Category Archives: Travel

Amazing travel photography told one picture at a time.

Entrance to the Crypts of Il Duomo

Posted on May 15th, 2014 by

Closed Entrance

This entrance to the lower levels of Il Duomo in Milan, Italy was closed. There seemed to be several entrances that were not open to the public. The main public stairs to the crypts of two Saints were around the corner and quite busy. I wondered if people visiting knew where they were headed and the stories of the men who’s tombs we visited. I wonder this because my particular knowledge of European Saints is a bit limited, but I tend to follow where groups of people are headed to see what I can see. I wonder how many people go with purpose and how many go with the flow, both in life and in visiting the dead.

Entrance to the Crypts of Il Duomo
Entrance to the Crypts of Il Duomo

Photo Technical Info

Female Stencil Street Art in Buenos Aires, Argentina

Posted on May 12th, 2014 by

Graffiti

I have a love-hate relationship with street art. Perhaps that statement is incorrect…I love street art. It can be poignant, providing essential social commentary. Though provoking, causing random passers-by to stop dead from their daily stupor and think. It can be beautiful, or make us question our paradigms of beauty. It can be biting, revealing, hilarious, even revolutionary! What I hate it tags and other mindless defacement of other beautiful works. The intent of these lawbreakers of both ilk sits squarely with me. In my mind, one a thug…the other an artist. I have seen some of the greatest artists of our day, unknown, who work in shadow, who’s artistic legacy will be swept away like a Tibetan Buddhist sand mandala; for now they will be briefly seen. I try and capture them while I can.

I found this simple beautiful stencil street art underneath a pedestrian underpass in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The underside of this bridge was painted a pinkish purple, with this one loan piece looking seductively at people walking down the sidewalk. I couldn’t help but share.

Female Stencil Street Art in Buenos Aires, Argentina
Female Stencil Street Art in Buenos Aires, Argentina

Photo Technical Info

  • Aperture: ƒ/4
  • Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
  • Taken: 24 May, 2013
  • Focal length: 23mm
  • ISO: 400
  • Location: 34° 35.0315′ 0″ S 58° 23.478′ 0″ W
  • Shutter speed: 1/125s
  • Title: Female Stencil Street Art in Buenos Aires, Argentina.psd

Neon Fresh Fish Sign at Pike Place Market in Seattle, WA

Posted on May 8th, 2014 by

Fresh Fish

If you have been to Seattle’s Pike Place Market, you undoubtedly know this sign. I used a bit of creative license to make it my own. I did a similar thing for the Can Can Kitchen and Cabaret Sign also conveniently located in Pike Place Market. I wanted today’s photo to have a bit of an underwater, but out of place feel. It was shot during the day, but you would never know it. It is a bit whimsical, but then again I like such silliness.

Neon Fresh Fish Sign at Pike Place Market in Seattle, WA
Neon Fresh Fish Sign at Pike Place Market in Seattle, WA

Photo Technical Info

Outside the Walls of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan, Italy

Posted on May 5th, 2014 by

Visiting The Last Supper

On my last visit to Milan, I went to Santa Maria della Grazie, the church where DaVinci painted The Last Supper. I was surprised by its impact, both historically and the almost wonderfully horrific deterioration it faces. I wonder if Leonardo knew people would be viewing this work for over 500 years. He was going for more detail and luminosity then can be achieved with normal wet fresco techniques and instead painted on a dry wall. It isn’t really a fresco, and given your perspective, the ages have not been kind. I have always wondered how much of this was intended and how much was simply an experiment in technique. Was Leonardo chuckling to himself the entire time I painted the last supper? Is there hidden meaning, in the fight to keep everything from falling apart…something part of a grander design?

The painting is on one wall of the dining hall of the monastery. You only get 15 minutes with the work (and the Crucifixion on the opposite wall by Giovanni Donato da Montorfano). Security is TIGHT…I have never been anywhere with multiple automatic man traps. At your allotted time, you enter and get locked in, then another door opens, you move to the next trap and get locked in. Eventually the dining hall is opened and your small group is allowed inside (no photography of course due to the delicate nature of the art). Fifteen minutes was not enough time for me…I could have stayed and stared and felt much longer.

Walking the parameter

Walking to the metro, I walked around the perimeter walls of the monastery. This shot is from the street outside one of the courtyards.

Outside the Walls of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan, Italy
Outside the Walls of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan, Italy

Photo Technical Info

  • Aperture: ƒ/8
  • Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
  • Taken: 5 April, 2014
  • Focal length: 19mm
  • ISO: 500
  • Location: 45° 27.9857′ 0″ N 9° 10.2992′ 0″ E
  • Shutter speed: 1/2000s
  • Title: Outside the walls of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan, Italy

St. Stephen’s Cathedral Interior in Vienna, Austria

Posted on May 1st, 2014 by

The Paradox of Time

How much time do you have?

This is one of the many lessons of my rapid travel. Time, these days, is so very precious to me. Sometimes I feel it is best spent sitting and observing. Other times it slips away as if driven by a locomotive and I can’t find the photo. I came all this way and I can’t find the damned photo! What am I doing?

I often look around and wonder when it has gone, but during my trips, it can seems in three days I have been gone an eternity. What was life like before the road?

When I return, I wonder how it was I was just in (say) Europe…yesterday. Was it even real? It seems like I never left.

There seems to be an uneven application of time, the meter of which exists only in our own perception.

Stephansdom

During my short time in Vienna, Auatria I visited St Stephen’s Cathedral (Stephansdom). Here I didn’t have enough time, but I think I came away with a decent shot.

