ACOMSDave

Community Journalist

Folk Gourmet Festival – Saturday 24thSeptember 2016

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Folk FestivalMostra Gastronomica Ciutat D’Oliva –

Macrotast – Folk Gourmet Festival

The second event of the festival was on Saturday evening, where on the Passeig you could enjoy tasting some of the best wines of the Oliva and Alforins – nine wineries in all.

Accompanying these wines were food samples of every description. The hosts in all the areas were amiable, happy and excited to show you their produce and let you sample whatever took your fancy, whether it be wine or food!

The event was characterised by the attendance of all age ranges, with families coming out onto the Passeig to mingle, find friends and just relax and be happy.

The entertainment apart from people watching, was provided by the Enric Peidro Quartet whose rendition of jazz classics certainly made me happy, and from what I could see brought out the best in all – some of the younger children as always danced, some just listened – but for most of the attending visitors to the event the music was a welcome bonus, which was unobtrusive but enjoyable.

 

The difficulty in going to such an event, is that making notes about what was available and what you drank is difficult; particularly as the tickets were 10 tickets for 8 Euros, and you only needed one ticket for a glass of wine or a small plate of food.

If the numbers that I saw attending are an indicator, then the event was a great success; and I hope that the sponsors and organisers feel the same and will come back again next year in 2017!

Course 2 – Day Seven: Glass — Interact with a Surface

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Experimenting with glass as a surface can create multi-layered and unpredictable shots. Consider this landscape from an estate near Inverness, Scotland:

glass

It’s a lovely scene, but what happens when we place an old, creaky window between the viewer and this garden?

window

Even if you prefer the view without the window, note how this pane of glass introduces a story and adds a layer of complexity to the image. What’s the story behind this estate? Who’s looking out the window?

#developingyoureye #surfacetension  #acomsdave

The challenge here was to find a photograph which generated interest, which was if possible outside the normal framework, and could lead to a story being formed, and also provide different surfaces for the viewer. I have also created a challenge within a challenge, in that I am only using my camera on my phone for these photographs, and the phone is now three years old.  I went out looking over a number of days and nights in Oliva, Valencia, and these are the pictures I have selected along with the surface:

Now choosing a favourite picture for this challenge was difficult, mainly because they were all giving a different story, and not one of them was what you would call a stupendous photograph, but in the end I have chosen Reflections on Reflections, a picture taken through glass at dusk, with little shade and a hint of flash of a shop selling high end sun glasses.

Surface - Reflections on Reflections

Reflections on Reflections

with a close second was, Shape of things to come, a photograph of a paint shop window whose display was of almost gouda quarters in different colours with paint tubes set in some of the holes.

Surface - shape of things to come

Shape of things to come

 

I hope that you will enjoy my choices, and would welcome any comments that you have.

 

 

 

 

Course 2 – Day Six: Landscape — Crop Your Image

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In today’s challenge, which I am a little behind in doing (ugh!) I was to walk in the footsteps of masters like Ansel Adams and focus on landscape photography.

Landscapes generally focus on wide, vast depictions of nature and all of its elements, from formations to weather. In this genre of photography, you won’t find much of a human presence: nature itself is the subject. A focus on nature isn’t mandatory, however — you can also capture a sweeping panorama of a city.

Landscape

Today, I was to take a picture of a landscape. Focus on the gestalt — the entire setting as a whole, like the shot above of the English countryside in Kent — rather than a specific subject or focal point within the scene. The setting itself is the star.

Oliva, is a small Spanish town with beaches and a seaport close by, but it does not have what you might call spectacular scenery on the doorstep; so when I was looking at this challenge I tried a number of different shots and subjects to try and match the challenge, and this is my selection:

My final selection came up with the diversity that the town has to offer if you go hunting for it, but, it takes time and patience – it is not always obvious where your journey is going to take you, but it is worthwhile and usually productive.

