Travel
There is an elevator to the top of the Arc de Triomphe but for the adventurous there are spiral stairs to the base. There is very little light in the stairwell and so I needed to use a high iso and slow shutter speed to get this photo.
One last thing: Does art imitate nature here? Check out this photo (click)
Canon 5D 1/30s f/1.2 ISO1250 50mm
I was waiting for my tour group to gather after a tour of the Roman Colosseum. As always, the ancient building was crowded, noisy and swelteringly hot. I turned away from our group and found these two tourists sitting in the flood of light entering the colonnade, no doubt plotting their strategy for their visit to Rome. This photo makes the Colosseum look quiet, cool and relaxing. Maybe that's the magic of photography. Or may it's the deception.
There are many things I like about this photo: I like the repeating lines of the columns and the repeating bright and dark made by the Roman sunlight. I also like the pock marks that show the age of this place. Finally, I like that by accident the three primary colors are present in this photo, though in very muted shades. Can you see them?
This photo opportunity was just across the street from the Ronald McDonald shot from yesterday. I was tempted to get my hair braided but decided against it. :-)
I took this candid shot in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, in 2001. I'm not sure if the young Mexican boy was aware that Ronald seems to be offering his friendship.
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.
These poppies were on the island of Corsica, which is off the coast of Italy. They could have been anywhere, since they seem to grow wild along roads and in pastures throughout western Europe.
When I researched this plant, I discovered that there is a multitude of types of palms. This is one, but I don't know the name. :-(
The metaphysical debate that intrigues me is whether nature is chaotic or patterned. The palm leaves and flowers that I've posted on this blog suggests that not only is nature patterned but it's predictable.
I didn't have a ruler or protractor with me when I took this photo, but I'm guessing that both would show precisely repeated angles and spacings in these palm fronds. And, as you've noticed, I love the architecture of palms.
Polly did not like sharing space with our new kitten, Mac; but she was obedient and knew that we wanted her to tolerate him. Mac, having never been taught to hate, thought Polly was just another big cat - and and warm one at that. If you could read Polly's mind as we could, she's saying, "Do I have to allow this?"
There is a lesson here, of course, about peaceful co-existence. . .
Kodak DC265 1/30s f/2.8 8mm (This photo was taken in 2000 with my first ever digital camera.)
If you needed any more evidence of my palm tree fetish, here it is.
I thought I would go back to the tropics for a day or two.
This is what I see when I look out my back door - pure snow that has been sculpted by the winter wind and colored purple and blue by the early morning sun. And it's cold as h@##!
