Day 10 - Details, Details, Details

The top picture shows some of the wonderful artworks inside Cathédrale Notre-Dame d'Amiens. In terms of color the interior not as lavish as the churches in Rome, but nonetheless beautiful (although I noticed one of the motifs are a bit morbid). There are so many wonderful aspects to this cathedral it's a marvel to work with as a (in my case, hobby) photographer - so many interesting viewpoints and ways to work with perspective. I found this spot especially interesting because of how the Gothic arches work together in both the foreground and the background, and in the art as well.

The bottom picture is from one of the chapels that have yet to be renovated. As you can see it has seen better days but I though it charming nonetheless. I have a sore spot for old faded things and don't mind flaking color or worn wallpaper, in the right environment that is, and this is one of those places. It was interesting to contrast it to the other areas of the cathedral.

/MrsHjort

Day 9 - On the Inside

This is shot from just inside the big entrance to Cathédrale Notre-Dame d'Amiens. We went there in the morning, and as you can see it was nice and empty - just the way I like it when I shoot - it provides fewer distractions in the shots and more control over the composition. It also gifted me with a mood that is hard to get when places like this are crowded. It's was almost like that feeling you sometimes got when you were a child and went into a spacious building that you didn't quite know if you were allowed in. A feeling of being very small and of stepping inside a place that is so grand you also felt like a very insignificant part of the world. Like an ant on the floor of a building that has been a part of history, that has been visited by kings and other persons who have shaped the world we live in today. You don't get that feeling very often... but it's very cool when you do!

The raw format made a lot of difference in making this shot pop. I also enhanced the colors a bit to make things look "sunny" - it was cloudy when we were there, so things got a bit washed out inside. Though I have no doubt a sunny day would have provided its very own set of photographic problems. But then, maybe it also would have made things look cool if the sun shone through the colored windows... (on the sides, behind the pillars).

/MrsHjort

Day 8 - Light Show

We didn't know it before coming to Amiens, but the Cathedral becomes even more spectacular at night. When we heard there was a light show on I knew I couldn't miss it. It was truly an experience and I must have snapped a hundred pictures that evening. These are some of my favorites. I couldn't pick just one, so I made a collage.

After the show, they left the top middle lighting going and we were allowed to walk around and look at it up close. It really made a lot of difference, seeing everything all lit up in different colors and I started to notice a whole lot of details I would never had seen otherwise. The lighting was really masterfully done, matching the details of the building perfectly so that you could see what the figurines were carrying in their hands or the different styles of clothing they were wearing.

What picture is your favorite?

/MrsHjort

Day 6 - Reitdiephaven

This is Reitdiephaven, a Groningen neighborhood that was built in Scandinavian style. It was one of things I just had to see before we left the city, so it became our last stop. I just love the colors of the houses and it's brilliant how thy're built right by the water. Gorgeous! Oh how I wish they built things like this where I'm from. You'd think we would, but strangely we don't see many houses in this style where I am from - mostly it's modernistic stuff with huge windows in boring colors. Those towers in the end houses are really something. I sure would have loved to see what they're like on the inside. It must be wonderful to enjoy your morning coffee up there :).

/MrsHjort

Day 65 - Trinità dei Monti

This is the inside of the church that was in yesterday's shots (the one at the top of the Spanish steps, if you don't follow me regularly). It was built in 1585 and it's unknown who designed its facade, but it is believed that a follower of Michelangelo, Giacomo della Porta, who had designed a similar church was the mind behind this one too.

The inside of this church is a bit different to the other churches in Rome - it's more minimalist. While that is not a phrase I'd usually use to describe it, the contrast brought the word to mind. To put it simple there is less color and not as many lavish details - the ceiling for example is not painted, nor is it filled with geometric patterns, it's simply light gray with some tasteful white lines to underline its architectural shape. I didn't get the ceiling in the shots though. Like I say yesterday I had the wrong lens with me and the 55-300 mm lens couldn't provide the wide angle I needed to make stuff work the way I wanted them to.

