I last posted about my birding experience in the Extremadura region of Spain this past March, but it wasn’t all birds. Leave it to historic architecture and amazing colors to distract me. Here are a few more of the sights I saw in Extremadura, when not looking up at birds:

I was picked up in Trujillo and driven through the dehesa’s carpet of blooms to my first hotel, Hospederia Monfrague.

I got to make my second visit to the Roman ruins in Merida, Spain, but it was my first chance to walk the length of the Roman bridge there — said to be the world’s longest surviving bridge from ancient times.

An overnight in Zafra gave me a chance to photograph another Spanish Parador and other sites, including a beautifully tiled pharmacy building.

On through the rolling countryside and to another charming town, Llerena

And, after an impromptu goat and sheep encounter, the town of Alange, situated on the Alange Reservoir. Color and tile work are to be found at every turn.

I also was able to bookend this trip with nights in one of my favorite towns in Extremadura, Trujillo, but I’ll save those images for a future post.

The City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia, Spain, is an incredible collection of modern architecture set into what was once a riverbed. In an attempt to prevent future destructive flooding, the city re-routed the Turia River and developed its previous course into a series of gardens, punctuated by these futuristic structures that house concert halls, science museums, and more. While I would normally think that re-routing a river couldn’t possibly be a good idea, here it seems to work. A visit to the City of Arts and Sciences is like a visit to the future. In fact, it is often used as a backdrop for movies and television commercials.

Many of the building’s surfaces are covered in a mosaic of glittering, white tile. The reflecting pools multiply the effect and provide a calm setting for the geometric shapes. Many times I’ve seen attempts at creating spaces like this go horribly wrong and they are vacant of humans, but here I saw people walking, biking, sitting to enjoy lunch, etc. It actually is a very inviting public space.

It’s been a long while since I’ve posted here, but I promise I haven’t been sleeping. Winters are generally quiet for me in terms of travel. It’s a stretch of time I get to spend in the office, catching up, and making plans for the coming year. This year I’ve really been focused on my “brand” and how I communicate with all of you and those who follow me through social media. I’ve only dabbled in social media in the past, but I wanted to start this year with more of a plan.

For those of you who are interested, here is that plan — subject to change as it is implemented. This is partly an exercise for me, to put these thoughts down, but it might be interesting to other photographers to see my thinking process, and it may help others of you to decide on where you might want to follow me. Here goes…

The first part of my plan has just recently been rolled out. I now have two Instagram accounts for the two very different markets that I have for my work. My “travel photography,” which is what I consider all of my out-of-state work to be, will be showcased on @michaelcsnell (see Sphinx image above left). My in-state, Kansas work — which is technically still travel-related but has a different market — will be featured on a new sub-brand of mine, @true_kansas (see night shot above right).

You may notice new watermarks on my Instagram images as well. That is also a part of this new, split-branding effort. I’ll go through more of it in a future post, but basically I wanted individual logos and branding for my Kansas and non-Kansas work, without them looking like two completely separate entities.

Setting up two Instagram accounts may not seem like it would take my entire winter, but this is really phase one of a larger effort. More elements will emerge over the coming weeks and months. And I will still be posting here, but I’m outlining specific kinds of information that I’ll be sharing through each of my online channels. Here’s a rough outline as I see it now:

Michael C. Snell Travel Photography:

My existing website ( michaelcsnell.com ) will be the primary hub for all of my non-Kansas work. Updates are on the way that will tie in the new branding.

This blog will remain and will feature longer-format posts. Some of those will be day-by-day “diaries” of recent trips that I will post after returning home and as I’m doing post-production. I’ll also post on equipment, software, travel and photography tips, etc. as I have done in the past.

Instagram ( @michaelcsnell ) will be an additional portfolio where I will try and share at least one photo each day from my archives — “latergrams,” if you will. But, when I’m on the road and internet connections permit, I plan on doing “live feeds” where my daily posts will be images made that day or the day before. I’ll bracket these with title images so that they will stand out in my feed. The first of these live feeds will begin at the end of this month, so stay tuned.

Facebook ( michaelcsnell ) will remain my personal page where I share more behind-the-scenes posts, shots from my iPhone, etc.

I may add Twitter ( @michaelcsnell ) to the mix although I don’t ever see myself being a hardcore tweeter. I may use it to add some quick on-the-road photos but those will likely be immediately shared on my Facebook page as well. Twitter will also probably be the place I tend to share articles I run across, retweet things of interest, and so on. More of an aggregator than focusing purely on my work.

