Category: Travel

Taken on vacation trips

Gondola Ride

Gondola Ride
I was looking forward to my visit to Venice during my honeymoon since I have read about and seen the wonderful pictures others have gotten on their trip. Alas, my visit to Venice was much of a disappointment photographically speaking. We arrived late at 3pm only for the sun to set soon by 4.30pm. The weather was generally gloomy and after being bundled onto our gondola ride, there wasn’t any thing much to take apart from tourist snapshots. The above is one shot taken from our gondola ride that I managed to partially salvage using the Orton Process which I learnt about from James Jordan’s photoblog. The effect is not so much pronounced here compared to the fullsize original shot though.

Moon Over The Campo dei Miracoli

Moon Over The Campo dei Miracoli
When I came across the day-lit moon at the Campo dei Miracoli during our tour in Italy, I was reminded of some of the beautiful moonrise shots of James Jordan (who has incidentally started a useful and easy-to-read photography-tips blog at “Ready, Aim, Click“). The skies were remarkably blue that morning, creating a nice contrast to the yellow and brown of the ancient buildings. I switched to a long lens to get the buildings close and keep the moon a reasonable size in the frame.

Overlooking the Piazza della Signoria

Overlooking the Piazza della Signoria
Happy New Year to everyone! I didn’t have anytime to take pictures of any New Year Countdown this year as I was busy at work on New Year’s Eve. Continuing with my recent series on Italy and Switzerland instead…

The statue of Hercules and Cacus overlooks the Piazza della Signoria in Florence, Italy. From the Wikipedia:

The white marble statue Hercules and Cacus is one of the statues lined up on the Piazza della Signoria in front of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, Italy. This work by the Florentine artist Baccio Bandinelli (1525-1534) was commissioned as a counterpart for the other statues David, Fountain of Neptune and Judith and Holofernes. These (original statues) had been commissioned by the republican counsel of Florence to commemorate the victory over the Medici.

The mythologican Hercules had killed the fire-breathing monster Cacus during his tenth labor. Hercules had become the symbol of strength and integrity, a symbol used by the Medici. This marble group shows the basic theme of the victor (the Medici) and the vanquished (the republicans).

I caught this view of Hercules and Cacus at dusk during our honeymoon trip to Italy. By the time the shot was taken, the skies were almost pitch-black. The blue skies you see here were added on from another shot that I took earlier at the same place.