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
I believe that this photo was the last photo taken of my mom at home. The empty chair was where my dad, Clarence, sat. Out of habit and respect, family members rarely sat in this chair, though my dad was never possessive about his place in the family room. My mother was happiest at home, but who isn't?
Of course, to my brother Mike, my sister Barb and me, she was "Mom." I'm sad to say that Mom passed away in the early hours of the morning today (October 25, 2009). Mom was 91 and we had spent the better part of the afternoon yesterday visiting her at the nursing home she lived in. Her passing was quiet, peaceful and appropriate. But I feel pain nonetheless, for I had not expected death to come so quickly.
My wife said that when we traded in our sexy Chrysler mini-van, we would buy a Prius. "What's a prius?" I asked. She said that it was a car that got good mileage and ran part of the time on a battery which was charged by its own motor and brakes. "Brilliant," I thought.
If you look up "bruschetta" on Wikipedia, here's the definition: "[Bruschetta] is a food the origin of which dates to at least the 15th century from central Italy. It consists of grilled bread rubbed with garlic and topped with extra-virgin olive oil, salt and pepper." Toppings of meat, cheese or tomatoes are "variations."
Behind me and to my left is the Red Hook Brewery, which is just outside of Seattle. I doubt you care about that detail. And you may be getting bored with the many Washington State leaf pictures I have featured in this blog. But here's another one.
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.
If you were hoping for a photo of the famous "red light" district of Amsterdam, sorry. I've heard that taking photos there can be very risky - the women working there want their privacy protected.
This is another industrial photo. I get paid to do things like this. Little do they know that I find it fun to wander through factories taking photos of the things being made.
If you lived in Hawaii, I'm not sure that the title of this post would make much sense. Think it's always warm with a chance of rain. But near Dearfield, SD, where this photo was taken, the brown and golden tones suggest that winter approaches. I took this photo out of the window of my truck because it was too darn cold to stand outside. I also forgot my tripod. When I shoot landscape photos, I like small apertures, low iso and (therefore) slower shutter speeds.
This is some kind of succulent plant growing in the back yard of the house we stayed at in Kona, Hawaii. This was a reject from my "Seeing Green" series, but I'm trying to keep my blog going this week without missing a day. My "Seeing Red" series starts tomorrow.
The girl in pink is Megan and she was willing to pose for one of my traffic mirror self-portraits. This time, I'm with a student group in Munich, Germany. Megan and I had split off from the group to visit the Pinakothek Art Museum.