JBA: When the going gets tough.. [re-edited]

courtesy of my flickr, certainly

An Other Update.

Ref: Schmap Paris Tenth Edition: Photo Inclusion

Hi [me],

I am delighted to let you know that your submitted photo has been selected for inclusion in the newly released tenth edition of our Schmap Paris Guide:
Cluny Museum
If you use an iPhone or iPod touch, then this same link will take you directly to your photo in the iPhone version of our guide. On a desktop computer, you can still see exactly how your photo is displayed and credited in the iPhone version of our guide at: Cluny Museum.
Thanks so much for letting us include your photo - please enjoy the guide!

Best regards,
[named] Editor, Schmap Guides

A Flickr Roundup

355 days later, or 1 year minus 10 days after the day I pulled together the guts* to finally upload my first photo on flickr, I'm here to do a bit of computing.
It's been a complicated year for me in many ways, and photography has been a hobby growing into a release growing into an addiction, admittedly. Over the past year, I've used various cameras [some Sonys, some Canons, a Nikon, some that I don't recall] belonging to various people [I can count more than 5] in my proximity - physical and otherwise. I've been uploading more than just photos. I've been obsessing over others' photographic skills. And I've started to understand the bulk of good over bad shots, even though sometimes it might not look like it. (:

Statistically, I've uploaded 1052 items, getting a total of 15,238 hits [out of which 1,988 hits directed at the Photostream]. I currently have a total of 58 favourited items [some of them by several people] and a total of 80 commented items [some of them by myself]. (:

But what does that mean, really?
Well, I'll tell you what: it means it's been growing on me quite a bit.
So much so, that the best birthday gift I received last year [this is not to overemphasize] had been the gift of Pro, back in July [and thank you again, Stefan!].
And the best Christmas gift: my own camera! [Thank you, Mum and Dad!]

So much so, that an otherwise horribly surly day had been entirely transformed upon receiving the message that one of my photos had been shortlisted for a series of Guides.

So how does the future look like? Well, here's how: with your help, I'll be selecting and printing out a portfolio. And then try my best to see where that takes me. (:
Secondly, I'm still dreaming [read: drool over] that Nikon D700. And as there's no humanly available way of me being able to afford it any time soon, I'm hereby making an appeal to those willing to help out; hopefully I'll be able to add a gadget to this blog some time soon, which can allow for moneys gathering. I'll be sure to point that out to you once the time is right.

I certainly am looking forward to what 2010 will bring for my small yet frenzied Flickr OOniverse! (:

* That's because of that eternal internal chatter in my head preceding every publicly assessable Internet action I might take.

Aaand [an]other Lyrical Break [Subtext/ed or Theme/d: Free as a Bird]

And this is the tune to go with the images.

What Do You Guys Think of This? Please provide me with feedback.

So I just read this message in my flickr Inbox and had an initial outburst of joy. Seriously. I was just writing on this very topic yesterday, wasn't I?!
Aaaaand then I looked at the image. Aaaand started to hesitate. Aaaand to somehow change my joyous state of mind.

Have I managed to confuse you entirely? :)
... Ok, ok, let's start from the beginning. The following is the message I found in my flickr Inbox:

Hi [me],

I am writing to let you know that one of your photos has been short-listed for inclusion in the tenth edition of our Schmap Paris Guide, to be published early February 2010.
[...]
While we offer no payment for publication, many photographers are pleased to submit their photos, as Schmap Guides give their work recognition and wide exposure, and are free of charge to readers. Photos are published at a maximum width of 150 pixels, are clearly attributed, and link to high-resolution originals at Flickr.
Our submission deadline is Friday, January 22.[..]

Best regards,

So far so good. But then I clicked on the link to see which was the photo that they had chosen, and where was it from, exactly.
It's a shot taken at the Cluny Museum in Paris - not a bad one, but not the best either [IMHO].
This is the respective short-listed shot:
It's not a bad shot, I'll give you that.
Buuut it's not the best of the Cluny Museum Set either, me thinks.

For instance, I like the following one much better:

Or this one:

And that's why I'm hesitant.
How do you advise me? What should I do now? Should I go ahead with what I think is not the very best, or should I write back and suggest something different?
Please, Opinions :)

Joy in Small Things

Yes!, Statistics are actually able to make people happy!. They've done that to me today, thus the existence of this probability.
Without any twitter backup, my flickr stream has registered 223 views today, and 3 favourites.
Yes, I'm happy about it. As for someone who enjoys taking photos, external appreciation is the prize.
Curious? Here's the link.

Happy Traveller/ Gets Wishes Coming True

[Intro:] Looking back on the last couple of posts and more specifically their titles, I couldn't help realising the happi-fying hues all over this place; and as well good things come [at least] tripled, here's the final bit of the happy posts.

So what's this one all about?
Well, remember my rants about the last train trip I made, and the disappointment stemming from it? This time, it's all been remedied: the heat's been on throughout the trip, I was in the very inspiring company of a certain friend, and - this is really good! - the views were there and I had a camera ready and loaded!


What more could I possibly ask for? The morale, you say? - Though I did try to think that over, I can't really come up with anything better than "ranting is good" [??]. Any [other] shots?

Happy Holidays, All!

