Tag: art Page 1 of 2
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The city of Florence casts an enchanting spell from the moment you arrive. As we strolled through the charming Oltrarno neighborhood, our home base for a few blissful days, the Renaissance romance of this Tuscan jewel enveloped us. With its winding cobblestone lanes, vibrant piazzas, and architectural masterpieces around every corner, Florence beckons you to embrace la dolce vita and lose yourself in her timeless beauty.
No visit to Florence is complete without paying homage to her unparalleled artistic legacy. We started at the world-renowned Uffizi Gallery, a treasure trove of Renaissance art housed in the former offices of the powerful Medici family. Tuesdays offer a unique opportunity – the gallery remains open until 10 pm, allowing you to savor the masterpieces in relative tranquility as the crowds dwindle.
Next, we experienced the awe-inspiring presence of Michelangelo’s David at the compact Accademia Gallery. Though photos cannot prepare you for the sculpture’s sheer monumentality, a guided tour provides invaluable context, enriching your appreciation for this Renaissance icon. Book your guided tour of the Accademia on Viator! Florence’s crown jewel is undoubtedly the magnificent Duomo complex. We marveled at the intricate marble facades, the famous baptistery doors, and the cavernous interior adorned with breathtaking frescoes. While the dome climb offers rewarding panoramic vistas, the experience of simply standing beneath Brunelleschi’s masterpiece is humbling enough.
For a different perspective, we trekked up to the Piazzale Michelangelo at sunset (top). This hilltop piazza rewards with sweeping views of Florence’s famed terracotta rooftops and the iconic Duomo, providing the perfect vantage point to bid “arrivederci” to this enchanting city.
In between immersing ourselves in art and history, we indulged in Florence’s celebrated cuisine. The hearty ribollita soup, luscious wild boar ragù over pappardelle, and the legendary bistecca alla Fiorentina (enormous T-bone steak) left us utterly sated. Be sure to sample the unsalted Tuscan bread – a quirky tradition born from historic salt conflicts – and the vin santo dessert wine with almond cookies for dipping.
While Florence’s cultural riches are endless, her true charm lies in wandering aimlessly, getting delightfully lost amid her captivating Renaissance splendor. As the famous quote reminds us, “He who goes to Florence and does not see the Duomo, does not see Florence.” But those who embrace the city’s enchanting rhythm will experience the very essence of Tuscan magic.
Thanks for stopping by! Check out our Go See Do Explore Podcast, available wherever you listen to podcasts. To read more about our Italian Adventure, check out our La Dolce Vita Trip Report. To read about some of our previous trips, visit my Trips Page. If you like my photos be sure to “like” my Facebook Page and follow me on Instagram! For my list of gadgets to make your travels easier, click here. To see inside my camera bag, check out my Gear Page.
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Some of the links below are affiliate links and as such, I earn a small commission from purchases that allow me to continue telling you my stories without costing you anything extra.
With our crazy plan to get to Alaska, we had one day to explore the highlights of Seattle. It was a dreary day, raining on and off. I feel like we got an authentic Seattle experience.
Chris stayed at a Citizen M hotel in Los Angeles a few weeks before and he really wanted me to experience it, so we changed our reservation in Seattle to the Citizen M in South Lake Union. The hotel really caters to business travelers with small rooms and workstations scattered around the lobby. I think it would be a great hotel for a solo traveler, but there were a lot of things about it that made it challenging for two. But, the good news is it is within walking distance of both the Space Needle and Pike Place Market.
View from the Space NeedleWe headed first to the Space Needle. The most well-known of Seattle’s attractions, the Space Needle is synonymous with the Pacific Northwest. Built for the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair, the Space Needle is 605 feet tall and was built to withstand a category 5 hurricane and a 9.1 magnitude earthquake. At the top, there is an observation deck and “the loupe”, the world’s first rotating glass floor. It was a great way to get a view of the city, but because of the cloudy weather, we weren’t able to see as far as possible on a clear day.
