Village hopping around the lake - Lake Como

Village hopping around the lake - Lake Como, originally uploaded by Photomike07.

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover” – Mark Twain

Warm thoughts of Italy - Lake Como

Warm thoughts of Italy - Lake Como, originally uploaded by Photomike07.

"A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving." - Lao Tzu

In my typical haphazard way of bumbling about Europe, its actually a miracle that I eventually made it to my destination here on the lake. One wrong train and bamb, your 5 hours off track. Well, like I have said before, its all about the journey.......so that of course, I embraced it :)

In an effort to cut back on my usual HDR style posts, I decided to present a few tamer shots. Its a nice change actually. Hope you enjoy!

Nightfall on the Lake at Varenna

Nightfall on the Lake at Varenna, originally uploaded by Photomike07.

Bleary eyed and scrambling to pack a few things for a trip I am leaving for in the AM, I decided to take a few minutes and post an image. Now for the hard part.....verbage. That moment of realization that I have no real information to pass on, no morsel of guidance, and no insightful words of creative description for what this image means or why I even picked it! Geez, this blog seems to be heading down like the Titanic! LOL.....

Yeah, I know, the posts have been quite lame haven't they? Sorry bout that....

I fully intend to get a bit caught up with the goodies soon.

We have been quite a bit busy around here in the event lighting world. When the smoke clears and I take a few minutes to sort thru the images, I promise to post a few. Till then, well, its a grab bag!

I realize lately that my attention has shifted a bit. My spare time has me laser focused on a goal and mission that really has nothing at all to do with lighting, travel, digital imaging, or what I originally intended this blog to be about. With that in mind, I hope to take a few little outings while I am in San Diego to do just that. Clear the mind, chase the light, and focus on the art of the image again. As far as the other opportunities I am focusing on? Well, more on that some day soon :)

Along the banks in Varenna in Lake Como, Italy

Along the banks in Varenna in Lake Como, Italy, originally uploaded by Photomike07.

A longtime goal of mine has always been to spend the summers in Europe. Sure, I've been there a few times, seen alot, backpacked from Norway to Greece and just about everywhere in between, but what I mean is more of a total immersion. One of my dreams has always been to have an apartment in Paris. This would be a great place to use as a base to explore all of Europe! Perhaps a rental unit somewhere along the Seine....you know, in one of those penthouse floor to ceiling window units on the top floor somewhere between the Isle de Cite' and the Musee de Orsey. Or perhaps a lofty space over looking a quiet courtyard or street in Le Marsay or Saint Germain dePris. By the way, I am quite sure I totally hashed the correct spelling of all of those places.

On my last trip over there, I was lucky enough to find another jewel. Although its really no secret, the lake region (as seen above) is a great region to get away from the hustle and bustle of nearby Milan and Florence. This little port village of Varena was a great little home base to explore the lake area from. Hmmm, I guess I'll have to get a little villa here too! I wonder if its a buyers market over there now? LOL!

Alleys in Varenna

Alleys in Varenna, originally uploaded by Photomike07.

There is a rustic yet delicate old world feel to so many parts of Europe that is simply impossible to reproduce. Sure, we have all seen the sad attempts here in the states from theme parks to new housing communities, but the reality is, they are simply just attempts. I was really quite excited to see the many alleys, cobblestone sidewalks, and architectural details of this Italian village upon my arrival, and used the time during the harsh mid day sun to scout out a few locations for the "blue hour" that was about to arrive that evening. On a night like this, you can almost guarantee a late dinner.....very late actually. Lucky for me, late dinners seem to be the norm.....even in this quiet little lake town.

Timelapse Tuesday - A quiet day in the harbor - Varenna, Italy

Timelapse Tuesday - A quiet day in the harbor - Varenna, Italy, originally uploaded by Photomike07.

Ah yes, time-lapse Tuesday.....that weekly post of mine dedicated to the art of time-lapse video. I have to be honest though, I am a little perplexed at this whole video quality thing when I upload to youtube. The loops look screaming crystal clear and bright on my computer but after the upload, the video gets severely compressed or something, cause, well, it looks how should I say.....like garbage! Dark, squirrely, and choppy....hmm, not making much sense her, I know....kinda frustrating. Any video gurus out there with a recommendation? I spent a little while researching this, but am getting nowhere. Anyway, heres the link .....let me know what ya think :)

By the way, the timelapse was taken from a window at FLOOR level (not really sure what that was all about) in Varenna on Lake Como, Italy. The still was taken from the same town but just to the South. Awesome place too. Enjoy!

A walk back to Varenna - Lake Como, Italy

A walk back to Varenna - Lake Come, Italy, originally uploaded by Photomike07.

I love to balance out my travel locations. Little out of the way villages and towns can be a great retreat from the hustle and bustle of the city. As the infamous travel guru Rick Steves puts it ....... "a vacation from your vacation".....and Lake Como was just that. There are countless towns along the lake that are connected to each other via passenger and car ferries. As a train traveler to this area, this becomes the best way to explore once there. Oh yeah, and since George Clooney never got around to giving me a personal tour of the area like he promised me, (he has a villa near the town of Como in the southern tip) I guess I'll have to make it back there someday!

On a completely different side note, at which point do you stop watering your neglected brown and withered plants and just call them dead? My daughter tells me its a hopeless cause.....

Villa on Lake Como

Villa on Lake Como, originally uploaded by Photomike07.

Having arrived back home safe and sound, I realize once again the one of the best parts of traveling this great world of ours is coming home to the ones you love! As I am still on European time and about to collapse, this post will be a bit brief.

Paris, Provence, The South of France, MIlan, Lake Como, Zermatt, and Burgandy.....all I can say is the camera bodies are still smoking from all the shutter clicks over the past couple of weeks. I look forward to processing and posting over the next few months as I have thousands of images to go through.

I hope all is well out there and thanks for viewing. Now, before my head hits the keyboard, Gnite all!

Venezia - alive again

Venezia - alive again, originally uploaded by Photomike07.

So, this is one of my first attempts at using the under painting and impressionistic brushes and techniques I learned from Fay Sirkis using Corel Painter. The original was actually a scan of a slide that I captured about 15 years ago. As you might guess, I have a ways to go, but the journey is quite fun :)

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 :)