The second shot is of the view just outside the church. Beautiful in the morning with the light blowing life into all the shapes of the buildings, and a blue sky to top it all off. I rather like the way those three domes interact in this shot, don't you? :)

/MrsHjort

Day 55 - The Tranquility of the Roaring Past

These shots are also of Circus Maximus, but the top one is looking to its other end and the bottom is shot from... well the bottom, right in the middle of it between the racetracks. I don't imagine the old Romans would have thought that people would stroll this leisurely along it in the future. The spot is quite quiet nowadays, there are not even many tourists. It's a nice place to stop and catch your breath.

As you can see I've experimented a bit further with these shots than I usually do. If you've been following me, you know I don't enjoy editing shots from overcast days, but I'm trying my best to find interesting new ways to edit them. So this time I took on a bolder approach than I usually do and tried to use their colors differently, going for green and muting everything else a bit instead. I also added a soft tan treatment to the sky to give the shots a bit of a vintage feel. I bias of course, but I like them more this way, I hope you enjoy them too.

/MrsHjort

Day 47 - Sunday Mass

Castel Sant'Angelo is one of the tallest buildings in Rome. It has a terrace on its roof with a great view of St Peter's Basilica and Piazza San Pedro, as well as other well known places. If you go to the fort on a Sunday you'll see the people gather for mass in the Vatican - a beautiful and powerful sight.

The masses can be celebrated in the basilica, in the square or sometimes both; it depends on the expected number of people attending them. Most masses require you to have a ticket, but don't sweat it, the tickets are always free.

I was lucky with this picture. As you can see it was quite cloudy that day and we were up on the roof terrace for quite a while before the sun finally broke though and shone in the right spot. I quite like the result, a gloomy sky with bright sunny buildings below it :)

/MrsHjort 

Day 35 and 36 - Water and Stone

These pictures are, as some of you might have figured already, from Piazza Navona, right outside the Church I've been showing you pictures of the last few days. Here you'll find yet another Roman obelisk, but it didn't make into my choice photos because of background problems - I'm very picky with what pictures I keep and even more picky with the ones I choose to edit. That's the way you get, for bad or worse, when you've been an eager aspiring hobby photographer for... has it been seven years already!? Wow, where did the time go... Being picky is both great and not so great. It's great because it keeps you on your toes and makes you think about your shots in a way that makes you a better photographer, but it's not so great because you loose that spontaneous element of photography - the "point and shoot" without any preparation. So called snapshots really have their own charm and I like how they capture "real moments" rather than choreographed or planned ones, if that makes sense, but I digress.

Anyway, You'll find three fountains at this square and these are pictures of the largest of them - the Fountain of the Four Rivers by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. It displays four river gods and represents the four continents to where the papal authority has spread by depicting famous rivers - the Nile (Africa), Danube (Europe), Ganges (Asia) and Rio de la Plata (South America).

I'm beginning to find my footing with the gloomy pictures I think. A comment from my favorite sarge got me thinking a bit, and I tried something that I haven't done before in the middle picture. This is where it all gets a bit nerdy, but it occurred to me that the flat look you get out of photos shot on overcast days can be overcome through selective editing. So, I faked things a bit and edited the statue and the background differently from each other when it came to color. In real life, the color of the stone fountain and the church in the background is much more similar, but I wanted the statue to stand out more, so I edited it accordingly. It's still a gloomy picture, but I like it a lot more with the faked interplay of foreground and background. It may not be entirely honest... but then most photos aren't. From mobile photo filters to "Photoshopping"... everybody likes to enhance their shots :)

/MrsHjort

Day 34 - Gloomy Sky

So, like I said yesterday this is Sant'Agnese in Agone, a 17th century church built in baroque style devoted to st. Agnes. The story goes that she was a Roman noble with many suitors, but she was devout and turned them all down. They submitted her name to the Christian authorities. She was put to death and suffered martyrdom at the age of 12. The church is now built at the site where she died and named for the agony she was put through before they beheaded her. You can even find her remains inside - her scull can be found at her shrine.

