Roses have been associated with this day since medieval times, but the giving of books is a more recent tradition originating in 1923, when a Barcelona’s bookseller started to promote the holiday in 1923 as a way to honor the simultaneous deaths of two among the greatest men of literature worldwide: Miguel de Cervantes and William Shakespeare, both deceased on April 23, 1616.

Along the Ramblas, Barcelona’s main street, but also all over the city, you will see hundreds of colorful flower stands selling roses while makeshift bookstalls are hastily set up for the special event. Despite the economical crisis, by the end of the day, several million roses and about half million books are purchased in the name of love, registering half of the total yearly book sales of Catalonia on this day alone! Wandering around in Barcelona you might find it difficult to see a woman without a rose in her hand, or a man walking by without a book.

This is definitely a special day for shooting photos in Barcelona!

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Located in the heart of Raval, the multi-ethnic and colorful district of Barcelona, Bar Marsella is one of the city’s oldest bars and gets its ambience from its house drink: absinthe. Derived from wormwood and herbs, absinthe is powerful stuff, though the hallucinatory properties that gave it the nickname the Green Fairy, and the reputation for undoing legions of fin-de-siècle bohemians, have never been proven.The ritual of preparing absinthe is admittedly pleasing. Once you order it, patrons bring a glass of absinthe, a fork and a small bottle of mineral water with a hole in the tap. You have to set a small fork across the top of the glass, put a sugar cube on it, pour water over the cube until it dissolves, and stir. Then, you drink!

When you are in Barcelona don’t miss this old fashioned bar located in Carrer de Sant Pau, 65! Bar Marsella is open after 10 p.m.

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Spring has arrived in Barcelona at the end with blue skies and slightly warmer temperature. As days are getting more and more longer, we are going soon to introduce afternoon photographic tours to let you explore and take pictures of one of the most beautiful European cities right before tasting tapas in one of many bars of the old city centre!
We are waiting for you!

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Just add some snow in Barcelona and the city becomes even more magic! It started last night with rain and high northerly winds while temperature was dropping considerably and then, suddenly, rain turned into snow flakes quickly. This morning, the higher districts of Barcelona were covered by a soft blanket of snow and so were the hills behind the city. Around midday, as sun came out in a deep blue mediterranean sky, snow started to melt gradually but not before I made it to Montjuïc to shoot photos of the unusual white skyline and spot, later, a lonely snowman on a sidewalk that, I am sure, won’t last until tomorrow.

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Whether you are visiting a vibrant European city or exploring an exotic Asian village, markets must be definitively on your travel shot list. In the same place, you can find a wide variety of colorful goods, animated stallholders, interesting people and an exciting environment to discover and enjoy with your camera.Markets can be covered or outdoor. In case of shooting images in an outdoor market, you have to face up with the great contrast existing between the parts of the scene lit directly by the sun and the people or goods in the shadows. Use of flash can compensate both such a contrast and lightening shadows on people’s faces, but the result you get is easily flat to tell the truth. The best option is to visit the outdoor market in early morning when sun light is still soft or wait, instead, for a cloudy day.

Covered markets can present some problems due to low light levels or artificial lighting. In the first case, just raise the ISO on your camera but don’t exceed 800 in order the noise levels be acceptable in your images. In the second case, select the auto white balance setting on your camera to remove casts from artificial lighting and, then, in post processing find the right tone. Take your time when you photograph a market. There is plenty of new and exciting things to look at.

By wandering around, you will find endless subjects to photograph: local food delicacies, bizarre fruits or vegetables, colorful piles of spices, but, remember always to shoot images that can fully capture the general environment of the market. Often exposed goods are presented beautifully for customers to come and buy. Look for patterns to aid your composition, complimentary colors, shades and tones and the variety of textures in the variety of laid out products.

Beside all the goods for sale, animated stallholders screaming in a bustling atmosphere are another favorite subject. Though in touristy places they can be used to having their picture taken, remember always to ask them for permission and to be kind. Try to talk with a stallholder, just ask about goods he is selling in order to create a kind of rapport with the person you are going to photograph. Maybe he will ask for some money in change of taking a photo though you can precede him by choosing a small item you like in his stall, buy it and then ask the stallholder to take a picture!

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Throughout December to celebrate Christmas holidays, Torre Agbar (Agbar Tower), a 38-story skyscraper designed by French architect Jean Nouvel and also a Barcelona’s iconic symbol, is illuminated at night by about 4,500 spectacular LED colored lights. The show takes place on the building’s glassy structure every day, from 6 p.m. to midnight, and, definitively, it adds further color to the Christmas’ spirit in town.

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