I am enjoying a short hiatus from my "Photo A Day" blog and am showing you a few of my favorite posts from the last year and a half. I'll be back on the job with new photos from London and Portugal in a couple weeks.
Reprise: A Private Moment
I am enjoying a short hiatus from my "Photo A Day" blog and am showing you a few of my favorite posts from the last year and a half. I'll be back on the job with new photos from London and Portugal in a couple weeks.
Reprise: Chicago Skyline
I am enjoying a short hiatus from my "Photo A Day" blog and am showing you a few of my favorite posts from the last year and a half. I'll be back on the job with new photos from London and Portugal in a couple weeks.
Reprise: Stargazer Lilly
I am enjoying a short hiatus from my "Photo A Day" blog and am showing you a few of my favorite posts from the last year and a half. I'll be back on the job with new photos from London and Portugal in a couple weeks.
05-28-10 The Mask of Agamemnon
This is the so-called "Mask of Agamemnon" discovered by Heinrich Schliemann, the German adventurer and archaeologist. It was discovered in the grave circle on the acropolis of the site of ancient Mycenae in Greece.This golden face was discovered in a royal tomb by Schliemann, who imagined it to be the face of Agamemnon. Agamemnon ruled Mycenae during the time of the Trojan War and was married to Helen (who "launched a 1000 ships"). The tomb the mask was found it is probably not the tomb of Agamemnon, though. This golden object and many others are housed in the Archaeological Museum in Athens. It is well worth the visit if you are in Athens.
Motion Blur
One criteria almost all of my photos need to satisfy is that they have to be "sharp." In photography that means that they need to be properly focused and that the shutter speed needs to be set so that the subject isn't blurred.But sometimes I break the rule. This photograph is an example. I intentionally set the a low shutter speed and then I moved the camera by following the bicyclist as he moved across my field of view. In this particular case, I knew that blurring - both of the bike and of the background - would lend a feeling of motion to the photo.Canon 5DII 1/10s f/13.0 ISO100 58mm
The Copyist
Most art museums will allow certfied artists to set up easels and make copies of paintings. Here an artist makes two simultaneous copies of da Vinci's "Virgin and Child" in the Alte Pinakothek museum in Munich, Germany. Why do they make these high quality copies? I don't know, other than that they make nice gifts.
The Stone Monster
I mentioned in an earlier post that gothic gargoyles were downspouts on medieval cathedrals and that they got (or gave?) their name from/to the sound the water made rushing out of their mouths (gurgle, gurgle).But another role they served was to intimidate evil spirits. And who wouldn't be intimidated by these garish gargoyles? This stone carving, incidentally, is on the Notre Dame de Paris.
Greek Mother
We stayed at a family-run hotel on the west coast of Corfu, Greece. The young woman who owned and managed the property was generally friendly and gregarious. But The Woman In Black wasn't. I don't blame her for her demeanor - I'm sure it was her culture.What is interesting is the black clothing, which I've read is worn by women in Greek society who are widowed. Now that I think of it, I have posted another sitting woman clothed in black in this blog. How about comparing the two?
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Neon
I was looking for something in my photo library and accidentally came across this shot from a shoot I did for a sign company several years ago. I was fascinated by the the neon sign department when I was there. Even more fascinating is how my camera captured the individual pulses of electricity as it causes the gas inside the glass tubes to glow.
Shameless Self-Promotion
I realize that it is highly unlikely that anyone looking at my photoblog today will be inclined to say, "Hey. I think I want Shephard to take my portrait." But it's worth a shot, isn't it? Yes, a do portraits from time to time - it's how I try to pay for things like this web site.The thumbnails you see here are from a promotional card I did several years ago. If you are one of my recent customers looking on today, it's nothing personal that you aren't pictured.
Green Blade
I have been a little wordy lately in this blog so today I will only say that I'm back to posting something green again.