TrueKansas:

The website, TrueKansas.com , will be the primary hub for all of my Kansas work. In its current state, it is primarily a blog like this one that will focus solely on my Kansas images and happenings in Kansas. Print sales, stock licensing and future product roll-outs (books, notecards, etc.) will all be handled through that site. I use stock agencies to license most of my non-Kansas work, but I’ve found it to be better to market and license the bulk of my Kansas images directly. Information regarding that, or ordering personal prints, are on the TrueKansas site.

Instagram ( @true_kansas ) will also be a portfolio of “latergrams” from my archives. Occasionally a recently shot photo may appear, but I don’t at this time plan on doing the live feeds like I will on @michaelcsnell

I have a page on Facebook ( https://www.facebook.com/truekansas ) that will echo some of the Instagram posts, will announce some of the blog postings on TrueKansas.com , and will feature other noteworthy Kansas items I run across. No Twitter feed is planned for TrueKansas so this will be more of the aggregator for this side of the business.

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That’s probably more than you wanted to know, but there it is. It’s been quite a process for me to come to grips with how I want to use social media. Having been in a business based on protecting intellectual property, the move to an open and sharing business plan was daunting. I put a lot of thought into when I will and won’t watermark, and how those watermarks would look so that they add to an image rather than detracting from it.

With just a couple of weeks to go before my 2016 travel schedule takes off, I’m really looking forward to beginning to work within this framework. To see what works and what doesn’t, and to fine-tune the system where needed. I’d love to have you all join me. Please take a look at each of these outlets and I’d love it if you would follow me wherever you feel most interested. Thanks!

I recently had the chance to photograph two of America’s favorite pastimes: Baseball and Lucha Libre wrestling. Well, maybe that second one is only in certain parts of America, but it should be embraced nationwide. I love it.

First, a little spring training…

And now, for comparison, let’s take a look at the Lucha Libre action at the Glendale Park and Swap on Phoenix’s West Side. Nothing against baseball, but you tell me which looks like a more exciting way to spend an evening…

It was a long trip to Granada, Spain. I flew to Chicago, had a 4-hour layover, flew on to Madrid for another layover of nearly 5 hours, then one more flight before finally arriving in Granada. I was checking into my hotel around 2:30 in the afternoon the day after having left home. My host was gracious enough to not schedule anything for the rest of Day 1 in Spain. I knew I’d be anxious to start exploring, however, and had asked if a pass could be arranged for me to photograph the Alhambra rather than taking a nap or otherwise resting up from the trip. (I find that, in general, I escape most of the effects of jet lag by not taking naps and, instead, getting back into a regular pattern of sleeping only when it’s dark as soon as possible.)

As soon as I knew I was going to Granada, I knew that I’d want to spend as much time as I could at the Alhambra. A combination of fortress and palace, the Alhambra dates back to 889 with several massive renovations and expansions over the following centuries. It is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the centerpiece of any visit to Granada. It was scheduled to be the first stop of my actual tour on my second day in the city, but I looked forward to having an early visit on my own, to try and photograph the elaborately decorated buildings without being a part of a tour group.

Little did I know that the Alhambra limits visitation to 7000 people a day, and they sell out nearly every day of the year. My dreams of wandering the structures alone were shattered, and I found myself surrounded by throngs of tourists — all seemingly wielding cameras of their own. Oh, well. I was still on my own and could sprint ahead of groups, and wait for others to pass before getting my shots. It worked. And sometimes the tourists WERE the shot. When I returned the following day with my own guide and group, I encountered even larger crowds so I was glad to have had this extra visit on Day 1 to set my own pace and get my bearings in the sprawling palace and its gardens.

These shots are all from my solo Day 1 visit. I know it probably doesn’t look like there were all that many other people there, but I was looking for the quiet spots. At times it was nearly shoulder-to-shoulder with people. Even in such a situation I find that you can minimize the impact of the crowds on your photographs by careful framing. I often found myself “aiming high” and shooting over the heads of the other visitors to crop them out of the shot. What I wouldn’t give, though, to have this complex completely to myself for a few hours around sunset some evening. And a tripod would be nice — something else not allowed on either of my visits.

The “texture” of the Alhambra is what I found most appealing. The level of detail in its decoration was absolutely incredible.

