Just another afternoon in the Greek Islands

Just another afternoon in the Greek Islands, originally uploaded by Photomike07.

A few years ago, my life was a bit different. Actually, I guess that goes without saying. All of our lives were! In the early 90's, my seasonal company always rewarded me with the opportunity to relax in the summer. I embraced this time for 4 or 5 straight years running. Come about March...like clockwork..the travel magazines would come out and my European plan would start to fall into place. For me, there was nowhere else in the world I wanted to be in the summer but somewhere in Europe.

As you travel through Europe, from Scandinavia through Central Europe and eventually to the Mediterranean countries, the Greek Islands are always a perfect way to end the trip.....a vacation from your vacation if you would.

Upon arrival to just about any island from the convenient ferries I took, the first stop always seemed to be a quick stop to negotiate a daily rate for a moped. Zipping endlessly across the landscape of the Greek Islands on my "Shreed Ped" as I fondly referred to them as always found numerous opportunities to photograph the locals, discover quiet little villages, and let your imagination wander about what life was like hundreds of years ago in these little islands. For some reason, I think little has changed. I hope to make it back someday to see :)

Gondolas waiting in Venice

Even though I have a whole batch of images I have worked on and created in a file waiting patiently for their shot at the online gallery world (this is already sounding stupid isn't it!)......this little impatient one cut to the front of the line. Please excuse him as he has no manners.......aaannnnyywayyy....

As I have said before....many many times before, when my mind wanders to locations other than where I usually am at the moment (this happens all too often I must admit), it usually wanders to somewhere in Europe. Having said all that, this image of a Venetian canal taken several years ago as a slide, scanned into the Mac a few months ago, and photo painted today has been given new life.

I hope you liked my little deviation into the photo painting world. I have been using a rather simple plug in called Topaz. I hope to do a few more soon.

This week, I hope to get caught up on some event images from a couple of recent shows, so check back soon :)

5 continents in 5 days - Africa - A carpet in Morocco

Up until now, it has usually been about the image. A hyper processed HDR, an illustrative art piece, an added texture to portray a painterly effect.....well not today. For me, its more about what I felt behind the lense.

As we were bouncing haphazardly through Europe one summer, the idea crossed my mind to head down south of Spain. I had heard that it was quite easy to catch a boat from Tarifa and cross the mouth of the Mediterranean and arrive in Tangiers. From there, it was an easy trek into the rest of Morocco. This sounded like an exotic location to explore!

After a little research in the guide books, we determined that the best plan of action would be to get on a train as fast as possible once we arrived and get out of the stressful port town that would welcome us for our first taste of the African continent. We had heard that the local guides would badger and pester you into buying a carpet or some other local authentic ware from what they always claimed as their relatives shop. "Special price only for you my friend...special price only today...almost free!" Yes I heard that all to many times before in the straw markets of the Bahamas.

With this knowledge, we quickly navigated the confusing port town of Tangiers, made our way past the local carpet guide racket, and plopped our backpacks onto the first train car we could find. We made it. No carpet for me thank you! The plan was to head south into the personally uncharted landscape of the Moroccan countryside and spend a couple of days in Marrakech. At least that was the plan.

As we rode, bleary eyed on this regional train, a seemingly harmless passenger got on the train and made it into our little car. For what seamed like an hour, not a word was spoken. As the small talk and pleasantries began to exchange much later, our little "friend" had us convinced that the large sprawling town of Marrakech was not the ideal way to experience his wonderful country for the first time. He described a beautiful seaside village called "Asilah" that he called his home. It sounded quite wonderful. In fact, he had a couple of friends that just happened to run a little pension or bed and breakfast that would be perfect for 2 young Americans. Hmm, sounds great...almost to great I should have thought.....but there we were, getting off at the next stop, at a town called Asilah.

Fast forward a few hours and I find myself behind this lense in his relatives carpet shop, sipping mint tea, wondering how in the hell did I get here! Guess I'm buying a carpet!

Slide Scan Project : At the Port of Rhodes

Well, guess its time to end this week and this little project, for now. As for this week coming up and my posts....well...not sure yet. I have a few ideas kicking around in my head. I might, however, get back to some random images that I have already worked on. For now, hope you enjoyed our brief trip through Europe......I know I did :)

Slide Scan Project : A tough life

The life of a sponge seller looks to be a difficult one. What you can't see out of frame is the stiff competition. Lining the entire harbor of the Greek island of Rhodes were about 50 or so peddlers of these unique sponges. At night, all of these vendors had their areas lit up making a stroll down around there after dinner quite a magical one.

Slide Scan Project : Ruins at Naxos

I think I am gonna round out my posts this weekend with a couple images from Greece. Like any great European vacation, the Greek Islands is a great place to wind down. I am almost positive that this was captured in Naxos, although, it is from my body of slides and not really marked. Since my original had virtually no depth and was shot mid day, I created a little drama with textures and painted in the light and shadows. Hope you enjoy!

Slide Scan Project : The beauty of decay

When I was going through a few of my old slides, I stopped at this one. I can't even really remember taking it! If I had to guess, it think it might be from Prague.....all-right, lets say its from Prague. I have always appreciated the beauty of decay in these old cites.

Slide Scan Project : On a little journey

Train travel has always fascinated me. I can think of no better way to enjoy European travel than to pack a lunch, charge the Ipod, grab the Eurail pass, pick a track, and open up your mind to just let life happen. Watching little villages go by as your looking out the window listening to cool music is quite the cinematic experience.

These images were captured a few years ago on one of these trips. I am not sure what was going through this little guys mind as he curiously looked out at the world passing by, but the twinkle in his eyes made me grab my camera. An instant click or two, and this quiet moment was captured.

Slide Scan Project : A hike in the Swiss Alps

Any day in the Swiss Alps is a great day indeed. One of the coolest things I remember about my hikes in the Alps was how easy it was. There were a lot of places in Interlaken, Luzerne, and Zermatt that had cable cars for skiing in the winter season. They usually ran these in the summer to give you the chance to get to the top of mountains and then hike down. There was even a place that you could take a bike up to a place via bus and bike the whole way down. Now thats biking!

Slide Scan Project : Munich Train Station

As I kick back this evening trying to figure out what I want to post, my decision seems to be leaning back to my Europe slide scans that I started a little while back. I have to admit, it might be Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations travel show flickering on the TV now thats awaking the wonderlust in me again. What an awesome show by the way. To travel with a cool crew and work on a global travel show....sign me up!

Anyway, I digress again! I think this weeks gonna be some posts of slides I scanned from my back packing days about 10 or so years ago. Hope you enjoy the brief journey with me!

Now lets jump on the train here in Munich, Germany before it leaves the station without us!