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This photo has a nice collection of architectonic fragments which are very representative of La Antigua Guatemala. Interesting enough, this photo is the other side of the arch from the photo published in Antigua Fragments (You have to see this photo as well). If you want to look at other samples of my on-going series Antigua Abstracta, follow the white rabbit. 
Best wishes for this coming week, many in Guatemala are already enjoying their Christmas vacation; what about you?

August 1 marks the opportunity to participate in the theme day of the City Daily Photo community around the world and this month’s theme is Bright colours.

La Antigua Guatemala is painted with rich, bright colors so this could have been a simple click. However, I decided I was going to participate with a more challenging image; something that wasn’t so obvious but at the same time it there couldn’t be any doubt about its merits. After a visit to Casa Santo Domingo, Antigua Guatemala’s five-star hotel and museum, I narrowed my selection to two images: a Guacamaya’s Bright Colours, which I posted yesterday and today’s bright red rose petals.

The reason I chose the close-up of bright red rose petals over the macaws brilliant colors is simple; The slogan for La Antigua Guatemala is the City of the Perpetual Roses.

This image is also going to be part of my Antigua Abstracta series, which is my attempt to capture the essence of La Antigua Guatemala by just showing fragments, extreme close-up, and abstract imagery often found around town. If you have the time, please take a peak at the images and let me know what you think of Antigua Abstracta.

To see how others in the City Daily Photo community have interpreted today’s theme please click here to view thumbnails for all participants around the globe.

Here’s my humble attempt at summarizing some of the architectonic elements of Antigua Guatemala.

How you like it?

Besides signs, I also have a fascination for fountains. I am glad in La Antigua Guatemala there is an abundance of both.

Can you guess where is this fountain located?

Early on I had been bewitched by the abstract possibilities found in every nook and cranny of this enchanting and vibrant sleepy little town. By day 100 with entries like Antigua Colors, I began collecting the bit and pieces of what will become my Antigua Abstracta photo exhibit. A few other samples captured along the way are found in New Aesthetic Values of an Old Town, Upside Down Arches, Shadow Casting Lamp, Dome Roof Details, and most photos in the tagged with Textura, just to list a few images.

I hope to have all the images, the venue and the Antigua Abstracta exhibit ready before the end of the year!

Of course you don’t have to wait until my next photo exhibition to acquired high quality prints to decorate your or your loved one’s home or office walls since you can purchase them at any time, like right now!

All along these 1,124 consecutive entries, I have been compiling a collection of abstract photographs of La Antigua Guatemala with the idea that one day, perhaps, I will have another exhibit called Antigua Abstracta as a follow up to Antigua in Black and White. Anyway, in the mean time, you get to enjoy my findings.

Here are other possible candidate for the Antigua Abstracta series: New Aesthetic Values for an Old Town, Antigua Colors, Upside Down Arches, Shadow casting lamp.

Please, tell me what you think of the idea and if you had the money, would you buy photos from this series?

Detalles, detalles, detalles.

What better way to show you the brand new paint job at the Iglesia de La Merced than to find a contrasting color to warm yellow of the La Merced church. To get a nice deep blue to contrast yellow and white paint and the Moon hanging right up there is just an awesome prize. I hope you like it! ;-(

Often as you stroll around La Antigua Guatemala, you come across walls with lots of texture made from the many layers of natural lime-stone-based paints. Below is a quote from an previous entry about Natural paint textures.

Because the high levels of humidity around Antigua, people have to paint their walls often. Not every time the walls get painted they use the same color and after so many years when the paint peels, you get the gorgeous texture where the different colors peek through. The Antigua Protection Agency recommends that people use lime-stone-based paints because they allow the walls to breath. The lime-stone-based paints have shine, similar to pearls, so that is how you get some incredible colors as light changes through the day.

Some people may find this kind of photographs boring and uninspiring; others get their kicks from the yellow texture on the wall. To which kind of people do you belong?

The first time I published the arches reflected on the water tank at Tanque de la Unión Park in La Antigua Guatemala, there were many people who really liked the photo. There were even some Guatemalans who said the reflection was done in Photoshop. Now you can take the statement either way: you can feel proud to know that you’ve snapped a shot that people think you spent many hours in the digital lab of Photoshop or you can take it as a put down on your photo-taking ability. I am glad I am very competent in the Photoshop department, heck I could even argue that I excel in the skills of Photoshop since I started working in version 2 and I use the program in a daily basis.

However, I must admit, photos I publish in Antigua Guatemala Daily Photo are Photoshop-free. I do minor color-casting removal and I improve the contrast when needed in Apple iPhoto (my light photo library manager). I do not retouch the photos in Photoshop for two reasons: 1. I don’t have the time to do retouching (sometimes I barely have time to keep up with that blog as it is) 2. I cheat by taking many shots of the same subject at different angles and settings so I will have a better original to begin with (this is a time-honor procedure called bracketing).

