From Above, #275, Telefèric del Port, Barcelona, 2025
“That awkward moment between birth and death.”
–Anon (seen on a T-shirt, downtown Barcelona)
“Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained.”
—Marie Curie (1867-1934)
Today’s Images
Here is a selection from which maybe I’ll pick out a half dozen to add to my “From Above” portfolio. The photos are best enjoyed on a large screen (or as a large print!). All were made with the Nikon D850, handheld, with the Nikkor 70-200mm f/4 lens.
From Montjuic, near the Hotel Miramar, you can take the Telefèric del Port (cables, upper left) across the port area of Barcelona over to Barceloneta and the main beach area–and you’ll get some great views of the city. You never know what ships may be anchored below. On this day we had a nice overflight of the luxury cruise ship, Seabourn Ovation…
From Above, #261, Telefèric del Port, Barcelona, 2025
I have always liked the patterns made by roads, lanes, and traffic signage as seen from above. The left lane takes you to Montjuic and the right to the Zona Franca–easy to read if driving, hard to read if hovering above…
From Above, #263, Telefèric del Port, Barcelona, 2025
These identical vehicles all in a row caught my eye. Depending on your filter selection (red, yellow, green, blue, etc.) you can really play around with how you want them to appear in a monochrome image. The cars were blue and I think I selected a yellow filter during post. Of course, for me, it was the asphalt defects which helped make the picture more interesting–along with the one car near the middle that seems to have been parked in a hurry. Note the blur when you examine the license plates closely, a result of hand holding the camera in a moving gondola with a too slow shutter speed–so this one won’t get printed…
From Above, #264, Telefèric del Port, Barcelona, 2025
“Stop, stop!” and two vehicles stopped, but not quite on their marks–that is the theme here. As you move along in the Telefèric you really have to be quick and spot these unusual compositions early. I generally shot at ISO 400 and f/11 to reduce movement/blur and get a fairly wide depth of field. I would have preferred to have not chopped off a bit of the letter S, but I wanted to include those two dark puddles in the foreground and the ideal scene alignment (to my eye) was gone in just a few seconds…
From Above, #265, Telefèric del Port, Barcelona, 2025
A close-up of the foreward decks of the Seabourn Ovation. It was nice to have a lone human figure in a dark dress to help with scale, and to provide a point of interest…
From Above, #267, Telefèric del Port, Barcelona, 2025
The movers and shakers and bakers and candlestick makers who work at Barcelona’s “World Trade Center” all take a break, whilst a photographer lurks above…
From Above, #270, Telefèric del Port, Barcelona, 2025
A seagull poop bomber’s view of one of City Sailing’s aquatic vehicles on a harbor tour. The slight telephoto (at 70mm) makes it look like you could just about jump on to the mast and slide down Tarzan-style. The angle makes it seem as if it were climbing to the stars….
From Above, #271, Telefèric del Port, Barcelona, 2025
Didn’t see a name on this yacht, so I couldn’t Google it’s owner, cost, amenities, crew, etc. as I often do (it’s probably in the $100 million range, give or take $20 million). Imagine how many full ride university or trade school scholarships you could give out with the money that bought this thing (and the helicopter that goes with it?). I liked the contrast between the dark, steely, jagged industrial surroundings and the bright, modern, curvy composites. A work crew (see ’em?) helps add another point of interest…
From Above, #273, Telefèric del Port, Barcelona, 2025
Solar panels. This image would be so much better if there was, say, one human in the frame doing something, anything (!) interesting–or a goat, a horse, a seagull, or a tree…
From Above, #276, Telefèric del Port, Barcelona, 2025
One of my favorites of the day, a woman walking through the water in the pool, all alone, and only one other person in the frame. I’m wondering if she was doing a bit of self-initiated rehab as she was walking–not swimming–and, interestingly, there is a single crutch on one of the lounge chairs at the bottom of the image. Hers?
