Blog
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Stairways of the Long-Dead Rich
My favorite quality of the image above is the subtle color contrast between the warm lighting on the stairway and balcony and the bluer light filtering down from a skylight overhead. The contrast gives the image much of its sense of depth. I tested this hypothesis by converting it to black and white; the result…
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Streetlights of Rome
I could have used this first image as a high-contrast entry in last week’s post, but it makes a good transition into this week’s theme: street lamps. For that matter, this next image would have worked, too: Moving beyond the simple silhouettes, this next image is fun. It’s a rather cluttered alley with all the…
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High-Contrast Rome
As promised, this week’s collection of images are much higher-contrast than last week’s: lots of deep shadows and silhouettes. The image above exploits the strong late-afternoon light raking across the face of the building., which accentuates the texture and adds long shadows cast from the smallest of protuberances. My favorite part, though, is the way…
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Roaming the Roads of Rome
Wandering around central Rome with a camera. It’s easy to get tired doing that, but not easy to get tired of doing that. There are fun things to find down every alley and around every corner, and there are a lot of both. The only real challenge is that Rome is somewhere being popular and…
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Windows and Staircases
Upon my arrival at Heathrow from Denver with my wife and son, we checked in to our hotel near Russell Square and walked over to the British Museum. As is my practice when I am in a more casual photographic mood, I just bring my 40mm lens because it is light and unobtrusive. (Let’s ignore…
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Wide-Angle Westminster
Last time I visited Westminster Abbey, I exclusively used my 24-120 zoom. This time I decided to go for wider views, and used the 14-24 zoom instead. Because Westminster Abbey is so heavily visited, unless you are standing right in front of something, any wide-angle view is going to have a lot of people in…
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Castles and Towers
There is a dearth of proper castles in the United States, so they are always fun places for me to visit in Europe. In the image above, the clock face provides a convenient reflective surface to give the composition a bright anchor point. The image below, of Dover Castle, uses a similar trick with the…
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Southwark Cathedral
One afternoon in London we had plans to meet friends for a tour of the Tower. My son and I spent most of the morning exploring Southwark before crossing over London Bridge. After visiting the tourist-trap-esque Clink Museum (morbid curiosity and proximity won the day) we went to the wonderful—and nearly deserted—Southwark Cathedral. I love…
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London Silhouettes
In March we visited London for a few days as a stopover on our way to a family vacation in Rome. While I made a lot more images of Rome, I wanted to share the ones from London (and a few nearby places) before turning our attention to Rome. I always like to have a…
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Serviceless Stations
On one of our backroads drives in Alabama last August, we came upon an abandoned gas station. August in Alabama is hot and humid. So humid, in fact, that when I got out of the nicely air conditioned car my camera completely fogged up. (Want to avoid this problem? Keep your camera in the trunk…