To move on to a completely different subject, the weather wasn't cooperating with me outside the church. This picture is a perfect example of why I don't like shooting in gloomy weather. All color just goes bye bye and no matter how you tweak it, you can never make it look happy and bright - which is what I like my photos to be. Gloom is my Achilles' heel. I've never really known what to do with it. So, if you have any suggestions on how to make shots like this pop in post-ed, I'm all ears and grateful for every tip.

/MrsHjort

Day 19 - Marble and Stone

Continuing on with the Vatican Museum theme, here is another example of what the interior looked like. I find rooms like these quite tasteful - discrete natural colors and nothing too excessive. I absolutely love the classical style and I also like the subtle differences in the colors of the stone. (We'll save some examples of "sensory overload rooms" for tomorrow). 

The statues in the museum are beautiful, but it was not easy getting a clean shot of them as there are a lot of visitors in the museum every day. This was one of the very few clean ones that I managed to get, and the one that I like the most personally. It was the angle he angle that caught my eye, and the lighting, though admittedly statues like these look great in just about any lighting. The interplay between background and foreground was interesting as well but I wish I had brought my 55-300 mm lens so that the background would have become a bit softer. That's the price you pay for convenience I guess, but I doubt that I would have been able to get the composition right with it, since it would have required me to stand farther away (I don't think there was room for that). Also there's the light issue. More zoom requires more light or you'll get a slight motion blur, so I guess it was for the best in the end... you can't have everything, and lugging around gear is not that practical in a museum like this where there are a lot of people - the smaller you are the easier it is to make your way through the crowds.

Unfortunately, I don't know the name of the top statues, but the bottom one is of Laocoön - a figure in Greek and Roman mythology - a Trojan priest who was attacked, with his two sons, by giant serpents sent by the gods. The statue is larger but I really like this close-up of only Laocoön. It makes you notice some really nice details like the veins in the arms and torso. The statue was made somewhere around 200 BC but it's likely a copy of a bronze original. In turn, this marble version may not be completely original, as it shows signs of heavy restoration. Nonetheless, it's
considered a masterwork.

/MrsHjort

Day 6 - The Unexpected Obelisk

I admit, I'm no expert on Rome but I never expected to find a huge obelisk full of hieroglyphs, and I even less expected to find several of them spread over the city. This, apparently, is the obelisk of Ramses the second. It is the second oldest and the largest of the ones found in Rome. The obelisk was brought to Rome in 10 BC by order of Augustus and it was originally set up at Circus Maximus. The obelisk was lost at some point, but it was rediscovered in 1587. They then broke it into three pieces and re-erected it at Piazza del Popolo as part of the urban plan of pope Sixtus V.

I shot the obelisk from the sunny side at first - it was the viewpoint from where I came towards it - but immediately realized it would look much greater with a shadowy side visible to contrast a sunny one. I always love how the sun enhances outdoors shots. It brings out depth and colors so nicely. Some gloomy shots can be really nice though, but I've never really gotten comfortable taking them myself. I always find myself wishing for the sun to come out.

/MrsHjort

Day 11 - Great Masterwort

We planted a new flowerbed this spring and this was one of its new inhabitants. I confess, I have been following the newcomers every day... a bit like a child before Christmas, going for a look every day to see how they are doing :)

These particular ones were a bit of a disappointment at first - when they started blooming, they were a pale green, not at all the lovely light purple that was promised. But as the days went by they gained more and more color. An interesting effect - the flowers I'm familiar work the other way around - so I'm happily surprised!

