Tag Archives: museum

Domed Ceiling in the Vatican Museum

Posted on April 7th, 2016 by

Up with Ceilings

A quick photo for today, another ceiling. Perhaps not as overwhelming as Monday’s photo of La Sagrada Familia, but beautiful. I very much enjoy the idea of finding beauty that is often missed. All around us are items that seem unimportant, but someone spent thought and time to design something that is not only practical (function) but also beautiful (form). What in your life, a thing you use every day…was made to make your day filled with a small bit of beauty?

Domed Ceiling in the Vatican Museum
Domed Ceiling in the Vatican Museum

Photo Technical Info

  • Aperture: ƒ/5
  • Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
  • Taken: 18 January, 2016
  • Focal length: 16mm
  • ISO: 2000
  • Shutter speed: 1/250s
  • Title: Domed Ceiling in the Vatican Museum

I am also fond of hidden elements.

Minor Treasures of the Vatican Museum

Posted on March 27th, 2016 by

All About Light

Photography really is all about light (and sometimes its absence). Once you start exploring this, you find photos in the most unlikely of places. Ok…in fairness, the Vatican Museum is a bad example of a place where you might be unlikely to take a photo. True you might become overwhelmed so that you simply forget to even try to make a picture. This hall is enormous (hundreds or thousands of sculptures), and the time I visited the Vatican Museum (morning) it was a gloomy, unlit place…except this single pool of glorious light.

Minor Treasures of the Vatican Museum
Minor Treasures of the Vatican Museum

Photo Technical Info

  • Aperture: ƒ/4
  • Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
  • Taken: 18 January, 2016
  • Focal length: 27mm
  • ISO: 1600
  • Shutter speed: 1/800s
  • Title: Minor Treasures of the Vatican Museum

David

Posted on March 14th, 2016 by

Beauty

There is a line from some movie that goes a bit like, “and they remain to this day, the most beautiful girls you have ever seen close up.” I am probably recalling that totally wrong, but this is exactly how I felt seeing David. I have always enjoyed sculpture, it’s a demanding and frenetic art requiring so much planning and forethought. I planned an early morning to the Accademia Gallery and once I found him, I stayed for several hours soaking one of Michelangelo’s greatest gifts. David is like no other sculpture I have ever seen.

I hesitated even posting one of the many photos I took. They do no justice to his presence or intricacies. Depending on where you stand, you see his myriad emotional states as he confronts the invisible Goliath. You see his determination, you awe at his enormous hand infused with the might of God, you see the paralyzing fear in his eyes. Every glance and slight change of your location brings a new view into his complex soul. He stands firmly in place, larger than life, but you can feel too, the struggle he faces.

David is the most beautiful man I have ever seen close up and perhaps one of humanities greatest treasures.

David
David

Photo Technical Info

High Key Ramp

Posted on January 29th, 2015 by

White Ramp

How much of your vacations do you end up leaving to chance?

I found MACBA Museu D’Art Contemporani De Barcelona within walking distance of my hotel in Barcelona. I just wandered to it the first day I was visiting. It was there and I just went in. The space is all gleaming white, I can’t imagine a better blank canvas to display art, but what caught me was the space itself.

When you travel have a plan, but don’t be afraid to abandon it on a whim. Your plan will be there when you return back from your mystical journey in the clouds.

There is a joy in discovery. There is surprise and wonder just waiting for you out there. It’s worth leaving flexibility in your travels. Serendipity is a wonderful muse!

High Key Ramp
High Key Ramp

Photo Technical Info

The Great Sequoia

Posted on December 16th, 2013 by

Giant Specimen

One of my favorite places in London is the Natural History Museum. It looks like something out of a movie and it have one of the most spectacular collections of the natural world that I have seen! One of my favorite parts was a cross section of a giant sequoia from the USA. Though it saddens me to see even a part of one of these ancient spirits no longer standing…I am glad the world can see of of America’s greatest treasures. This particular tree was around 1300 years old when it was felled.

The Great Sequoia
The Great Sequoia by W. Brian Duncan

Hiding from a Monster

Posted on October 31st, 2013 by

Happy Halloween!

I hope everyone has a spooktacular Halloween…are you dressing up or handing out candy? I don’t think I will be doing either this year.

The Monster

I could only imagine what it must have been like to hide from one of these beasts. This relic can be found in the Natural History Museum in Paris. They have a wonderful collection of bones, but if you have dust allergies be forewarned this place smells as old as the bones it contains. Somehow that seemed really fitting when I was there.

Hiding from a Monster
Hiding from a Monster by W. Brian Duncan

The Natural History Museum London

Posted on September 26th, 2013 by

Old Bones

I love natural history museums…they usually feel old and the Natural History Museum in London is a treat. It’s a beautiful and honestly HUGE museum. I was familiar with the great hall in today’s photo, but I was not at all familiar that you could go on and on through the rooms and endless exhibits. Pamela and I had limited time here and missed two entire sections of the complex, but still it was one of my favorite places we visited while in England.

HDR Photography
The Natural History Museum London by W. Brian Duncan

Smithsonian Castle at Sunset

Posted on February 28th, 2013 by

Low Light

The thing I always have trouble remembering his how gorgeous light becomes the lower it is in the sky. I say I have a hard time remembering because outside of places like Iceland, you have such a very short window of nice light. The quality changes so much, so rapidly it is often difficult to keep up on one subject, much less when you are someplace like the National Mall. With such a grand set of options, it’s difficult to decide what you are going to photograph at that perfect moment. This shot was while I was walking to the Lincoln Memorial for sunset. The sun was still strong in the sky, but you can easily tell the quality of light has started to change here for the better.

HDR Photography
Smithsonian Castle at Sunset by W. Brian Duncan

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

Posted on February 18th, 2013 by

Gladiators

When I visited the grounds of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington D.C., it was early morning and the museum wasn’t open. I have not have an opportunity to visit this museums collection, which is unfortunate because I really enjoy contemporary and modern art. I did get to visit the open courtyard which immediately made me think of ancient Rome and the Colosseum.

The outside looks like some sort of alien vessel landed in the National Mall. It’s an odd mix that makes me think about the architect’s intent. Artist’s intent is a topic that has been on my mind lately. I am traveling to Barcelona soon and I can hardly wait to see first hand many of the seminal works of Antoni Gaudi. What are these designers trying to bring into the world…it truly fascinates me.

HDR Photography
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden by W. Brian Duncan

Le Centre Pompidou

Posted on February 7th, 2013 by

Pipes Galore

A quick photo from Paris for today’s image. It’s of the Pompidou Center, the wonderful modern art museum in Paris, France. It is general for museums of modern art to have a striking design, but the French really outdid themselves on this one. The style is really more post-modern and something they call hi-tech. The facade is a internetworked crosshatch of pipes and conduit all of which are brightly colored making a visual delight for the eyes. This was also the first time on our trip the sun had come out so the new found light played well off the building. This photo is of the not often seen escalators at the left front of the center.

HDR Photography
Le Centre Pompidou by W. Brian Duncan