So there you have it. Another water reflection at Tanque de La Unión. Other shots of the arches are: Palm Trees in Antigua and Public Washbasins at Tanque de la Unión.

Do I love yellow or what?

To appreciate an old colonial town like La Antigua Guatemala you need a new set of aesthetic values. See the beauty of many things in Antigua reside in their many imperfections; sometimes they are made to look like that. For instance, forged metal railings are hammered while red hot to to lose their perfect round or square shapes. New houses are built to look old and used. The same applies to brand-new furniture. The natural paint use on the façades of houses peels almost yearly and new coat is put on the old and after so many years you get really awesome looking textures. Besides, many things are still made completely by hand, thus it is impossible to get two items to look the same; quite the opposite to modern assembly and manufacturing lines where item one million looks exactly the same as any of the previous items. People actually appreciate the very old, antique and used-looking, with a few imperfections; the older the better. The harmony of all these elements, used, old, antique, imperfect, rusted, unfinished, peeled makes for the magic of walking around Antigua.

In the photo above you can see I am sucker for graphic, illustration like elements in photographs. I like the texture of the terra-cotta bricks, the wall, the window and warm yellow color. A tripod was necessary to get this shot. I hope you like it; make sure click on it to get the larger version.

Plagiarism Side Note: Last week today elPeriódico, my favorite Guatemalan national newspaper, published a photo from this site without permission and credited the photograph as one of their own. Here you can see a scan of the newspaper page, including the photo they took, published and credited as part of their archives. The photograph appeared in December 12th in this humble blog as Antigua’s Cathedral at Sunset. After I wrote them a few emails and posted about the plagiarism in my Crónicas efí­meras Spanish blog (click to read the original entry in Spanish or in English through Google translator.) they publish a tiny apology in the last Saturday’s edition (click to the see the scan). Even though I wrote to them directly to let them know that the photo belonged to me and to this site, they never wrote directly to me to apologize for the plagiarism. After being told about the apology on Monday by a friend, I decided to not continue demanding a direct apology or compensation for violating my copyrights. The irony of the whole incident is that publish my photos with enough resolution so you can view them and use them, so long you credit me, you make no money off of them, no derived works are done from them. Most of the time a simple email requesting permission to use a photo is all it takes; I am easy fellow, you know.

Normally a lamp is design to cast light, but I found a lamp that casts shadows. I know, it is lame excuse to bring to you a very simple picture of a lamp, its shadow over a great yellow wall. I figured you need something light and yellow for Sunday. Remember, take it easy and slow tomorrow.

Side note: By the way, I believe I have not told you that the tags below are another way of browsing this site. I used to link-off to technorati through the tags, but then I learned that I could tag the post to other photos on this site and provide the Antigua Guatemala Daily Photo visitors with another way of browsing this site. I have not tagged all the photos yet, but everything in August and part of July is already tagged. Try it, just click on the word lamp below.

Have a happy browsing experience!

Antigua’s colors, originally uploaded by rudygiron.

Nuno suggested that we should always look up, beauty is on every direction. That is exactly what I did for this shot; although it lacks the beauty that Nuno is giving us in July 2006, it serves to show you the color and quality of light at sunset, as well as you can see the wood beams and roof tiles that are emblematic of Antigua’s architecture.

This photo also represents the 100th entry in this blog since May 1st. It is not exactly 100 days, but I posted several pictures on the first day to get the feel for the design and to have a slide show of the photos I was going to be posting. If you click the slide show link, you can see all the photos in about 5 minutes.

At this milestone I asked myself if I am not being too wordy, this is a photolog after all, and maybe nobody reads or cares for the long captions anyway. So, I decided, unless you tell me otherwise, to have short and brief caption from this point forward. I thank the 9,521 visits people have made to this blog; I am close to reaching the 10,000 visits milestone, which will probably happen before August 1st. Please, come back often, I promise to be brief and I will put more effort into the quality of the images.

Palo de Izote is a relative of the Yucca Tree. It is present in almost all gardens and fences here and everywhere in Southeast Mexico and Central America. In my San José el Viejo ruins photo on June 10th, it caught the eye of Patsy. I do not know how she was able to extract it since I do not post large photos, but it was there. Once she pointed it out to me, I was more aware of it. This photo was taken at a house which is only three houses away from my office. I like the wavey wall and the tree heads just above. I wish the sky was better, but we are in the rainy season here (May – October). Please, do forgive my gray skies for a few months.

When people just have arrived in Guatemala, one thing catches their attention: how wonderfully green is everything. This country will be perfect playground for the constant garderner because of its fertile volcanic soil, abundance of water and humidity. Of course, there is a price to pay for everything: here you have to live with 33 volcanoes nearby, 3 of them active, and a copious rainy season. I believe these are the main ingredients that made this country the land of the eternal spring.