Mambo Italiano

One of my favorite places in the world to visit is Italy. In addition to amazing food and art, there's also no shortage of interesting and breathtaking sights. On my first visit to Europe (in 2004), we went to Rome and Paris. I carted my heavy Canon Digital Rebel SLR and several lenses all over the place, much to the dismay of my aching back, but thought it was well worth the trouble for a few of the shots I took:

The Colosseum 

Motorcycles in Rome--a ubiquitous sight

Fountain detail

No smoking!

It's interesting to see how my photography practices while traveling have changed. For one thing, I take a LOT more photos. On my first trip to Rome, which was one week long, I took 549 photos. On my most recent trip (last October), which was only 4 days long, I took 1,850! Of course, it's a lot easier to take goofy selfies with a point-and-shoot than an SLR, so that might help to explain some of the difference...  

I also now I carry a much smaller, lighter point-and-shoot camera when I travel, which might also contribute to the increase in the number of shots I take. I used to operate under the assumption that I needed a really fancy SLR to get decent shots, but the quality of point-and-shoot cameras has improved so dramatically since my first trip to Europe that I don't think that's the case any longer. In fact, most of my favorite shots are from the point-and-shoot, which can even do a decent job at night photography:

Piazza del Popolo, Rome

St. Peter's Basilica at moonrise, Rome 

In addition to repeat visits to Rome, I've also been back to Italy to see Florence and Venice (some of these pictures have been featured in other posts), as well as the Amalfi Coast. It's hard not to fall in love with the wealth of stunning landscapes! Until next time, I'll leave you with a few more of my favorite shots.

Sorrento, Amalfi Coast, Italy

Sorrento, Amalfi Coast, Italy

Amalfi, Italy

Amalfi, Italy

Florence, Italy

Florence, Italy

Florence, Italy

Sunset on the Lido, Venice, Italy

Venice, Italy

Cairo in Motion

In February 2015 (yes, I'm just getting around to editing the photos) my husband and I took a weekend trip to Cairo. The city was incredibly striking, and the mosques very different from what I had imagined, my main experience with mosques being based on Istanbul. The colors of the city were very earthy, particularly in the golden evening sun, the mosques looked almost as if they were constructed from sun-baked clay.

For the bulk of our trip, we ended up hiring a private car with a driver for several reasons: many of the areas are not very walkable, the distance between sights can be quite lengthy, we had a very limited time and long list of sights to see, and private car hire is remarkably affordable. The great thing about this approach is we were able to see quite a bit of the city. The downside is that much of it was in the form of landscapes passing by at high speed. But, of course, the joy of digital is that you can experiment a bit with no real associated costs (I'm looking at you, film!). So, I pressed my camera against the glass of the car, and, when feeling especially bold, I even secured my wrist strap and took some shots with the windows rolled down. As you might imagine, I ended up with a lot of rubbish, like this photo with a lovely reflection of my fingers in the window:

But, in spite of some blurry foregrounds, I think several of the shots came out surprisingly well all things considered:

In addition to adventures by car, no cliched visit to Cairo would be complete without a trip around the Great Pyramids of Giza on the back of a camel. Suffice it to say, I've also acquired the (limited) ability to take photos whilst being jostled along on the back of a growling camel (and occasionally grasping the pommel of the saddle for dear life). Again, I ended up with lots of rubbish, but also got a few shots I think work:

Alone Again, Naturally

Thanks for sticking with me despite my infrequent posts. This one is a short one, but hopefully I'll be posting a little more frequently this year. I'm going to cheat a bit today and mix in some photos from previous posts along with a few new images, mostly because I haven't had much time for editing lately (photos from Egypt, India, and Italy to come soon though, hopefully!), but also because there's a theme that's been nagging at me for a little while now: solitude in nature.

There's something about solitude in nature that's always been very alluring to me. Perhaps it's because I tend to think of nature as bustling with life, busy, active, and solitude seems to contrast with that perception. Or, perhaps it's because it gives me a sense of quiet stillness, which can at times be difficult to get in a city (small as the city I live in may be). Of course, I recognize that there's something to be said for busy scenes as well, like this field of poppies on a sunny day near Stonehenge:

Salisbury, England

But I do think solitude in nature can be quite striking--sometimes peaceful, sometimes eerie, sometimes lonely, but always interesting.

Cambridge, England

Kenai Peninsula, Alaska

Palmer, Alaska

The Netherlands

Anchorage, Alaska

Anchorage, Alaska

Malham, England

Cambridge, England

Seward, Alaska