I’ll continue posting images from my Granada trip over the coming weeks and I’ll try and stay somewhat chronological so you’ll be able to see some of the images that I made on my return visit to the Alhambra the following day. I skipped the Palace of Charles V portion of the Alhambra entirely on my first visit, but it would be the first stop on our return.

It hasn’t escaped me that the day Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak resigned corresponded almost exactly with the day I left Cairo two years ago (not that I’m trying to imply anything about the importance of my having been there — I won’t appear in the historical record, I’m sure). On the 11th of February, 2009, I was in Luxor. I flew back to Cairo on the 12th and home on the 13th. I had been in Egypt 12 days. This year’s protest lasted 18 days leading to the president’s resignation. Had my trip been two years later, it would have been a much different experience but more likely wouldn’t have happened at all. My trip would have begun a week after protests had begun and I’m sure it would have been cancelled.

I haven’t written about the situation in Egypt yet because I really don’t feel qualified to add anything to the discussion. Other than having been there, my knowledge bank really doesn’t even scratch the surface of the country’s history — especially its recent history. As a kid I devoured any information I could find about ancient Egypt but this is a very different country today, a very different world. I’ll leave the discussion of the ramifications of this week to others more well-versed.

Two years ago Cairo already struck me as being a chaotic city. Bustling and noisy, crossing traffic on foot was a risk not taken lightly. This shot of an overflow of people trying to ride a bus was taken just a few blocks from Tahrir Square where the protestors gathered less than two years later. Scenes like this look blissfully calm now compared to their counterparts taken over the last three weeks. The Big Picture has a couple of excellent galleries here and here. I have a great respect for the photojournalists that do such amazing work during turbulent times.

Who knew that at the time I was exploring these streets between the Nile and the Egyptian Museum that I was not only seeing an area so full of history, but one that would soon make history again. The truth is, I shot these last two images on my first day in Cairo after having just landed and checked into my hotel. A friend and I went out for some air and to get our bearings. He had already been in Egypt for a few days and was becoming acclimated. I was walking in a haze, barely aware of where I was.

The damage done at the Egyptian Museum was shocking. One report I read said that the vandal had dropped down through a skylight like one of the above, lowering himself on telephone and computer wires. His descent took a turn for the worse and he ended up landing on and damaging one of the cases as well as his back. He was caught but not before causing more damage to several artifacts which are now being restored. What I loved about the Egyptian Museum was probably what also made it vulnerable. It was an old-style museum of cases and cabinets that seemed old enough to be in museums on their own merits. It was miles and miles of stuff. Some behind glass, some not. You just picked your way through hallway after hallway of amazing artifacts, feeling almost as though you were discovering lost secrets yourself. I can also appreciate the modern museum concept where everything is heavily interpreted and enhanced by computer touch screens but a museum like this is an experience all its own. I understand that a new museum is being, or will soon be, constructed but I’m honestly glad I got to see this one. I hope that soon more tourists can return to Cairo to see it as well.

I think about the people I met in Egypt and wonder how their lives will be different now. I hope they will be better off and I hope I can return one day soon to see for myself.

Saturday morning was the Lawrence Old-Fashioned Christmas Parade. Lawrence’s parade is a bit unique in that it is all horses — until the very end when the street sweepers make a pass, of course. It was a great morning: blue sky and not too cold. We met friends and followed them back to their house for lunch and conversation. A great day all around.

And some good news this morning — I ran across this article on The Independent’s site reporting that the UK police are to ease their sometimes confrontational approach to photographers. Let’s hope there are more changes in attitude like this to come.

And some less-than-good news — I checked some flight options for an upcoming trip and found the estimated flight times to be around 30 hours. That’s a long time to amuse one’s self in a cramped seat that barely reclines. Guess I’d better dig out my external iPod batteries and find a good paperback or two…

I’m putting together some last-minute details for a Photoshop session that I’ll be leading in Guadalajara, Mexico, next week and grabbed this shot from my recent St. Louis trip to use for a dodge-and-burn demo. I found this “shrine” in a fantastically junky little shop on Cherokee Street. By duplicating the layer and setting the top copy to “multiply”, I could paint on a layer mask to regain some detail in the windows on the right. There are a ton of ways to achieve a dodge-and-burn-like effect and I plan on showing several during my session. This one is one of my favorite techniques, though. I think it’s a little richer than others.

I programmed Guadalajara into my iPhone’s weather app last night and see that it’s supposed to be in the 90s and they are predicting thunderstorms all week. Maybe having this lightning shrine on my hard drive will help protect me from a nasty zap.