Out of the blue my friend Piper asked if I would like to visit her in Valencia.

I have been there once before, maybe 8 years ago, and liked it a lot.

To be honest I have been uninspired to travel much the last couple of years, but I decided to get motivated and booked tickets.

I have been there once before, maybe 8 years ago, and liked it a lot.

Arriving I had the distinct sensation that my senses had been supercharged.

The sky was a vivid blue; everything just looked sharper.

One realises Barcelona is almost always under a veil of something…

I arrived on a Sunday and it was the start of the Falas. The famous festival there.

The plan was to go out in the evening and see the opening ceremony.

I faked enthusiasm because it seems like every month there is a firework display of one kind on another in Barcelona and they always seems a bit half-hearted and… interminable?

We were with Piper’s daughter and her friend.

Everywhere we went we were pursued by local musical bands who hearts belonged in Baton Rouge. The kids were hyperactive and determined to torment us as well.

Mercifully the ceremony was short and actually not too bad.

The Point of The Post

Anyway the point of this probably pointless post is the afternoon I spent at la Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias.

I have recently bought a new lens, it’s a very wide angle I got primarily for interiors but think it is also good for events.

I have avoided using them when travelling as I like to stick to one fixed focal length and wide angles make it easy to take dramatic images, sure, but they can start to look a little gimmicky after a while.

My choice for many years has been around the 40mm mark.

This new lens (Laowa) is also a manual focus which takes getting used to, as you tend to forget… to focus.

I have settled on the hyperlocal method and setting the aperture to f5.6. It is a very good idea to tape the lens to stop the focus ring from moving.

My Dutch friend Erik who happens to be living nearby in the hills (and I suspect slowly turning into  a mountain man) turned up.

He promised to be patient while I wandered around taking pictures. I never know why I believe anyone who says this.

Unless you are with another photographer the patience of any companion wears thin pretty quick.

I think the next time I will absolutely insist of being alone; I was photographing on the hoof once again.

Last time I was here I got to shoot at dusk, but Erik was obsessed with eating tacos and stocking up on booze because his one horse village had bugger all options.

At last I admitted defeat and we head off following his rumbling gut… at least the tacos were quite good and they even had Guinness. Weird.

On my last day Piper and I took bikes and cycled to the beaches.

Cycling around Valencia is a really good idea.

The weather was perfect, it was March and hitting 28 degrees, and the beaches? They seemed endless, hard to imagine they could ever be crowded, even in the summer.

And then it was time to go home. I should have stayed longer. Barcelona seemed dirty and chilly.

‘The Great (ish) Escape to Valencia’ first appeared on the Lee Harris Photography website.

Storck Ibérica

Another pre-covid interiors shoot I have come across buried away in a folder.

I remember this job in part because I was able to get there on the tram; pretty much to the end of the line (Sant Just Desvern). It’s a nice way to travel, a good half-hour of staring out the window and day dreaming.

The offices of Storck Ibérica had sweets everywhere, pipes full of the them, wall displays and containers on table where you could actually grab some to eat. I have a sweet tooth, so yes… I got my sugar fix that day.

Most interior jobs in Spain shoots are arranged for Friday afternoons because it’s usually a half day so the places are empty. This job was for the architectural company Tetris. They had designed the interiors, I think this may have been the second or third job I did for them.

I principally shoot people (maybe 80%) but a nice architectural job once in a while in great. Sometimes not having to deal with people and being able to take your time is a luxury, and there is none of the psychological shenanigans you have to indulge in when dealing with people who would rather not be photographed.

At the end of the day they gave me a big bag of produce to take with me. Uff.  If only I had known before… I was regretting the amount I had already eaten and having to hall this big sack of goodies home with me almost felt punishment.

‘Storck Ibérica’ first appeared on the Lee Harris Photography website.

One day we took a trip out of NYC to visit Grace Farms, located in the very biblical sounding New Canaan.

Grand Central Station was impressive and as always manic; the train journey not. A lot of people complain about the service in the US but I like it and starting from Grand Central is a classic way to begin any journey.

Snow still covered Connecticut and the clapperboard houses sat like doll houses, all pristine and freshly painted: you could feel the quiet money there.

To get there from the station we took a taxi that was probably ancient in the 80s. A big bouncy Lincoln, that rattled and creaked more than the train.

We were lucky with the weather, there was snow, but also blue sky and the air was as clean and clear as crystal glass.

So, Grace Farms… well, it’s a place dedicated to promoting faith, nature and the arts. Connecticut, the state of the well-meaning rich, is the perfect location. Self-conscious tolerance is almost tangible. I might sound sardonic, but in truth, the world could do with a bit more of this. If you are resigned to more pragmatic solutions to so many of the world’s ills you might agree. In the end what you think or feel matter less than what you do with it.