From Above, #277, Telefèric del Port, Barcelona, 2025
The tallest Ferris wheel (La Noria in Catalan) in Spain has come to town for the fiestas de la Mercè. Here you see it as viewed nearly co-altitude from the Telefèric. Just behind is a slice of the iconic, historic, strange, tourist and rat-infested, and somewhat eccentric neighborhood of La Barceloneta…
From Above, #278, Telefèric del Port, Barcelona, 2025
Aargh, would this here sail’n ship be a three-masted schooner, matey? A nice contrast to the ostentatious superyachts that predominate the zone. Once at the Barceloneta terminus of the Telefèric you climb out of the suspended cabin and can then spend as long as you want up in the air before taking the elevator down to street level…
From Above, #281, Telefèric del Port, Barcelona, 2025
Lots of yacht maintenance goes on here at the Port de Barcelona. Again, I first saw the contrast between the sleek, great white, modern composite and the dark grey and black industrial surroundings–the two humans assessing the work ahead certainly added an important element…
From Above, #282, Telefèric del Port, Barcelona, 2025
Is anyone around who can save (Salvament!) the pair from a crisis in their relationship? Is that the message here? Or maybe the two lifeguards are simply in love and taking a break? Or maybe they are just tourists from New Jersey and the lifeguards are asleep in their tower. Who knows? I also liked the feathery water between the wave and the beach. And a confession: I cloned out a few folks sitting in the sand to make the image cleaner and more in line with my vision…
From Above, #283, Telefèric del Port, Barcelona, 2025
You missed it! The 70m 2016 Gaja yacht was recently up for sale… off the market now. Sleeps 14 with a crew of 16. Cost? As they say, if you have to ask you can’t afford it, but probably around $80 million with perhaps another $8 million annually to pay crew, maintenance, taxes, port stays, fuel, etc. If you are interested in a more in-depth look (+ a bit of a critique) at the super yachts that frequent Barcelona, their cost, their owners, and so on, check out my blog post, “Barcelona’s Yachts… Just How Much Money Are We Looking At Here (HINT: Gobs!)“…
From Above, #284, Telefèric del Port, Barcelona, 2025
Maybe my second favorite image from today’s work. I really liked the overwhelming texture that almost camouflages the three humans–the overturned barrier adding balance and another element of interest. This one shot through the plexiglass of the Barceloneta “Noria” (Ferris wheel)…
From Above, #287, La Noria de la Barceloneta, Barcelona, 2025
As La Noria curves you gently up to apogee, you get a nice view toward the… uh… let’s call it “bullet” of La Torre Glòries (formerly Torre Agbar) with the Naturgy building on the right and Barceloneta in the foregound. Also shot through that damn, smudgy plexiglass…
From Above, #288, La Noria de la Barceloneta, Barcelona, 2025
This is actually a pretty good place to eat if you want a reliable Barcelona Mediterranean dining experience. Only slightly pricey, but great food and solid service. What made the photo interesting was the accidental capture of that guy with his arms up at bottom right. Did he have family riding La Noria? Was he waving at me!?
From Above, #289, La Noria de la Barceloneta, Barcelona, 2025
The main subject here is the Torre del Rellotge, originally built in 1772 as a lighthouse for the fishermen, then turned into a clock in 1911. Quite a contrast from the smooth white benches, dribbled like water-polished stones along the accessway…
From Above, #291, La Noria de la Barceloneta, Barcelona, 2025
Cruise ships–a subject guaranteed to get you into a spirited debate with the local taxi driver. On this day, five of them were lined up like floating Núñez and Navarro apartment buildings. They each disgorge anywhere from 2,000 to 6,000+ passengers into the old city center. Perhaps, yes, good for the economy, but the waves of visitors have also turned the Barri Gòtic (Gothic Quarter) into something of a cobbled Disneyland. Then there is the question of the environmental impact of these floating megalopoli both at sea and in port. For a fairly extensive discussion of the cruise ship issue, check out my 2018 blog post, “On Cruise Ships, Tourism, and Barcelona“…
From Above, #292, La Noria de la Barceloneta, Barcelona, 2025
I had to laugh when I saw this. In Argentina, the term “boludo” (“boluda”, if directed at a female I suppose) can mean anything from a friendly “dude” (“dudette”) greeting, to a progressively more agressive “idiot”, “jerk”, or even (with proper emphasis) “asshole”. It will depend on context, tone of voice, etc. Grupo Boluda as you see here refers to the Barcelona-based maritime shipping company…
From Above, #293, Pont de la Port d’Europa, Barcelona, 2025
Here you can see more clearly the five cruise ships moored at the port of Barcelona on this day. The Norwegian Breakaway (foreground) has a capacity of nearly 4,000 party goers and buffet hounds along along with a hard-working crew of 1,600 who try to keep order, entertain, cook food, and keep the boat pointed the right way. A large ship to be sure, but nothing like, say, the 7,600-passenger Icon of the Seas. The little boat on the right will eventually drop off a harbor pilot with one of the big ships so they can safely navigate out though the waterway to the open sea. The image was taken from the bridge (Pont de la Port d’Europa) that leads to this area of the port, so I guess it still might (barely) qualify as a “From Above” contender…
From Above, #294, Pont de la Port d’Europa, Barcelona, 2025
Gotta like the grungy still life potential at the docks…
From Above, #296, Pont de la Port d’Europa, Barcelona, 2025
The fishing trawler Bonamar Dos returning to port, with a hungry airborne escort…
From Above, #297, Pont de la Port d’Europa, Barcelona, 2025
Detail of the 27-meter workhorse tugboat Eliseo Vasquez…
From Above, #298, Pont de la Port d’Europa, Barcelona, 2025
Another still life, and another dockside mish-mash…
From Above, #299, Pont de la Port d’Europa, Barcelona, 2025
Something about the perfectly round cement island, the amoeba-like water puddles, and the non-functional signage attracted me to this scene. Is the water no longer that deep? Or… maybe this would make a nice sundeck? You have stairs/handrail to get to the water for a dip…
From Above, #300, Pont de la Port d’Europa, Barcelona, 2025
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