Souvenir Photo Studio, by Al Bourassa

Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Tuesday November 3, 2015 Independence Day

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Tuesday November 3, 2015

First I am going to show off some of my initial results from a new program I bought online through the folks at Portrait Pro. Now I am a raw beginner with this program and I do a lot of trial and error rather than go through tutorials so I am thrilled with my first efforts. For under $30, this program is a steal... Check out the free trial at http://www.smartphotoeditor.com/ There are literally thousands of effects available and I have just scratched the surface.

Today is Independence Day in Cuenca, usually a day of wild celebration and a lot of fun, so the layout of events on the fiesta website was pretty disappointing. We didn't bother to go to the military parade on Huayna Capac, opting instead to go in the afternoon and catch 5 events at Parque Paraiso.

First, at 1pm, there was supposed to be a Santa Claus run,.... and that didn't happen....

Then at 2pm there was to be giant marionettes,... and that didn't happen....

Some time after 3pm there was to be the arrival at the finish line of "wooden cars" which turned out to be wooden go-carts of the push variety. They showed up close to 4pm and there was not much imagination used in the first few arrivals that I saw. Winners don't have to be fancy...

At 4pm was supposed to be the donkey races and they did start around 4:35 but none of the riders were in costume like last year, and there were fewer donkeys and riders.

At 5pm a fun "futbol" game, using a vastly oversized ball was to happen between costumed teams, mostly guys dressed as women. We didn't stay for this but did see some of the participants. Four hours of wandering in the sun with an aching back was enough.

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

This is the original shot that I played with.

This background was unusual, alternating colour and BW

Loved this choice of background effect

Then I used one of my own saved backgrounds

Then we added more effects to that one. LOVE this!

This one wasn't intended, but I liked it

I thought this one was really classy

Loved the unusual nature of this one

This one was also very classy

This one was grungy and different

This was a day for kids at Parque Paraiso

Lots of bounce slides, etc for the kids

We were surprised that there were so few people here

This painter is a magician with spray paint

His finished products are amazing

Lots of folks watching a comedy act

Poor girl had to hold the umbrella against the gusty wind

A flight leaving for Guayaquil?

One of the decorations on the stage

The face painter was busy

Kids were chasing bubbles all afternoon

Cute teacup chihuahua

Killing time watching the ducks

And the ducks were watching us

Dressed for the sunny day

Ass over tea kettle

Little girl amazed by the colourful plant life

A lovely day in the park

Hand-cutting French fries

The donkey race(s) get underway

This year they are obviously allowing them to be dragged...

No costumes this year... Where are the ugly nuns?

A look to the west before dusk

Still a lot of traffic at the park

Monday, November 2, 2015

Monday November 2, 2015 Fiestas

Please see more of my artworks for sale at http://saccc05.tripod.com

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

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

Monday November 2, 2015

Over these last 2 days I have been trying to show Cristina how the Ecuadorians know how to put on several good fiestas crammed into a few days all over the city. The city publishes a schedule in a lovely little booklet which is very difficult to get but they also publish it online so we could see what was planned. See https://issuu.com/municipiocuenca/docs/agenda_cuenca_eventos_2015/57?e=0

I chose my words carefully, because what was planned, and what we got, were two entirely different things. Yesterday we did some purchases and viewed a lot of artisanal booths from Otorongo to Huayna Capac. We had seen booths and sound stages being set up all along Huayna Capac earlier in the day so we came back around 5pm only to be told that festivities would not begin until 8pm, so we went back to Otorongo to make more purchases, then we petered out and crashed real early.

Today we left later, intending to see some games that were to occur at Parque de La Madre, but that was basically non-existent so we climbed the Escalinata and scoured El Centro for a bit. El Merced had lots of gastronomical booths and Borrero had artisanal tents right in the street.

The actual highlights of the day were the visits to both the new and old cathedrals. Everything else was old hat and the Glorieta only had breakdancers working out....

We had a quick break at home before walking over to Ciudadela Tomebamba for scheduled games at 4pm and folk dancing at 5pm... We watched a soccer school play a scrub match for a while and then I kicked a ball back and forth with a little tyke as we waited for something to happen. Finally I spotted the President of the Community and I asked him what was happening with the scheduled events... He explained that the entertainment is sent to them by some central committee and that Government funding cutbacks means that many programs were chopped... At least that explains the dearth of real action this year.

There were a couple more scheduled events this evening but we are pooped from walking so tonight will be another early night so we can try again tomorrow for the Independence Day celebrations.

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