Los Cañones

05.27.10 - Ourense, Spain - I went with my Spanish class on a field trip to the canyons in south eastern Galicia. They are quite dramatic. We toured the countryside of the Ribeira Sacra all day stopping in various towns to see the sights.

-Will

The Canyons. We were traveling with some crazy Senegalese guys who liked to climb on things.
A Parador outside Ourense.
The first language is Galego, followed by Spanish and of course, English.
Countryside in Parada do Sil
More countryside.

Photos of Phriends

05.22.10 - A Coruña - A couple of portraits of my friends here in A Coruña. We went out together on Saturday night, watched the sunset along the Paseo, ate dinner at Bania, the local veggie restaurant, and then toured a few bars.

-Will

Manuel, el lector de italiano.
Manuel and Roisin.
Anne, la lectora francesa.

The Beach

05.22.10 - A Coruña, Spain - At the end of a sunny week, I went to the beach in search of some photos. Thinking like a photographer, I was after photos of people doing funny things and maybe some good culture photos. Only later did I realize that I looked like a pervert roving the beach with a camera.

C'est la vie,

Will

Playa Club runs along Riazor beach.
Along the paseo.
Pondering.

More Black Towers Portraits

05.05.10 - A Coruña, Spain - I've been finishing up the portraits from the football story at various practices this past week. Still learning light, but I like the ideas.

Not sure I've mentioned this, but the teams practice in two different places and play in a third, so the fields are quite different. Their "facility" is the dirt field in Santiago and on Tuesday nights the members from A Coruña practice on city soccer fields near the Tower of Hercules.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Will

David "Presi."
Pati. Superfly. Jeje.
Coach Ricardo.
David Siso.
Running sprints.
I know, I know. Two panning pictures in two weeks. But I've been to three straight wind sprints practices and its starting to feel like Spring Training. Also, this one is better than the one from the other day.

A break at practice in Santiago.

Black Towers Portraits

04.27.10 - A Coruña, Spain - I'm working on some individual portraits of a few of the players. Kind of fun. Working with a couple of speedlites without any stands or anything. Trying to cast some shadows and give it a good football look.

-Will

Victor.
Raul.
It was one of those awful running practices, so I tried to pan a bit. This is another shot of Victor. The team is doing a bit of endurance training because the playoffs are more than a month off.

Hush Puppies

02.19.10 - A Coruña, Spain - I bought some anexos (collards) and decided to have a Southern vegetable mini feast. Staring me in the face when I opened the cupboard, was the yellow cornmeal I had bought ages ago and I decided to try my hand at some hush puppies. They were OK, but I made them the next day with a bit more milk and fried them on a lower heat and I blew my roommate Filipa's mind. Watch out Paula Dean.

Anyway, I busted out the blue-checkered table cloth and my Tabasco for the right, covered dish look and took a quick food shot. If anybody from McIlhenny County wants a proof, just send me an email.

Haha,

Will

Chinese New Year at the Escuela de Idiomas

02.10.10 - A Coruña, Spain - Students studying Chinese and their teachers got together to celebrate the Chinese New Year at my school on Wednesday. They even had a dragon! And outfits! And songs! And (most importantly) food!

A good time was had by all and there's a chance I learned some Chinese following them around. A small chance.

-Will

Visiting a classroom.
Wangyi, the chinese lector holds up the Chinese flag in the lobby.
The crowd moves to the next classroom.
Carrying the Chinese flag.

A Coruña in Technicolor

02.07.10 - A Coruña, Spain - Below are some more landscapes from walking around A Coruña and one photo of my sandwich. Trust me, it was a good sandwich. Good enough at least to make it onto the blog.

-Will

The Tower of...you get the idea.
A woman walks her dog in the evening along Playa Orzan.
Benches in the park around the Tower of Hercules. A panoramic view of the Tower in the far left and the Millennium tower on the right.
Dinghies in the port.

Salami and cheese sandwich on pan gallego
Can you see the Statue of Liberty in the distance?

John visits A Coruña

02.07.10 - A Coruña, Spain - My friend John headed back with me from Zamora to A Coruña for a few days. We had a fun time touring the city and checking out the sites. Yes, we went to Monte San Pedro as well.

-Will

In the old city.

Poking around an old battery at the park.
Checking out the sea near my place.

The Galicia Black Towers

01.19.10 - A Coruña, Spain - I've been working on another photo story about the Galicia Black Towers who play American football here in A Coruña. They practice late on Tuesday nights by the Tower of Hercules and also on Saturdays in Santiago de Compostela. Here are a few images from a practice on Tuesday.

It's a small group of about 20 players, nearly all Spanish, who play in a league of 5 teams (the other four are in Portugal). They put up their own money for equipment and practice facilities. They often gather at bars on Sundays to watch a weekly NFL game or two.

I'm following the team through the end of their season in April/May.

-Will

Oklahoma!
Aspiring player from Quebec, Frank Casel.
The reminders that soccer is the national sport, and not football, is never too far away as they practice on a soccer field and wear soccer jerseys, like this one, over their pads.

Ivan

10.22.09 - A Coruña, Spain - Roisin (other English assistant from Ireland) and I went out with my Spanish roommate Ivan to bar hop through town on a quiet Thursday. We had to drag him out before the weekend, when he heads home to Pontevedra or "al campo" as he calls it. Either way we had a good time and got home around 5:30am.

Luego,

Will

Sevilla v. Deportivo La Coruña

10.18.09 - A Coruña, Spain - Deportivo hosted Sevilla in a battle for third place and came out on top (1-0) and tied Sevilla in third. Since the team has lost ugly at Valladolid and tied rivals Gijón at home, but things seem stable overall for the Herculinos who are battling for a spot in Europe next year.

Anyway, I went to the match with my Portuguese roommate Filipa who showed me how to crack open sunflower seeds with your fingers. No beer was sold at the game, but the concessions were cheap (1€ for water), so I really didn't have much to complain about. The stadium seems a bit old, but the fans are great and the game was exciting.

We'll see how things turn out when Barcelona comes to town on Dec. 8.

-Will

A Coruña!

09.28.09 - A Coruña, Spain - I got here eventually and started taking some photos. I don't think I'm much of a street photographer, but like everyone else, I shoot what I see. The nice thing is, unlike living in Brookline, people get out and walk around here. Also, the weather is much better, so that probably helps a bit as well.

Anyway, A Coruña is famous for the Tower of Hercules, which was supposedly build by the man himself during his 12 labors and is the only remaining, functioning Roman lighthouse. There's a couple of beaches in town and a pretty solid boardwalk, minus the Jersey-type ferris wheels, etc., but still. An antique trolley runs along the shore on sunny days and between that and the antique old men walking around, it makes the city seem that much more enjoyable.

Lots of surfing in Galicia, but I haven't been out on the right day yet (I guess I can't read the waves well, bro). More on that as it develops. Working on a couple of stories right now and let me know if you are interested in coming to shoot bull season (I don't know when that is, but I feel like things get going around February and continue into the summer).

Adios until luego,

Will

Trolley driver takes an ice cream break. Cartier-Bresson watch your back.
Abovementioned, Tower of Hercules. There's a golf course next to it.

Viejo jugador.
Eh, what can I say.
Sunday afternoon.

More art.