Tag Archives: Europe

Bâtiment des Forces Motrices Geneva, Switzerland

Posted on December 15th, 2014 by

It was freezing cold and the snow had begun to fall again. I guess you don’t have much to complain about when you go to Geneva Switzerland in January. It was my last night and my last opportunity on this trip to get a photo of Bâtiment des Forces Motrices … I had to go, despite the weather.

The former hydroelectric power plant on Le Rhone caught my attention when I first arrived. It has a stately sort of appearance, one from those bygone eras I love so. It’s now a concert venue and this very night while I was pelted with sleet and show, shivering outside, The Chamber Orchestra of Geneva played Mozart to warm music lovers.

Outside I struggled to keep the water off my lens and a bevy of drunken Swiss youth loitered all to close for my liking given how dark it was on the bridge where I took this photo. I feared what I captured this night was unusable and it took me almost two years to revisit what I had done that night in January 2013, but like I learn again and again with travel…leave your expectations behind and embrace what comes.

Bâtiment des Forces Motrices Geneva, Switzerland
Bâtiment des Forces Motrices Geneva, Switzerland

Photo Technical Info

  • Aperture: ƒ/8
  • Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
  • Taken: 20 January, 2013
  • Focal length: 23mm
  • ISO: 100
  • Location: 46° 12.262′ 0″ N 6° 8.3207′ 0″ E
  • Shutter speed: 25s
  • Title: Bâtiment des Forces Motrices Geneva, Switzerland

Sailboat on Lake Como, Italy

Posted on November 24th, 2014 by

Sunny Sailing

Truth be told it was pretty cold this day. It was spring in Italy, but Lago di Como has some good winds that whip through the canyon over the lake. It undoubtedly makes for great sailing as this boat wasn’t the only enjoying the hazy, but sunny day. I was glad I had a warm insulating layer or I would have frozen to death.

Did I Just Steal the Train?

Coming home for Varenna, the train station was closed. A number of people got on at the same time I did, and insisted you could just pay the conductor. There was no conductor. I later found out the bar in Varenna sells tickets (of course it does) after the train station closes. Luckily I didn’t get myself in a bunch of trouble as my Italian isn’t so good and Italians are SERIOUS about their train etiquette!

Sailboat on Lake Como, Italy
Sailboat on Lake Como, Italy

Photo Technical Info

Swarovski Window Display in Vienna Austria

Posted on November 13th, 2014 by

BEHOLD! She is Singing to Bring Down the Chandelier!

On Monday I said I was working on something a bit more colorful from my stop in Vienna, Austria and I hope this doesn’t disappoint. When I saw the color in the window of the Swarovski shop, I was working out a photo immediately…and that was before it occurred to me WHAT was going on in this wonderful window display! We are told, Ladies and Gentlemen, this IS the very Chandelier which figures in the famous….disaster!

Phantom of the Opera

Seriously, one of my favorite broadway hits of all time is Phantom of the Opera. I haven’t seen it as many times as Cats (don’t ask), but it has remained tops all these years for me. Oddly I keep referring to the mannequin as Carlotta, but everyone knows Carlotta was stricken by a mysterious bout of laryngitis and Christine had taken over the principal role in Il Muto during the fall of the Chandelier!

Swarovski Window Display in Vienna Austria
Swarovski Window Display in Vienna Austria

Photo Technical Info

  • Aperture: ƒ/8
  • Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
  • Taken: 21 March, 2014
  • Focal length: 25mm
  • ISO: 100
  • Shutter speed: 1/6s
  • Title: Swarovski Window Display in Vienna Austria

Dark Visage of Poseidon on the Streets of Vienna, Austria

Posted on November 10th, 2014 by

Noir Europe

It’s funny…all of the photos of my overnight stay in Vienna are in black and white! I never intend it and I am purposefully working on a very colorful and fun photo for Thursday to show a different side of the city. This photo Poseidon on the streets of Vienna, however, HAD to be noir. Vienna and night, black and white, it all seems to flow perfectly in my mind.

Dark Visage of Poseidon on the Streets of Vienna, Austria
Dark Visage of Poseidon on the Streets of Vienna, Austria

Photo Technical Info

  • Aperture: ƒ/2.8
  • Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
  • Taken: 21 March, 2014
  • Focal length: 35mm
  • ISO: 100
  • Shutter speed: 1/3s
  • Title: Dark Visage of Poseidon on the Streets of Vienna, Austria

Early Morning View of the Bridge of Sighs, Venice, Italy

Posted on November 6th, 2014 by

Sighs at the Bridge in Venice

One of the most recognizable symbols of Venice, Italy is the Bridge of Sighs. We have a black and white poster framed on our wall of this monument, and I have wanted to replace it with my own photo since I bought it. There is something about the light in that other artists rendition that is too harsh. Perhaps the severity is appropriate given that this “bridge” connects the Doge’s Palace to the prison across the canal. Lord Byron allegedly gave the passage its name suggesting, “that prisoners would sigh at their final view of beautiful Venice through the window before being taken down to their cells.” (wikipedia).

To me the architectural beauty of the bridge needs to be highlighted rather than its function. I’m not sure if this one will be “the one” to end up on my wall, but I really love the romantic morning view. Morning is also about the only time you can see the Bridge of Sighs without a mass of tourists in your shot!

