Too much of a good thing. Or maybe not

Last Sunday and Monday worked out as pretty busy two days for me, wellness and fitness-wise.
On Sunday, there was a four hours "introduction seminar" to Chi kung and Tai Chi Chuan in Antigua sports center. I go to Chi kung lessons with Annalisa Paloschi (below) and I used to go to Daniele Scilingo's (above) lessons, and it's the same center that organized this seminar. So it was not exactly all new for me, but let me tell you, four hours is a killer. In a good way of course, but it still is. I don't know about other students, but for me personally the pain was mostly in the back of the legs and the shoulders.

dunes - flying sand and drawing zumba logo

Timur prefers dunes to ocean. He doesn't mind one hour walk each way to get to the large, steep, completely plant-free dunes - just to jump or run off them. And now the biggest crowds of visitors are gone, there is a good chance to have an undisturbed sand to walk on, which makes for nice picture

sand art

What to do in the dunes if you forgot to bring your book :)

Fuerteventura looks and lens that is no more with us

Today we went to Puerto del Rosario and I've parted with my faulty lens and some money. It will be sent to Barcelona and they'll call us and tell if it's reparable, and if yes, how much it'll be. The guy we spoke to in canon center didn't speak a word of english, but funnily enough, I understood what he said, without catching any particular keywords in his speech - probably because it was of a highly predictable content. It will be "un mes, mas or menos". I am feeling sort of post-lens depressed, me.

Meanwhile while we were planning the move and making the move, Timur definitely turned from a being of unbearable cuteness to a being of unspeakable coolness. At least in his own eyes.

dunas y playas otra vez

 One of the things that we wanted to do yesterday at the dunes was to make a new "fuerte-zumba" userpic for Kirill's profile at zumba.com. We weren't particularly successful, picture above approaches the desired effect, but we'll have to come back and do it again some day

El Cotillo and dying lens

Today we went to El Cotillo on a bus — which was large, comfortable, air-conditioned and on time. I don’t know why it surprises me, but it does. I think it was the same bus both ways, at least it was the same driver.

We’ve been to the village before, so, led by imprinting, we turned right as we came to the ocean, and walked to the “Los Lagos” (lakes) beach that is sort of to the north of the village. It’s a series of nicely enclosed calm lagoons, white sand and black volcanic stone, with easy sandy access to the water. Only after we came back I’ve checked and found out that there are much longer beaches if you head in the opposite direction, but they are exposed and not calm — better for surfing than for swimming.

braids

Kirill's back from Fuerteventura, and this time he decided (to pass some time on a rainy day) to adorn himself with multiple braids. There were some ladies on the street doing it, usually on women' and especially girls' hair, so his request was sort of paradigm shift (as in pattern change, no science involved there). Caused a lot of interested from passers-by, in any case.

He especially noted a reaction of a practically bald guy, who walked up to their little group and asked if they can do something with his hair.

While I don' think this hairstyle suits him much, they are sort of fun and they won't last long in any case.

Same image on Adobe Stock 

trombone

continued experimenting with lights. I always wanted to do some pics with strong-contrast side light and now I have the wherewithal. Two lights with umbrella reflectors to the side and back of the model in a darkish room worked nicely.

So here we are. Kirill was the model, and there are a few more pics here but this one is most laconic and I like it the most.

all music-related pics on shutterstock

starry pool

one more from Lanzarote. Usual trick with star-shaped highlights. No reason except it's a summery picture and I am still combing my old folders.

might make a nice userpic though

Light evening on Lanzarote

I just love the way wet sand reflects, especially when the tide is out and there is a large expanse of the beach covered in just a small film of water.

I did some balancing betwen the top of the pic (tends to go light) and the bottom, but not too much

braids and beads

it's difficult to say why this wig was originally bought, but now Kirill is using it when playing with Arco Iris samba group. It looks good, the only problem is, when it's hot, it's very hot to wear. meybe the next wig needs to be crocheted out of cotton thread, that should be nice and cool.

walking in dunes

still fuerteventura, still hundreds of pics to go

full set on flickr