St. Stephen's Cathedral Interior in Vienna, Austria
St. Stephen’s Cathedral Interior in Vienna, Austria

Photo Technical Info

Old Bicycle on the Streets of Milan, Italy

Posted on April 28th, 2014 by

Thinking about Old Bicycles

Bicycles are all over Milan. The tourists never seem to be riding them, but the locals use them to speed past all the transient gawkers that visit their beloved city. I was surprised at all the bikes I saw and by their relatively old ages. I for some reason never took the ultra fashionable Milanese to use this mode of transport. If they did, I feel like any bicycle they SHOULD be riding must be embroidered with the LV logo.

This old bicycle stopped me for two reasons. First, it’s old, secured with an old chain and a much newer lock. The texture of the building and the rusty security gate on the window were the other. Throw in a harsh shadow, the wonderfully textured sidewalk and the simplicity, you have photo magic! Scott Kelby said something recently in a random video (and I am wildly paraphrasing)…if something stops you, there is something there. Work the scene! I have been trying to keep this in mind as I travel all over. I am working on paying attention to things that stop me and asking why. There is beauty all around and sometimes it’s nice to simply pay attention.

Old Bicycle on the Streets of Milan, Italy
Old Bicycle on the Streets of Milan, Italy

Photo Technical Info

Lighthouse at Ka’Ena Point on Oahu, Hawaii

Posted on April 24th, 2014 by

Loving Hawaii

Here is the thing…every time I go to Hawaii, it seems harder and harder to actually leave Hawaii when the time comes. For the past few years I have been trying to get there once or twice a year and this last visit to Oahu I really was NOT ready to leave. There is just a raw beauty in Hawaii, truly unlike anywhere else. You have to get out away from the tourists, but the Hawaiian’s have a really good thing and they know it!

Ka’Ena Point is West

As far west as you can go on the island of Oahu is Ka’Ena Point. You either need a 4×4 to get there or you walk like I did. It’s probably a hot hour+ hike but I think the point is worth the trek, especially if you enjoy walking on a muddy 4×4 trail with the beach on one side and the Hawaiian mountains on the other. The entire area is a wildlife preserve for several species, but I specifically got to see the Laysan Albatrosses up pretty close! This big bird was just chillin in his nest apparently unconcerned by all the gawkers. This “lighthouse” overlooks the rocky beach where there were quite a number of locals having a good time.

Lighthouse at Ka'Ena Point on Oahu, Hawaii
Lighthouse at Ka’Ena Point on Oahu, Hawaii

Photo Technical Info

Aboard the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial

Posted on April 21st, 2014 by

Designing our Nations Monuments

I sometimes wonder how it is that we have been so blessed in this country to have some of the greatest monuments to our heroes. What a task, honor and responsibility it must be for the designers. They are building something that countless visitors will see for all of our remaining history. Something that must encapsulate remembrance, that must honor and make us all reflect on tragedy, courage, valor. I believe the two finest examples of many in the United States are the Vietnam Memorial in Washington D.C and the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial in Oahu, Hawaii.

A Different Sort of Hallowed Ground

The U.S.S. Arizona Memorial is one of the most solemn places I have visited. It is an active cemetery and most of the crew members are still aboard (only a few hundred survived the attack). The space is open and airy, serene…a very stark contrast to December 7, 1941. This life preserver struck me at the end of my visit. It’s an almost ironic thing on a memorial to so many sailors who died without enough time to even attempt to use one. It’s there for the living of course, but then again, perhaps the memorial is there for us as well. May the dead only know peace.

Aboard the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial
Aboard the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial

Photo Technical Info

Il Duomo’s Main Door in Milan, Italy

Posted on April 17th, 2014 by

Il Duomo’s Main Door is a Bronze Masterpiece

Hulking and overwhelming is the main door of Il Duomo in Milan; much as the cathedral itself. It’s raw size is imposing and perhaps more than any other, Milan’s Cathedral most reminded me of La Sagrada Familia with its explosion of scenes, excess of fruits, stories, vegetables, insects and animals. I still don’t know how I felt about Gaudi’s Cathedral in Barcelona. Perhaps the overwhelming scale is most to be admired in both. Oscar Wilde was more harsh in his criticism of Il Duomo…I don’t think I will go so far as he, but I think my heart will always lie with Notre Dame. Regardless, the bronze work, in all its busyness is a masterpiece.

Il Duomo's Main Door in Milan, Italy
Il Duomo’s Main Door in Milan, Italy

Photo Technical Info

Longing Archer at Villa del Balbianello

Posted on April 14th, 2014 by

Coming to Italy for a Single Location

I came to Italy this time around to visit this location…Villa del Balbianello on Lago (Lake) Como just north of Milan. I spent two days in Milan. It’s a wonderful city full of life and fashion, but these days I think I prefer less the overt flash of the city, and instead enjoy the seduction of nature. This villa has played host to several films. James Bond recovers here (a hospital) in the Daniel Craig version of Casino Royale. This is the Lake Retreat settings for Star Wars Episode 2 where Anakin and Padmé hide out and also the location of their wedding.

Feelings on the Lake

I can’t adequately communicate how absolutely beautiful Lago Como is and every time I try, it comes out all wrong. The wisteria was just starting to bloom and the sweet smell flooded my senses during my entire time at the lake. It seemed everywhere I turned, someone had planted another fragrant vine just to brighten my day. This statue of a female archer seemed to stare out across the beauty of the area. She had a job to do, but longed to be lost in the beauty that she found here. I know exactly how she feels.

Longing Archer at Villa del Balbianello
Longing Archer at Villa del Balbianello

Photo Technical Info