What I was most excited to see in Seattle was the Chihuly Gardens and Glass. I have loved Dale Chihuly’s work since I first saw it in 2012 at Meijer Gardens but this museum highlighted it best. The galleries were made for these unique glass structures and the lighting really made the artwork pop! In the gardens, it was cool to see the glass blended with the flowers in a way that glass additions to an already established garden just can’t do. Combination tickets are available for the Space Needle and Chihuly Gardens and are a great way to see both Seattle Attractions.
From the gardens we walked a mile to Pike Place Market. Pike Place Market is the oldest continuously operating farmer’s market in the United States and is famous for the fishmongers throwing fish. Today the Market is home to over 200 stalls selling everything from flowers and fish to local art and souvenir t-shirts. We had planned to eat at the market, but got hungry along the way so there wasn’t anything we needed during our visit. We did stop at Three Girls Bakery for amazing peanut butter cookies and Rachel’s for a ginger beer.
Chihuly’s Persian CeilingAfter our day exploring the city, we headed to the Greyhound Station for our bus to Vancouver. The bus station is not in the nicest part of town, but I never felt unsafe while waiting. The drive was almost five hours with traffic and the bus seats were more uncomfortable than I expected, but customs in Canada was a breeze. I heard horror stories from people on our cruise about the lines for customs at the Vancouver airport taking two hours. We were in and out of there in less than 30 minutes for the whole bus. You do have to take everything you brought with you off the bus, including under bus luggage, so it’s a little more of a hassle than in the airport, but it was not bad at all. Overall, the next time I have to go to Vancouver, I will book a direct flight, but if for some reason I had to get somewhere and Greyhound is the only option, I would do it again for a short (less than 5 hour) ride.
Chihuly Glass GardenThanks for stopping by! To read more about this trip check out my Planes, Buses, and Boats Trip Report. To read about some of our previous trips, visit my Trips Page. If you like my photos be sure to “like” my Facebook Page and follow me on Instagram! You can purchase prints on Fine Art America. To see inside my camera bag, check out my updated Gear Page.
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My blown glass flower
After exploring Ithaca, we headed back to Corning to make our appointments for glass making at the Corning Museum of Glass. After our last time at the Corning Museum of Glass, we knew that if you want to try any of the glass blowing, you need to make reservations in advance. At the end of November, we looked on the website and decided what we wanted to make.
Part of the reason for this trip was an exhibit they had for the 50th Anniversary of the moonwalk called “How Glass Got Us to the Moon”. Because of the exhibit they had a special moon ornament that you could make. Chris and my mother in law both signed up for that. We didn’t need two moon ornaments so I signed up for the Blown Glass Flower (top).
Another thing I learned during our first trip to the museum is that a lot of the glass blowing experiences you don’t get to do much more than the blowing part. I assumed when booking our experiences that if preschoolers can do it, you probably don’t get to do too much. The blown glass flower is only for 14+ so I knew that you probably actually get to do a lot with that one.
Making my flower
After checking in, they gave me goggles, gloves, arm protection, and an apron. Then, the artist I was working with demonstrated the technique and explained how to use the tools. When my turn came, I sat on the bench and he brought the molten glass to me on the pipe. I rolled the pipe and pressed a piece of wood into the glass to flatten it. Then, after he reheated it in the furnace, I got to use some heavy-duty tweezers to form the petals. It was an awesome experience and it made me want to learn how to blow glass!
If you are planning to visit the Corning Museum of Glass, I highly recommend you book a glass making experience! They have activities for all ages! Young children can blow a glass ornament or if they would prefer to be more creative, they can try sandblasting or glass fusing. For adults, I recommend choosing something that is not for all ages, unless you are fine with someone else basically making your item for you. Last trip, we did flameworking and were able to use a hot torch to fuse colored glass into a pendant that I get complimented on anytime I wear it!
Thanks for stopping by! For more information about the Corning Museum of Glass visit CMOG.org, To read about some of our previous trips, click here. If you like my photos be sure to “like” my Facebook Page, follow me on Instagram! You can purchase prints on Etsy and Fine Art America. To see inside my camera bag, check out my Gear Page. For information about our new Guided Photography Tours, visit GuidedPhoto.com.