/MrsHjort

Day 8 - Rose

I love Roses, but they have never really worked in my garden up until now. These are of an extra hardy variety though, so hopefully (knock on wood) they'll be able to handle our harsh winters. I just love their soft color, don't you? :)

/MrsHjort

Day 6 - Daylily

Today is the National Day of Sweden so I wanted something with the Swedish colors - yellow and blue. Sadly, I don't have any flowers like that, so I had to settle for yellow, and a little bluish tones in the foliage :)

Compared to other countries, the celebration of the Swedish National Day is quite gentle and muted. I think it may have something to do with our famous neutrality - Sweden hasn't been in a war for well over 200 years (and thank goodness for that) so we don't have the same sense of nationalism and unity that our neighbors do. Sweden is all about inclusion and progressive values. Diversity is celebrated and we take pride in the big melting pot that our country has become. Sometimes it can get a little bit too nontraditional though, as the core of our Swedish culture is something to be celebrated too, especially on our National Day. But there lies the paradox of the Swedish national spirit. Generally, we are very proud of our heritage, but in a very humble way - we want everyone to feel welcome and comfortable. :)

How did I celebrate? Well, I watched a small parade in our city center, and then went to visit my parents for a nice laid back barbecue. It can't get more Swedish than that ;)

Happy National Day!

/MrsHjort

Day 5 - Peony

The Peonies have blossomed today. The buds have been growing slowly every day for weeks, but now they have finally opened up and they smell so lovely. We have them in several places in our garden. Most of them are pink but we got some wonderfully dramatic red ones this spring. They're too young to bloom this year though. So I have something to look forward to next summer. Not that I'm wishing away this one though ;).

/MrsHjort

Day 4 - Tiger Lilly

I shot the Lillies yesterday too, but I'm so glad I didn't pick one of those shots - they are even more beautiful today when more buds have opened up.

It's very hot working today. Must be 30 degrees inside. I put some music on and didn't even realize the speakers weren't on until after half an hour later haha! Maybe some coffee is in order. :P

/MrsHjort

Day 2 - Fireglow

The Fireglow is more colorful than ever this year. It must be all the fine weather we've been having. According to records, it's been over a 100 years since Sweden had such hot days this time of year. It hasn't rained in a month now, so everything is very dry. I'm not complaining though. I love the heat.

No special filter is used in this shot, only the regular CPL-filter I use during daytime outside.

/MrsHjort 

Day 19 - The Watcher on the Branch

It started with "The Watcher" and then, as a huge Game of Thrones fan, I simply couldn't resist the rest of title. It's no raven though, so it's not a good a connection as it could have been, but hey, why not :)

This is another one of those unplanned bird shots. This little fellow watched us as we sat down in the shade, and since he sat there so calmly, I got plenty of opportunity to get shots of him. He was quite close too, so I didn't even have to change lenses, even though I had brought my telephoto lens along.

Moving along the trail of thought about gear, I have to say I'm very happy with the CPL-filter I got before this trip. It has really helped improve the colors, and the general quality of the sky in my photos. I have no shot without CPL to compare this to in order to show you the difference (if you're interested, you can find plenty of that on Google, here's an example), but wow, compared to what I used to get, it's miles better!

/MrsHjort

Day 17 - Narrow

It's weird how foreign places can sometimes remind you of home. This made me think of Old Town in Stockholm - it has narrow alleys too, and both Old Town and Manarola are touristy places. I was very lucky to find this alley empty - the town core was totally packed as it neared lunch time. But then most tourists keep to the main street :).

Processing this shot was fairly easy - not many steps and not much tweaking. Only some lens correction, color enhancement and contrast adjustments. I thought about adding some blue to the blown out sky, but then it's not a large enough part of the image to matter that much, and I like the general balance of colors, so I left it. I hope you like it too.

/MrsHjort

Day 12 - A Surrender to the Blues

I spent a lot of time tweaking this. The blue color drift and the gloomy atmosphere bothered me and I really wanted it to... I don't know... pop into my vision of the shot I guess? I wanted my Italy photos to be bright and colorful, but alas, no matter how much I tweaked and poked, I wasn't satisfied. Cranking up the saturation only made things worse and adjusting the hues manually only made it look artificial. Finally I decided to give in to the "problems" and embrace them. Let there be gloom, let there be "blue" and let there be less saturation. It's not usual my sort of thing but this shot seems to need it. So there, I surrender!

/MrsHjort