I don't know what it says about me that I take more pictures of things than I do of people. I don't know the answer to that but I do know that I don't see my youngest son, Jon, enough.This photo was taken near Sitka, Alaska, a few years ago. At the time, Jon was working for an adventure company and we got the royal treatment when we visited. And I liked Sitka, except that it stayed in the 50s the whole time we were there. (July!)
Travel
09-11-12 Survivor
As I was thinking about the anniversary of the attack on the Twin Towers in New York on this day 11 years ago, I also thought about Hiroshima, which I visited in 2004.I avoid political commentary in this blog. So you should read nothing more into my post today beyond the fact that there have been many events in human history that have had profound impact on the architecture and psyche of a city but which also changed how everyone views the world. And I would say that 9/11 and the bombing of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, are two such events.This photo, incidentally, shows the modern, arched Hiroshima Memorial (which shelters an eternal flame), framing a building which stood near ground zero. This building was left standing as the only remnant of a city center that was largely destroyed in the blink of an eye.
09-07-12 Contradiction
Rick Steves, the American travel writer, says that for some Americans, a visit to Mostar is Bosnia can be "a bit jarring." This photo may be a good example of what he means: an inviting sidewalk cafe is juxtaposed next to a building that is riddled with bullet holes.I have been to Mostar twice and both times I am reminded of the long term consequences and scarring that war brings to people and cities. But Mostar also reminds me of the resilience of human beings. If you have a chance, I think you should spend some time in Mostar.
09-06-12 The Old Bridge, Mostar
Stari Most ("the Old Bridge) is a name I've seen for bridges in other places in for former Yugoslav Republic. But this particular bridge is the most famous Stari Most. It spans the Neretva River in Mostar, Bosnia. Though it is called "the Old Bridge," parts of it date back to very recent history because it has been reconstructed.It stood for close to 500 years before it was intentionally destroyed in the Croat-Bosniak war. In war there is a general convention that art and architecture are spared. But in this case the enemy made an exception. Fortunately, it has been meticulously reconstructed.
08-24-12 Love's Padlocks
Quit reading this and click here.Now you know what these padlocks are all about. These padlocks were affixed to a bridge in Ljubljana that was constructed with lovers in mind because it had cables that made it convenient to affix your "love lock."Canon 5DII 1/125s f/6.3 ISO320 58mm
08-23-12 Refuge
This photo could have been captured anywhere in the western world, I suppose, though its not something you'd see in our small town, mainly because they would feel like they would stand out.This photo was taken in a busy section of Ljubljana, Slovenia, and the woman was so enthralled by her book that she wasn't aware of my camera, which once again turned by into a bit of a voyeur.Canon 5DII 1/125s f/4.5 ISO320 102mm
08-22-12 Take Me Back To Ljubljana
It's not that the beer is so good in Ljubljana, Slovenia, that I would love to go back there. I want to go back because it was such a charming place. But the beer helps.Lasko beer, incidentally, is produced by the largest brewery in Slovenia and the symbol on the glass and can is the Zlatorog, or "White Stag." I never saw the white stag in our travels through the Slovenian countryside. But I did see several Laskos.
08-13-12 A Return To the Painted Trees
This is not the first post of these trees. But this photo offers a slightly different view and treatment. "Do they really look like that?" you ask. Well, I studied and taught philosophy just long enough to be confused by that question. So I'm not answering. . . .
08-06-12 The Painted Church
The Painted Church, aka St. Benedict's Roman Catholic Church, is officially in the town of Captain Cook, though I remember it as being somewhere on the side of a hill away from any kind of urban features. From the outside it is fairly nondescript. But on the inside it is beautifully painted, thus, the name "Painted Church."Rather than talk about the church I want to talk about photography. First, this is a hand-held exposure at 1/15 of a second. I don't travel with a tripod and for interior photography in dimly lit spaces, you have to be lucky to get something acceptable with that shutter speed. Thank you, Image Stabilization!I took this photo in 2008 and at the time, I don't think I knew what HDR was. But but this scene begs for HDR treatment - not to make it seem someone surreal but instead to do a better job of exposing the who scene, including the windows, which are clealy blown out. "Blown highlights" is photographer talk for bright parts of a photo that have no detail because they are severely overexposed. If I had had a tripod, I would have taken one photo that properly exposed for the windows and one photo that exposed for the interior. And then in software, I would have combined the two into one well exposed photo.Like so many other places I have travelled to, I need to go back to the Painted Church and do it right (or at least better). . . .
08-05-12 Window Peeking
in Blog, Photography, Travel
In my quest for something other than landscape and macro photos for this blog, I have gone "dumpster diving," which is my term for going back to old photos that people more organized than I would have gotten rid of a long time ago.This picture, taken in Delft, Netherlands, is certainly not art. But it is a narrative. Because of that, I converted it to black and white, in part because it was the two dogs that caught my eye in this scene and they were both black and white to begin with.And why is it a "narrative." Well, I think it tells a story, though, like so many other photos, it has many different stories to tell if you give it a chance. Is it about how life in Delft in different than life in your home town? Is is about the couple? What is the young man saying that is causing the woman to look the way she looks? What about the man in the background with his hand to his head?And, of course, what about the dog looking my way?What I like about candid photography is that though I am really "in" the photo because of how I frame the scene, I am also a kind of a voyeur. And so are you. As a photographer, I am saying "Look into this window and feast your eyes."
07-09-12 Dream Boat
This is the 41' sailboat we chartered in June in the British Virgin Islands. It had a few more creature comforts than my 25' boat, including hot & cold running water, refrigeration and three small, private bedrooms. But I still like my boat better. :-)
07-08-12 On Top of the World
My Garmin Nuvi said the elevation at this point on Mauna Kea in Hawaii was 13,910' though officially, I don't think it is quite that high. What's amazing about Mauna Kea is that you can drive all of the way to the top in your car. It was cold and windy up there and there was snow, which we South Dakotans were trying to escape the December we were visiting our son Jon on the Big Island.