One of Barcelona’s biggest attractions is the Magic Fountain (Font Màgica) below the Palau Nacional at the start of Vinguda Reina Maria Cristina. Built in 1929 for the International Exhibition, the fountain offers a spectacular display of water acrobatics that is synchronized with music and lights which generate over 50 kinds of shades and hues. The water beams create a magic dance which unfolds before the eyes of a usually quite big crowd. For more photos and explanations how I approached this colorful night time shooting continue reading after the jump….
For photographers the spectacular light show, that takes place almost year round each evening after nightfall, offers great opportunities to capture atmospheric and colorful night time images. It is bright enough that you can get away with handheld shots, as my photos demonstrate. As camera I used my Olympus OM-D E-M5 with the mZuiko 14-150mm f/4.0-5.6 Travel Zoom. Due to the crowd setting up a tripod would be quite difficult, especially as you have to move around to make the most of this experience.
While with shutter speeds of 1/50 sec you still see lots of texture in the water beams, reducing it to 1/20 sec already blurs the water significantly more.
While shooting around the fountain I dialed in a fixed ISO of 1600 and set the camera to P mode, resulting in most images having an f-stop of around f/5.4 and a shutter speed of between 1/15 sec and 1/50 sec. Zooming in typically reduces the shutter speed as less light hits the sensor when shooting with longer focal lengths, as opposed to when shooting with a wide angle focal length.
In the photo below I further reduced the shutter speed to 1/15 sec to blur the red water beams and create that dreamy look.
So next time you visit Barcelona make sure you bring your camera and go visit the spectacular water and light show at the Magic Fountain.
Have a great Friday!
Marcus
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Wonderfully described…
Thanks for visiting and commenting! Marcus
Thanks for the tips! We’re hoping to visit Barcelona this summer and I of course will be taking my camera. 🙂
You are welcome, Vicki. Knowing this I will do a Barcelona post before that sharing some more photos and tips. It is such an awesome city, you will love it! Marcus
That will be great! (Pray we can find cheap air fare!)
stunning!! ♥♥
Thank you so much 🙂
Beautiful photos! I have been here myself around New Year, and Barcelona remains one of my favorite cities.
Thank you so much for your kind comment, it’s much appreciated! Marcus
I’ve seen this twice and marvelled at the display in the warm evening – your photos are amazing, thank you for posting them.
Thank you so much, Marion. I was sure you have already seen that fountain 😉 ! Isn’t Barcelona a fantastic city? Greetings from Detroit! Marcus
Haven’t visited Detroit (only in transit). Hope your business trip is going well.
You should spend a day or two in Detroit. Highlights are the Ford Factory Tour, the Ford Museum and the fabulous Detroit Museum of Art. My business trip is going very well, but this time no possibility whatsoever to do some sightseeing.
Great, would love to visit those museums. My husband says that Duxford Air Museum near Cambridge is the best place for viewing old aircraft in the U.K. !
Thanks for the tip! I’ve read about Duxford but never made it there. I’m too little in the UK anyway 😉! Have a great weekend! Marcus
Marcus, these are all nice for the color but the 2nd image with the three columns and the people is the standout for me. There is a real human connection with the majesty of the colorful fountains. Also thank you the detail camera settings on each image.
Thank you Tim, this means a lot! The colors of the second photo are amazing and it is one of my favorites from this series. Coming back to our talk about the Ford Tri-Motor, I revisited my archive and will do a post about it. I happen to be in Detroit right now but have no time whatsoever for any sightseeing. But this is what archives are for… 😉 Have a great day! Marcus
Marcus, you’re welcome. I’m looking forward to seeing that image. I’ve got a lot more in the can but probably won’t kick anymore out. I’ll look at some of the more close up images. I’m more interested in the details and design. We’ll see.
Good, I got some details on the Tri-Mot for you. Will work on that later at the airport if I have some time. Will be up soon. Have a great day! Marcus
Absolutely beautiful and I always get mesmerized watching the dancing waters. Especially at night when the lights make it come to life in an even more dramatic way.
I had to smile as I just posted something about a pop of color too and our minds must have been connected once more.
Beautiful work my friend.
Thank you so much my friend ! Nevada has some nice dancing waters indeed! Still need to read your post but I have little doubt or minds rode the same thought train once more 🙂 Have a great day! Marcus
I love fountains, and I love color. 🙂 These are beautiful Marcus. Spectacular indeed!
Thanks Janet for making my morning 🙂 !! Have a great day!
Wowww
Thank you 🙂 !!
Amazing fountain and just gorgeous images. I want to dive into your photos.
Thank you for commenting, this means so much! Marcus
Wow! I bet that’s an amazing show!
It is, great to watch on a warm summer eve ! Thanks for commenting, Jessica! Marcus
You’re welcome!
The last one’s my favourite!
Thanks, Vanessa!