Rhapsody in Blue at the Palladium Hotel
At Coron in the Philippine province of Palawan we stayed at the Palladium Hotel,
whose design harkens back to buildings on the Greek island of Santorini.
On December 14th, before we left for the airport to fly back to Cebu City,
I tried out compositions that played off the morning’s wispy clouds against the hotel.
Sometimes elements of the hotel became my primary subjects.
Even bubbling water in the swimming pool made for a blue abstraction.
Just thought I’d give you something different for a change.
Actually I’ve been making pictures like these since decades before my emphasis on nature and native plants.
© 2020 Steven Schwartzman
Portraits of Wildflowers 
I love all this blue!
beth
January 11, 2020 at 4:54 AM
So now we could say
It “blue” you away.
Steve Schwartzman
January 11, 2020 at 6:32 AM
Yes!
beth
January 11, 2020 at 7:54 AM
Hooray for wordplay!
Steve Schwartzman
January 11, 2020 at 10:21 AM
Nice to see so much blue on this, a very gray day in New England. The pool shot made for a nice abstract..
Steve Gingold
January 11, 2020 at 7:36 AM
It’s gray here too, and we finally got some much-needed rain.
I decided to live dangerously and post some non-nature pictures for a change.
Steve Schwartzman
January 11, 2020 at 7:40 AM
I dabble in non-nature occasionally and am glad to see you are also. There is a lot of it around.
Steve Gingold
January 11, 2020 at 10:23 AM
Yes, when I wrote that second sentence I was thinking about your recent non-nature pictures. I still keep taking pictures like these when the opportunity comes my way, even if that’s not what “Portraits of Wildflowers” is ostensibly devoted to. Wait till you see the departure I’ve planned three posts from now.
Steve Schwartzman
January 11, 2020 at 10:29 AM
Yeah, I sometimes consider dropping the “Nature” from my blog’s title but that’s really what I am mostly about. Gotta wait three days, huh?
Steve Gingold
January 11, 2020 at 10:33 AM
Actually six, as I’ve been scheduling posts once every two days. This time I decided to keep posts from the trip in chronological order, which I don’t normally do.
Steve Schwartzman
January 11, 2020 at 11:03 AM
Fabulous. I wasn’t sure at first if you were shooting down into the water or up into the sky when I looked at the first photo. The next two, with their architectural details, are equally appealing to me. Taken as a whole, the group brought to mind John Singer Sargent’s Capri Girl on a Rooftop. I suspect you might have felt some of the exuberance conveyed by the painting as you roamed around this gorgeous spot.
shoreacres
January 11, 2020 at 8:22 AM
The same exuberance that led to that unclosed tag…
shoreacres
January 11, 2020 at 8:23 AM
I fixed it.
Steve Schwartzman
January 11, 2020 at 10:08 AM
I’ll take fabulous, thanks. The first picture looks upward toward a blue dome, as I think you eventually figured out. I see there’s a dome in the John Singer Sargent painting, too, which is at the Crystal Bridges Museum, where you no doubt looked at it in person (I don’t remember it from our two visits there). Yes, I did get exuberant moving around for abstract architectural takes on the hotel and the clouds.
Steve Schwartzman
January 11, 2020 at 10:13 AM
I like all your theme-based photos, Steve. I love the simplicity of the blue vase the most.
Peter Klopp
January 11, 2020 at 8:24 AM
I’ve been doing a bunch of themed posts these past couple of weeks. I expect to eventually settle back into my tradition of focusing on one or maybe two pictures at a time. For now, I have a bunch of trip pictures and if I keep stringing them out one or two at a time I’ll get way out of synch with the calendar.
I’m glad you like the blue vase, which I felt made for a good center of attention in that architectural abstraction.
Steve Schwartzman
January 11, 2020 at 10:18 AM
These are beautiful images, Steve, especially the swimming pool abstraction.
Lavinia Ross
January 11, 2020 at 9:05 AM
I didn’t know how many viewers would appreciate the swimming pool abstraction. You and two other commenters have mentioned it, so I’m glad I added it after all the other pictures were already in place.
Steve Schwartzman
January 11, 2020 at 10:19 AM
I love the clouds, and that blue vase. Blue and white are one of my top 3 color combinations.
circadianreflections
January 11, 2020 at 9:37 AM
It’s not a color combination that occurs much in plant and animal pictures, other than when aiming up toward clouds or down toward water. Today’s post, which departs from my traditional themes, gave me the opportunity to play up that combination.
Steve Schwartzman
January 11, 2020 at 10:25 AM
Rhapsody in Blue by Gershwin just became public domain as the copyright finally expired. I thought that you might be referencing that.
