website in due course.  The wild flowers in the region were fantastic and with all the rain earlier in the year the land was green and fertile and Lake Vinuela was full, offering wonderful opportunities for mirror reflections of the surrounding mountains.  The painters group were jealous!  You need to be there to appreciate the beauty.  So get booking!

Share this: