I love Ronda. It is an ancient “city.” I put that in quotes, because most of us would call it a town. It is divided into the “old” city and the “new.”
The site was first selected by either the Iberians or the Bastulo Celts. Either way, it was a perfect place to defend oneself from one’s enemies.
Since then, there have been Arabs, Romans, Moors, Greeks, Visigoths, and who knows what other marauding groups.
It is a wonderful city to explore. Narrow streets test the courage of drivers and offer visual treasures such as this window.
Walking the lanes in the early morning, we encounter few people. An occasional dog barks, the echo of a door opening and closing sounds somewhere, sheep or goats can be heard at the foot of the city.
We climb up toward one of the Roman arches, stopping along the way for various photographs.
There is a fountain with criss-cross patterns, the view from the Roman bridge down toward the Arab one, a peek at another location for the riding school we saw the other day, old men out on an early-morning walk. All of these make wonderful images.
Spain is famous for its grills and other iron work, and there is plenty to catch our eye there. I found this detail while climbing one of the steep streets.
Ronda is in the heart of Andalucia and the Sierra. Once known as Arunda, it meant literally, “surrounded by mountains.” It was also the center of the area. Before modern, circle roads, a map showed spokes radiating out from the city.
Within the city, because of its history, there are wonderful patterns of buildings curving up the hillside.
Because the city is so small, one can drive straight through it in 10, maybe 15 minutes, depending upon the time of day. Then, one is back down in agricultural land. Vineyards lie next to wheat fields that abut fields of Poppies that snuggle up to fields of newly-baled hay.
Morning is progressing, and it is time to grab something for breakfast. We have stayed so long that breakfast at our hotel is over. And I need some jugo de naranja (orange juice), freshly squeezed. The oranges are so sweet, it’s hard to resist. And why would want to?
Back at Molino del Arco, we do our imaging, learning more about Lightroom, selecting images for critique, and talking about different aspects of photography.
Arnie and I have a shot in mind for our group, but first, we take them over the Route of the Chestnuts that we traversed several days earlier. This is the twisty, narrow road I described in an earlier blog. Everyone is wowed by the scenery, and we make several stops for photography.
Going through one town, Arnie and I find it is almost totally blue. This is not the color of Andalucia. Last time we drove through, there were some buildings painted this ugly blue, but we figured it might be some sort of undercoating for something. We knew not what that something might be.
This time, we see what is unmistakably a film crew, a brigade of worker ants with buckets of blue paint prepping for a movie. We figure the blue will be used for special effects. It is so bizarre, we have to stop and photograph it. There are still a few buildings that are white and contrast with the electric blue.
It is getting late, and we continue to our last location. Our view is a panoramic one (I do another, of course), but what makes it wonderful, is the village below, with others in the distance.
We wait for the lights to come on. And we wait some more for the lights to come on. It is windy and it cuts through us. The lights still don’t come on. I quip to Arnie that they are conserving electricity below, and what few lights there are hide behind shuttered windows.
“There’s one!”
“And another!”
Everyone is excited, but still we wait for enough to come on and for the sky to get dark enough so our shot will work.
Our participants are in awe as they experiment with various settings to get the look they want.
Wait until they see them tomorrow on their computer screens!
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The final night shot is extraordinary!
Arnie B.
Thank you so much, Arnie B. We all got similar-but-different shots. Different exposures and different framings for all.
They were fun to do, in spite of the wind and chill.
Take care, and thanks for writing!
TBC