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For my husband’s birthday we were given a membership to the Detroit Institute of Arts. Since then, we have taken three trips to the museum and it is very interesting to look at these famous works of art through the eyes of a photographer. So often, as photographers we have heard these rules about composition (rule of thirds anyone?) and lighting (no harsh shadows, EVER!) but when you look at paintings that are hanging on the wall in a famous museum, you see that if you break these rules, that is OK!
Yes, there are paintings that depict magic hour and dramatic sunsets, but more of them show blue skies, puffy clouds, and mid-day shadows. I have even seen some portraits with a shadow on the subject’s face. You post a photo like that in a photography group on Facebook, and watch out, you are going to hear about it! What is my point? Don’t get bogged down by all of these photography “rules” . Do visit an art museum and study the works of art. Discover what it is that makes them good enough to be hanging in a museum. Most importantly, get out there and shoot! Don’t let these “rules” make you lose your inspiration!
If you like my photos be sure to “like” my Facebook Page, follow me on Instagram, and Flickr! You can purchase prints on Etsy and Fine Art America. To see inside my camera bag, check out my Gear Page. For information about our new Guided Photography Tours, visit GuidedPhoto.com.
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A few months ago, I saw this video on color grading in cinema. I thought it was remarkable that this type of color editing is so common in video, but is not really taught to hobbyist photographers, nor is it often discussed in any of the online photography communities of which I am a part.
This began my deep dive on YouTube and anywhere else into the world of color grading, and it has become an indispensable part of my style. The idea of individual photographic style is one that really appeals to me, and I have been seeking to find mine. I think that for me, there are two things that I’d like to be known for. Those things are not being afraid to go abstract/impressionistic, and not being afraid to manipulate hues and tone curves in tasteful, and cinematic ways.
To the untrained eye, I actually don’t want to be known for the second one. I think the real art here is not knowing the work done to the original image, which can be seen on the right.
I hope you’ll continue to join me on Fridays as I share my art with you. Also, please comment on this post or on social media so that we can discuss this and other works together.
How to see my work:
I am focusing on Instagram right now, you can see my work here, and please follow me!
I’m back on the blog!
In most of my previous posts, I would write a bit about the photo- where I took it, or how I took it or processed it. I would then follow with the technical details of the shot.
I’m going to change this format up and now simply talk about the photo- why I took it, or why I like it, or what it is supposed to say. I will bring up technical details if they are relevant, but I’ve spent the past few months trying to think less technically and more artistically, so my posts will reflect that.
The image above was taken at a park in Lexington, Kentucky called McConnell Springs. It’s in kind of an industrial area but once you walk back into the park you wouldn’t know it. This is the start of the Town Branch, a small river that runs through Lexington. It actually goes underground a few times between here and the main part of the river.
I really like the shape of this image. If you look from bottom to top, you see a series of ascending triangles, or maybe chevrons (^) going up to the top. The light lifts your eyes down the creek and up to the sky. The shapes in the creek help with this as well. You can also see one V shape from the top corners coming down to about the middle of the frame. This causes an X shape in light that draws your eyes to the middle of the frame. Finally, we have this filtering of red light on the left side of the frame that hits green in the middle and right of the frame. Red and green are a highly satisfying combination of colors.
I hope you’ll continue to join me on Fridays as I share my art with you. Also, please comment on this post or on social media so that we can discuss this and other works together.
How to see my work:
I am focusing on Instagram right now, you can see my work here, and please follow me!
When I saw the topic for June was street art, I was worried. This really isn’t a topic I photograph often. Before my last trip to Ludington, the only street art I’ve photographed was the post card painting in Key West (below). I remembered that when I visited Ludington last year, they were working on a park downtown with these vibrantly colored, locally inspired, murals. I had to stop and snap some photos for the travel challenge. I like this one, which depicts the SS Badger, the car ferry that transports passengers from Ludington to Wisconsin (Manitowoc, Wisconsin for you Making a Murder fans).
My mom & I in Key West
Thanks for stopping by! If you like my photos be sure to “like” my Facebook Page. I have started my summer photo a day project again this year. To make sure you don’t miss a single day, follow me on Instagram, and Flickr! To plan your visit to Ludington, check out VisitLudington.com.