Guggenheim Spider

Pentax K5, Sigma 10-20mm, 1/180, f5, ISO80

I absolutely love Spain for countless reasons.  One of them being that most Spanish cities are liberally & randomly scattered with delightful works of art to lift the spirit.  This less delightful & more ominous spider (with a nest of eggs) prowls the promenade with the Guggenheim museum in the background

I know this image doesn't follow the 2/3rds rule and I have placed the spider centrally, but you know what they say about rules...

Pentax K5, Sigma 10-20mm, 1/180, f4.5, ISO80

Here is the same spider, but shot in the opposite direction with a rather busy bridge in the background, this image is probably not as effective as the one above.

Guggenheim - Bilbao

 Pentax K5, Sigma 10-20mm, 1/100, f7.1, ISO80

  

 Pentax K5, Sigma 10-20mm, 1/50, f7.1, ISO80

We recently spent a few weeks in the south of France on the Atlantic coast, St. Jean de Luz to be precise, and what a wonderful holiday it was.  Situated on the French & Spanish border, we were only 15 minutes away from Spain.  So we made a day trip of Bilbao and I finally had an amazing opportunity to photograph the acclaimed Guggenheim Museum.  Built in the 90's, and covered with a skin of titanium, this is claimed to be one of the finest structures on the planet and I don't believe many would dispute that. I was in my element and spent hours photographing while our hosts' good humour slowly dwindled with each shutter release.  I don't blame them since I did get carried away, but it was a dream come true and I'm very grateful.  Now I just need to print them onto canvas.......

Nosy Parker

 

Pentax K5, Tamron 90mm Macro, 1/200, f9, ISO800 

 

Pentax K5, Tamron 90mm Macro, 1/100, f10, ISO400

 

Pentax K5, Tamron 90mm Macro, 1/200, f8, ISO800

Found this Nosy Parker in the office this morning, somehow he fell into the dustbin and couldn't get out.  I grabbed the bin, grabbed my K5 and headed into the garden for a macro photoshoot.  (No shrews were harmed in the posting of this blog)

The elephant shrew is native to Africa, and lives on a strict diet of insects which it sniffs out with its elephant like nose and then devours ferociously.  Apparently this is one of the fiercest creatures on the continent, attacking at the slightest provocation and preferring to fight than flee.  Luckily for us it is only a tiny little mammal otherwise we'd live in constant fear :)