Jason Frels
January 11, 2020 at 10:37 AM
It’s a happy coincidence, but no, I’d not been aware of that. I did hear about some other things falling into the public domain.
Steve Schwartzman
January 11, 2020 at 11:05 AM
Mickey Mouse will soon.
Jason Frels
January 11, 2020 at 11:05 AM
Unless Congress extends the copyright period specifically to avoid that, as happened at least once before.
Steve Schwartzman
January 11, 2020 at 11:22 AM
Sonny Bono is not around any more and I don’t think that there is the will in congress to do this now, based on what I hear. I could be wrong. 95 years is long enough
Jason Frels
January 11, 2020 at 11:29 AM
Wherever enough money has gotten put up, the will of Congress has usually followed—so says cynical me. I’d be happy if future events prove me wrong.
Steve Schwartzman
January 11, 2020 at 11:43 AM
It’ll be fun to watch Disney lose rights to that old stuff that they kind of lifted from others anyway.
Jason Frels
January 11, 2020 at 11:57 AM
I remember reading this article in the Smithsonian magazine a year ago:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/first-time-20-years-copyrighted-works-enter-public-domain-180971016/
Steve Schwartzman
January 11, 2020 at 12:10 PM
Vibrant blues, Steve. All well seen and composed. Great set.
Jane Lurie
January 11, 2020 at 1:43 PM
Thanks. These are closer to some of your pictures, for a change.
Steve Schwartzman
January 11, 2020 at 6:42 PM
Wonderful compositions of my favourite colour and nice to see something different from you 😁
Heyjude
January 11, 2020 at 2:03 PM
“Portraits of Wildflowers” is ostensibly dedicated to plants. From the beginning I extended that to nature in general. I’ve been reluctant to go farther afield more than every once in a while, lest it turn off people who come here for nature—as for example when I occasionally make a few mathematical observations. There’s no way to be all things to all people, but I do enjoy the occasional departure to other interests of mine.
Steve Schwartzman
January 11, 2020 at 6:48 PM
And I enjoy the departures too! Including the mathematical observations 🙂
Heyjude
January 11, 2020 at 7:30 PM
I’m 100% glad to hear it!
Steve Schwartzman
January 11, 2020 at 9:19 PM
Beautiful shots, Steve. Well done.
oneowner
January 11, 2020 at 4:53 PM
You could say I went on an abstraction rampage.
Steve Schwartzman
January 11, 2020 at 6:51 PM
I, for one, I’m in favor of the variety. The swimming pool abstraction is what pulled me in. Your unique view of the architecture kept me here. Bravo!
Michael Scandling
January 12, 2020 at 11:31 AM
Thanks for confirming your approval of these abstractions, which is what I figured your reaction would be. My sticking point has been that in a blog devoted to nature photography I haven’t felt I can do more than an occasional departure from that theme without alienating people. On the other hand, no one has seemed to mind a post like this one, so maybe I’ll increase the frequency a little. We’ll see.
Steve Schwartzman
January 12, 2020 at 2:13 PM
The downside is that people will have to accept the truth: you’re a photographer. And actually, I think that’s an upside.
Michael Scandling
January 12, 2020 at 3:06 PM
Good point!
Steve Schwartzman
January 12, 2020 at 9:36 PM
I love these, Steve. Such great abstracts and handsome compositions. The last image has a threatening feeling to it – well done!
bluebrightly
January 15, 2020 at 11:54 AM
You can imagine that I was pretty happy with these abstractions. The last is one of my favorites. I see how the wooden elements in the fence could come across as pikes and therefore seem threatening. In another picture of the fence that I took, two small birds are perched on it; had I shown that view, the birds might have lessened or eliminated your sense of a threat.
Steve Schwartzman
January 15, 2020 at 2:59 PM
Great blue shots!
Julie@frogpondfarm
January 16, 2020 at 12:49 PM
I was going to say “Call me Mr. Blue,” and that reminded me of this song from 1959 that I haven’t heard in a long, long time.
Steve Schwartzman
January 16, 2020 at 2:45 PM
Will check that out Mr Blue!
Julie@frogpondfarm
January 16, 2020 at 2:45 PM
Just follow the link: happy listening.
Steve Schwartzman
January 16, 2020 at 2:50 PM
The blue color is amazing and the compositions are inspiring.
Mark Walton
January 18, 2020 at 9:18 AM
A double thanks, Mark. I showed a couple of pictures more than these at the meeting the other night.
Steve Schwartzman
January 18, 2020 at 10:21 AM