However for the challenge I had to choose one, and this is my choice,

Landscape of road bisecting orange grove trees

Road in the distance

I would have loved to choose the either of my two photographs for the Old Quarter, but they are not landscape – but this I believe has merit.  It reflects the farming background of Oliva, its rich history in producing oranges and all the off-shoots from oranges; but what it doesn’t reflect is the fact that prices for oranges have been driven down through the ground, and that the younger people do not want to work on the land for peanuts.

#developingyoureye #Oliva #Orangegrove #Oldtown

 

 

Course 2 – Day One: “Warmth” — The Quality of Light

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Course 2 – Day One: “Warmth” — The Quality of Light
Considering the direction and quality of light – The Lady in Shimmering Green lit from side and back

Day 1 - Warmth - The Quality of Light

The Lady in Shimmering Green

I took this photograph during the first night of the Moors and Christians Festival in Oliva, Valencia, Spain.  The extravaganza of the show with the wealth of colours and people made it a spectacle not to be missed.  Even after two and a half hours sitting (with the occasional stretch to waken my back and buttocks) I was still enthralled by the pageant.   Even though I had planned ahead, I was unsure of what I might see, and also what equipment I might need.  I took my trusty Fuji Finepix, with two extra sets of batteries, my iPad full charges, a small Vivitar 5Megapixel,  with two sets of batteries and two smartphones fully charged.

In the end I stuck with my Fuji, but what I did learn was that I needed to plan ahead for lighting especially when the jousting on horseback took place – unfortunately I was in the wrong place and didn’t have enough light or lens.

 

 

‪#‎developingyoureye‬ ‪#‎shimmering‬ ‪#‎green‬ ‪#‎lady‬

Olivia’s 8th Soapbox Derby

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Oliva’s legendary fictional figure, el Tío de la Porra, announces the beginning of Oliva’s festivals, the fist one on Saturday being the Soapbox Derby. He and his charanga band, dressed in disguise, make the rounds through the schools of Oliva, announcing that the term is over and the festivals are beginning. Over the weekend, you’ll be able to enjoy children’s fairground amusements, a food fair with artisanal and local produce, musical performances, orchestras and singers. Venue: Paseo de l’Estació // Parc de l’Estació

Today on the  Raval and everyone has turned out totake part in the “8th Oliva Soapbox Derby”. Playful fun designed to inspire the imagination and creativity of the participants, as well as the promotion of the Raval neighbourhood. The prize-winning carts will be exhibited at the “27th Industrial Motoring and Machinery Fair”.

There were 18 vehicles, of all sizes and descriptions – everyone is smiling, joking and enjoying a fun, family occasion.

On Saturday evening, there will be a fun run, a dog show and exhibi- tions on police interventions and rescue missions. The programme is as follows: 6pm: Inauguration of the meeting point and start of the workshops with exhibitions of police and rescue dogs. With participation from the Star Wars squadron.

The whole weekend has been given over to ‘family fun’ and the weather is brilliant.

 

Links:

  • Oliva

 

Journal from Oliva – U3A and IT Things

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Today saw the AGM of the U3A Oliva – this event held just before the close down of most groups for the summer, and a time for people to review the past year, look at the finances and vote in the new committee.

John Melville

John Melville, our President of the U3A Oliva

We had an interesting talk from Daniel, a local accountant, who advised us on how the various taxes applied to both residents and non-residents – if you haven’t sorted your taxes out please do so, the penalties can be severe.   Make certain you keep your records up to date, and pay your taxesMake certain you keep your records up to date, and pay your taxes

After this meeting, I met with Iain Mumgall so that he could continue guiding me ontaking over the U3A Oliva website – with over 40 groups, other events, a selling page and also a wanted page, never mind the admin for over 540+active members – this is no small job, but I look forward to developing my skills and also to hopefully writing a ‘Dummies Guide to Working On Our Website’ over the next year.
Then my evening first aid call was to a lovely lady, whose laptop seemed to have stopped working. When I called down, I found Windows 7 frozen, a mouse with a battery dead, and also the laptop was unplugged from its charger. A quick ten minutes and all was back in line with what it should have been – however, I expect there will be more calls.

Computer when happybattery resuscitation