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[lorax]

The pointy picture is the trunk of a 50-or-so-year-old Ceiba pentandra tree at the Quito Botanical Gardens....

I'll go back and caption 'em.

[lorax]

OK, here's some more. (And yes, AS, I'll caption 'em. ) )

Datura inoxia, which opened during a period of the yard being inside a cloud.
[img]https://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh196/HabloPorArboles/Best%20Photography/Botany/DSCN2871.jpg[/img]

Allemania cathartica, in the garden in Loja
[img]https://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh196/HabloPorArboles/Best%20Photography/Botany/Allemanacathartica.jpg[/img]

Anthurium; new species which I am describing. Leaves are over 6' long.
[img]https://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh196/HabloPorArboles/Best%20Photography/Botany/Anthurium.jpg[/img]

Bug on fern, at Guarumal Grande (high-altitude cloud forest)
[img]https://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh196/HabloPorArboles/Best%20Photography/Botany/Beetleandfern.jpg[/img]

Brugmansia suavolens
[img]https://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh196/HabloPorArboles/Best%20Photography/Botany/Brugmansiasuavolens.jpg[/img]

Eucrosia mirabilis, in the garden in Loja
[img]https://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh196/HabloPorArboles/Best%20Photography/Botany/Eucrosiamirabilis.jpg[/img]

Leucospermum spp.
[img]https://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh196/HabloPorArboles/Best%20Photography/Botany/Leucospermum.jpg[/img]

Oncidium spp.
[img]https://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh196/HabloPorArboles/Best%20Photography/Botany/Oncidium.jpg[/img]

Hylocereus undatus (yellow dragonfruit or Pitahaya)
[img]https://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh196/HabloPorArboles/Best%20Photography/Botany/Pitahaya3.jpg[/img]

[garden5]

Lorax, don't you have any banana plant pics? Feel free to throw a banana at me for posting this after you've just posted some totally awesome stuff!


I like your Ecuador thread, as well.

[lorax]

I was saving them.... The link in my signature is my own magazine, and that contains a number of my best banana photos along with cultural information.

Here, then, is a banana plant photograph taken by me. This will be gracing the cover of an upcoming issue of the magazine; the banana in question is Musa 'Orito' (AKA Pisang Mas) - the oldest known natural cultivar of banana.

[img]https://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh196/HabloPorArboles/DSCN3204.jpg[/img]

[tomf]

Lorax It is nice to see flowers and places so different than what I normally see and you do a good job with your camera.

I got this girl to pose on a fire truck this summer. Look how excited the boy behind here is, remember when things like this would get you that excited.

[img]https://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e57/twistedtomf/Oregon%20Steam%20up/_DSC0205.jpg[/img]

[lorax]

Thanks, Tom - it means a lot to hear that from such a photographer as yourself! I envy your ability with people, though.... Here are a few of my human-subject pics; I don't keep nearly as many of them as I do flowers and landscapes, though....

Parapenters, surfer, and cyclist, on the beach at Olon.
[img]https://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh196/HabloPorArboles/2008-2009%20In%20Pictures/Typicalbeachsceneinthesouth.jpg[/img]

Businessman on a blustery day in Central Park, Quito.
[img]https://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh196/HabloPorArboles/2008-2009%20In%20Pictures/ParqueCarolinaintheheartofQuitoisla.jpg[/img]

A boy and his horse during Carnivale in Vilcabamba, Loja.
[img]https://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh196/HabloPorArboles/Best%20Photography/People%20and%20Places/BoyandHorseVilcabamba.jpg[/img]

Calle Venezuela, in Quito.
[img]https://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh196/HabloPorArboles/Best%20Photography/People%20and%20Places/CalleVenezuela.jpg[/img]

Looking out into the wilderness of Union Base, Pastaza (the subjects are my mother, seated, and my friend Dorila, standing)
[img]https://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh196/HabloPorArboles/Best%20Photography/People%20and%20Places/Doorway.jpg[/img]

Shopping in the old quarter of Lima, Peru.
[img]https://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh196/HabloPorArboles/Best%20Photography/People%20and%20Places/PeruArcade.jpg[/img]

This one's probably my favourite - weighing in a fighting rooster, in Vilcabamba, prior to the international rooster festival. I love how everybody is so focussed on that wieght...
[img]https://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh196/HabloPorArboles/Best%20Photography/People%20and%20Places/Weighingin.jpg[/img]

Fishermen at Canoa, with tonight's supper (small tuna).
[img]https://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh196/HabloPorArboles/Canoa/DSCN2267.jpg[/img]

A shipwreck and artesanal fishermen at the port of Manta, Manabi.
[img]https://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh196/HabloPorArboles/Canoa/DSCN2348.jpg[/img]

The youngest member of that crew, bringing in a Mako shark that's probably about 1' longer than he is tall.
[img]https://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh196/HabloPorArboles/Canoa/RSCN2360.jpg[/img]

[tomf]

I like the shot looking at the Gothic churches although they may be a bit more Rococo from the looks of them. It looks like the buildings around the street are some kind of Italianate architecture.
Do you know when they were built?
I also like the boy with the fish out of the boat; it has action and is framed nice putting the focus on the boy.

