Souvenir Photo Studio, by Al Bourassa

Sunday, May 11, 2014

Friday May 9, 2014 Loja Trip

THANK YOU to the patrons of GringoPost for voting me BEST PHOTOGRAPHER for 2014 !

Welcome….. Please note that you may SUBSCRIBE below to this Blog.

Comments or purchase requests are graciously accepted at souvenirphotostudio@gmail.com.

MY NEW PORTRAIT STUDIO IS NOW OPEN !!!! Book your session now.

See details and more of my artworks for sale at http://saccc05.tripod.com/.

All my work is COPYRIGHT protected and may not be used in any way without purchase, or without my permission.

Friday May 9, 2014

This was the first day of my quick 2-day trip to Loja, about 3 hours south of Cuenca. Loja is lower in elevation so it it is considerably warmer, and too warm for me.

My tour guide was a lovely lady named Alicia and she took me to see many of the great sights that this lovely town has to offer.

NOTE that you may click on any photo for an ENLARGED VIEW.

Hope you enjoy the photos. That was the day's excitement, Cheers, Al

What a great entrance to this city, a very medieval gate

A nearby mural including the Liberator, Simon Bolivar

The statue at the gate was mightily impressive

The Indian guide pointing the way

A whole entourage of Spaniards

One of the many nearby churches

This one is Santo Domingo

All are very different in style

Beautiful interiors too

They seem to be well kept

This is the courtyard where I stayed

This was the huge living room

and the dining room

An upper level view of part of the city

What a gorgeous day

A peek into one of the downtown hotels

Side view of San Francisco church

Front view of San Francisco

Then the pigeons get into the act

I had met Maria in Saraguro on Dec 21/12

Saraguro is known for its beaded necklaces

Maria is well known in Saraguro, but speaks good English

It is an art to work with those tiny beads

Maria is n expert

I think this is Maria's grandson

Another church spire

Impressive view of another

This huge town square is just one of many

OMG, another church...

And a gorgeous altar

This is one of the original streets in Loja, called Lourdes

We went to see a large park in the north end

They had some interesting structures

The kids seem to enjoy the variety

My lovely guide, Alicia

The huge lake was very popular

I think this was an island

Two rivers go through Loja

These horses were not even tied up..

A little French touch too

Pretty boy

A look back at the park

The stallion seemed to be pushing away the colt

Ecuadorian volleyball game

I don't know which tribe this represents

This one represents Saraguro to the north

The doorway to the sun

yet another church in the north end

There was a service going on

We went up a large hill to get a view of the city

There was an unfinished castle nearby

Some beautiful skies threatening future rain

This was a great viewpoint

There was a mountaintop castle nearby, not accessible

We went up another hill for sunset

The lights come on, the stadium is lit up on the left

A futbol match (between Loja and Cuenca...)

It really is a pretty city

It got dark pretty quickly

This virgin overlooks the city

Somebody said these were Cuenca fans

A magnificent town square

A beautiful tower, and another church

I am not sure what the mural at the base represents

Watching the rain hit the hot spotlight was mesmerizing

"La Negra" is part of the coffee table

Love this mirror!

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Tuesday May 6, 2014 Hearts Of Gold BBQ & Barn Dance

THANK YOU to the patrons of GringoPost for voting me BEST PHOTOGRAPHER for 2014 !

Welcome….. Please note that you may SUBSCRIBE below to this Blog.

Comments or purchase requests are graciously accepted at souvenirphotostudio@gmail.com.

MY NEW PORTRAIT STUDIO IS NOW OPEN !!!! Book your session now. My prices are super reasonable and the work is guaranteed for electronic delivery of pleasing portraits. Only pay for the ones you like.

See details and more of my artworks for sale at http://saccc05.tripod.com/.

All my work is COPYRIGHT protected and may not be used in any way without purchase, or without my permission.

Tuesday May 6, 2014

I just wanted to touch base with you all because the camera hasn't left my backpack in spite of beautiful sunny days. My mind is occupied elsewhere these days.

I am extremely busy being the Event Coordinator for the Hearts Of Gold Foundation. Today we had our third meeting to organize the Saturday July 5 Barn Dance and BBQ. We are striving for a family event to try to attract more Ecuadorian participation so we have been busy little beavers. We have another great group of volunteers to spearhead this event and we hope it is wildly successful like the last 3 that I have coordinated.

You are among the first to know these initial details:

- The venue, Caballo Campana, can accommodate 900 persons in a country setting.

- They will provide free transportation from 2 pick-up locations.

- They will offer free horseback riding, have a children's playground and volleyball court, soccer field, etc.

- For the kids we will have supervised activities by Pola.

- We will have magician Rich Westcott perform a nice show

- We will have Brian Gary for live music for dancing

- We will have fireworks to celebrate the big Canada & USA holidays

- We will have chips, hot dogs, hamburgers, ribs, green salad, coleslaw and dessert

This will be the fun event of the summer/winter so mark your calendar for July 5th. Be sure to reserve your spot when they go on sale early next week.

That was the day's excitement, Cheers, Al

Thursday, May 1, 2014

Thursday May 1, 2014 May Day

Welcome….. Please note that you may SUBSCRIBE below to this Blog.

Comments or purchase requests are graciously accepted at souvenirphotostudio@gmail.com.

MY NEW PORTRAIT STUDIO IS NOW OPEN !!!! Book your session now.

See details and more of my artworks for sale at http://saccc05.tripod.com/.

All my work is COPYRIGHT protected and may not be used in any way without purchase, or without my permission.

Thursday May 1, 2014

There was a late night message for a Coopera gathering at the Glorieta gazebo in Parque Calderon for 9am, and to be on time for some interviews. Typically I am on time, the only Gringo to show up, and the Ecuadorians show up in dribs and drabs over the next hour.

However many police vans began disgourging copious numbers of gendarmes in yellow vests and, at first, I thought they were there to control our massive crowd of 6 protesters, at the time.... Then I saw many more lined up along Simon Bolivar and it dawned on us that it is May 1, a workers' holiday, so there would be the obligatory parade happening. However to call this a parade would be a joke. Snails move faster than this collection of workers. I decided that they were all government workers... there was no other explanation...

Dr Gustavo Quito held court with the reporters for a long time, interrupting a conversation I was having with a reporter from the main newspaper, El Mercurio. At that point I tried to go to the leather store that is making my new boots but they were closed. So I went around Santo Domingo, had lunch and picked up DVD's for 4 seasons of Entourage. That will keep me out of mischief for a while.

I also had been trying to find an adequate sized frame for my "Best Photographer" award from GringoPost. I found a frame in one store for $16.00 and passed on it, then found the same frame at another store for $6.50, so I bought it. That is my next project.

NOTE that you may click on any photo for an ENLARGED VIEW.

Hope you enjoy the photos. That was the day's excitement, Cheers, Al