Europe
Yes, another self-indulgent photo! And you wouldn't know that this is Paris, would you? It could be our local Mini-Mart. But check out the the wine section of this petite store. Only in France would you see something like this.
That's my friend Scott P standing with an empty shopping basket. We are about to fill it with our favorites beverage, which isn't wine. On this occasion it was probably Kronenbourg 1664. And, yes, that was a very good year!
They float if you drop them into the canal. But otherwise, they seem less than user friendly - no stretch, not stealthy, and a little heavy.
This photo was taken on the Stradun, the main street that runs through the center of Dubrovnik, Croatia. Many European cities have parts that are "people friendly," including Dubrovnik. No cars allowed - only pedestrians. This is a strange concept to a citizen of the US who lives in a city that is missing sidewalks in many key places. You want to walk to Walmart? You must be kidding!
What I like about this photo is that usually the dog leads the people but this dog is doing all it can to keep up with these children, who seemed pretty focused on going somwhere.
Gothic architecture was revolutionary in the 12th century because it allowed for very tall structures with relatively thin walls. And thin walls meant plenty of windows and lots of light. Compared to previous styles, Gothic architecture was light and airy but to inhabitants of the 21st century, these places are dark.
And the darkness makes this photo what it is, since the main lighting is the soft light reflecting up into the faces of the two men attending to the votive candles. In the medieval mindset, light warded off evil, so even a single candle made a dark place safer and more holy.
Canon 5D 1/60s f/1.2 ISO500 50mm
Pink is perhaps a more accurate color to describe this amazing structure. The color comes from the unique, local sandstone from which it is constructed. This cathedral is the 7th tallest church in the world and for 2 1/2 centuries it was the tallest building in the world. The cathedral's namesake town sounds German and the food looks German, but trust me - it is in the beautiful Alsace-Lorraine region of eastern France. On a side note, terrorists sought to detonate a bomb in the square in front of the cathedral in 2000 but the plot was revealed and foiled.
By Scott Shephard
Amsterdam is known for many things, including coffee bars that sell marijuana brownies, and young ladies that sell . . . well, I'd just as soon not mention it.
These ladies were selling lingerie and leather goods. I and my friend Billy didn't succumb to any of the temptations of Amsterdam, other than the great art museums.
By Scott Shephard
Toledo Spain, not Ohio. El Greco provides a much more interesting version than mine. I have no more words today.
Scott P and I were waiting to catch the morning train to Paris. As busy as this train station is, I was struck by the peacefulness at the moment I took this photo. As I look at the picture, I am also drawn to the fact that the golden morning sunlight streaming in the windows echoes the golden color of the trains. I didn't see this when I took the picture. What I saw were all of the lines and curves and if you go back and look at my architectural photos, it's clear that I have a penchant for lines and curves.
This is my third cemetery post in less than a month. I hadn't planned on posting this particular photo because it really has no meaning outside of the context it was taken in. But people looking at my Croatia pictures have commented on it so I've decided to post it.
To help provide you with the context for this photo, you need to click here and then click here.
Now imagine strolling down the long arcade lined with family crypts (as seen in the first link) and coming to a crypt decorated with a skeleton with strange hands reaching out from the wall. Creepy. The cemetery is Mirogoj Cemetery in Zagreb, Croatia.
What are the hands for? Votive candles? Flowers? Who knows.
1/50s f/4.0 ISO400 105mm
Talk of Michael Jackson's final resting place inspired this post. This is one of many notable musicians buried in Vienna's Central Cemetery. To name a few: Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, Strauss and (who could forget) Falco, the Vienna-born musician whose biggest hit was "Rock Me Amadeus," are buried in this cemetery. Mozart, unfortunately, is buried elsewhere in Vienna.
There are too many tourists in Venice, which is an irony I think I've expressed before - since I'm a tourist, too, when I visit the amazing city. The crowds and summer heat will wear you out but one of the particular charms of this place is that if you wander aimlessly away from the crowds, you can encounter streets like the one pictured here. And often at the end of the street, you will find one of the many canals that aren't subject to heavy boat or gondola traffic.
1/15s f/4.5 ISO400 30mm
Deb and I were out for a drive and found many mountain villages that were quiet and picturesque. In this case, I was able to use the trees to help frame the photograph. The orange things visible on the the left side of the photo are nets that are laid out under the olive trees they are attached. They catch the olives during harvest season.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License