[lorax]

The cathedral at the end of Calle Venezuela in Quito is the Basilica de Voto Nacional, which was built starting sometime in the mid-1800s and consecrated by Pope John Paul I in 1923. It's neogothic revival, through and through - I'll see if I can find some of my other photos of it and post 'em up. The two things that really stand out about that church are its grotesques, which are in the form of Andean animals, and its hand-painted stained glass, which is considered to be among the best in South America.

The buildings on Calle Venezuela date from the mid 1700s to early 1800s; the section in that photo is one of the older ones. The style is called Peruvian Colonial.

[lorax]

OK, here are a few more shots of the Basilica....

A couple of shots of the Nave tower, with its lovely Condor grotesques.
[img]https://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh196/HabloPorArboles/Best%20Photography/People%20and%20Places/BasilicaGargoyles.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh196/HabloPorArboles/Basilica/DSCN5214.jpg[/img]

Alpaca grotesques on the West face
[img]https://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh196/HabloPorArboles/Basilica/DSCN5324.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh196/HabloPorArboles/Basilica/DSCN5319.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh196/HabloPorArboles/Basilica/DSCN5316.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh196/HabloPorArboles/Basilica/DSCN5320.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh196/HabloPorArboles/Basilica/DSCN5210.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh196/HabloPorArboles/Basilica/DSCN5326.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh196/HabloPorArboles/Basilica/DSCN5215.jpg[/img]

And here's some of the famous glass (the high Nave windows, which show the archbishops of the Quito archdiocese from its inception in the 1600s to 1923, and the Popes of the same period - I think this one's from the side of the chuch that shows the Popes).
[img]https://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh196/HabloPorArboles/Best%20Photography/People%20and%20Places/Basilicawindows.jpg[/img]

The East face of the complex, as seen from a neighbouring hilltop (from the Glasshouse of Itchimbia, to be exact). You can see where they're restoring the stone on the Sacristy chapel - eventually the whole thing will be golden-tan again, which will really be something to behold.
[img]https://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh196/HabloPorArboles/CatedralfromItchimbia.jpg[/img]

And finally, an interor view of the main chapel.
[img]https://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh196/HabloPorArboles/Basilica/DSCN5280.jpg[/img]

There are a couple of neat things about this particular construction, one of which being that it is only ever lit by candles or the sun - what you see at the points of the vaults in the last photo are sunlight pipes.... On Easter Sunday, the sun at sunrise comes through the East rose window and strikes the base of the cross on the main altar. At Christmas, it comes in the West window at sunset and strikes the face of Jesus. Kind of neat to watch, especially with the chapel packed with faithful, the big old pipe organ playing, and the national choir in the loft.....

[applestar]

WOW!

[tomf]

The date on the church puts its start date in the Victorian area of architecture and Gothic Revival was popular in the USA at that time also. As most architecture of the time they combined elements of different styles. I see mostly a Gothic style in the church but some elements of Rococo in the top of the steeple and some of the arches, I like the local animals for gargoyles on it. In some ways the top reminds me of some of the things that were going on in Spain at about 1880 to 1920’s but yes very gothic. A very nice church indeed.
The Peruvian Colonial predates American Victorian slightly and I find it very interesting in that it very much resembles American Victorian Italianate with perhaps a bit of Spanish influence. I am going to go to Google Earth and see if they have a street view of the buildings.

[lorax]

I don't think they do - South America isn't one of the priorities for Google Earth, sadly, even though Quito's historical center is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

That said, I hope that you do find something - the Old Town is a really interesting mixture of Peruvian Colonial, Spanish-Moorish Vernacular, and 1920s Deco - the buildings generally reflect the taste of whoever the Viceroy was at the time. The Old Town is centered along Calle Guayaquil and Calle Venezuela (which run parallel), if you're trying to zoom in on it from space. The Basilica is at Venezuela and Galapagos; the presidential palace and Plaza de las Armas - the "true" city center - is at Guayaquil and one block up from Espejo (can't recall the proper street name at the moment; the old-style names call it Calle Santo, which doesn't appear on any maps anymore.)

If you want a real taste of the Italianate, look for the Teatro Sucre, on Calle Guayaquil - the plaza is called Plaza Teatre. It would look at home in Palermo. Kitty corner to it is a great example of Spanish Deco, the Teatro Variedades Ernesto Alban.

Oh, and on the Basilica, those aren't gargoyles (decorative water-spouts), they're grotesques (purely decoration) - the water from the rooves goes through a rather ingenious copper eaves system and is delivered directly to the sewers. With the amount of rainfall that that part of Quito receives each year, true gargoyles wouldn't have lasted a decade.

I'll go through my archives again, if you're interested in some of the Old Town's architecture. It is among the very finest, and certainly the best cared-for, in South America.

