Following on from, my recent blog post on my visit to Bilbao in September. Which mainly featured the architecture and areas around the Guggenheim.

I thought it would be worth sharing some of the other interesting places that are worth visiting whilst you are there.

Starting off a the tourtist information center where there was this interesting use of light bulds and photographes of the city of Bilbao.

Travel Photography - travel Photograher - light bulds and hotographs of the various locations in bilbao
Richard Spurdens Photography -travel photography series XF 35mm 1/60 sec @ f/4

The river Nervión runs through the city and you can walk on either side of this river and cross it by many of the different bridges that have been built at regular intervals in the centre. These are all different and some are more photographic interesting than others.

foot bridge sweep
Touit 12mm, 1/125 sec f13.0

Some of the outdoor sculptors along the banks of the river make interesting subject too and I choose to photograph them using a low angle to make these strong shapes stand out again the sky.

Travel Photography - travel Photograher -monochrome image of commemoration day of the sea sculptor bilbao
Richard Spurdens Photography – commemoration day of the sea sculptor series XF 35mm 1/60 sec @ f/16.0
travel photography - travel photographer - commemoration day of the sea sculptor
Richard Spurdens Photography – commemoration day of the sea sculptor
Travel Photography - travel Photograher - one of the commemoration day of the sea sculptor bilbao
Richard Spurdens Photograhy -commemoration day of the sea sculptor series. Fuji XF 35mm 1/60 sec @ f/16.0

Commemoration day of the Sea – XF 35mm 1/60 sec @ f/16.0

Another good place to visit was the Azkuna Zentroa, or in English the (Azkuna Centre) previously known as the Alhonhiga Bilbao. It is an interesting building which was originally a large wine warehouse designed 1909 but following it closure around 1970 was finally renovated between 2001-2010 by the architect Philippe Starck  in collaboration with Thibaut Mathieu. This is now a multi-purpose venue which houses: a gallery, cinemas, café, shops, fitness center and a swimming pool.

circles of light
2.0 secs @ f/8.0 Touit 12mm

But this is a swimming pool with a difference, it that at the top of the building and has glass panels in the bottom – so you can walk underneath it and look up at the swimmers in the pool back lit from above.

Architecture Photography - Architecture Photographer - a view from underneath to a swimming pool on the roof of the building
Richard Spurdens Photography – 1/125 sec @ f/11.0 Touit 12mm

The whole building make for an interesting place to visit: the open space has some interesting lighting and areas to sit and chat in.

Even the pillars supporting the internal structures are all different with attractive decoration patterns.

the ornate tiling of one support pillar
1/4 sec @ f5.6 Touit 12mm
travel photography - travel photographer - monochrome image of a decortive brick support pillar under a building in spain
0.5 sec @ f/5.0 Touit 12mm

As I said above you can walk around the city but there is also a very good tram and metro system, if you need to travel quickly or go further out of the city. Of course the metro system, which was designed by another fine architect Sir Norman Foster and as you enter the system by what the locals call ‘Los Fosteritos’ you feel you are entering a futuristic world. Once you have come down the escalators or glass lifts you are lead through tunnels to cavernous stations. With mezzanines floors above the trains and stairs from these lead you down on to platforms. Here are a few images from the stations which feel light and airy compared with some of the other metro systems that are around Europe.

metro esculators
XF 18mm 1/5 sec @ f/6.4
ticket barrier pop
The ticket barriers were worth a look at a bit of selective colouring. XF35mm 1/125 sec f/5.6
travel photography - travel photographer - colour image showing the station platform at moyua station with all the various lines runing towards the top of the image
Richard Spurdens Photography – Bilbao visit series – FX18mm 1/15 sec @ f/4
travel photography - travel photographer - colour image showing the station platform at moyua station with a train in the platform with the station name reflecting in the carrage windows
Richard Spurdens Photography – Bilbao visit series – XF18mm 1/30 sec @ f/2.8

We used the metro to go out to the Areeta metro station to visit the Vizcaya Bridge,  known to locals as the Puente Colgante (hanging bridge) which is a link between Portugalete and Getxo. It is the oldest hanging bridge in the world and was constructed in 1893 of iron and was designed so that the passage of ships would be interrupted.

the hanging bridge
1/180 sec @ f/16.0 XF-18mm

Another transport hub that is worth a vist is the railway station located in Abando near the old town. It is know locally as Bilbao-Abando and locally named as Estación del Norte (“North Station”), it is an interesting build and has a great station glass window showing the industrial heritage of Bilbao.

XF -18mm 1/60 sec @ f/8.0
XF -18mm 1/60 sec @ f/8.0

The skyline of Bilbao has some other notalbe buildings that are worth a look photographing, there is the Iberdrola tower ( Iberdrola dorrea) the head quarters of Iberdrola( the spanish electricity company) it certainly towers above the skyline and makes a interesting subject in various lights.

the Iberdrola tower
Touit 12mm 1/125 @ f/13
Reflected blues and whitess
Iberdrola Tower XF -18mm 1/180 sec @ f/11
XF -18mm 1/125 sec @ f/11
Iberdrola Tower sunset II
XF-55-200 mm @ 55mm. 1/125 sec @ f/ 5.0
office block colours
XF-55-200 mm @ 200mm. 1/125 sec @ f/ 6.4

The final images I shot were at another transport link the airport which is also designed by Santiago Calatrava and the terminal is a sleek design and looks like the front of a large arrow pointing to the sky. This is a shot from the interior departure hall.

Architecture Photography - Architecture Photographer -bilbao airport interior roof
Richard Spurdens Photography – bilbao airport windows FX18mm 1/125 @f /10.0

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