Cell phone, 2014 captures.

Cell phones go with us everywhere, and no photographer can resist clicking them to capture moments and places. Over the year I accumulate my share of cell phone pictures. Time to share those related to the blog motive.

Dog and sea wolf dialogue in Punta del Este harbor. They seem old friends.



Fish market, Punta del Este harbor.



Yachts and seagulls in Punta del Este, in winter time.



Palacio Salvo, Montevideo, in a rainy day - excuse the fancy crop and border.



A happy, peaceful and productive 2015 to all of you!

Cannabis expo at LATU

You may have read that our little country is legalizing a certain weed, despite a majority of the people against. A large Cannabis Expo was organized in LATU last weekend.

Entrance ticket was about 6 US dollars, very cheap if you consider that this was social history in the making.



About 6,000 people visited the expo, many of them foreigners. A lot of interest and activity - a whole community coming out of semi-clandestinity.



As I am not a user, I had never seen all these devices. Glass blowers seem to have a bright future.



Young people queuing to watch a hemp flower under a low-power microscope.



One stand was fittingly named in homage to the current President, a big promoter of legalization as a lesser evil.



It seems that light tents are a key device for cultivating this weed in our climate. These two guys were setting up a LED-lighted portable tent.



A set of tents already set up and working. These plants are treated as royalty.



Many people learned for the first time that the hemp plant had other uses too.



In the expo the dominant colors were black and green (maybe the soccer club El tanque-Sisley was a sponsor). Some well thought-out details.



Thanks for looking. Pictures came from a Spotmatic 500 with 35mm f/2 lens shooting FP4+. Color pictures are from a Canon G12 digital P&S.

Saint Philip and Saint James!

Felipe and Santiago were the two patron saints of Montevideo, designated by Don Bruno Mauricio de Zabala himself. Maybe he could not choose a single one, or maybe Don Bruno just wanted to hedge his chances. I do not believe that the saints were consulted beforehand.

The two saints must have had more than a few headaches during the 190 years of life of this city. In compensation, a 10k is run every year's end in the saints' name. If you are interested here is some information about the 2014 version.

They run in the Rambla with a light back wind, the setting sun in front and a temperature of 32 C - very warm indeed. I took position about midcourse, old camera ready.

First came the wheelchair leader, making good time.



The race was a battle of three - Mr. Bruno form Argentina, who won against Mr. Rojas and Mr. Zamora. Mr. Bruno was flying when he passed my station.



The challengers were near.



In these races there is a group of athletes that go for the medals and timing, and a much larger group of people that go for the fun and exercise. I singled out a Gaucho with a national flag, greeting a friend.



In the slower times, the race became a massive walk-run affair, fighting the extreme heat. Along the Rambla, people walked more or less indifferently, watching the exercise and (I think) being very glad that they did not have to run along.



Technical: Exakta VXIIb with Pancolar lens, FP4+ in Beutler.