Early Morning View of the Bridge of Sighs, Venice, Italy
Early Morning View of the Bridge of Sighs, Venice, Italy

Photo Technical Info

Sunrise on Ponte dell’Accademia, Venice, Italy

Posted on October 30th, 2014 by

Venice

To encapsulate my feelings of Venice would be impossible. Perhaps this discription from one of the must read books before any trip to Venice, Watermark (by Joseph Brodsky), helps in one sense:

A reflection cannot possibly care for a reflection. The city is narcissistc enough to turn your mind into an amalgam, unburdening it of its depths. With their similar effect on your purse, hotels and pensiones therefore feel very congenial. After a two-week stay—even at off-season rates—you become both broke and selfless, like a Buddhist monk.

This quote from the same text, however, gives another glimpse of the more wonderful feel of the city:

You fling the window open and the room is instantly flooded with this outer, pearl-laden haze, which is part damp oxygen, part coffee and prayers.

Despite its flaws, Venice in two quick days became one of my favorite destinations in the world. There is something wonderfully artistic, dark and oppressive all at the same time. It is though you stand at a precipice to another world in Venice, one that perhaps you don’t want to enter, but it exciting just to be there.

Sunrise on Ponte dell’Accademia, Venice, Italy
Sunrise on Ponte dell’Accademia, Venice, Italy

Photo Technical Info

Awe in a Fur Coat, St Marks, Venice Italy

Posted on October 16th, 2014 by

Characters

I don’t focus enough in my travel work on people. I always think I will offend, even though someone is lounging in the sun in public. There are, occasionally, characters who’s draw is too powerful for even me to resist. This woman was one of them. She seemed like she belonged in Venice, and was decked in an outfit most queer. It was not her attire that drew my attention, but the way in which she viewed her world.

She walked hurriedly as if unaware of anything or anyone, then suddenly would stop, and stare intently at some part of the Basilica di San Marco. She would stand for an eternity staring at one tiny facet of the ocean of art that IS the Basilica as if drinking in only one mosaic at a time was all her soul could stand. Today she would KNOW another piece of one of the most beautiful churches in the entire world world and perhaps in a lifetime, she would be able to piece together in her heart one of our greatest human triumphs.

I don’t know if this story is true, I never spoke to her, but I felt it when I saw her and I admire her awe.

Awe in a Fur Coat, St Marks, Venice Italy
Awe in a Fur Coat, St Marks, Venice Italy

Photo Technical Info

2014 Instagram Favorites

Posted on September 25th, 2014 by

Traveling Takes a Toll

I am just returning from Beijing, China today and as chance would have it, I decided it would be a good time to share a few of my favorite Instagram posts so far in 2014! I usually do a review at the end of the year of my favorite Instagram photos from the entire year, but there are just SO many fun shots I thought it was a good idea to do regular reviews. I maybe should do one every quarter! Instagram for me is a sketch book. I usually take a good deal of time to work on photos and they are not from where I just returned, but a conglomeration of where I have been on ALL of my travels. As such, Instagram lets me stay connected with friends, family and fans and let you all know WHERE I am right now! If you haven’t followed me before, follow me on Instagram now! Before you ask, yes this is all this year…actually January through May. I even visited Hong Kong twice! I really like to travel…Enjoy!


Lighthouse in Honolulu

Sunset in Venice, Italy

My Wife Pamela and Me

Tan Tien Buddha Hong Kong

Landscape Washington State

Point Zero Paris

Buddha in Bangkok

Wisteria on Lake Como, Italy

Lenny Kravitz at CiscoLive!

Greenspace in Hong Kong

Embarcadero in Reverse, San Francisco

Gondolas of the Venice Grand Canal at Sunset

Posted on September 22nd, 2014 by

Perfect Moments

It was January on the water, I had a respiratory infection, and the sea air seemd to do me no more good then it did for Gustav von Aschenbach in the novel Death in Venice. I actually spend a good deal of time later this night contemplating if my breathing got worse, how would I get to a doctor…does a water ambulance come and take you to the hospital? Luckily, my problems were run of the mill sick, nothing like the plague, but you can escape that history either when you visit Venice.

All of these problems and dark thoughts one would think could drag down anyone’s spirits, but not me…not in Venice. It is a jewel, one that specifically requires blinders, but even the most amazing gemstones have flaws. The people who built this city undoubtedly understood the sea, its power and majesty. They must have also been a bit mad, but standing on that pier looking at the sunset, I believe we have the same heart.

Gondolas of the Venice Grand Canal at Sunset
Gondolas of the Venice Grand Canal at Sunset

Photo Technical Info

A Desperate View of the Doge’s Palace in Venice, Italy

Posted on September 15th, 2014 by

Choosing Photos

I find myself wondering as I type this, what draws me to a particular photo to work on it. There may be one singular element that triggers interest for me. Often, there are just photos I know will do well with my particular process, today’s photo wasn’t one of them. Today, I was intrigued by two things in this photo. One was how I caught the smallest sliver of the setting sun behind the bridge. The other, and most important element was the ghosted people along the corridor by the Doge’s Palace. The vantage point of this shot is from the front of the Venetian Prison and something about those distant uncaring ghosts seemed perfect to me.

A Desperate View of the Doge's Palace in Venice, Italy
A Desperate View of the Doge’s Palace in Venice, Italy

Photo Technical Info

  • Aperture: ƒ/4
  • Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
  • Taken: 25 January, 2014
  • Focal length: 27mm
  • ISO: 400
  • Location: 45° 26.0237′ 0″ N 12° 20.4647′ 0″ E
  • Shutter speed: 10s
  • Title: A Desperate View of the Doge's Palace in Venice, Italy