Italy-5-3 It's been a while since I posted here. I promised I would get back to my trip to Tuscany, and finally I have time to fulfill my promise to you. I went to Italy for a landscape photography workshop with one of my favorite photographers, Jim Nilsen. Jim and his wife Magrit have been doing photo tours for a number of years and are fabulous guides.  

I wasn't looking for a real "how-to" workshop, as I already know how to shoot. I really wanted the kind of trip Jim & Magrit offer - camaraderie, beautiful locations, and sharing knowledge. Our trip included photographers at many different skill levels, so not only was I able to learn from Jim, but I was also able to assist other participants at times, which was fun for me.

The thing I appreciated most, though, was the opportunity to shoot places I have never been, and to have that guidance from Jim about what time of day was going to best and where to go. He had pre-scouted everything, yet was flexible enough to stop when any of us saw a moment we wanted to capture.

Enough talking. Let me just share some of my landscapes captured during this tour.

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Italian Adventures

Last month I had the great pleasure of going to Italy to do a photo workshop with one of my favorite photographers, Jim Nilsen. Jim and his wife Magrit, who is a graphic designer, are not only lovely people, they make an exceptional creative team and wonderful tour guides.  I have long admired Jim's graphic work and was excited to get a chance to shoot with him. I've got so much to say about the experience, but for this first post I just want to share a few images from the trip. The first is from our first night as a group, when we did a "blue hour" shot of the Arno River in Pisa.

The brilliantly colored windows are from my post-workshop trip to Venice. These images are all posted in my new "Europe" folder on the site (at the request of several Facebook fans.)

More soon, I promise.

Pisa on the Arno at Night Burano window 1

Burano window and door

Burano purple

We'll Always Have Paris

I recently went to Europe for a landscape photography workshop. (More on that in another blog entry.) My husband had never been to Europe, so I dragged him along (he's good at entertaining himself while I'm obsessing over photos) and we scheduled a one-night layover in Paris. As luck would have it, one of my friends was also planning to be in Paris on the day we arrived, so we scheduled to meet up for lunch. I knew we would be jet-lagged and somewhat disoriented, but I also knew I could not spend even a few minutes in Paris without my camera. Instead of hauling all my gear, I decided to take just my camera body with a 50mm lens. After all, the great Henri Cartier -Bresson , who was known for capturing the moment, shot only with a 50mm. And it was light weight enough and unobtrusive enough that I did not feel like I was "working."

I think it's good to work under forced restrictions sometimes. Sometimes it can be hard to let the camera just become an extension of oneself without feeling self-conscious. The 50 mm is a great working lens for practicing what Bresson described: "To take a photograph is to align the head, the eye and the heart. It's a way of life."

The Man on the Metro

As we rode into Paris, a little drowsy and jet-lagged, I envied the man on the Metro's ability to snooze while the world whizzed by.

MetroMan

Paris is for Lovers

After a fabulous lunch of soufflé, Michael and I walked around Paris for a couple of hours before heading back to our hotel to rest for an early morning flight. We had lunched at a café very near the Pont des Arts - known world wide for the lover's locks that cover it. I had not seen it in my previous trips to Paris, so while Michael gazed at the Seine, I walked to the bridge to capture a few shots. My favorite of the lot encapsulates the feeling one gets in Paris - the City of Light really is a city made for lovers.

Paris is for lovers

Here are some additional images I shot while traveling in and around Paris. You will see I loved the signs, the deco designs, the window displays and more. Eiffel tower 1

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On the train