Miniature Guadalajara

San Juan de Dios – Mexico’s answer to Bangkok’s Jatachuk market

Guadalajara’s central cathedral

Yesterday, we walked around downtown Guadalajara. You know, pregnant ladies gotta walk. and walk we did. Rule #1: if you’re going to bring your camera make sure the newly charged battery you’ve just put in your camera still has a full charge. Mine did not, almost on empty just as we arrived and I started shooting. I tried my best to make the charge last.

We walked the various plazas of downtown Guadalajara and sundered over to San Juan de Dios, the famous, sprawling indoor market with distinct architecture by mid-century modernist Alejandro Zohn. This market is filled with a gazillion vendors selling everything from Charro (cowboy) gear, huarache sandals and sarapes to cheap chinese imports, pirated dvds and sneakers, a full selection of warm climate birds, a bazillion food stands, jewelry and home decor chotchke stalls, all manner of fresh produce and home remedy medicines. San Juan de Dios is a trip and for someone with a camera it’s a world of photos. We traveled through south east asia and hit nearly every market we could find, and although the goods carried differed, the vibe is nearly the same.

Downtown Guadalajara is where Los Tapatios come to get their weekend shopping done. Several walking boulevards are filled with a million tiny shops, none of which you’ve ever heard of. It’s nice to go to a shopping promenade and not see all the usual mall-brands, instead funky hat shops, sweet-15 dress shops and all manners of taco joints, jewelry shops, ice-cream stands and family-style clothing stores.

With a low battery, I knew I wanted to mess with some fake tilt shift techniques, so I made sure to save battery life for the big open shots. The market and the plazas with cathedral. Here are a few that came out nicely. These were done with a web app called Tilt-Shift Maker. Peep the slideshow for larger images, it’s totally worth it. Enjoy!

photoset | slideshow