The Japanese architecture company SANAA built the serpentine building. Look at their work and it soon becomes apparent than when not forced to build up, they love to stretch out, creating luminous and undulating structures. Grace Farms is like this, it reclines, rising and falling with the lie of the land.

It is the sort of place I love to photograph. The design allows you to play with form and light to create something abstract and new and not obvious. It gives you license to do your own thing. 

I was rather pleased that Grace Farms used one of my photos on Instagram as their photo of the day.

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‘Grace Farms; Old fashioned Liberalism Reclining in New Canaan’ first appeared on the Lee Harris Photography website.

I had never heard of Carlo Scarpa until I started planning a trip to Italy with my girlfriend, an architect from NYC. She is a big fan of his work.

Am I just being lazy? For sure. However, it’s also true that I just don’t have much patience for all verbiage that gets written or said these days about the arts.

I was obsessively studious as a kid with art, literature and the like, but not anymore.

In the end, it’s all just opinions and fashion, These days I prefer the certainties and usefulness of science.

But anyway back to Scarpa. I decided to do some research before the trip and thought he looked interesting.

Carlo Scarpa was born on June 2, 1906, in Venice and died on November 28, 1978, in Sendai in Japan, falling down some concrete stairs (not sure if he designed them). 

His entrance into architecture came via glass. He was 19 when he started working with Giacomo Cappellin, a renowned glass-master in Murano.  

In all, he designed 58 architectural projects in his life, as well as gardens and glass objects. He is perhaps, as well renowned for his renovation projects as for new constructions.

Carlo Scarpa, Venice

The Olivetti showroom in St Mark’s Sq was my introduction to his work, this was a visit I viewed with some trepidation; it’s the epicentre of tourism in Venice and can be kind of hellish.

It turned out that the showroom was an oasis of calm. We spent maybe an hour there and shared that time only briefly with another couple of tourists.

What is notable about his work is the attention to detail and the mixing of materials. He has an artisan’s passion for finish. Something lacking in most modern work.

In my research for the bare details I came across one site that was illuminating and a good read.

I highly recommend The Venice Insider site, if you want to discover more, it’s entertaining and comprehensive, one little gem was this:

“DID YOU KNOW? Carlo Scarpa didn’t bother about the license and did work as an architect anyway. When he was indicted for practicing architecture, he had to appear in the Manilo Capitolo courtroom which he was redesigning at that time. Even his lawyer didn’t really mind about the license and asked Scarpa to design his house.”

He did eventually get his licence, in case you were wondering.

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‘Carlo Scarpa, the Most Famous Architect You Never Heard Of?’ first appeared on the Lee Harris Photography website.

Parisian Elegance Meets Moroccan Mystery

A Palace Reborn: The Splendor of Dar Roumana

Capturing Beauty in the Medina’s Dual Worlds

‘Dar Roumana: A Hidden Gem in the Ancient Labyrinth of Fez’ first appeared on the Lee Harris Photography website.

These jobs came via a UK based agency called AAB Design. The first job was for Bunzl. Their warehouse and offices are near El Prat Airport, I was there to photograph the space and the workers.

The second time was maybe 2 years later, near Cabrera de Mar. The company was Cemelin and Bunzl had recently bought them, in order to further increase their presence in Spain.

This kind of work I like a lot, apart from having a captive subject matter, the spaces themselves are invariably spacious, well-lit and colourful. You can have a lot of creative fun with composition and as always I use some artificial light to add a touch of drama.

I reckon this type of project often falls into the category of environmental photography, which I have mentioned before on my other site, as one of my favourite types of work. What I love is that you get to work with the composition of people in spaces and never know what you are going to find until you arrive.

The people are always nice to work with as well, I guess it’s not an everyday occurrence and because it’s for the company magazine and website it might well constitute 15 minutes of fame.

The other good thing is the latitude you are given as wells the time to get images you like, pretty low stress work all in all and the trip to Cabrera de mar, in the morning was very relaxing, I took the coast train and the views with the morning sun were lovely.

‘Photographing Warehouses and Workers for Bunzl’ first appeared on the Lee Harris Photography website.

Maybe ironically, what I am suggesting might fly in the face of something sacred to many; that moment when the natural light is just perfect (and alas fleeting) for beautifully lit portraits.

My magic hours are when the natural light, by chance of modern architecture and it’s gleaming brutality, can give you a look like that of a studio and most likely won’t be at all soft and nostalgic.

Many years ago when living in London I began to notice this effect and endeavoured to remember when and where it occurred. It is the look you get when the sun hits the glass or metal of modern building and creates all sorts of amazing specular effects that, like the natural type, are all too often fleeting.

The great advantage of this light is that it can happen any hour of the day and of course is affected by the seasons.