[tomf]

Google Earth only shows a 3d drawing of some of the main places imposed on a map so not much to see there. I did look at some photos of the places you mentioned although. To my eyes Teatro Sucre looks Romanesque. It is nice talking with some one that likes buildings and architecture as an art form. I realize that I like most Americans know more about Europe and other places then South America, I am glade you're posting photos and telling us about life down there. I only recently read about the history of Mexico and Mexico is connected to the USA.

[lorax]

Well, thinking about it I suppose that's fair enough, because the history of the colonists to North America is largely European. I have friends in Canada, whom, I'm ashamed to say, think that I live in Africa.

This said, for those of you wondering what Ted and I have been on about, here are some more pictures of Quito's historical buildings.

To begin with, the Teatro Sucre and the Teatro Alban - one a very classical building, and the other a lovely Spanish Deco facade. The Sucre still has its original wooden stage magic from the late 1700s when it was built; it is considered the most prestigious theatre in Ecuador (although it's not the oldest - that prize goes to the Sucre in Loja, which dates from the 1600s). The Alban, on the other hand, is the premier venue for experimental theatre.
[img]https://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh196/HabloPorArboles/Basilica/DSCN5192.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh196/HabloPorArboles/Basilica/DSCN5196.jpg[/img]

A few blocks up is the Teatro Bolivar, which is currently under restoration. It dates from the 1920s, and is notable for being the only theatre in the world to have been burned down by a Pizza Hut.
[img]https://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh196/HabloPorArboles/Basilica/DSCN5388.jpg[/img]

Now, walk on down the street....
[img]https://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh196/HabloPorArboles/Basilica/DSCN5197.jpg[/img]

Just a couple of blocks away from Plaza Teatro is the Plaza de Armas (or Plaza Central), which contains a monument to the fallen of the Battle of 10th August, which was the deciding moment in Ecuador's independence from Spain. Facing into this plaza are the Presidential Palace (where the president does not live; it has a bad history), the Cathedral, the old Law Courts (now an exclusive hotel with an excellent restaurant called Mea Culpa), and a current municipal building.
[img]https://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh196/HabloPorArboles/Basilica/DSCN5336.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh196/HabloPorArboles/Basilica/DSCN5407.jpg[/img]

Keep walking....
[img]https://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh196/HabloPorArboles/Basilica/DSCN5343.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh196/HabloPorArboles/Basilica/DSCN5342.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh196/HabloPorArboles/Basilica/DSCN5213.jpg[/img]

And eventually you'll wind up in Plaza San Francisco. The church, from the exterior, is nothing terribly special, however inside it's completely astounding. The Iglesia San Francisco, which dates from the early 1600s, is one of the best examples of Moorish influence on Spanish design. It was under restoration while I was there, so unfortunately I don't have photos of the full altar (which was shrouded for gilt renovation and cleaning) - this is a carved piece with more than 1 ton of gold applied.
[img]https://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh196/HabloPorArboles/Basilica/DSCN5344.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh196/HabloPorArboles/Basilica/DSCN5354.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh196/HabloPorArboles/Basilica/DSCN5357.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh196/HabloPorArboles/Basilica/DSCN5363.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh196/HabloPorArboles/Basilica/DSCN5379.jpg[/img]

The Moorish influence also carries on into some of the buildings in the historic center, with the most interesting and best-preserved examples dating from the 1920s to 1930s, where the architects merged the Moorish style with Art Deco influences.
[img]https://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh196/HabloPorArboles/Basilica/DSCN5405.jpg[/img]

And Ted, I totally forgot about the traditional Gothic church in Quito, because it's in the heart of the modern business district! The Santa Teresita is hidden among office towers on Vicente Ramon Roca and Amazonas, and it's kind of neat to be walking along thinking "hmm, this is all very Eero Saarinen in this area" and wham! There's this huge stone edifice with traditional grotesques and carving. The Moorish influence is still seen inside, though - the intricacy of the stone carving gets me every single time.
[img]https://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh196/HabloPorArboles/Basilica/DSCN5429.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh196/HabloPorArboles/Basilica/DSCN5419.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh196/HabloPorArboles/Basilica/DSCN5453.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh196/HabloPorArboles/Basilica/RSCN5583.jpg[/img]

[tomf]

Some pictures I made recently.

The first is in a style called Steam Punk, it is about a world that never was where steam and or old technology is combined with future technology. This is hot in the art world today.

I did this one in a 3D drawing program; then finished it in Photoshop.


[img]https://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e57/twistedtomf/steampunkzep2.jpg[/img]

This second one is a bit dark in nature it is a combination of Steam Punk and post holocaust. It is done by photographing objects then making cutouts of them and creating Photoshop brushes with the cutouts.




[img]https://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e57/twistedtomf/stpd.jpg[/img]

[tomf]

My latest steam punk picture. Done in 3D then imported to Photoshop for digital painting. Called Steam Punk Robot.

[img]https://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e57/twistedtomf/Steampunkrobot.jpg[/img]