iPhone 13 Mini

[Rob C]

Used to be a time I would shoot pix for winter holiday brochures for Mallorca.

For quite a few years the hotels and airlines have remained closed during winter. Not for want of travellers, but because they make so much money in summer that they can afford to stay closed all winter long, from about the end of October until April. My conclusion, rightly or wrongly, is that they charge so much money in summer that they can ignore the wannabe traveller in winter, and so somebody, somewhere, is being screwed all summer long.

[KLaban]

Thank you, Keith. I wish I was physically and mentally up to going out late at night. I think the problem to be more a state of mind than physical. The evening saw Mallorca given over to bonfires and free snacks etc., but the cold and dislike for driving at night saw to that, as far as I was concerned.

The country is currently in mourning for the victims of two high-speed trains that were derailed; tonight’s news suggests it might have been due to weakened rails due to recent heavy storms, the line having been checked this month. The last carriage or two of one went off the line and onto the line going in the opposite direction. Just seconds later, the other one came along and hit the derailed carriages at great speed. Tonight there’s been the suggestion that the second train didn’t so much hit those carriages, but a bogey from it that was sent flying into a river. Part of one of the trains was sent down into a deep ditch, making rescue and access more difficult. I think the toll stands at 42 dead and 1 still unaccounted for, which doesn’t bode good for the family.

“Harry” has shown how stupid planning permission can be, with front-line apartment blocks damaged when hit by the exploding sea. Expensive properties by virtue of location, but in the wrong place for peace of mind!

Perfectly understandable, Rob. Nighttime driving is not something I enjoy and avoid if possible.

My heart goes out to those involved in those terrible train crashes. V's cousin was killed in a train crash in the UK An appalling waste of innocent lives.

Batten down those hatches and stay safe!

Keith

[degrub]

Only the bare bones are left...

[Rob C]

Perfectly understandable, Rob. Nighttime driving is not something I enjoy and avoid if possible.

My heart goes out to those involved in those terrible train crashes. V's cousin was killed in a train crash in the UK An appalling waste of innocent lives.

Batten down those hatches and stay safe!

Keith

There was one little ray of joy that came out of the tragedy of the recent Spanish train crash: one of the passengers who was hurt but able to walk, was interviewed yesterday, in tears, because her big pet dog had run off after the crash. Today, he was found and dog and girl were reunited. Dammit, I was close to tears myself seeing the change in her face and attitude; she couldn’t stop thanking the folks who’d mounted a search and discovered the animal. Having had dogs, I know just how she must feel having it back, safe and sound.

[kers]

There was one little ray of joy that came out of the tragedy of the recent Spanish train crash: one of the passengers who was hurt but able to walk, was interviewed yesterday, in tears, because her big pet dog had run off after the crash. Today, he was found and dog and girl were reunited. Dammit, I was close to tears myself seeing the change in her face and attitude; she couldn’t stop thanking the folks who’d mounted a search and discovered the animal. Having had dogs, I know just how she must feel having it back, safe and sound.

Three Spanish train accidents in one week!  Yes maybe it is time for some stricter safety regulations...

[Rob C]

Three Spanish train accidents in one week!  Yes maybe it is time for some stricter safety regulations...

It used to  be just the UK that suffered from the "wrong kind of leaves" on the tracks, but now, with climate change, Spain gets too much of the wrong kind of rain...

[Rob C]

Latest news on the Spanish train crash suggests that a rail parted and developed a gap, with both its manufacture and recent welding under suspicion. It appears that every single section/length of rail carries its own DNA markings, indicating manufacturer, composition of metal etc. i had no idea. Examination of wheels of the train in the crash, as well as those of other trains that had recently used that portion of rail, reveal damage marks consistent with deterioration and ultimate breaking of the rail.

It seems the young lady reunited with her lost pooch has become a social media event, and even made the tv in the USA.

[Rob C]

Pretty little girl.

[degrub]

really nicely done. Italian ?

[Rob C]

German; BMW of some kind or another.

I enjoy snapping cars, but the lenses on this iPhone 13 Mini are both too wide for the job. Equally, the cars are usually found in the yacht club parking spaces, and even in winter, when there are hardly any attractive cars around, people still tend to park too close and restrict the angles I can shoot at without getting too much unwanted detail in the shots.

Thanks for the kind remark - appreciated. ;-)

[Rob C]

Relativity.

[degrub]

interesting juxtaposition

[Rob C]

interesting juxtaposition

I guess it’s the payoff to “working the scene”.

I took two other shots of the Mini on it own, but only when I could see how impossible it was to show how tiny the thing is without a human beside it to give a sense of scale, did the carts become useful. By that time my head had gone back to the year those tiny cars had been introduced, and the differences in the realities of life in Britain and in the States. From the age of eight until I was about sixteen I lived in India. Our cars had been V8 Fords and almost everything else new on those chaotic streets came from Detroit. The culture shock of going back to a 1953 Britain was immense. I guess I never did get back to feeling I honestly belonged anymore, and that, of itself, made waving goodbye in order to go and live in Spain very much easier than it might have been for somebody who had never left before. Of course, being a photographer was the passport that made it possible, just as the changes in (my) professional photography had become the driver. How little control we eventually have over the course of our own lives…

[Rob C]

Life and/or death decision: should I go left or should I go right?

[degrub]

car roulette 
Nice !

[Jonathan Cross]

Life and/or death decision: should I go left or should I go right?

'The Road Not Taken', Robert Frost

Jonathan 

[Rob C]

car roulette 
Nice !

Thanks - don’t put any money on it, though!

;-)

[Rob C]

'The Road Not Taken', Robert Frost

Jonathan 

Indeed, and you’d have to be a cyclist to take the left turning. Of course, left or right, white lines or not, they are a law unto themselves. According to the local press, we can expect a large growth in the number of Canadian cyclists coming over this year to try out the island. Let’s hope that the increase in all prices, due to the Iranian war, doesn’t mean they are mistaken for Americans. It’s easy to put all people with similar accents under a simple, nationalistic banner, individual beliefs ignored. I am always surprised how any international event seems to affect prices, even when any connection between event and price seems more than a little opaque.

[Rob C]

For Pablo.

[Rob C]

Iberian Afternoon.