Spain – Karen Brindley Photography

Hhhmnn – it’s a tad embarrassing to be posting a blog a mere 18 months after a trip….but here we are! Back in May 2024, I had a great trip over to Valencia, Spain with Jo B and Jo H (yes it did occasionally get confusing!) from Sidmouth Photographic Club, to photograph the delights of the city. Although we did spend some time wandering the streets of the old town, our attention was mainly focused on the City of Arts and Sciences (Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències), a collection of amazing futuristic buildings that looked as if aliens had left their craft littered around pools of water!

We managed visits both at sunrise and sunset, as well as during the day, and it’s fair to say that the light definitely changed the mood and appearance of the structures significantly. Although the buildings lent themselves perfectly to photography, it was extremely difficult to take a shot that hadn’t already been taken…and we noticed when putting images into subsequent club competitions (making sure we didn’t all enter our images at the same time!!) that several of the judges had seen similar images in the past.

I did find it tricky trying to do justice to the magnificent buildings, as architectural photography isn’t my genre, but enjoyed playing my usual game of hunt the silhouette…and managed to find a few of course!

Of course we sampled the foodie delights of the city, enjoying paella, tapas and churros with hot chocolate, along with a couple of the local drinks; Horchata (a sweet drink made from tiger nuts – definitely an acquired taste!) and Agua de Valencia (a cocktail of cava, vodka, gin and fresh orange juice – rather moorish!)

We packed a lot into our 3 night stay and came away with some memorable photos – even if it did take me til 2025 to start processing them! I would definitely recommend the city for its relaxed vibes, great food, good transport links and interesting architectural photography.

(Click on any image to enlarge photo)

Back in June I had a lovely few days in Alicante with my friend Hilary and although it wasn’t a photography trip per se, any photographer knows that you just can’t help yourself once that camera’s slung round your neck! It was a surprisingly interesting city – still some old buildings and a castle to enjoy, so not all high rise buildings (and thankfully very few English tourists!). What a joy it was to eat outside in the evenings (no jacket!!), to swim in a warm sea….and to find Pina Coladas at every turn (not considered a 90s throwback here!). Any attempt to eat healthily by having grilled fish and vegetables in the evening, was definitely countered by the amounts of ice cream, chocolate croissants (morning staple), cakes, patisseries etc. that were consumed the rest of the time!

The town of Villajoyosa, about an hour up the coast by tram, was wonderfully quaint, filled with old coloured buildings and a perfect backdrop for photography – definitely recommend it if you are out that way. It was good to see that even in this highly touristic part of Spain, there were still pockets of history to be found.

(Click on an image to see a larger version)