In Bocca Al Lupo, Rome

In Bocca Al Lupo, Rome, originally uploaded by flatworldsedge.

First off and most importantly; "Crepi".

This is some very dignified Roman street furniture, depicting the city's patron beast. The background bokeh is the same car as used in Painting By Numbers, Rome - in fact it was whilst taking this shot that I noticed the reflection.

In retrospect I was a bit distracted having seen the next shot, and so this one is probably not perfect. Particularly I'd have gone for a slightly wider DOF to sharpen up the wolf's nose.

Thanks for everyone's recent comments - hope you are well and enjoying a wonderful week.

Update: Explored #292. Many thanks to everyone who has commented, fav'ed and viewed. I massively appreciate the attention and insights offered. Thanks to all! Really pleased the vintage feel came off and people generally enjoyed it.

See In Bocca Al Lupo, Rome on Flickr.

More Details ▼ 0 Comments

The Climb (Inside Asinelli Tower), Bologna

The Climb (Inside Asinelli Tower), Bologna, originally uploaded by flatworldsedge.

Another improvised tripod shot - this time by jamming the lens through a hole in the wooden floor above the void below. As noted above, the tower has internal floors to separate the 97.2m elevation across 5 or 6 individually housed staircases. It proved a good tripod, even if I realised after the event that my lens release button must have been depressed the whole time!

Bologna's two leaning towers were both being repaired whilst we were there, so my external shots didn't really look as medieval and authentic as I'd hoped. This one ended up being my favourite of a few different angles on them. The towers look great, so hopefully we'll get back there at some point to try something more traditional. Details can be found here; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Towers_of_Bologna.

Nearly posted this as a Cyanotype for Halloween, but, what with being away, the opportunity escaped me and the B&W workings of the shot all proved a little unsatisfactory as they wash out the contrasts between wall and walker. It was interesting to see how B&W made all the walkers appear to be one, but I like the spread of colour across the top too much to make the trade-off. Shot in jpg, so the white balance is a little brutish, but there we go! All part of the fun.

Thanks for everyone's comments and thought on my last picture (another Italian long exposure - www.flickr.com/photos/flatworldsedge/5126748478/). I'm amazed and delighted it made Front Page Explore and am more than a little sheepish that a few days away from Flickr prevented me from properly showing my appreciation. I'm catching up now! Have a good one all.

See The Climb (Inside Asinelli Tower), Bologna on Flickr.

More Details ▼ 0 Comments

Gondola In 60 Seconds, Venice

Gondola In 60 Seconds, Venice, originally uploaded by flatworldsedge.

You say "bokeh", I say "water damage". This was shot in rain using our hotel bathmat as a tripod and makeshift camera cover. Bathmats make better tripods than you'd imagine, as it turns out.

Although shot with a weatherproof lens (always worried about the fact Canon commit to nothing numerical by way of definition in this regard), my six year old 300D definitely isn't. Half-covered in the bathmat, half-sheltered by my leaning hooded form, it survived. I'm delighted by it's longevity - probably 100,000+ shutter actuations and lots of knocks along the way.

What it doesn't do so well is noise control, however. This shot was a wretched thing to clean, and this posted version remains a bit ropey even after an hour or so in LR3 and PS7.0 tidying it up. The white balance was a nightmare too, with no result I was ever entirely happy with. I settled on this one, married with a not insignificant desaturation. Otherwise, I used PS to lessen the distortion of the buildings (exacerbated by the lean-inducing bathmat) and LR to bring that church tower back (somewhat) from the shadows of the sky.

Just for pedants - you're right - it's not a gondola. Sadly I couldn't think of a punning film title with "vaporetto" in the title. It is 60 seconds though.

See Gondola in 60 Seconds on Flickr.

More Details ▼ 0 Comments

Quayside Spray & Gondolas, Venice

Quayside Spray & Gondolas, Venice, originally uploaded by flatworldsedge.

First picture to be processed on my return from Venice. Lots of these shots - mostly at a much higher tide with waves sweeping in at my feet. I'd imagine more will make it online in due course. This one got the nod for first posting as I liked the lighting and reflection best.

It's the view out from just along from St Marks towards Isola di San Giorgio Maggiore, on which sits a church of the same name which is often mistaken for the main Campanile tower on St Mark's square itself.

This image is actually a composite of two - one lefthand, one righthand, manually blended in Photoshop 7.0 along the dividing line/pole noted above. The mix of spray and boat positions, combined with the lack of viewfinder, made it a little hard to ensure the gondolas' fantastic prows did not overlap with the poles. The "bulge" shown in the note above is unfortunate as it implies lax PS work - in fact it is forcola used to hold the oar, so the gap is quite natural!

Hope everyone is fantastically well and enjoying the week.

See Quayside Spray & Gondolas, Venice on Flickr.

More Details ▼ 0 Comments