Here's your downloadable desktop calendar for June 2013. This picture was taken just before dawn on the beach in Ocean City Maryland. It was a struggle to get up and moving at 5:30AM on vacation, but approaching the beach I knew it was in the right move. Best wishes for a great June.
Nikon D5100 Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 @ 16mm f/13 ISO 100 5 image HDR
Sunsets happen every day, but it’s been some time since I caught a nice one. It does get a bit demoralizing waiting for the sky to light up magically and churn up some emotion. I’ll keep up the search, because it’s worth it.
Nikon D800 Sigma 85mm F/1.4 @ f/9 ISO 100 5 image HDR
Finishing the pictures from our recent trip to Paris, I thought I would end with a piece of architecture that universally symbolizes France, and especially Paris. This structure is adored by visitors and shunned, like an ostentatious painting hung in the guest bedroom, by Parisians. Debate over whether or not the tower is a work of art, or a gaudy iron monstrosity, has gone on for decades.
Originally the tower was built for the 1889 World’s Fair by the engineer Gustave Eiffel. Its permit was for twenty years, after which it was to be gifted to the city and dismantled. During the years it stood, it became an integral part of the growth of broadcasting. Antennas worked very well high up on the tower. I could also imagine that it brought in quite a pretty penny seeing how popular it had become. Over 200 million people have visited the Eiffel Tower, and that milestone was set back in 2002. Obviously, since it is such a tall building, you can see it from almost anywhere in the city of Paris. But to experience it like so many people have, you have to see it up close.
From the base one feels like an ant. I remember looking around to make sure I wasn’t shrinking, and was just as tall as the other tourists, so I could regain my sense of scale. Strangely though, just as the giant erector set seems massive, it also gives the appearance of fragility because of all the space between the giant girders. If you visit Paris, spend an afternoon there if you want to ascend it, or climb to one of the bottom tires for a meal, but I think what makes Paris great is elsewhere. It’s in the art, the culture, the food, the very style of Paris. Paris means so much to the world in so many ways. Enjoy an adventure in France’s capital and savor the memories for years, but don’t think you’ve seen Paris because you took a picture of the Eiffel Tower.
The Eiffle Tower at night from the Seine River
Nikon D800 Nikkor 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 32mm f/3.8 ISO 3200 1/60 sec
This is not a food blog; let me clarify that right here. I should also mention that I have seen WAY too many Facebook pictures of people’s food. The problem I find with most of them is that the food often looks like what to avoid at a restaurant rather than something that makes me salivate and check my watch to see how close dinner is. I’m not a “food photographer” but when something looks delectable there’s usually a camera close by.
I never drank coffee until my honeymoon. We were in Rome Italy and the waiter offered us an espresso after our meal. Trying to appear as an accomplished world traveler I agreed. Turns out, I love espresso. I usually order one after a nice meal whenever I am out, and I’m actually a little saddened if the waitress offers a coffee instead. Thinking back to that first tiny cup of vibrancy, I wonder about the decision. I wanted to experience Italy. I wanted to see it, hear it, and embrace its wonders. I wanted to taste it like an Italian would after a grand meal. It changed my life, that little cup of joy. Many of the foods I eat here in the states taste very different when prepared far from home. The seasonings, the soil, the latitude, and the government regulations all influence fine food, so when I travel, I try to soak up the local cuisine. Places known for their palettes often light up tastebuds I never knew I had. So don’t forget to dazzle all your senses when you travel.
I wrote about the opulence of the entrance to the opera house in Paris a few days ago, so I felt I owed you a picture. Imagine what it must have been like to attend the opera centuries ago. I would liken it to going to see a new blockbuster at the cinema, but that wouldn’t do it justice. There were no multiplexes with twenty choices of operas, no air conditioning, no texting. It was an event! Going to the opera was something for which you dressed up. Elegant ladies and refined gentlemen would see great works played before them for hours. They could lose their imaginations in stories of far off places, valiant heroes, and magical fantasies. This was their escape from the everyday drudgery. The opera was like fresh air blown into the soul to resuscitate its passion.
Grand Entrance to the Paris Opera House
Photoshop had to work hard on this picture, it's actually an eight photo panorama.