If I were a more organised person I would have written down the info in the past, but never did, luckily today with your smart phone this is no longer a problem, take a photo and you will have date and time and GPS if needed.

I really think it’s a good idea to watch out for this phenomena where you live as it could make for great fashion or portrait shoots, especially if like me you favour the use of environments.

I decided to write this post because of a particularly spectacular occurrence near where I live and I grabbed a few shots on my iPhone one of which is below:

Now of course if you are just shooting head-shots or something that does not directly reference the place you are, you can get similar effects with reflectors, or even flash, but you will be limited by their size, availability of assistants and if it’s windy, well good luck!

When I think about this lighting it is because I imagine capturing the someone in the space or even just the space itself, as is the case in the examples I have posted here.

When I decided to write this post I did a quick search of my archives and found some images easily, but I know there are probably many more, so I’ll maybe update this article when I come across them.

Below is the earliest example I can find, dating from the mid/late 90s and captured on one of Olympus’s first digital cameras which they kindly lent me:

‘City Light; Those Magic Hours When You Can Take Your Studio to the Streets’ first appeared on the Lee Harris Photography website.

This is the title for my article about linear curves and HDR in Capture One Pro 8/9 on the website PhotosApps.Expert.

Read the full article here.

‘Linear Curves; How Making Your Images Look Really Dull Might Be the Way to Go’ first appeared on the Lee Harris Photography website.

A Wedding and a Creative Project

I was in Texas for a wedding shoot when I got the chance to photograph a house that Zack, the groom, designed and built. Over a week, I captured images for a book about the house. While I mostly focus on people, I enjoy architectural photography. It’s a change of pace and requires careful thought.

The Zen of Architectural Photography

Architectural photography is a slower process. Using a tripod makes you focus on details. It’s a nice break from fast-paced portrait shoots. Getting things right in-camera is key, and it’s essential to have a good post-production workflow.

Gaudí Inspiratin with a Texan Twist

The house features motifs inspired by nature. Tree-like supports, leaf patterns in the tiles, and a color palette of greens and browns all nod to Gaudí. Zack’s take is subtler, warmer, and more comfortable than Gaudí’s usual style.

The Story Behind the Textured Exterior

The exterior walls were designed to mimic tree bark. Zack’s team experimented until they found that throwing plaster at the wall created the best texture. It’s one of many unique details that make the house special.

Gaudí Reimagined: Subtle and Inviting

Though I’m not a fan of Gaudí’s extravagant designs, Zack’s version works. It’s less about excess and more about comfort. In a neighborhood of custom homes, Zack’s house stands out—but in a quiet, natural way.

‘Homage to Catalonia? A Touch of Gaudí in Texas’ first appeared on the Lee Harris Photography website.

There’s a particular zen to interior photography that I’ve come to crave. After one too many shoots with temperamental models or demanding clients, the silent precision of shooting apartments becomes my therapy. No forced smiles, no wardrobe malfunctions – just pure geometry and the patient observation of light.

These images were created in a whirlwind session for a friend prepping his Barcelona apartment for rental. I was literally packing for Hong Kong the next morning, but carved out two precious hours to do it right. That’s the beauty of architectural work – when you’re in the zone, time compresses. You enter this hyper-focused state where every angle, every shadow shift becomes crystal clear.

The Tripod Difference

Mounting my camera on a tripod transforms everything. Suddenly I’m not just taking pictures – I’m constructing them. There’s a deliberate, almost meditative quality to adjusting each millimeter of framing, waiting for that perfect moment when the light slicks across a hardwood floor just so. It’s photography as chess rather than basketball – all strategy and anticipation.

Barcelona’s Harsh Reality

Let’s be blunt: this city will chew up photographers who only do one thing well. The market demands versatility. But here’s the secret – that pressure creates better artists. When you’re constantly pushed slightly outside your comfort zone, you can’t rely on muscle memory. Every shoot demands fresh eyes.

Now that I’m on the other side – renting out my own spaces through booking platforms – I’ve developed a pet peeve: lazy listing photos. In a city where “good enough” is often the enemy of “actually good,” most landlords think professional photography is an extravagance rather than what it truly is – the first month’s rent made visible.

The math is simple: crappy photos mean vacant weeks. Great photos mean premium bookings. Yet somehow, Barcelona remains full of listings that look like they were shot through a dirty fish tank. Maybe it’s the Mediterranean light that makes people complacent. But when tenants are deciding between twenty nearly identical flats at 3am, your images need to do the heavy lifting.

That’s why I’ll keep doing these interior jobs – not just for the therapeutic value, but because there’s real satisfaction in creating images that actually work for clients. When someone messages me saying “we booked the place after seeing your photos,” that’s better than any artistic compliment.

‘Barcelona Apartments & Interiors: Why Great Photography Beats “Free Crap” Every Time’ first appeared on the Lee Harris Photography website.