Some Days are All About the Aerial View

One of this year's funerals: in Portugal [countryside]

Back in September, I've attended the only Portuguese funeral thus far.
It was a very unfortunate day - we even got stuck on the highway for hours on the way back.


But I did try to search for that silver lining...

... thus giving these shots to the world - or taking them from it, depending on your perspective..



Here's the entire Flickr set.

Good morning, Bucharest [exclamation point - which silly blogspot doesn't allow me to use..]

I've bought a new moka coffee pot yesterday - and that's a good reason to enjoy coffee. That and the layers over layers over layers of snow outside: it's snowing thickly and smoothly, then it slows down a bit, then it's almost furious .. but independently of how the snow hits the ground [or anything else in its way, for that matter], it'll stay there.
Winter has truly come.

Bulgaria: mostly Balchik

It was the first time ever to actually have Bulgaria as an impromptu destination, and it was fast to happen.
I couldn't help it though, and have uploaded a few photos [some, with comments] to tell the experience: here [for Balchik] & here [Kranevo].

Panteão Nacional: part ii

In 1966, during the government of the Dictator António de Oliveira Salazar, the Church of Santa Engrácia was turned into a National Pantheon. The personalities buried here include the Presidents of the Republic Manuel de Arriaga, Teófilo Braga, Sidónio Pais and Óscar Carmona, Presidential candidate Humberto Delgado, writers João de Deus, Almeida Garrett, Guerra Junqueiro and Aquilino Ribeiro and fado singer Amália Rodrigues. There are cenotaphs to Luís de Camões, Pedro Álvares Cabral, Afonso de Albuquerque, Nuno Álvares Pereira, Vasco da Gama and Henry the Navigator.

[from here]
... and this is how I've learnt of Humberto Delgado:

Although initially a staunch supporter of the right-wing dictatorship of António de Oliveira Salazar, and the youngest general in Portuguese history, his passage as a Military Attaché and Aeronautic Attaché to the Portuguese Embassy in Washington, D.C. in 1952 pushed him into the defence of democratic ideals, and inspired him to run as a candidate to the Portuguese presidency in 1958.
In a famous interview on 10 May 1958, in the Chave d'Ouro café, when asked what would be his attitude towards Salazar, he made one of the most famous quotations of Portuguese politics: Obviamente, demito-o! (Obviously, I'll sack him!).
His outspoken attitude earned him the epithet of General sem Medo (Fearless General).
He was nevertheless credited with only around 25% of the votes in the highly rigged presidential elections of 1958, despite the consensual opinion that he was the true winner and some evidence of ballots filled with votes for the regime candidate by the secret police.
He was expelled from the Portuguese military, and took refuge in the Brazilian embassy before going into exile. [...]
In 1964, he founded the Portuguese National Liberation Front in Rome. [...]
Delgado and his Brazilian secretary, Arajaryr Moreira de Campos, would be murdered on 13 February 1965, after being attracted to an ambush by the regime's secret police (PIDE) near the border town of Olivenza, when trying to enter Portugal clandestinely. The official version was that he was killed in self defense, but he was not even armed when he was shot, and his secretary was strangled. Their bodies would only be found some two months later, near the Spanish village of Villanueva del Fresno. [...]
In 1990, Humberto Delgado was posthumously promoted to Marshal of the Portuguese Air Force - being the only person to hold this rank -, his name was given to an Avenue in Lisbon and his body was moved to the National Pantheon, in Lisbon. The significance of this gesture is that some former Portuguese Presidents are there.

[from here.]
Why write all of these here?
Because I found it to be representative of respectfulness, in its widest understanding, and because I found it impressive: certain errors may be [even if only marginally] corrected posthumously, from what it appears. And this has the potential of being a lesson for many, individuals and peoples alike.
[Photos from my flickr.]

One Glorious Sunday Morning We Visited Panteão Nacional in Lisbon

The Church of Santa Engrácia is a 17th century monument of the city of Lisbon, in Portugal. In the 20th century the church has been converted into the National Pantheon (Panteão Nacional), in which important Portuguese personalities are buried. It is located in the neighbourhood of Alfama, close to another important Lisbon monument, the Monastery of São Vicente de Fora. [...]
The first church dedicated to the Saint was sponsored by Princess Maria, daughter of King Manuel I, around 1568. In 1681, building of the current church began after previous structures collapsed. The author of the new design was João Antunes, royal architect and one of the most important baroque architects of Portugal.
Building work proceeded from 1682 through 1712, when the architect died. King John V lost interest in the church, concentrating his resources in the gigantic Convent of Mafra. The church was left unfinished until the 20th century, so that Obras de Santa Engrácia (lit. Saint Engrácia's works) has become a Portuguese synonym for long unfinished works. Eventually a dome was added, whereupon the church was reinaugurated in 1966.

Excerpt from the Wiki entry: here.
More shots as taken by me: here.

Woo-hoo! Wishes DO come true!

As [perhaps..] you can see, I now DO HAVE a FlickrPro account! [as wished for out loud on the interwebz here] :)

Multumesc, Stefan!

This made my day! :)
[p.s. you can click the image to enlarge, if curious]

I've seen Oradea in May & this is how it looked like

If curious for more, this is the place to take a look.
It's yet-another-flickr account, as the other one is running out of space... [wink-wink] ...
so should you be curious about potential birthday presents, a Flickr Pro account makes up for a good option. :)