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.
Travel
A City By the Sea
This is a view of the outskirts of the city of Dubrovnik in Croatia.
The Quiet Gallery
in Architecture, Art, Travel
Saving His Skin
I took this photo several years ago when I led a Watertown High School student trip to Rome. We had a free afternoon and one of my students and I made the trip to the church of San Giovanni in Laterano in Rome. This church is remarkable in many ways but I was captured by this statue of St. Bartholomew, carved in 1712 by Pierre Legros.In brief, Bartholomew was martyred by being skinned alive. But during the Second Coming, he is resurrected with a new skin. The artistic version of this story that I am most familiar with is in the Sistine Chapel in Michelangelo's brilliant Last Judgement of Christ. In that version, too, he is holding both his old skin and the knife that was used to flay him. In Michelangelo's version, some art historians say that the face on the old skin is the face of the artist.I don't know whose face is on the sculpted version I am showing here[smugbuy gallery="http://scottshephardphoto.smugmug.com/Fine-Art-Photography/Fine-Art/21122937_fHW9Lh"]
The African Gallery
Just beyond the pottery featured in yesterday's post I encountered this scene. Maybe it's not at special as I think it is, but I liked how the human on the left complemented the figure on the right. It results in symmetry that would be absent with the standing woman. This was taken at the New Orleans Museum of Art.
Fixed Orbits
In this case I was confronted by this collection of pottery at the beginning of the museum's African collection. The spherical shape and the brilliant arrangement of these pots reminded me of circling planets. Thus the title of today's post.
Magic Mask
in Travel
New Orleans is gearing up for Mardi Gras and so some of the shops along Bourbon and Royal streets are stocked with masks. This one struck my fancy because of its color, though I'll admit that the processing for this one (as with yesterday's post) involved some pretty strong software filters.
A Study In Green
in Architecture, Nature, Travel
I was wandering through the French Quarter and I bumped in to the Louisiana Supreme Court Building. I took several photos but this is one I liked the most.This is an iPhone photo and I'll admit that this photo is heavily doctored. I started in an app called Filter Mania and finished in Instagram. Like it or not, doctored photos are all the rage these days.
Pink
in Architecture, Travel
Tiny Dancer
in people, Photography, Travel
I am going on my third full day in New Orleans and I still haven't found what I would called a "brilliant" photo. Nor has one found me. In analyzing this, I realized that when I'm not attending the photo conference I am at, I am more tourist than photographer. And there's a difference.The difference lies in intent, I think. I carry my camera almost everywhere but generally I am more intent on seeing things or on soaking up the culture and ambiance of New Orleans. I am not really intending on taking photos.When I go out to take photos, normally nothing else matters. Hunger, thirst and often even self disappear. And when I'm a tourist, that generally doesn't happen. And when I am in the company of people as I am at this conference, I can almost guarantee that it doesn't happen.Tomorrow is my last day here, and I will try to find the opportunity to become a photographer. Meanwhile, I am posting a photo I took near Jackson Square. Though the musicians were great, I found dancing girl especially intriguing.By the way, I have a parallel Microblog called "The Things I See" and I've posted a few of the photos I've taken in New Orleans. Go here:The Things I See
01-15-12 Bourbon Street Musicians
There was very strong sunlight backlighting this bluegrass group and I wasn't sure how my camera would handle it, but I think it turned out OK.I wouldn't normally shoot into the sun as much as I did in this photo but I guess this is a good example of the "what have you got to lose?" philosophy.
Who Dat?
How about a group portrait of 4 of my second year Photo/Media students? And how about posing them in the famous Lafayette Cemetery #1 in the Garden District of New Orleans? Perfect!