02-05-14 Our Italian Villa

I set the Way-Back Machine to 2008 in my quest for something refreshing (at least to me) to post. 2008 doesn't seem like that long ago but for a photographer, who might measure time based on know-how and equipment, it was 2 cameras ago: then - the Canon 5D; now - the 5DIII.

The joke in this photo is that my good friend Scott Peterson and I are sitting down to something that doesn't look particularly Italian and that isn't particularly fancy. But if you note the flowers and candle gracing our pool-side table, you glimpse clues to our dinner theme on this beautiful night in June, 2008: "Presentation Is Everything."

I refer to "Our Italian Villa" in the title, though in truth we were only renting it - for a little over $100 per night. The villa consisted of a restored farmhouse and cottages and was only two miles from Sienna. There were 6 guest rooms, including our little three room pool-side cottage. But for two days, we had the whole villa to ourselves. And, as you can see, it had a swimming pool! Perfetto, as the Italians say.

Canon 5D 1/80s f/5.6 ISO250 24mm

A "Donate" button??? Really? Well, yes. This blog, along with my photography, are labors of love. But if anyone feels compelled to offer a little support to help pay for the web hosting, I wouldn't want to stand in your way. :-) [maxbutton id="21"]

Our Italian Villa by Scot Shephard is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

11-25-13 A Nicely Painted Ceiling

Given that I talked a bit about the Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel yesterday, I thought I'd post my one and only photo of the ceiling, "accidentally" taken in 2004. Photography is not allowed, but in the crowded and somewhat chaotic chapel, my camera somehow went off. And this is what I ended up with.

See God? See Adam? See the brain? See the museum guard look at me with disdain?

Canon 5D 1/13s f/4.0 ISO1600 24mm

04-20-13 Dubrovnik Mosaic

2013 04-20 Dubrovnik Mosaic

04-19-13 Underground Vienna

03-15-13 Behind the Green Door?

Readers of a certain age and experience may recognize the allusion in today's post title. All I will say is that there was a film made in the 70s by the same title. The title is testament to the fact that I sometimes am at a total loss to find a creative title for my blog posts. The title is also testament to the occasional depth and breadth of my knowledge. :-)

03-14-13 Portugal!

The thing I remember about the day we spent on Tavira Beach on the south coast of Portugal, which is considered one of the best beaches in Portugal, is that it was cold and windy. By "cold" I think it must have been in the low 70s. Boy, do I long for the cool 70s!

03-13-13 Appetizer

I guess I'm taking you to Portugal for a few days. Deb and I visited in 2010. Frankly, Portugal has been one of my favorite European travel experiences. And the food helped. I am not a foodie but I still remember several of the meals we ate during our stay. Wonderful!

12-18-12 This Is Old; I'm Not

The Pantheon, my favorite building in all of Rome, is 1,886 years old. Today, I turn 59. In Europe, the Pantheon is considered an antique. In America, I am. Ponder that on this 18th day of December, 2012 (AD).

05-29-12 Lisbon Trolly #12

Lisbon is famous for its vintage trolleys and If you go, you have to ride them. They are especially useful for making your way up the fairly steep hills that guard the relatively narrow central part of Lisbon. The other good thing about riding local mass transit like this, is that you get to mix with locals, who don't view the trolly as a novelty but as a practical way to get around.

05-28-12 Window Shopping

So I've gone back to Lisbon this week - at least I've gone back to the photo collection from Lisbon, Portugal. This photo was taken on the run under less than ideal circumstances. What drew me to the window was the beautiful purple tones of this fabric. But I also love the presentation, with all of the lines and curves. It has a bit of a seashell appearance to me. The window captured my attention and I captured it with my Canon 5DII. :-)

01-28-12 Dubrovnik's Stradun

I have several photos I took in and around Durbrovnik, Croatia, and when I post them here, I wonder how many tens of thousands of other tourists have photos from the same location.But anyone who has wondered the same thing knows that there is something special about having your own pictures. It is perhaps some odd way of tourists marking territory.